Page 27 of Shai

The dining room door was open, a glance at my watch revealing that I had arrived with three minutes to spare. The large oak table had been decorated, a huge candelabra standing at its center and two places set at one end. Shai rose from one of the seats, meeting me at the door, his gaze roving over me appreciatively and making me flush uncomfortably. He grabbed my hand, lifting it and pressing his lips to the back of it in a quaint old-fashioned courtship ritual before I could snatch it back. “Elijah, you look divine, just as I knew you would.”

Grasping hold of my shoulders, he pushed me back to create a space between us, letting go to straighten my tie. “Thank you for wearing the suit. I appreciate it.”

I shrugged, feeling strangely discombobulated and fighting an urge to

turn tail and run. I inclined my head toward the table. “So… dinner? Is that what’s happening?”

Shai’s smile was huge. “Of course. What did you think it was?” I shrugged. With him, it could have been anything. He could have

dressed me up for an execution. There still might be one after dessert. Either mine or someone else’s. At least I’d make for a good-looking corpse in the Armani suit.

Shai was wearing a suit too. Not a matching one, thank God—that

would have been far too creepy, but one that looked just as expensive as mine, if not more. It was strange for him not to be bare-chested, which had been almost his permanent state since my arrival.

I pulled at my collar as he led me over to the table, sweat already

starting to gather. Shai even went so far as to pull my chair out for me. “Why is it always so damn hot here? Even at night, it’s hot.”

Shai eased himself into the seat diagonal to mine. “The snakes thrive in

warm temperatures.”

The fucking snakes! I should have known. The rest of us could boil alive

as long as the snakes were happy.

Shai leaned forward, clasping his hands beneath his chin and focusing

all of his attention on me in a way that was nothing short of alarming. I looked elsewhere, my gaze restlessly searching the room for something else to concentrate on. The problem was, there was only so long you could stare at a pair of curtains, and Shai’s scrutiny was still there when I was left with no choice but to turn my attention back to him.

As if he’d been waiting for such a moment, he picked up the bottle of

wine and turned it so I could inspect it. Like I knew a fucking thing about wine. I might be able to tell it from vinegar, but that was where my knowledge started and ended.

He lifted the bottle in question and I nodded, Shai filling both of our

glasses. “Gustav will be in with the first course soon. I asked him to give us some time to talk first, so I hope you’re not too hungry.”

I lifted the glass and took a sip, surprised at how good it tasted. No

doubt it was just as expensive as the suit I wore. “What’s for dinner, caviar and oysters?”

Shai sat back, his eyes narrowing. “You have something against good food?”

“I’m just not used to it.” I tugged at the lapel of my jacket. “Any of this. And I’m wondering why you’re wasting it on me. Prisoners aren’t usually given designer suits and the best wines.”

Shai tipped his head to one side. “It’s up to me what I choose to spend my money on. You would have preferred a date consisting of fast food and Coke?”

I choked on my wine, alarm filling my body with a searing heat. “Date!” My voice sounded unusually high-pitched and squeaky. “Is that what this is?”

Shai looked unmoved by my outburst. “Isn’t it?”

“I don’t date men.”

He smiled. “Ah, I see. You would prefer that I simply bent you over a table and took what I wanted from you? Is that it?”

My hand trembled slightly around the glass I held, Shai’s gaze dropping to it telling me he hadn’t missed it either. “I would prefer you not to pretend that it’s something that it isn’t. Besides, don’t people normally wait until after the date to wank someone off?”