Free A Monster and a Gentleman by Lila Dubois Page A

is right then it changes everything.” Maeve nodded gravely at his words and Oren continued, “You can see things by using the Force, the energy that connects everything, right?”
    “Yes.”
    “And if that energy is in the past and the present and the future, when you touch someone you can see their past, their present and their future.”
    A small smile touched her lips. “Yes.”
    “So now you know...my future.”
    “Yes...and no.”
    “Holy shit.” Oren put his head in his hands. She could tell his future. Not in a vague predictions way, but in a concrete use-the-Force-we-are-all-connected way.
    “There is no future, not really, only possibilities.”
    “But still, you can see those possibilities.”
    “Yes.”
    “I know, from every movie ever made, that I shouldn’t ask this, but what did you see for me?”
    “You’re future was gray—”
    “Oh God, I’m going to die.”
    “No, all the images I see in the future are gray, but yours was fog.”
    “I’m going to die in fog?”
    She huffed. “If you were about to die, I would know. I would weep for you.”
    “You would?”
    Their gazes met, held. “I would, and I think it would not only be the keening of the banshee.”
    Oren wasn’t entirely sure what she meant, but it felt like something intimate had passed between them. “So I’m not going to die?”
    “You will die someday, but I don’t know when, so don’t ask me.”
    Oren closed his mouth.
    She laughed. “You future wasn’t clear. Sometimes it is that way, sometimes it is not my place to know. But I did see some things.” She closed her eyes and tipped her head back. Her eyeballs moved under the lids and her fingers twitched. He drank his water in silence, not wanting to interrupt her.
    She opened her eyes and gasped, causing Oren to yelp and almost drop his glass.
    “What, what did you see?”
    “Nothing for you to fear, but it was harder than I thought to sort through the Seeing.” She rubbed her temples. “I see success in your possible futures.”
    “That’s the best news I’ve had all day.”
    She raised a brow. “But was that success from selling my Clan’s, my people’s secrets?”
    “If that’s what you saw, then you aren’t in sync with the Force or whatever.” Oren pushed to his feet. “I didn’t do it. I know my past makes me the most likely suspect.”
    “I know. I saw your past.”
    He turned. “Well, then I guess I have no secrets from you.”
    “Of course you do. I could not See all of a person’s life, even if I wanted to. I only See those things that changed or influence the energy of your life.”
    “Then ignore my past and listen to what I’m telling you right now. I didn’t do it. I wouldn’t. I like Luke and Runako and the other guys, and even if I didn’t, I want this to be a success as much as they do.”
    Maeve was still sitting calmly in the middle of his floor. “I know.”
    He stopped. “You do?”
     
    Maeve watched Oren pace. He was tall and lean with a trim, hard body. As humans, most of her Clans-men were massive, their powerful true forms represented in their heavily muscled human bodies. Oren was different. His arms were corded with lean muscle, and she could see the way his ass flexed as he moved.  
    She blew out a breath and shifted, trying to calm her arousal. That’s what she’d felt in the car when she was on top of him—arousal. No male had made her feel that way in a very long time.  
    “You do?”
    “Yes.” Maeve assured him. She knew he wasn’t the one to blame after seeing his future, but she’d wanted to test his reaction. “I couldn’t see all the possibilities or far into your future, but from the things I could make out, your potential futures involved success because the movie was made.”
    “That’s good.” Oren sat down and scrubbed his hands through his hair. “I can’t believe I’m even saying this, but I think I should point out that even if the information is leaked, the movie might still