Leanne paused in the doorway of the master suite. “I took the liberty of setting the crib in the room beside this one. And because the house is so large, I bought a baby monitor to go with it. Along with filling the grocery order, I’ve stocked the fridge with four complimentary bottles of white wine, and a fruit-and-candies tray.”
Pia smiled at the other woman. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure. Is there anything else that you need?”
“I can’t think of anything,” she replied. “I love this place. Everything is wonderful.”
She glanced at Dragos. He had turned on his phone and his head was bent as he studied the screen. Her shoulders drooped. He glanced at her and frowned.
He pocketed his phone and told the manager, “Thank you, that will be all.”
“Very good.” This time the inclination of Leanne’s head was deferential. “I’ll see myself out. Enjoy your stay.”
Pia moved to look out the window at the sparkling water. The baby snored slightly. He sounded like a squeaky toy. Sleeping soundly had turned him into a dead weight, and her back ached from carrying him around.
Disappointment tried to darken her earlier excitement and pleasure. She had dangled Dragos’s favorite hobby in front of him, and they had just arrived in a literal paradise, but he still couldn’t keep his phone turned off. When she’d started a relationship with him, she knew she was going to have to share his time and attention, but she never realized how much of a problem that would be, or how much it might grow to bother her at times like this.
Mostly she was fine with it. That wasn’t rationalization; she really was. Between the overwhelming demands of his corporate responsibilities and the Wyr demesne, he carried a heavy load, and it suited her just fine to play a supporting role for him. She wasn’t as driven as he was, and she absolutely adored the fact that she had the luxury to concentrate on the peanut while he was so small.
Only occasionally, like now, it caused a heavy ache in her chest.
Dragos walked up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. “What has dimmed that bright smile of yours?”
She tried to think of something positive and supportive to say. “Don’t you love it here? This place is gorgeous.”
His fingers tightened. He bent over her until his lips touched the thin, sensitive shell of her ear. He whispered, “I turned on my phone to search for a place to go to dinner.”
She looked over her shoulder at him. “Really?”
“Really. I’ve already turned it off again.”
The leaden feeling in her chest lightened. At the same time the back of her nose prickled and moisture flooded her eyes. Embarrassed at the sudden surge of emotion, she folded her lips tight and nodded.
His gaze was too keen and filled with understanding. He rubbed her back. “I wouldn’t trade this past year away for anything, but it’s still been hard on us.”
She leaned back against his strong frame, and he wrapped his arms around both her and the baby. “I wouldn’t trade it away for anything either.”
“Things will get easier, I promise.” He rested his cheek on the top of her head. “As soon as all of the sentinels are back at work, let’s go upstate and stay for a couple of months.”
“Are you sure you can take the time away from the city?” She rested her head against his chest, and he stroked her hair.
“Yes. We’ll need to make plans for renovations and building, but we can take things at our own pace and go as slow as we like. If there’s an emergency and I have to work, I’ll make sure it takes no more than twenty-five hours a week. Kris has been my assistant for so long, he should be able to handle most things. We can take Liam hiking. It will be a real, extended break. How does that sound?”
She had to clear her throat before she could speak again. “I would truly love that.”
“I would too.” He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Consider it a date.”
“Okay.” She turned her head toward him, and he nuzzled her.
The baby stirred in her arms, and Liam lifted his sleep-blurred face to look around. His round eyes and soft, open mouth reflected his astonishment at the change in venue. Pia grinned. The last time Liam knew, they had been on the plane.
“Okay, Peanut, time to show you around. Then you get to play with Aunt Eva and Uncle Hugh while I change into fresh clothes, and Mommy and Daddy go out to eat.”
“Do you want an upscale restaurant, or a beachside tavern?” Dragos asked. “Because if you want upscale, I have to turn my phone back on again to make a reservation.”
She didn’t hesitate. “Ooh, beachside, please!”
He grinned. “That’s what I thought you’d say, which is why I had already turned it off.”
She stood on tiptoe to kiss him. “You know me so well.”
He put a hand at the back of her head and held her in place as he returned her kiss lingeringly, setting her body on a slow burn.
“Get ready.” His voice was so low it was barely more than a vibration against her lips.
Feeling intoxicated, she nodded as he let her go. She caught the heavy-lidded slant of his glance as he turned away, and she knew he hadn’t been talking about their dinner.
Chapter Four
Pia showed Liam the house, along with his room with the crib, his clothes and toys. She knew from past experience that it would be easier to leave him once he saw where he was, and she was right. He didn’t fuss when she handed him over to Eva.
Dragos left the master bedroom and bath to her and carried a change of clothes and his toiletry kit into one of the other bathrooms. Pia opened windows, and the sound of the nearby surf washed in.
She hummed as she shaved her legs and washed her hair. After blow-drying her hair, she chose to leave it down and loose. She slipped on a simple, dark blue sheath dress that ended at mid-thigh and flat, silver sandals that complemented her slender feet and legs. She spent the most time on her makeup, enhancing her eyes with a dark, smoky eye shadow and stroking a cranberry-colored lipstick on her lips.
Wearing such rich colors brought an extra sheen out of her thick, light gold hair and made the most of her tan. After she was finished, she stared at herself. Anticipation made her eyes sparkle.
“Look at you,” she whispered at the bright, vivid creature in the mirror. “You look happy.”
Happy. A year ago she wasn’t sure she knew what the word meant.
Sure, in a lot of ways the last year had been hard. Aside from all the other challenges she and Dragos had faced, she still wasn’t completely accepted by the Wyr community, and while the peanut had gone a long way to softening everybody’s heart, criticism about her unrevealed Wyr form continued to be harsh.
Despite that, her life was pretty damn close to perfect. She had more than she had ever dreamed she could have. She had a husband and mate who adored her with a kind of ferocity that should have been scary but somehow wasn’t, and she had the most precious son imaginable. She had friends, good friends, and while they weren’t close, even Aryal had abandoned her antagonism toward Pia.
A sudden, superstitious fear chilled her skin. She was too happy.
Happiness this intense couldn’t last. Something was bound to happen.
As soon as she had the thought, she clenched her fists and shoved it away. So what if something happened? Something always happened. When it did, she and Dragos would face it as a team, just like they had everything else over the past year. They could handle anything life gave them as long as they were together.
She could handle anything, except for losing either Dragos or Liam.
Angry at herself for letting baseless fear ruin her happy mood, she dragged a brush through her hair one last time, slipped a few things into a small silver purse with a chain-link strap and left the bedroom.
As she walked down the hall, she heard high-pitched baby squeals. In the living room, Dragos tossed Liam into the air and caught him. Liam was giggling so hard his face was almost purple. Nearby, Hugh and Eva lo
unged on couches, their faces creased with laughter as they watched the pair.
Pia started chuckling too. Liam’s paroxysm of delight was simply too infectious to resist. As she walked into the living room, she said, “If it were anybody else doing that…”
Dragos threw Liam into the air again. “I won’t let him fall.”
“I know you won’t.”
Dragos had dressed in a black silk polo shirt and cream slacks. His clothes were expensive, simple and lethally effective, as they highlighted the power and grace of his muscled body. While he wasn’t much for wearing jewelry, he never took his wedding ring off. He also loved the gold Rolex she had bought him for Christmas, and both it and the braided length of her hair gleamed brightly against his dark copper skin. As he caught the baby one last time and turned to her, she saw that he had shaved as well.
He had made an effort to look nice for her. The knowledge curled into the pit of her stomach and intensified the tug of attraction she always felt for him. She watched him look down her body. When he met her gaze, sultry heat shimmered in his gold eyes.
“I’m hungry,” he said, and she knew again he wasn’t talking about dinner.
She had to clear her throat. Her voice was huskier than ever as she replied, “Me too.”
“Shall we go?”
She nodded and walked over to kiss Liam. Dragos handed the baby to Hugh, and they left.
The heat of the day had begun to ease, and heavy yellow light slanted through the lush greenery as they walked to the Mercedes. She noticed how cleverly the area had been designed to maximize the privacy of the houses, with rows of hedges bordering narrow road. Dragos opened the passenger door for her, and she climbed into the warm car.
He slid into the driver’s seat a moment later. As he turned to her, she asked, “How far away is this beachside—”
The rest of her question disappeared in a squeak as, eyes glittering, he yanked her to him. He took her mouth in a hard, hot kiss.
Her skin flashed with the heat from his mouth, his hands, and her pulse exploded. Melting against him, she kissed him back as hungrily as he kissed her. His pulse raced to meet hers as he slanted his lips over and over on her, driving deep into her mouth with his tongue.
When he finally lifted his head, they were both shaking. He stroked the disheveled hair away from her face and helped her to ease back into her seat.
“I didn’t put a comb in my purse,” she said.
“Leave it,” he told her, very low.
Laughter shook out of her. “I can’t just leave it and walk into public like this. It looks like we’ve been making out.”
One of his black brows lifted as he reached over her to pull her seat belt around her torso and click it into place. “We have.”
He was no help. He loved any and all barbaric displays of his claim on her. While he started the car, she ran unsteady fingers through the thick mass until she had the long, tangled strands smoothed out.
The restaurant was on Ireland Island, just a short drive away. After doing her best to tidy her appearance, Pia rolled down her window to let a blast of fresh, ocean-scented air clear her head. The streets were more narrow and winding than she was used to, but Dragos seemed completely comfortable driving on them. He reversed into a cramped parking space that she wasn’t sure she would have attempted.
Outside the car, he took her hand as they walked to the beachside restaurant, where music played over loudspeakers. The restaurant was open on the three sides that faced the water, and railings that ran the border all the way around except for the entrance. The fourth side, where the kitchen was located, was solid building. A bar lined the wall between the kitchen and the tables, and a dance floor was set to one side.
The place wasn’t fancy. It had wooden tables and concrete floors, but the bar was packed, and so was the dance floor, and the food smelled fabulous. People spilled out onto the beach, drinking and talking together in groups.
Pia studied the scene curiously as she followed Dragos to the bar. There was quite a mix of clientele. Some people were well dressed, but more than not wore jeans or shorts and T-shirts, and many appeared to have just come from the beach. A few looked downright rough, such as the pair of men lounged at the bar.
Space opened up beside them at the bar. Dragos approached.
The two men eyed Dragos speculatively and turned their attention to Pia where their gazes lingered. One of the men was human. He had a wiry build, a beaky face, and long, graying hair pulled back into a ponytail. He wore gold earrings, and he looked at her out of the corner of his eye.
The other man was Light Fae. He was bigger, younger and broader. He was almost as large as Dragos. He, too, had long hair pulled back in a ponytail, only his was blond and curling. He was deeply suntanned, and he wasn’t nearly as circumspect as his companion. He stared openly at her breasts and hips.
He thrust out with his hips as he said something to his companion in a language she had never heard before, and the other man laughed.
Their crudity was like a slap in the face. She ignored them, her expression turning stony, but Dragos didn’t.
Dragos’s immense body turned taut with sudden menace. He turned to face the bigger of the two men, slowly and deliberately, and he took a step forward until he stared down into the man’s eyes. He looked hard as granite, his gold eyes flat and deadly.
People around them fell silent, some animal instinct warning them of possible danger.
Pia’s breathing constricted. The other man stood his ground, with an arrogant, insolent stance. Although it was hard to believe, clearly the idiot didn’t have a clue either who he had ogled, or who he had engaged in a pissing contest. Had he been living under a rock?
She tugged at Dragos’s hand.
He ignored her. The tension between the two men ratcheted higher, hovering just on the edge of violence.
Pia wasn’t sure what happened next, but the other man’s stance changed. He shrugged, said something again in his strange language, and turned away to lean his elbows on the bar where he and his companion muttered together in low voices. Neither man glanced at Pia.
Dragos took a step back. She let go of the breath she had been holding. The crowd relaxed and conversation picked up.
She asked Dragos telepathically, Was that really necessary?
He looked at her. Yes.
She studied him with a frown. His expression and his body language had relaxed, but his molten gaze was still murderous. They’re just assholes, she said gently. Can you let it go, or do you want to go somewhere else for dinner?
If anything his expression turned angrier at the thought of leaving. Fuck, no. He paused and his eyebrows knit together. Unless you do.
She smiled up at him. Thank you for asking, but I’m fine.
He considered the crowded space, eyes narrowing. We can find somewhere else to wait for a table.
I told you, I’m fine. You already backed them down. They’re just two dumb jerks, and they’re probably drunk to boot. They’re not that important.
His expression lightened with approval. She wiggled around him, opposite the other men, and came up to the bar. Dragos came up behind her until his hard body pressed against her back. He slid an arm around her, and she felt totally surrounded, protected and at ease. She couldn’t have been safer if she had been locked in a secret vault at Fort Knox. She leaned her head back against his chest to smile at him and finally felt him relax a little. The other two men ignored them as if they were in another room.
The bartender came up to them. Pia ordered a Mai Tai while Dragos ordered scotch, and they put their name on the waiting list for a seat at one of the tables.
She raised her voice to be heard over the music. “So when do you want to start your search?”
“I thought I’d get going first thing tomorrow morning,” Dragos said. “Would you and Liam like to come with me for a little while?”
“I’d love to.” She sipped her drink. It was delicious. “If you
don’t mind help, I thought I might check out museums and libraries to see if I can find any mention of the Sebille.”
He smiled down at her. “I don’t mind at all, but don’t you want to spend some time on the beach?”
“Sure,” she said. “But Bermuda is only, what, twenty miles from end to end?”
“Something like that.”
She shrugged, enjoying the excuse to snuggle back against him. “I doubt there will be many places to do research on ancient Elder shipwrecks. I could look around in the morning, and Liam and I can go to the beach afterward.”
“Sounds good to me,” Dragos said. “We’ve got a plan for tomorrow.”
Something snagged her attention, and she turned her head. The two men beside them had stopped talking. They both leaned against the bar and stared into their drinks, their bodies tense and still.
Her gaze narrowed, and she caught the bigger, younger male glancing at them. All sexual innuendo and crudity had left his expression, leaving him looking cold and hard.
She turned away again quickly. What the hell was his problem? The men might speak a strange language, but they could know English too. Was he listening to her conversation with Dragos, or was he still mad at the unspoken pissing contest he and Dragos had been in? She shook her head. He was going to live a very short life if he didn’t either learn to be polite or to let things go.
A waitress came up behind them and took them to their table, which was right by the beach. Pia was so delighted, she put the unpleasantness from the bar firmly behind her and settled in to enjoy the rare treat—a date with Dragos, while he was on vacation.
She ordered a salad with mangos and artichokes. Dragos ordered steak and lobster, and a bottle of Pinot Noir. The server brought the wine right away.
Even before they got their meal, she started plotting.
Dragos Takes A Holiday_A Novella of the Elder Races_Elder Races Series Page 4