by Jane Cousins
Bloody Hell. Marcus remained glued to the wall in horror. What was he supposed to do? Shit, Belinda sent him a shy, pleading glance, obviously seeking comfort. Hell, no. You wouldn’t catch him within ten feet of this woman. The helpless sex kitten act didn’t fool him, Belinda Forrest was trouble, and nightmarish complications personified.
There were so many problems with this scenario, he didn’t know where to start. Marcus had liked and admired Fred Forrest for his fairness and business savvy. Defiling the man’s widow was not a fitting tribute. There was also the fact that Belinda, as acting co-director of Forrest Media, currently had a lot of sway over when and where their TV show was distributed. They needed that continuing high profile to act as a smokescreen for their supernatural hunts.
Getting involved with Belinda, no. On the other hand, as she released another soft, uneven breath, if he didn’t comfort the widow then he might get them into just as must trouble. Shit, complicated women. See, this was why Marcus avoided them like they were a cracked nuclear warhead.
Crap, on lead filled legs he moved forward, looming over her. Now what? Marcus raised a hand and then paused. Where exactly could he place his hand and still be considered respectful? Bloody hell, there was too much bare flesh exposed by the loose neckline of her dress, he was in serious trouble here. Shit, and Belinda was beginning to lean in to him, if Marcus didn’t make the first move this situation would spiral out of control fast.
Fuck. He settled for patting her on the head. Pat. Pat. And he should say something. “There.” Pat. “There.” Pat.
Riya walked into Marcus’s office, expecting to find him hard at work, instead she was witness to one of the most awkward physical encounters between a man and a woman, ever. Marcus awkwardly patting Belinda Forrest’s head like she was an unhappy puppy. And Belinda, wraith like and pale, leaning damsel in distress like against Marcus, seeking comfort and by the look of that neckline, something a lot more physical.
Riya dumped the basket of snacks she was carrying and feigned surprise. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had company.” The looks that were shot her way were such extremes that she had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing. Sheer relief on Marcus’s gorgeous face and thwarted annoyance on Belinda’s. “Is everything okay?”
“Belinda just stopped by to…” Marcus frowned, Belinda really hadn’t stated a reason for her presence.
“To check on Dimity? See how we went in New York?” Riya queried in a sugary tone.
Belinda straightened, smoothing back a tendril of blonde hair. “Yes. Dimity. I believe there was an incident?” Belinda’s brown eyes were filled suddenly with concern and worry.
Huh, too little too late. Riya ground her teeth together, the gall of this woman. Flouncing in here, wearing a dress that was all but falling off, and seriously, the sheer fabric more than hinted at the size and colour of her nipples. Talk about redundant. The young widow had clearly come here tonight with seduction on her mind, intending to hit Marcus with a double whammy.
Of course. Breathy Belinda hadn’t realised what a control freak Marcus was. That he wouldn’t be blinded by some bouncing unbound breasts. He would have assessed all the pros and cons of getting involved with Belinda and run a mile. If they weren’t in his office, that was.
Grrr, Riya was surprised to find her stomach was flooded with a red-hot burning sensation. This brazen bitch had thought she could just sashay in here and hit on Marcus? Her Marcus? Well, not her Marcus. But the man she was currently not in a relationship with. The man to whom she had absolutely no emotional attachments. But on the physical side of things, that was different. They had an agreement, didn’t they?
Not a spoken one. A kind of mutual non-verbal, unspoken, unacknowledged, sexual agreement.
Riya glanced at Marcus to double check she hadn’t misread his relief at her presence. Ocean blue eyes met hers, and a small welcoming smile tugged up the corner of those sensual lips, just for her.
Yeah, that settled it. The bitch had invaded her territory. It was a dragon thing. Even as she made the connection, Riya realised that she was being overly territorial, but couldn’t seem to stop herself. Historically, trespassers were usually set alight and left to burn for days with magical dragon fire as a warning to others.
But Riya wasn’t just half-dragon, she was also her mother’s daughter.
“And you came personally to check up on Dimity? That’s so nice. Oh, but look at your gorgeous dress, it must have gotten caught on something.” Riya was across the room in three seconds flat, hauling up the neckline of Belinda’s dress. “Lucky for you I always carry an emergency sewing kit on me at all times.”
Belinda tried to get away, but Riya was too strong. “I… no…”
“Careful.” Riya warned. “You don’t want to get stuck by a pin, do you?” She kept her voice light and sweet, even as she yanked on the neckline of the dress once more, hiking it up even higher, again causing Belinda to squawk with barely suppressed outrage.
“This is a Michael Kors!”
“I know Michael.” Riya supplied in an overly cheerful tone. “And he’d be appalled at how easily this seam has come apart. Why, it’s almost like someone took some scissors to it. Don’t you worry, I’ll have it fixed in no time. To think, you might have completely spilled out the top without me, talk about a double nip slip faux pas.”
Marcus, who had returned to lean against the wall, choked on his whisky slightly. Riya was handling Belinda with all the gentleness of a rambunctious toddler patting a baby chick. Belinda was definitely going to have some bruises come the morning.
“I… you… stop... ouch, did you just stick me?”
“Sorry.” Riya sing-songed. “But I warned you about staying still.”
“You mentioned hearing about an incident in New York concerning Dimity?” Marcus picked up on Belinda’s earlier statement. Something about it bothering him.
“No.” Belinda’s lips were pressed in a flat white line as she sat there quietly steaming as Riya sewed up her dress. “I asked if the New York visit went without incident?”
“No problems. Everything went like clockwork.” Marcus advised calmly, lying between his teeth. “Dimity shows a lot of promise.”
“Oh, that’s strange. Heath’s friend on the board of the Montague redevelopment mentioned some fire damage. A bathroom destroyed and a few other problems.”
Behind Belinda’s back, Riya shot Marcus a grin. Between the two of them they’d been pretty much responsible for all the damage.
Marcus shrugged. “In the course of our investigation into poltergeist activity onsite, we might have disturbed a few squatters who had moved in. We scared them off, so I guess we kind of did the owners a favour.”
Riya winced, remembering the state they’d left the bathroom after their fight with the Fire and then the Ice Demon. Yeah, a favour. “So, did you want to visit with Dimity? It’s a little late, but she might still be up.”
“No. I won’t disturb her.”
“There, all done. You are fit to appear in public once more.” Riya snapped the thread and admired her handiwork.
Belinda glanced down at her dress. The neckline was snug against her collarbone and somehow Riya had managed to drape the material so that all her assets were hidden now by layers of material. “Quite the little seamstress, aren’t you?”
There was an arrogant dismissive edge to Belinda’s voice that Marcus found himself intensely disliking. Riya was much more than a woman who wielded a needle and thread. It kind of made him uncomfortable to realise how often and how loudly he himself had contemptuously looked down on Riya’s occupation and skill set. She was so much more than both her occupation and her magic.
“Okay then.” Marcus pushed off the wall. “I’m assuming you are here so we can go over those figures we talked about earlier?”
Riya shot Marcus a confused look, which cleared up the instant Marcus shot a meaningful glance in Belinda’s direction. “Sure.” She took a few steps back to pi
ck up the basket she’d walked in with. “And I brought wine… for the discussion.” She winked at Belinda. “About the figures.”
Belinda issued a small huffing sound. Standing up she tugged absently at the now unfamiliar high and tight neckline. “It’s late. I shall leave you to it.” She shot Riya a death look, before turning to face Marcus and giving him a warm, sexy smile. “Thank you for the drink.” Somehow her tone seemed to imply that much more had gone on here this evening than a mere drink. With a swish of her hips, Belinda was gone.
Riya leaned over to shut the door behind their visitor.
“My hero.” Dark blue eyes sparkled with amusement.
“You’re welcome. Though I get the feeling it should be Belinda who is the one thanking me. I’m not sure how much more of your well meaning comfort she could have taken without having her vertebra dislocated.”
Marcus laughed, a warm rich sound that made things tighten and liquefy at the same time between Riya’s legs. “Funny you should mention my brand of roughness.” Marcus closed the distance between them, looming over her, backing Riya up slowly, deliberately. “When Belinda knocked, I thought it was you.” A few steps more. “And my very first thought was of us, doing it, here on my desk. Wondering if it would take our combined weight or not.”
Riya came to an abrupt halt as her butt hit the edge of Marcus’s huge desk. “This desk?”
“The very one.” There was a sexy predatory smile on Marcus’s gorgeous face that all but melted Riya’s knees.
She let go of the basket of wine and snacks, ignoring it as it hit the plush carpet with a muffled thud, gripping the edge of the desk in anticipation. “So you’re up for another mistake? I wasn’t sure.” She stopped talking as Marcus took one big step forward, pressing against her, their body heat intermingling.
Marcus leaned down, lips travelling over the sensitive skin at the side of Riya’s throat. “Definitely.” He placed a hot kiss just below her ear. “Always.” Another kiss. “What do they say?” Another kiss. “… the best lessons learnt in life come from the mistakes you make.”
Riya reached up, sinking her fingers into his thick black hair. “Here’s to many more mistakes.” Pressing her lips hard against his. Fire danced in her veins, and she wanted, needed to be with Marcus right at this moment. Not to claim her territory, no, nothing so dramatic, she just wanted to remind him… brand him, so that he would remember just who he was in a non-relationship with currently. Yes, that was all, just one more little, hot, naked, mistake… maybe two.
Chapter Fourteen
“I could have totally taken her.”
“What?” Riya stifled a yawn. Though it wasn’t hard to work out who Hadleigh was referring to since Dimity Forrest was the only other female sitting at the humongous conference table right at that moment.
“It would be child’s play to sneak up on her. Is that phone wielded to her hand?”
“Please. Five seconds of her talking about fake tans and pedicures and you’d be pleading for mercy.” Hadleigh’s clear grey eyes sent Riya a quelling death glare. “Of course in a physical match up you could completely wipe the floor with her, Mrs Muscles.” Riya grinned cheekily back.
“What did you just call me?”
“It’s just a name doing the rounds on the Para-X site, don’t get your big maternity bloomers in a knot.”
“It’s like you have a death wish or something.” Hadleigh shook her head. “Why are you so relaxed and happy? I thought by now you would have reached the end of your patience and begun begging me to put you out of your misery.”
“Plan A seems to be working, it’s all about distraction and getting everyone to treat her as just one of the gang.”
“Did you ever have a Plan B to fall back on?”
“Sure. I intended to drive her to the nearest Victoria Secret’s Emporium and hand over the company platinum card, releasing her back in to her natural environment.”
Hadleigh shuddered at the thought, all that girly frou-frou and fifty shades of pink, her worst nightmare. “Cunning, I would never have thought of it.”
Hadleigh complimenting her? “Why are you being nice to me? What do you need?”
“You hate it when I hold a knife to your throat, I thought I’d try a new, mature approach, now that I’m about to be a mother.”
“I’m your friend and cousin, you could just ask.”
“I need another date outfit. Something that doesn’t draw too much attention to Lump or the size of my ass.”
Riya rolled her eyes. Neither Hadleigh’s baby bump or her ass were all that huge. “For tonight? And where are you thinking of going?”
Hadleigh shook her head, dark red curls dancing. “Tonight we have our parents-to-be yoga class.” Pursing her lips as if she tasted something sour. “Maryanne, the instructor, keeps calling on Vaughn to act as her demonstration buddy.” Hadleigh released a low, deep growl. “Three weeks ago I accidentally threw a medicine ball at her head.”
“And she stills calls on him?” Riya was beyond surprised.
“I know. Some people just have no survival instincts what so ever. Tonight we’re working out with some weights, I can only hope for Maryanne’s sake the yoga studio covers her health insurance.”
“So you need an outfit for when?”
“Tomorrow night. I thought I’d let Vaughn take me somewhere expensive and romantic. And finally put him out of his misery by discussing all the baby crap we haven’t sorted out yet.”
“Baby crap?”
“The name is the biggest problem.” Hadleigh looked around to make sure everyone at the table was suitably occupied before leaning in to whisper. “If it’s a boy, he wants Eerikki. And if it’s a girl, Magnhild.”
“Yikes. What do you want?”
Hadleigh opened her mouth and then abruptly shut it. “There’s a pool going, isn’t there?”
“Maybe.” Riya tried to hold out but those clear grey killer eyes were boring into her with serious intent. “Okay, okay, Locke started it.”
Hadleigh huffed a sigh, her annoying oldest brother, why was she not surprised? “Let me just say that it won’t be Eerikki or Magnhild. So, will you do it? The outfit I mean, for tomorrow night?”
“Sure.” In fact, Riya was pretty sure she had something that would be perfect already completed in her three big bags of tricks that Fate had insisted she bring along on this trip.
Riya’s focus shifted to Vivian as she entered the conference room, following right on her heels was Marcus, looking frustrated and a little weary. Lastly came Vaughn, who took a seat on the other side of Hadleigh, clearing his throat softly to get everyone’s attention.
Vaughn’s burnished golden eyes travelled around the conference table, pausing as he noted Dimity’s bent head, her attention fixated upon the phone in her hand. “This is a meeting. All phones should be off and set to silent mode.” He waited a beat as Dimity lifted her eyes to cast him a sulky glare before she deliberately returned her attention to the small screen. Vaughn smiled. “I don’t think that device will survive a trip through the trash compactor, but if you are willing to chance it?”
“Fine.” Dimity pouted, putting her phone away. “You can’t start the meeting yet anyway, Daniel isn’t here.”
“He’s still on leave. He’ll be back day after tomorrow. Okay, now listen up. Benny needs Rafe, Flynn and Dimity in the sound studio this afternoon. Some of the audio needs re-dubbing as we encountered a lot of interference. Marcus, you had a few things to add?”
Marcus contemplated the screen of his laptop. “Yes. I just sent everyone the details regarding the location of our next designated televised hunt. Rafe, I’ll need an equipment’s spec by Tuesday. Nate, the press know we’re coming, we’ve had several local news and radio interview requests. I’ve forwarded everything to you to deal with. The site itself is isolated, we’ll need the jet and all-terrain vehicles or possibly helicopters. I suggest you guys...” he looked at Dash and Flynn, “…discuss it with Rafe and decide
.”
“Anything for me?” Drum growled.
“Yes, I got a call from the local health and safety commission, a Fire Inspector will be here tomorrow afternoon to tour the building, the entire building. I want you acting as guide.”
“Are we due for an inspection?” Vaughn queried.
Marcus shrugged. “I didn’t have it scheduled for another two months. When I checked with the agency I discovered they’ve added more manpower to the rota, and are applying more rigorous timeframes between inspections. My team are doing a background check in to the inspector and will let me know if there are any red flags.”
“And you expect me to do what?” Drum rumbled.
“Just be yourself. Loom, growl, stare at the guy.”
Nate laughed. “And do that thing you’ve been doing lately, ask all those questions.”
Drum scowled. “Nell told me that if I ask personal questions it will help put a person at ease.”
Rafe grinned. “Not the way you do it with that low tone and that thousand-yard death stare. Where do you live? Are you married? Kids? Pets? People think you’re gathering personal details to find them later and remove them and everyone they love from the face of the earth.”
Dimity was looking between the Warriors, warily smiling at their teasing of the mammoth man who was so wide he would have trouble fitting through some doorways.
“Marcus, anything else?” Vivian butted in before the conversation could become completely derailed.
“We need to update the Para-X site with some promotional stills featuring Dimity.”
“Me?” Dimity looked unsure whether to be pleased or pissed off.
“Fan numbers have skyrocketed and they have been clamouring for more details on you. Since your Q & A session Friday night over a hundred fan sites have popped up on the web. I was thinking some promo photos featuring you and Daniel might keep them happy.” Marcus missed Dimity’s heated blush as he glanced back down at his tablet. “Pepsy can conduct the shoot the day after tomorrow when Daniel returns, if that works for you?” He glanced Dimity’s way.