by Jane Cousins
Everyone, including Maat, stared at Dash as if he’d lost his mind.
“I… I…” Gaia’s voice tapered off to be replaced by the sound of exhausted sobbing.
“What?” Dash looked around the room mystified.
“You’re an idiot.” Flynn cuffed his brother up the back of the head.
“What? She was wrong.”
“Guys.” Vaughn looked around the room. “Inside voices, lets not scare the baby.”
Everyone glanced down to make sure the baby was alright. Disconcertingly, Asher met their gazes individually in a strangely assessing manner, as if he was determining how big a threat they were, before dismissing them one by one.
“I think I just got stared down by a newborn.” Drum rumbled gruffly.
“Oh.” Maat leaned over, patting the baby gently on the head. “He’s just not any newborn, are you, Pudding Pop?”
“What are you saying?” Hadleigh queried, suddenly worried. Was there something wrong with Asher?
“Oh, just that with two such extraordinary parents like you, I think we can all expect great things from our gorgeous new addition.”
Hadleigh stared at Maat hard, the Goddess delighted in dropping hints and teasing them about the future without giving any substantial information away. She’d always refused to rise to Maat’s taunts and she wasn’t about to start now. Not when she had something… someone, so much more important to focus upon.
Hadleigh dropped her gaze to find Asher staring up at her. And call her traumatised by the whole birthing experience but if she didn’t know better, Hadleigh would have sworn her newborn son just winked at her.
* * *
“To the new parents.”
Everyone took a sip from their beverage of choice.
“And to Marcus for stepping up, or should that be stepping down to catch the newest addition.”
Glasses were raised once again.
“You okay?” Riya sat down next to Drum on the sofa. They’d moved the celebration to his apartment to give the new parents some breathing space. “You look kind of pale.”
Drum shrugged massively wide shoulders and took a big gulp of whiskey. His head snapping around as the apartment door opened and Nell entered, looking cool and elegant in a dark grey pencil skirt, a filmy sage blue blouse and sky high Louboutin gladiator half shoes. Her honey gold hair was pulled up in a sleek knot, she was smiling, but there were dark circles under her gorgeous blue eyes.
Nell collapsed gracefully, more on top of Drum than the sofa but her meld mate was not complaining as he pulled her in close, wrapping one large muscular arm gently around her delicate shoulders.
“Hey Nell, everything okay with Asher?” Riya leaned forward so she could see around Drum’s bulging chest.
“Mother and baby are in excellent health. Did you see how long he is?”
“I know. And Hadleigh was going on and on about how he’s so tiny. He’s going to be a tall one.”
Nell nodded, smiling. “With that gene pool, I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
Drum, if possible, turned even paler, lifting his glass to throw back the remainder of his whiskey in one large gulp. Riya frowned, watching as Nell absently patted her husband on the chest reassuringly… suddenly a light bulb thought went off in her head.
“You guys?” She made sure to keep her voice low. “You’re pregnant?”
Nell blushed charmingly. “We wanted to wait until… well, I didn’t want to steal Gaia’s thunder.”
“That’s fantastic news.”
Drum issued a low, almost inaudible rumbling sound.
“Oh, ignore He-man.” Nell patted him again. “He’s worried about the mathematics of it all. But I keep telling him I’m perfectly healthy, it will turn out fine.”
“The mathematics?” Riya queried curiously.
Nell chuffed a laugh, rolling her eyes. “Height. Shoulder width. I’m no Hadleigh, chances are our baby will top the percentile size wise.”
Riya glanced at Drum’s double wide shoulders and gave a small shudder. “Yikes.”
Nell tipped her head back and laughed. “I’ll be the one squeezing our progeny out into the world, if I’m not dwelling on it, no one else should be either.” She poked Drum hard in the ribs. “It’s good news. Wonderful news.” Nell sounded weary all of a sudden, and a little emotional.
Drum’s head whipped around, liquid black eyes melting with concern and love. “It is… the best news ever. Come on Doc, you’re all but weaving on your feet. Come lie down with me for an hour.”
Riya watched, smiling as Drum herded Nell towards the bedroom. Huh, must be nice to be partners, to be in love. To have someone respect you, trust you. Riya wanted that on a daily basis.
She couldn’t help it, her gaze drifted over to Marcus who was across the room talking to Nate. Riya’s stomach clenched even as things low in her body tightened. Damn, how could she still want Marcus… love him, when he didn’t respect her, trust her?
Not only did he think her magic was lame, but despite proving how capable she was, Marcus thought she was reckless and declared right to her face that he thought she was stupid.
Riya had briefly considered making a quick escape after Asher was born but she’d seen that wide eyed look in Hadleigh’s eyes. Her cousin was daunted by new motherhood and a little scared of the not-so-tiny bundle she’d been holding in her arms.
Despite the very fast delivery, Hadleigh’s body would need a few days to recover enough before she and Vaughn took the baby back to the Southern Sanctuary. Hadleigh would need support, a friend. Riya couldn’t just up and leave, abandon her.
No, she’d just have to tough it out for a few more days. Avoid Marcus. And it wasn’t like she didn’t have a ton of stuff to do. She had Dimity to watch over. Outfits to get ready for tomorrow’s scheduled photo shoot and a whole slew of half finished baby clothes she could complete, now she knew the sex of Gaia and Hadleigh’s babies. Fate did like to withhold information when it came to the spoilers in her personal life.
Yes, that’s what she needed to do, keep her head down. Keep busy. And above all else, avoid being alone with the temptation that was Marcus. With that in mind, Riya got slowly to her feet, not wanting to attract attention, and began making her way to the door. She could do it, stopping and chatting briefly with Dash. Laughing at a joke Rafe told. Keep moving, keep smiling… the door was right there, she was only ten feet away.
But before Riya could make a discreet escape, a pair of broad shoulders slipped in from the left and bolted out the door first. Marcus was leaving? Ducking out without talking to her?
And yes, okay, she’d been in the process of doing the exact same thing to him, but she had just cause. She was avoiding him. Why the hell was he avoiding her?
Marcus slipped away, he wasn’t being cowardly, he was being discreet. He had a ton of work to do. There was one more contract killer yet to be identified. Plus he needed to start mainlining coffee so he wouldn’t sleep and end up at the mercy of the Dream Vamp. And another thing, he couldn’t go without sleep forever, so he needed to come up with a way to defeat her. Or at least banish the Vamp from his dreams.
And let’s not forget he had Sek and Mot to track down. An ancient sarcophagus and the Mummy corpse of a long dead God of Chaos to find. Oh, and five frustrating chaos rubies to destroy.
See, more than enough work for any man, let alone an Elite Warrior of Maat. More than enough work to keep him occupied. Keep him focused on anything but Riya… the way her waterfall of silken hair shimmered. The way her legs looked long and imminently touchable in that ridiculously short denim skirt.
Grr, and now he was thinking about her again. It had to stop. He had to stop.
Before he did or said something he couldn’t take back, like ask Riya to stay. No, it was too dangerous here for her, she had a kid, family and a business to think about, to put first.
Marcus would give Vaughn a day or two to get over the afterglow of Asher’s arrival and drop a b
ig hint that Riya should be sent on her way. There was nothing and no one to keep her here after all, she’d made it perfectly clear that the sex was just a momentary passing… mistake. That he was a mistake.
Okay, so maybe he was running… just a little bit. Marcus stepped into the elevator, turned, eyes widening as Riya stepped on to the lift right behind him. The green threads in her hazel eyes shimmering brightly with heat. She shot him a hard look before reaching over to stab the button for the production floor. Marcus nodded his thanks, his office being on the same floor. Twenty awkward seconds passed by as the doors slid closed and the elevator descended. He should say something, anything.
“Where are you headed?”
“To check on Dimity. You?”
“Office. Lots of work to catch up on.” Damn, and the reason so much work had piled up was because they’d spent the entire day in bed together. A cascade of hot memories assaulted Marcus. His cock hardened. The lift doors slid open. They both stepped out, stopped, looked at one another, silence stretching between them.
“I’m sure Dimity is fine.” Marcus rasped, hands clenched by his sides, he would not touch her, he would back away, fast. But he continued standing there, staring at Riya.
“And I’m sure your team would send up an alarm if they had found anything.” Riya absently fingered the top button of her shirt… damn, Marcus’s shirt. “I suppose you’re going to want your shirt back eventually?” Was that her voice? Soft? Low? Teasing? Double damn.
Marcus found himself nodding, stepping in closer he hooked two fingers into the low neckline. “It is one of my favourites. I’d hate to lose track of it.”
Riya’s breath caught in the back of her throat, she found herself leaning into his heat. Letting him pull her in closer until only inches separated them. She was so weak when it came to Marcus. What had happened to her dramatically proving her point that she could walk away from the man without a second glance? Damn, even her knees were beginning to tremble.
“By the way, I wasn’t accusing you of being stupid earlier. I was commenting upon the ridiculous risk you undertook. Bargaining with the Stalker like that.”
“He was killing you.”
“But he didn’t… thanks to you. But then you offered yourself up like bait for him to swallow whole.”
“I didn’t factor in that he would head for the patio. It kind of changed things.”
Marcus chuffed an unamused laugh. “I think my heart stopped beating when you went over that railing. One second you were there, and the next, you weren’t. I don’t think I knew what being… terrified meant before that moment.”
Riya’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. Charming had been frightened for her? That’s why he’d gone ballistic? That was kind of… sweet, frustrating because she could take care of herself, but still sweet. “I’m sorry. I hadn’t considered things from your viewpoint.”
“If only I had remembered what you told me about being very good at falling.”
“It’s a family trait. So, we’re… okay?”
“Yes, we’re okay.” Marcus tugged slightly on the front of her shirt, where his fingers were still hooked into the material. “But there’s still the little matter of you holding my lucky shirt hostage.”
“Lucky? I thought you said it was your favourite shirt?”
Marcus began walking backwards down the corridor, pulling Riya along in his wake. Not that she even considered resisting. “It’s my favourite shirt but I think you’ll find that who ever is wearing it is about to get very… very lucky.”
It seems some people were Fated to repeat their mistakes over and over again.
Chapter Nineteen
Three nights later, Riya stood at the door to her apartment, smoothed down the hem of her summery blue dress, squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. Tonight she would tell Marcus she was leaving. Of course she’d made the exact same promise last night and the night before. Problem was, as soon as she entered Marcus’s apartment, the last thing she ever wanted to do was talk.
And it wasn’t like the man gave her much opportunity for conversation. The moment he clapped eyes on her, kissing her, stripping her, keeping her too breathless, too busy to think, let alone contemplate stringing more than three words together. Working them both into a state of physical exhaustion. By the light of dawn she had no energy left to find the words.
Repeat.
Damn her cowardly hide. She was like a junkie who refused to give up her fix.
It was ironic that in the past few days their relationship had been reduced to exactly what they had insisted it would be… all about the sex. And the sex was great, better that great. But each morning as she gathered her clothes and slipped back to her own apartment to shower, change and get ready for the day, Riya was surprised at how hollow she felt.
Sure her skin still tingled from the afterglow, but her soul, her heart, ached. She missed just chatting with Marcus. The easy going banter. Twisting his words until he couldn’t see straight. Teasing him.
Now, when she saw him, she was too busy tearing at his clothes to talk, knowing that it might be the last time she got to touch, to taste him. Scared that if she did manage to open her mouth and start a conversation it would have to start with the words… I’m leaving tomorrow.
Which were exactly the three little words she intended to tell him tonight, as soon as he opened the door. No hesitating. No getting distracted. No chickening out. Besides, the last excuse for prolonging her stay in Atlanta was leaving tomorrow. Hadleigh had proclaimed that her body no longer felt like a snapped rubber band, what ever that meant. And that it was time Asher was settled in his nursery back in the Southern Sanctuary.
Of course it might have been Vaughn insisting they re-locate sooner rather than later. Riya had the distinct impression that the stream of steady visitors from the Southern Sanctuary were proving a tad disruptive for the Maat Warriors.
But who could blame the Great-Great-Aunts after visiting Hadleigh and Asher for wandering into the weapons storage rooms, and accidentally setting off that smoke bomb. They were naturally curious and Rafe should know better than to leave temptation out in the open like that when her family were in the vicinity.
Riya took another deep, calming breath. Her hand unconsciously resting over her flat stomach. Sorry, future not even conceived baby, if you think Marcus is your Daddy, then you have another thing coming. And no way was she going to get slack and go down that slippery path. Her birth control was one hundred percent effective, Nell swore by it. Hmmm, but now Nell was pregnant. Nope, Riya was sure Nell and Drum had made a conscious choice.
She, on the other hand, would be leaving Atlanta as unencumbered as she had arrived. Having already heard Marcus’s thoughts on doing the right thing, Riya refused to be trapped in a loveless marriage with a semi-immortal Warrior for her very long life. Especially when it was only loveless on his side of the equation.
Damn it, why did Marcus have to be so stubbornly opinionated. Why couldn’t he respect her magic? Her abilities? Her? Goddess, why didn’t the man love her?
Crap, Riya rested her hand against the apartment door. Sadness swamping her. Perhaps she shouldn’t give into temptation one last time. Maybe she should just grab her already packed bags and slink away. Because if she did see Marcus one last time, what if the three little words that slipped out weren’t, I’m leaving tomorrow, but – I love you?
Huh, Marcus would probably start reeling off statistics concerning studies that showed people mistook love for indigestion eighty percent of the time. Idiot. Big, gorgeous, idiot.
Okay, it was settled, she was running away. And yet, her feet weren’t moving. Stupid feet, Riya had a sneaky suspicion they were siding with her treacherous libido. So she’d just stand here frozen with indecision until the sun came up? Yeah, like that was a solid plan.
She should see Marcus one last time.
No, she should haul ass back to the Southern Sanctuary.
The soft knock on the door had
her sighing with relief. Marcus had gotten tired of waiting for her. Riya’s libido spiked even as her gut clenched in dread. Time to see him one last time and end it. Like a grown up.
Okay, she gave herself a pep talk. Retain eye contact at all times. Do not touch him. Do not take off his clothes. Do not take off any of your own clothes. Lips to self. Hands to self. Check and double check.
Deep breath, she could do this, she had to do this. End it now.
Swinging open the door, terror instantly infused every cell. All Riya could focus on was the gun currently pointed right at her heart.
Well, shit, thanks Fate, she hadn’t seen this coming at all.
* * *
When the tentative knock sounded on Marcus’s apartment door, all tension left his body. Riya was here. Thank the Sun. He hadn’t been sure she would come tonight.
Things had been… different between them the past few nights. What had happened to their easy banter? The teasing? Riya butting her nose in where it didn’t belong? All gone. In its place between them was nothing but convenient, hot sex. And Marcus hated it.
It reminded him too much of his past relationships. The women who scheduled time with him into their weekly calendars. Who didn’t care enough to ask him about his day. Who didn’t think it worth their effort to share any details of their own personal life.
At one time he’d been grateful for those barriers, the convenience of it all, without any attachments or emotions. But now, now that he’d gotten a glimpse, a taste of how good it could be, thanks to Riya, crap, he craved more. Wanted it all, but only with Riya, because damn it, he loved her.
Which in the scheme of things didn’t matter, he would do what was right by Riya, in order to keep her safe. She didn’t sign up for the dangers inherent in fighting supernatural forces on a daily basis.
But that hadn’t stopped Marcus from wracking his brain for a loop-hole over the last few days, while he tagged along on his brothers-in-arms missions just so he could grab some shut eye and think clearly. And the fact that he had to do that, in order to avoid a Dream Vamp, just went to show how bad an idea it was for Riya to stay here, with him.