But eventually, during the long night, he’d managed to bring his stubborn, possessive beast under some control. He had had no right to be jealous, he knew that. He was sure that Eurus had been very professional and kind with Eden—as he always was—which was exactly right. And Eden wasn’t his girlfriend or anything, and his job was to look after her, not himself.
“Eden, would you prefer it if Eurus looked after you? Would that make you feel better?” he blurted out.
“I don’t really mind,” Eden said without raising her eyes from the washing machine. “Whatever is best for the case.”
Hm. What did that mean now? He ground his sharp teeth back and forth, observing her. He’d heard that sometimes when humans said yes, they meant no and vice versa, but Eden wasn’t the type.
Eden was pressing some buttons on the washing machine that were making loud beeping noises that were way too high-pitched for Notus’s sensitive hearing and interfered with his muddled thoughts.
“Are you mad at me?” The words just came out of Notus’s mouth.
Eden raised her eyes to him and gave him a long stare, her brow knitted in a frown. She contemplated for a while, then stepped toward him slowly. “Okay,” she said. “If you must know, I’m disappointed that you didn’t tell me about my father earlier.”
“We thought it was safest you didn’t know,” Notus said.
“Why? Because I’m too much of a child to deal with such grown-up situations?” Her nostrils flared.
“What? No, of course not!” Notus had no idea where she was getting such thoughts from.
“But you promised you’d always tell me the truth. That was the only thing I ever asked of you!”
Notus looked away, lowering his head. She was right. He had promised her that he’d always tell her the truth when he’d first started working for her. “I’m sorry. I felt terrible about it. But I couldn’t tell you.”
“Why?” Eden’s eyes narrowed.
“It’s just a protocol for some cases. When there’s a threat to the whole family, rather than just one person, we don’t tell family members within the first forty-eight hours unless we absolutely have to.”
The furrow in Eden’s brow deepened.
“It’s something we developed in the agency,” Notus continued. “We don’t work like all the other agencies, as you know, and we have our own ways. We use them because they work.”
“But you were lying to my face the whole time.” Eden said quietly. Her face darkened, and the pain pierced his heart.
“I wasn’t lying, Eden.” He fought off his desire to take her in his arms. “I didn’t spend any time with you from the moment I learned your father had been kidnapped, until yesterday, when I met you at the café. And I told you then as soon as I could. So no, I wasn’t lying to you.”
“You could have called.”
Notus sighed. He knew that Eden had a huge problem with being kept in the dark about things and he hated that he’d done this to her. “I had reasons not to.”
“What reasons?” She asked.
“I can’t tell you. Not now.”
“Why?”
“Because I can’t. I’m sorry,” he said. “But they were damn important. Trust me.”
“But how can I trust you then if you betrayed me once?” Eden demanded, her chin trembling.
Notus stepped toward her and took her hands in his. “You can trust me, Eden. Believe me.” He gave her a long look, hoping she’d see the earnestness in his eyes. “Please,” he continued. “It’s very important to me that you do. But I can’t tell you why I didn’t call. Not now. But I can tell you once we have your father back safely and it’s all over.”
Eden let out a long breath, her shoulders sagging. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t mean to be difficult. It’s just—something happened to me.” She hesitated. “My mother died when I was ten, and she had been dead for more than two days before Dad told me. Two days, during which I was listening to music, chatting to my friends, laughing, playing. All the while my mother had been murdered and lay dead in some cold morgue under the ground somewhere. I’d felt so guilty afterwards, so ashamed of myself, and ever since then, I’ve hated not knowing.”
“Spirits of Ethereum!” Notus’s jaw dropped. “I’m so sorry, Eden. That’s terrible.” He was so overwhelmed with pity for her, his head was fit to explode.
Eden narrowed her eyes. “Spirits of what?”
“Huh?”
“What’s that word you just said?” she asked.
“Which word? Ethereum?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, it’s my home. Where I come from.” Notus nodded eagerly. He suspected Eden didn’t like being reminded of the painful circumstances around her mother’s death and he was glad for the change of subject.
“Oh.” Eden gaped, her face brightening. “I didn’t know that’s what it’s called.” She smiled shyly. “So where is Ethereum?” She sat on the sofa and Notus joined her, turning toward her but trying to leave some distance between them. Her proximity was driving him crazy.
“It’s in the skies. Up there.” Notus pointed through the balcony window. She turned her head and followed his finger, her mouth making a small O.
“Wow,” she said. “That’s…that’s really cool. What is it like?”
There was a little sparkle in her eye and he was flattered by her excitement to know about his home.
“It’s beautiful. Very expansive. Unlike here where everything’s so crammed together—people, buildings, cars, nature, animals, all kinds of objects—so many things, so little space.”
“Do you not have any things in Ethereum?”
“We do. Way fewer than you have here, though. We’ve got a lot of gemstones, some natural materials, some tools, some objects, but not at all as many as you do here. Lots of birds though.”
“Do you have houses?”
“Of course! Some people live in houses made from granite, while others live in cloud castles,” Notus said.
Eden’s head snapped in his direction at the mention of cloud castles.
“What did you live in?” she asked.
“Guess,” Notus challenged.
“Cloud castle?”
He nodded. “Yep.”
“That’s awesome,” she thrilled, her eyes wide with excitement. “I wish I could live in a cloud castle. Do you have any siblings?”
“Two sisters and two brothers. I’m the youngest.”
She looked wistful. “I always wanted brothers and sisters. But my parents were arguing so much when I was growing up, there probably wasn’t any time for making babies.”
“That sucks,” Notus said.
“It did. But they split up eventually, which was a relief. Both of them were much happier afterwards,” Eden said.
“What happens when parents split?”
Eden narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”
“Like are they not husband and wife any longer? Do they not share the same house?”
“Yes, of course. They live in separate houses and they sign some papers so they are no longer officially considered a couple. Do people never divorce in Ethereum?”
“Maybe some do. I don’t know any, though. We are pretty good at choosing partners for life,” Notus said. “So, what about the children? What happens to them when parents separate?”
“Usually, you live with one parent and spend some weekends with the other.”
“Who did you live with?”
“My mother. And then with my father after my mom died.”
Notus felt a pang in his heart. “I’m sorry you lost your mother at such an early age.”
Eden flashed him a small smile. “It feels like a long time ago.”
“What happened?” He asked cautiously after a small pause. He wasn’t sure if it was okay to ask, but he didn’t want her to think he didn’t care.
Eden didn’t seem to be shocked by his question. “She was coming back from work one day. She’d stopped at the loc
al market to buy some groceries. As she left, she was mugged, but she resisted, and they shot her.”
“I’m very sorry.” Notus said.
“She put up a good fight. She was a strong and feisty woman,” Eden said.
“I’m sure she was,” Notus said. “As you are.”
Eden’s face flushed and she looked away. “They said her knuckles were bruised, so she must have punched the guys,” she continued. “There was also some skin under her nails, so they got the DNA of one of the attackers and caught him. The second one confessed shortly after. They were just kids. Seventeen.”
“Sounds like your mother was a very brave and tough woman. It’s not easy fighting against two people,” Notus said.
“I took up martial arts just after that. I had a lot of anger in me, and I felt if I didn’t direct it at something, it was going to consume me. I also didn’t want to ever be helpless and unable to defend myself.”
Notus’s heart swelled with admiration for her. She was such a strong and determined person. She’d be a good, fierce, and protective mate to someone one day.
“Well, you are a very good and strong fighter. Best human I’ve ever seen,” Notus said.
“You’re only saying that because you feel sorry for me now.” Eden wrapped a curl around her finger absently, a hint of smile on her face.
“No, I mean it. I’d told you at the gym that you were brilliant at it, didn’t I?” Notus nodded.
“Hm,” Eden said. “Well, that’s good to hear. Thank you for saying so.” Her cheeks had gone a very appealing shade of pink, and she seemed a little embarrassed again to receive the compliment, but he could see that his admission had made her happy. “I want to open a self-defense studio for women. And I do need to be pretty good to do that.”
“That’s a great idea,” Notus said. “I think you’ll be awesome at it. Is that why you took shooting classes?”
She sure has balls, he thought. Before he’d met her, he was expecting her to be a rich kid floating around, not doing much with herself. He’d known plenty such useless dragons in Ethereum, living off their parents’ wealth, and he knew what wealth could do to people. But Eden wasn’t nothing like that. She was independent, she wanted to do things her own way, and she had ambitions and aspirations.
“No, my father forced me to do the classes. It must have been because of the increased danger he was facing, but I didn’t know that at the time. I hate guns.” She shrugged. “Because of my mother, you know. But I think she would have liked the idea of the self-defense studio.”
“She sounds like the type of person who would,” Notus said. “May the Oracles look after her spirit.”
The air was pierced by three loud beeps, and Notus put his hands on his ears to protect them. Eden was turning her head from side to side, looking confused, her mouth moving.
“What was that?” she said when Notus took his hands off his ears.
“I think it was your washing machine,” Notus said, chuckling.
“Oh!” she said, her eyes widening. “I think you’re right!” She jumped out of the sofa and headed for the kitchen.
Notus smiled to himself. She was so cute. He’d never come across anyone else who was so rational and grownup in some areas and so confused and helpless in others. It was very endearing. Even he, a dragon, who’d seen a washing machine for the first time about six months ago, had learned enough about these appliances to know they made such sounds.
“Oh, no.” Eden’s voice came from the kitchen.
“What is it?” He leapt to his feet and rushed over.
Eden was holding a baby-sized, multicolor T-shirt in her hands and blinking at it, her eyes full of bewilderment.
“Whose is that?” Notus asked. Who would buy such a horrible thing for their child? The colors looked absolutely despicable, all runny and in an ugly combination of green, pink, purple, and blue.
“It’s mine,” Eden said, redness creeping up her neck.
It took Notus a second to understand. “Oh. Were you very fond of these items?” The washing machine cycle must have been too hot, making the colors run, and shrinking Eden’s clothes.
“I’m such a klutz,” Eden said, looking at the shrunken T-shirt with puppy eyes. “I can’t get a single thing right.”
“Eden, that’s not true!” Notus exclaimed. “And it’s just clothing, so who cares. These things happen all the time. To everyone.”
“No, they don’t,” Eden said. “I always screw things up!”
“No, you don’t. You’ve started a business that your father had pushed onto you and you’ve turned it into a success; you’ve lived with many restrictions because of your father’s job, and with an overly critical parent, and you’ve become a strong and independent person nevertheless, with your own aspirations for the future. You have to be very proud of yourself.”
Raising her eyes to meet his, Eden threw her arms around Notus’s neck and hugged him. “Thank you,” she said. Her warm breath tickled his neck and sent ripples through his scales. She didn’t pull back and the continued pressure of her chest on his sparked a fire deep inside him, kindling flames of desire, arousal, and something deeper, blurring his vision, obscuring his thoughts.
He put his hand on the small of her back and pulled her even closer. His pulse pounded all through his body and before he could stop himself, he drew her into a kiss. She let out a small sigh, and her heart beat against his ribcage as their breaths became one. Her tongue slid into his mouth so sweetly, brushing and circling around his, agile and intense, hungry for his touch.
He picked up the scent of her arousal, floral and heady, and his desire burned more strongly, pushing him beyond the bounds of self-control. His hands moved erratically all over her body, wild, uncontrollable, insatiable, as he caressed her hair, ass, waist, her neck, her breasts. The passion was growing inside him, forcing the air out of his lungs. He pulled his mouth from hers, panting for breath, then planted hungry kisses down the side of her face, her neck, her shoulders.
Under his T-shirt, her hands moved along his back, her nails scratching his skin, sending violent ripples of pleasure across his whole body. He ripped open her shirt, took off her bra, and gazed at her lovely, round breasts, before he drew her left nipple in his mouth, causing a wild moan to escape her lips, the raw sound of her arousal almost pushing him over the edge.
Eden tilted her head back and continued to moan as he licked and sucked her nipples, one after the other. She put her hand on his crotch, and her touch made his cock surge, tenting the thick fabric of his jeans. He wanted this woman so badly. He was as hard as a rock with his raging need for her. He wanted to taste her, to move inside her, to feel the desire expand her lungs as she took him inside. He wanted to pleasure her while she moaned in his ear. She unbuttoned his jeans, slid her hand in his boxers, and took his shaft in her hand, and he roared at the sensation of her skin on his cock. He was close to exploding, too close. And it wasn’t right.
“Eden—” he whispered in her ear, panting. “I can’t do that,” he said, pulling away from her. “I want to. I want you. Badly. But you’re my client, and I can’t get involved with you. I need to protect you, and I need all the concentration and focus I can get in order to do that.”
He took her shirt from the floor, wrapped it around her shoulders, buttoned his jeans up, and walked slowly toward the guest bedroom. He needed a cold shower, right now.
Chapter 9
Eden
They spent the afternoon avoiding each other. Eden chatted on the phone to Martine, and then to Jodi, who was feeling better and enjoying her new flat. She promised to visit as soon as things normalized.
Notus had been holed up in the guest bedroom for a long while after their kiss. She’d heard the shower first, and then his guitar, which he’d played for a while. Then they’d gone to get Reuben sandwiches for a late lunch, not saying much on the way, which, Eden discovered, hadn’t been as awkward as she’d expected.
After that, Notus ha
d spent some more time in the guest bedroom, speaking on the phone for a while, and doing who knew what during the rest of the time.
Later in the afternoon, Eden was sitting on the sofa, laptop on her lap, researching self-defense businesses and informing herself of the competition and latest trends, when Notus strolled into the living room, hands in his pockets.
“Eurus called.” His face was bathed in the warm afternoon light, making him look almost soft. “The moron who tried to kidnap you yesterday is just some druggie. He doesn’t know a thing about the Russians. He has no idea who hired him. A man whose voice he’d never heard before had called him from an anonymous number on Sunday and offered him a fat sum of money to do what he did. He wasn’t the sharpest of witnesses, but he did say he could have had a Russian accent. They called him about half an hour before he tried to kidnap you, describing Eurus to him and instructing him to wait until Eurus left before he abducted you. So they must have staged the accident with the child. They’d paid him half the money in cash by a drop-off at a random location, so he’d never seen any of them. He’s got no idea who they are or how to contact them.”
Eden closed her laptop and put it on the coffee table, before slumping against the sofa cushions. “That sucks,” she said.
“Don’t be discouraged,” he said in a caring voice. “We’d fully expected that. These Russians we’re dealing with are professionals, and we were pretty sure they would have covered their tracks. But we’ve been making good progress.”
“You have?” Eden asked. When her mother died, the idea of living the rest of her life without her mom had been so incomprehensible to Eden that she’d imagined for months, even years, that her mum was still alive. On a vacation; on a work trip; leaving home before Eden had woken up and coming back after she’d gone to bed; too busy to call; somewhere, anywhere—but still alive. And a part of her had been doing the same since her father got kidnapped—imagining that he was just busy with his work. The thought that something might happen to him knotted her guts up so badly that she was almost retching.
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