“This just ain’t fair,” Horus muttered. “Wait a minute, we’re sharing a room? This is an eight-hour flight!”
At their departure, the guys all looked at Sung. Under the intense scrutiny, he smiled, looking more like his sweet self.
“What?” he said.
Elias raised his brows. “Are you kidding?”
Sung flipped the heavy barbell back and forth between his hands as if it was a twig. “He insulted Harper. Plus, you mentioned the ancestors. I could not let the challenge go unanswered.”
Elias laughed. “Yeah, but I didn’t think you’d go that far.”
“Trying to get us all killed. Bloody brilliant.” Thomas shook his head. But as he took a sip of tea, a smile hinted over his lips.
“That is a dangerous game you played,” Xander said, his tone serious. Then a low laugh rumbled his chest. “And I loved every minute of it.” He used the tip of the knife to flick an olive high in the air.
Sung caught it in his mouth then spun a quick circle and finished with a gyrating hip thrust. “Yeah, baby!”
Even Sasha smiled and gave Sung a high-five.
I wasn’t sure exactly what all had just happened, but they all seemed to enjoy the joke.
“Who are they?” I asked. Other than scary.
Sung shrugged. “If you really don’t remember, it’s better that way.”
“Plausible deniability,” Thomas added.
Elias looked around at the group. “So we aren’t scrapping the mission?”
Sasha appeared to give it some thought, then said, “We can discuss it more after we eat, yes?”
We all gave an enthusiastic, “Yes!”
Sasha turned to me. “You agree?”
I lifted a shoulder. “Don’t I always?”
Sasha gave me a dubious look. “For the last five seconds? Yes. I can only hope it will last.”
As they started to work on the meal, I asked, “Can I help?”
After a beat of silence, they all laughed.
“And now she tells jokes.” Xander grinned and blew me a kiss. “I love it!”
Apparently Harper wasn’t the domestic type.
So I watched. Sasha and Elias set the table while Xander and Thomas cooked. Sung actually just linked the plane’s stereo system to his phone and played music. When the rest of the guys complained, he ignored them, and proceeded to dance around and act as the self-appointed taste tester despite Xander and Thomas constantly whacking him with whatever utensil they held. But it was all in good-natured fun.
Their boisterous jokes and laughter filled the space with a sense of joy and friendship as the five of them put on a most an entertaining event. While I knew I wasn’t really part of it, I laughed too, allowing myself to enjoy the “dinner show.”
Aromas I hadn’t been able to appreciate for so long lingered in the air. I envied Harper, no doubt about it. Her and these five men had something special.
Then something nagged at my brain.
Five.
Plus Harper made six. I know. Amazing math skills, right? The problem was that Mandatum teams were made up of seven. Always seven hunters. Always. I’d dealt with enough of them to know. While I wasn’t crazy about another hunter to deal with, for us to succeed, we could use all the help we could get.
“Hang on, where’s the other guy?” I asked.
“Other guy?” Sung asked. He dropped his head, letting his hair flop down over his eyes, and gave me a seductive pout. “Are we all not enough man for you?”
Xander smirked. “Maybe the rest of you aren’t, but I certainly am.”
“Oh, please,” Elias said. “I didn’t see her ripping off your jeans, right Harper?”
“You were unconscious,” Thomas said. “She hardly had any expectations of passion.”
“Which would be true even if he was awake!” Xander laughed.
All the rest joined in. Except Elias who pointed a finger at Xander. A gust of air swept the Greek’s hair from his ponytail, letting his dark waves loose to fall around his handsome face.
“Careful, my friend,” Xander warned Elias. “Remember that I am the one preparing your food.”
“Try it,” Elias said. “And with my dying breath, I will eject you out of this plane.”
“Fair enough,” Xander conceded.
Sasha grabbed glasses from a cabinet. “Who are you talking about, Harper?”
“Our other teammate,” I said.
All the guys paused.
Even Sung stopped dancing.
“You don’t remember?” Elias said.
Xander resumed stirring something in a pot on the stove. “You mean Henry?”
So it was a guy. Again. Lucky Harper. He was probably gorgeous too. I rubbed my temple. “Right, Henry. Jeez, my memory is really bad. I’m sorry.”
“Not a problem,” Sasha said, tossing down the napkins he was holding. “We sent him ahead to New York when Xander and I got the lead. Maybe we forgot to tell you. And you know what else we forgot? Come. It is time.” He took my wrist, lifted me to my feet, and led me down the hall.
As I passed Thomas, he smiled and handed me a cup of tea. “No vodka here, but this might help.”
The liquid sloshed over the rim since Sasha seemed hell bent on dragging me away.
17
Down the hallway, Sasha opened the first door and led me into a bedroom and locked the door. Keeping hold of my wrist, he flicked on a light switch then pulled me into a bathroom with lots of marble and an impressive glass shower.
Then he put his hands on my waist, lifted me onto the countertop, and started to unbutton my shirt. Well, Sung’s shirt.
I stiffened and caught his hands. “What are you doing?”
He looked me in the eyes, his gaze penetrating. “Checking your wound before we take a shower. The dressing can probably come off first, but I need to check.”
“Oh, well.” I cleared my throat. “Sure. But I can do that and…Wait. We take a shower?”
“Of course,” he said, brushing my hands away and continuing with the buttons. “Like we always do.” He leaned in close and raised a brow, an inviting smile on those full lips. “You haven’t forgotten that, have you?”
Oh, boy. This was an interesting turn of events. “No, um, it’s just that, um…”
“You want to get this taken care of first.” He sighed. “I suppose you are right.”
He finished undoing the last button and slowly slid the shirt off my shoulders. His touch lingered. Taking off the bandage seemed to take a very long time, his fingers working soft but diligently. It was an incredible thing. So long without the contact with another, contact that didn’t bring pain. Goosebumps raised over my skin. Heat radiated from him. My breath became shallow.
I kept my eyes averted. Tried to remain calm. But when he had the bandage completely removed, Sasha trailed an index finger around the wound and I nearly jumped out of my skin.
“Does it hurt?” Sasha asked.
I licked my lips. “No,” I managed to say despite the shortness of breath. Not even close. Torture perhaps, but a delicious one.
“Good,” he said, satisfaction in his voice.
His finger kept circling the injury on my shoulder. I gripped the edge of the countertop to keep my hands from touching him. Because they wanted to.
“I was also curious.” He slid the back of his hand down, grazing every so softly over the curve of my breast. “As to what this was.”
The tips of his fingers slipped under the edge of my bra and kept going.
I froze. He wondered what my breast was? Well, fine. Explore away. This was an interesting turn of events, but certainly not one I found unappealing. In fact, it was downright getting me hot and pleasantly bothered.
His hand stopped and a moment later, his fingers came out holding something that I hadn’t even noticed was in there. He held it up. “Any thoughts?”
It took me a minute to focus since I had more sensuous ideas on my mind. The item he held had a
wristband with a one-inch square digital face which was black and had buttons around the edge.
“A watch?” I said.
“Possibly. I felt it earlier when I was tending to your wounds.” He pushed a button on the side. The digital face lit up. “But it seems more than a watch. A computer of some sort. You don’t remember?”
I shook my head.
“Elias said Culus was searching you for something. Could this be it?”
“I don’t know.” Which was true. But I didn’t much care, because what I did know, was that with his body so close to mine my blood pulsed harder. The watch or computer gizmo could wait.
As if reading my mind, he set it on the countertop.
“We’ll figure that out later. For now, let us focus on what you do remember. Or rather…” His grey eyes turned dark and sultry. “What you should remember.”
His fingers lightly touched underneath my chin and lifted my face. He dropped this head and brought his lips toward mine.
I felt his breath, so close and warm. My body readied for the contact. This was different from Xander who had surprised me with the kiss. This time I could stop it. But what would Harper do? And did I want to stop it?
With my heart racing, and heat rising within me, it didn’t seem like I was in any way adverse to the idea. I had nothing to lose and so much to gain. My hormones screamed to take full advantage. To hell with whether or not Harper wanted him. I wanted him. To feel a man in my arms, his loving caress.
I slid one hand up his chest, over the soft sweater, and cupped the back of his neck. I opened my knees. He moved into me. His hands slipping onto my waist and he pulled me close. My thighs tingled, muscles tightening.
His head dipped.
A sliver away from contact, he paused.
“Are you all right?” he whispered, his clear grey eyes, warm and inviting, searched mine.
“Oh, yes,” I practically purred.
“And you want me to kiss you?”
I wrapped both arms around his neck. “Is that so much to ask?”
“Not at all,” he said. “Just one question.”
He used one hand to brush my hair back and kissed a sensitive spot just below my lobe. I shivered. He trailed kisses down my neck, pausing to suckle my skin.
I swallowed and let my head fall back. “What question?”
“Nothing too important.” His words reverberated against my skin. “I’m just wondering…Who the hell are you?”
It took me a second. Then my head came up. The warmth in his eyes dissipated. Artic once again as they bore into me.
“What do you mean?” I asked and tried to push away.
He tightened his hold. “I mean you’ve been lying to us.”
Oh. Crap. How had he figured it out? “I don’t understand.”
“That’s the problem.” He kept those huge arms around me in a vise, pulled me off the countertop and turned me around so my back was pressed against his unyielding body. We faced the mirror. “You look like Harper. You sound like Harper. But you sure as hell don’t act like Harper. Or remember.”
“Remember what?”
He smirked. “Nice try.”
He glanced at the back of my head, the blood still smeared on parts of my neck, chest and that ugly white bra. His eyes traveled over my body, pausing on the vague shadows of bruising still visible over parts of my ribs and torso. The anger in his expression softened, but only slightly.
He let go of me and stepped back, rubbing a hand over his short hair.
“Get your damn shower,” he growled. “And get the rest of what’s left of your head together, then we’re going to have a serious talk.”
“But—” I started to protest.
“No!” he snapped. “No more games. No excuses. Or trying to distract me with…” He motioned toward my body. “All that.”
“All what?”
His anger came back in full force. “Seriously?” He breathed deep, pointed to the shower, said a curt, “Make it quick,” and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Gosh. That went well.
18
I was anxious for that shower for a couple of reasons. As a demon I’d never had one. I just oozed gross smelling puss, so what was the point.
A shower seemed like a luxury I didn’t want to pass up. And, probably more importantly, well, definitely more importantly, it bought me time.
Not that I had a plan on how to deal with their questions. I wasn’t even sure what they suspected. I paced. Wrung my hands. The more I thought about it, the more frightened I became. Pain throbbed behind my eyes. I hoped the shower would help distract me, but my anxiety heightened and the pain grew with each piece of clothing I stripped off. Shoes, socks, bra, pants, underwear, which was also boring, plain, white and shapeless.
I threw the stupid underwear down. “Come on Harper, what is wrong with you?”
My demon form had been an ugly lump of a thing, but Harper was another story and she obviously didn’t appreciate it.
I stared in the mirror, turning this way and that, admiring my naked body, running my hands over every inch. It was in great shape. Curvy and nicely toned head to toe from what had to be a fantastic workout routine. Elias was so right about the boobs. Perky. Well proportioned. And that ass? Excellent. I gave it a slap in appreciation.
“Whatever it is, Harper, you are doing something right.”
Now if I could just figure out the right thing to do.
Moments later, I didn’t have any answers, but the shower felt wonderful. It took a couple of tries to clear my hair of the matted blood, but it was clean now. I let the conditioner work, enjoying the lovely floral scent that lingered in the steam, but as I readied to soap myself up, ridding myself of dried blood, sweat, and caked on dirt from being crushed in the park, my worries returned.
And so did the headache.
Something tickled under my nose. I wiped at it and my fingers came away red. I saw drops of blood on the floor. Water diluted it as it went down the drain. I felt dizzy, my knees suddenly weak. My back thumped into the wall. I let myself slide down to a sitting position and hugged my knees.
The door opened. “What the hell?”
Sasha stared.
“I’m fine,” I said, sniffling because tears threatened. I wiped at the blood under my nose. “I’m almost done, then you can interrogate me to your heart’s content.”
“You are incredible.” He didn’t make it sound like a compliment. Then he ripped the sweater off over his head, strode to the shower, and stepped in.
19
“Can you stand?” Sasha asked, looming over me. His huge body blocked the spray off me but water streamed down his broad shoulders and bare chest. Water dripped off his long lashes.
“What do you care?” I snapped on the verge of tears.
“Oh, for God’s sake. Come on.” He reached down.
I swatted his hand away. “I’m really not in the mood for whatever…showering activities you had in mind.”
“Sex?” He shook his head. “I think I can control myself. Besides I’ve seen you naked before. Now quit being such a pain.”
He lifted me to my feet, then wrapped one arm around my waist. My breasts pressed against his bare skin. He put me under the water and gently rinsed the conditioner from my hair. I let my cheek rest on his shoulder as my anxiety faded and the headache eased.
He held me with strength and assurance. A comforting feeling flooded through me. I wasn’t in danger. At least not now. At this moment I was being cared for and…loved? Was that what I was feeling? I wasn’t sure. It had been so long. I didn’t want to overthink it. Thinking gave me a headache. So I let it go and just let myself enjoy.
Finished with my hair, Sasha took the soap and lathered me up. His hands moved slowly, meticulously washing away the grime from every inch and crevice of my body. He knew what he was doing. Understood the terrain, so to speak. The thought made me smile. And with the glorious absence of pain or imm
inent fear, my body responded.
My nipples hardened. Heat coiled in my belly. I turned and reached my arms around his neck. I arched my back. My hips pressed into his. His belt buckle dug into my stomach, but I didn’t care. I pressed soft kisses to his chest and neck.
His palm slid down my slippery skin, over my shoulder, the side of breast, then into the curve of my waist and over my hip. After a brief pause, it moved down to the back of my thigh and lingered with small circular strokes. My stomach clenched.
I ran the tips of my fingers down his hard chest, over the contours of his abs. Then lower to the waistband of his jeans.
But his hand on my thigh released and he caught my wrist. “We’re done.”
Done? Seemed like we were just getting started. I twined my arms back around his neck, but he pulled them off and stepped out, his jeans dripping puddles as he walked across the floor and grabbed a towel. He pulled me out of the shower and wrapped it around me. Then he buffed it roughly against my skin to dry me off, seeming annoyed.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He stood and looked down at me, nothing kind in his expression. “That’s what you’re going to tell us. And no more God damn distractions.”
“You mean the distraction that just happened in there?” I pointed to the shower. “You certainly seemed to like it.”
His nostrils flared. “What I’d really like is the truth. And that,” he gestured toward the shower, “was nothing.”
Well, that hurt. And humiliated. What an ass.
He looked around, glanced at my dirty clothes, then tossed me his sweater. “Here. Put this on.”
“Screw that,” I told him and dropped the towel. “And screw you.”
“What are you doing?”
“You’ve seen me naked before.” I spread my arms wide. “Even felt me naked, so what’s the big deal? I don’t want your clothes. I’ll get my own.” My own ugly clothes but I wasn’t going to wear his stupid sweater. Jerk. I stalked to the door.
Realms and Rebels: A Paranormal and Fantasy Reverse Harem Collection Page 183