Sunscapes Trilogy Book 1: Last Chance
Page 36
He began with a chuckle, but it quickly escalated into full-fledged laughter, a gust of humor born of relief and released tension. Keeping hold of her and still laughing, he rolled until she was the one reclined on him. She was giggling into his chest. His Lady Shadow, giggling.
"Couldn't crawl that far if I wanted to,” he managed after a while through his chuckles. And he wasn't exaggerating—his whole body felt gelid and heavy with satiation, weak and pleasantly exhausted.
She lifted her head, a wicked grin curling her full lips and a brightness in her eyes that warmed him down to his toes. With her dark, tousled hair framing her face and a flush coloring her cheekbones, her beauty was enough to steal his breath.
"We could start at the couch and work our way to the bedroom, as long as Mina—” She paused with a gasp, her eyes widening. “Oh, Suns ... Mina?” she called in a wincing tone. When no one answered, she sagged into his chest with a sigh, eyes sliding closed. “Thank the Stars. She put herself in privacy mode."
That started him laughing again, and after a moment she joined him, though the kisses she planted on his skin between her snickers were distracting. Sliding a hand in her hair, he pulled her face up to his, tasting the smile on her lips with slow relish. When he eased his hold, the smile had changed to something far more sensual, though it was the tender light in her eyes and the gentle brush of her fingers as she traced his face that made his heart stumble.
"Sin,” he murmured, “I hate to tell you this and ruin the mood, but—I'm going to have to kill your brother."
Without hesitation and with a complete lack of loyalty, she said, “No more than he deserves, I'm sure.” Then she tilted her head curiously. “Why?"
"The jackass could have told me why he was firing me."
"Yes, well, Kai does so love his petty revenge—we did give him a bad moment out there. Or maybe he was testing you to see if you'd really leave.” She slipped off him to one side, snuggling against him with a sigh. “But he does approve, you know. He wouldn't have fired you if he didn't."
Del snorted. “Somehow that just sounds so wrong...” Her low laugh did crazy things to him, and he closed his eyes, breathing deeply against a wave of heat. Trying to focus, he continued in a carefully casual tone, “So, what will I be doing, since I'm fired?"
She tensed, making him stiffen with renewed anxiety. He hadn't forgotten that her only answer to his declaration of love was a kiss. He would take her any way he could get her, but the thought that this might be a temporary affair had his heart thumping with dread.
"There is a position I'd like you to take on,” she said with a kind of measured care that sent a chill of disappointment down his spine.
"And that is?” he asked stiffly.
Leaning up on her elbow, she stared into his face with a faint frown, her teeth worrying at her bottom lip. “I was wondering if...” She hesitated, then continued in a lower voice, “Would you be interested in, or have you thought about ... Um, what would you think if—"
"Sin,” he growled, more unnerved by her uncertainty than anything that had happened in the past couple of days.
She sat up abruptly, her expression firming with resolve as she met his gaze with terrifying directness. “I'd like us to be Sun-bonded."
"W-what?” he wheezed, feeling as though he'd just been blindsided by the Tank.
She dropped her eyes, worrying at her lower lip again. “Well, you did say you loved me. But, uh, maybe you're not ready for that kind of commitment—"
"You want to be Bonded?"
"Yes."
"With me."
"Yes,” she said again, flicking him a quick, uncertain glance.
"But you're a Shay."
She snapped her eyes to his with a burgeoning frown. “So?"
"I'm just a nothing Core reject you're trying to fix—"
Her eyes blazed with fire and she planted a hand in the center of his chest, leaning forward with a grim expression. “That's enough of that business, Del Givliani! You are not nothing, and I can't think of a single thing I want fixed. And if you think for a second—"
He didn't let her finish her rant, yanking her against him and rolling so he was once again weighing her down. With a delighted grin, he linked his fingers with hers, trapping her hands above her head. “I get the point,” he said in a low rumble, “but just to clarify, you want to be Bonded with me because?"
"Well, obviously because I love you,” she answered testily.
With a groan, he gave her a fierce, possessive kiss, before lifting his head to growl, “Sun's mercy, woman, I thought you were never gonna tell me."
Her eyes were blazing with a different heat now, but she still managed a frown. “I thought I had."
"I would've noticed, believe me. I think our first Vow ought to be that you say it at least once a day."
"Dictating our Bond already, are we?” she asked with silky menace, but she was slipping her legs around his waist as she spoke, pressing him closer.
He groaned again as her movements sent a wave of pleasure through him, his hardness throbbing against her with rising need. “Damn right,” he growled against her lips. “You might be a Shay, but you're my Shay now."
Her answer needed no words, and his last thought before she drove him mindless with desire was, Hell, who needs a bed?
Epilogue
Griffin watched the displays flying across his viewers with bland attention, sipping his drink with meditative care. Alcohol was not a vice he indulged in often, since it tended to loosen his control, but today had been one of those days. It had been a long time since his empire had felt such a blow, and he was savoring the challenge as much as he was mourning his creation's wounds.
It had been an ... interesting day, full of curious developments, not the least of which was the call from the Shay twins. What were they offering now, these wily offspring of his late adversary? He had no doubt it had been an offer, one that was almost too blatant and obvious. The warning had also been unusual, as it was connected with nothing that he could see.
Musing on the delightful prospect of a new challenge from the strongest of his rivals, he didn't raise his head when the door opened, though he was perfectly aware of his daughter's approach. With quiet grace, she moved to stand at his elbow, her silence gratifying as she waited for his acknowledgement. Taking another sip of his drink, he made her wait, pondering the displays in front of him for a few more minutes.
When he could see no new developments, he sighed, “Yes?"
Without speaking, she leaned forward and placed a box on the desk in front of him, then straightened again.
He felt a frown crease his brow and made a conscious effort to smooth it. Her continued silence was unusual, and he hated surprises, especially hers. “What's this?” he asked, but another look at the box answered his question. “Ah,” he murmured with rising triumph and amusement. “Did she return it after all, then?"
It was the gift box he'd sent to Sinsudee Shay, the message he'd coated in beauty and malice. With a chuckle, he unsealed it and lifted the lid. When he saw what was inside, he burst into laughter, rocking back in his seat with delight. Shards of crystal lay on the blood red velvet, flashing their shattered and flawed message back at him.
"Father, you misunderstand,” his daughter's quiet voice cut through his amusement like a sun flare.
Chuckling now more for effect than in real humor, he glanced at his irritating offspring and lifted a contemptuous eyebrow. “What's not to understand, dear girl? Out of fear and impotence, they destroyed the gift, and blundered enough to send it back to me, so I would see their weakness."
She shook her fire-crowned head and stepped forward, gesturing at the broken pieces and looking at him with her cool, exasperating eyes. “There isn't enough crystal, Father."
"What?” he snapped, this time unable to control the frown that pulled at his brows. Leaning forward, he examined the contents more closely and felt a lurch of alarm.
With soft and fa
tal reason, his daughter pointed out what he'd already seen. “It's not the whole gift. From the shape of the pieces here, it looks as though they've had the vine and thorns removed. I assume that means the Enua flower remains intact."
He straightened with slow care, feeling a tide of fury climb over his momentary alarm. He now knew what their cryptic warning had been about. Felt slighted, did they? Felt ill-used and abused? The insolent brats had no idea how gently he had been treating them. If they were involved in this disruption of his Blue production, he would delight in showing them just how painful life could become.
"I told you it was a mistake."
At his daughter's chilly declaration, Griffin felt his anger surge even higher, demanding retribution. He was happy to oblige, since she had made such a convenient target of herself.
Rising slowly to his feet, he turned to meet her eyes. He could see the knowledge of what was to come in her gray gaze, but he was infuriated to see that there was no accompanying fear. With deceptive gentleness, he reached out and clasped her hand, bringing it forward towards the box. Resting her unresisting hand flat on the shards of crystal, he bore down with malicious slowness, still gazing into her eyes.
"Do tell, daughter,” he whispered. “What wisdom in that vapid brain of yours brings you to this conclusion? What do I have to fear from the Shays?"
She said nothing, and though he could see by the tightening of her features and the tensing of her jaw that she was in pain, her silver stare remained fixed on his, the cool depths uncowed.
Frustrated, but determined not to show it, he gave her a tight, victorious smile and released her.
She took a step back and raised her hand so he could see the shards of vine and thorn embedded in her flesh, trickles of blood staining the crystal crimson and flowing down her wrist.
Then she answered him, with a calm finality that chilled and thrilled him to his core. “What do you have to fear? You've goaded them to war, Father. It's the rise of the Red Sun."
Also by the Author
Michelle O'Leary is the author of two other romantic sci-fi novels: Angels and Ministers of Grace and The Huntress. She writes The Huntress Short Stories. In addition, she is a contributor to Clerestory, a windowed wall and The Insomniac Tales by Chaucer's Women.
Currently, she is at work on completing the Sunscapes Trilogy with Book 2: Here There Be Dragons and Book 3: Dawn of the Red Sun.
michelleoleary.com
dlsijpress.com/oleary
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