“Marcus?” she asked, blinking up at him. “Something wrong?”
“Only that I’m leaving you naked in bed, alone,” he muttered. “I’ll go shower, unless you want to go first?”
She shook her head and he grimaced.
She laughed. “Age before beauty, I always say.”
“Intelligent, sexy and funny. There’s no end to your many talents is there?” A towel suddenly shot out of the bathroom and smacked him in the head.
“You forgot unmanageable,” she quipped, and he rolled his eyes at her grin before turning to the bathroom with the wayward towel.
Tessa couldn’t help her own sigh as she snuggled into his soft, satin sheets. Trust Marcus to sleep in luxury, she thought with a huge grin. Much as she wanted to lament her decision to sleep with him, she couldn’t, in all honesty, regret exploring the chemistry between them.
She had never, in her entire life, felt such extreme pleasure from another’s touch. And despite his reputation, she had a feeling that for Marcus it was the same. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she could almost sense a hint of unease in ‘Cool Blue’, a fact contrary to everything she knew about the arrogant, larger-than-life playboy.
Her face flamed. ‘Larger-than-life’ definitely applied to his physique. Whew! Both the size of his ship and the motion in his ocean scored a perfect ten.
A small laugh left her when she thought about how scattered her normally organised life had become. She’d given in to her desires and slept with Marcus Storm, the office bad boy, and didn’t feel the slightest bit guilty about it. Not to mention she’d seen true evil, been face to face with it, and right now couldn’t care less.
A hazy sense of disquiet tried to pass but couldn’t penetrate the sexual fulfilment encasing her from head to toe. Who knew hot sex could feel so liberating?
Suddenly aware that the shower had stopped some time ago, Tessa pushed the covers down to her hip, leant on her elbow and glanced towards the partially closed bathroom door, hoping for another glimpse of Marcus’ mouthwatering nudity.
“Hello there,” he said in a deep voice, full of male speculation, from the other side of the room.
Startled since she hadn’t seen him exit the bathroom and dress, she took a moment to get her breath back and rolled to face him. He wore strange clothes, a scarlet-belted overshirt over black silk trousers tucked into black boots.
She grinned, pleased when his eyes settled over her breasts. “Like what you see?”
“You have no idea,” he murmured, his eyes flashing from silver to black in a heartbeat.
She licked her lips and saw him swallow. Excitement flared. Maybe they could postpone returning to the world a little longer. Yet, the longer she looked at him, the more something bothered her about his reaction. He seemed aroused, but at the same time, different?
“What’s with your eyes?” she asked, noticing the discrepancy for the first time. Maybe the whole magic slash sex thing had turned his eyes from blue to grey. Hell, she’d seen stranger things in her lifetime. “I thought they were blue.”
“They are,” came an extremely annoyed voice from behind her.
Chapter Five
“Sorry,” preceded a soft whisper of sound as Aerolus teleported from the room.
“It’s about time you returned. What did Arim have to say?” Cadmus badgered as Aerolus met him in the living room.
Still trying to calm his surging hormones, Aerolus thought it best not to say anything about what he’d just seen. All he needed was Cadmus teasing him about Marcus’ woman in front of Marcus to start a full-out war.
Their now-absent brother, Darius, the resident firewalker, had a short temper, the Royal Four’s renowned hothead—literally. But at least with Darius you knew to avoid the fireball sure to come your way.
With Marcus, retaliation might not come for days or even weeks. Cool and self-possessed, the River Prince’s cutting arrogance would not allow him to fly off the handle. No, Marcus preferred guerrilla tactics that would do the Djinn proud.
Aerolus shook his head, not wanting to deal with an internal problem when he had so many other issues to worry about.
“Hello, Aerolus?” Cadmus snapped his fingers. “I think you need to lay off the sorcery for a while, windboy. Your brain’s been fried.”
Cadmus had a real knack for picking up local idioms. Unfortunately, he also had a knack for causing undue aggravation.
“I’ll tell you about Arim as soon as Marcus comes down.”
Cadmus grinned. “Speaking of Marcus, I believe he and that gorgeous redhead are well on their way to creating a new Royal Four. I was going to bring them something to eat earlier when I got the distinct impression not to disturb.”
“Really?” Aerolus tried to sound disinterested, but he could feel his face heating. Images of the woman’s lush breasts and sultry features stirred uncomfortable longings he’d been suppressing since he’d taken this new path to sorcery.
“Really,” Cadmus said, sounding as if he’d swallowed a laugh. “So it probably wasn’t a good idea to barge in on them the way you did.”
Shit.
“So what can you tell me?” Cadmus sounded more than interested, and his brown eyes sparkled with mirth. “Is she even half as hot naked as I think she is?”
“Yes, Aerolus, what can you tell us?” Marcus asked in a stiff voice as he left the hallway and entered the living room.
Aerolus took a deep breath and turned to face his brother. Icy blue eyes fairly begged him to give the wrong answer. Despite Marcus’ infallible control, he seemed to be hanging on a precipice of rage.
Not good.
Shrugging and holding his hands up to protest his innocence, Aerolus spoke calmly, not needing any more headaches today. Arim’s news was more than enough to make everyone’s week sour. He didn’t need Marcus adding to the misery.
“All I can say is, I’m sorry. I had no idea she would be sleeping in your room, let alone wearing…” he paused and looked back to see Cadmus hanging on every word. Aerolus frowned, a small hint of emotion he normally kept in check, but Cadmus’ grin only widened. “Suffice it to say I apologise, wholeheartedly. I would never intentionally intrude on your privacy,” he added in a softer voice.
Thankfully, Marcus accepted his explanation as truth, for his hardened expression evened into one of familiar arrogance. “I shouldn’t have jumped to the wrong conclusion.” They both ignored Cadmus’ disappointed mutterings. “Had you been anyone else,” Marcus paused and pointedly looked to Cadmus, “I wouldn’t have believed you.”
“Well, thanks for small favours.” Cadmus huffed and shot Aerolus a pitying glance. “Unlike Saint Aerolus, I have a libido that reacts to a woman like that.” He whistled and looked beyond Marcus. “And speaking of Lady Fine…”
Tessa Sheridan entered the room with eyes as round as saucers. She stared from Marcus to Cadmus to Aerolus, then focused again on Marcus.
“You did tell her you had identical brothers, right?” Cadmus asked innocently, for which he received an icy glare.
“I didn’t have time to mention it before Aerolus burst in this morning,” Marcus said between clenched teeth,
And caught an eyeful, Aerolus mentally added. He could only be thankful that unlike Darius, Marcus couldn’t read minds.
Tessa stared suspiciously from brother to brother, and Aerolus felt simultaneous pity for her obvious shock and curiosity at how she would handle this new information. Darius’ wife had handled the news of four identical brothers in stride, a definite indicator of her potential as his affai. Would Tessa accept the Royal Four and their current predicament so calmly? Could Marcus be so lucky?