“Cold?” she asked.
He shook his hair out of his eyes. “No. It’s perfect.” Darius swam to the end, then started doing laps.
Brisa followed him with her gaze. His muscular shoulders and arms flexed with each stroke he made. She sighed to herself. She was falling for Darius, and it was something she never expected to happen so fast. She had her share of infatuations, been in lust with more than a couple of men, but not like what she felt right now for the man in the pool.
She knew she wasn’t doing herself any favors by letting her feelings get too involved in a start of a relationship, but knowing and doing were two different things. And she wouldn’t be telling Darius how she felt about him, either. Not right now, at least. She didn’t know him well enough yet to know if he was the type of guy who wouldn’t run for the hills when a woman told him how she truly felt about him.
No, she was better off keeping that knowledge to herself. Brisa would just have to watch that she didn’t get her heart broken if she and Darius didn’t work out. For now, she’d enjoy just being with him.
Darius hauled himself out of the pool and jumped into the hot tub. Before she knew what he intended, he scooped her up in his arms and got out of the warm water. Brisa struggled when he headed back to the pool.
“Don’t you dare,” she said in her sternest tone.
“You mean this?”
He took a few running steps and jumped into the pool. Brisa held her breath as they went under, then kicked away from Darius. She came up screaming like a banshee.
“That’s fricking cold,” she yelled.
Darius bellowed with laughter. “You look pretty hot when you’re angry.”
Using her palm, Brisa sent a wave of water in his face. He sent an even bigger one, making her sputter when she ended up with a mouthful. That started a water fight, which ended with Brisa surrendering and feeling as if she’d swallowed half the water in the pool.
Back in the warmer water, she watched Darius climb in beside her. He pulled her close and kissed her slow and tender. Goose bumps rose on her skin, and not from being cold.
Once he lifted his head, he said, “Thanks.”
“For what?”
“For giving me a chance to let loose and have some fun. My life hasn’t given me that opportunity in a very long time. I’d almost forgotten what it was like to not be so serious.”
Brisa put her arms around Darius. “I’m glad I can give it to you, even though it was at my expense. You do realize that now I’ll have to think of something to get you back for dumping me in the pool?”
“I guess that means I should keep an eye on you then.”
He gave her a grin that did warm things to her body. Yup, she was in trouble. It wouldn’t take much for Darius to worm his way into her heart, and once there, she’d want to keep him forever.
Darius sat across from Brisa at the restaurant they’d picked to have dinner. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had such an enjoyable day. Most of it stemmed from the woman who was coming to mean more to him than she should.
Since pledging himself to the god of the underworld, he’d only thought about the job he did for Anubis. Darius had never thought about doing anything beyond that. He realized now he’d basically been living half a life. He may be immortal, but that didn’t mean he had to keep himself distanced from mortals. Brisa had shown him that.
“So what do you want to do for the rest of the weekend?” Brisa asked. Their waitress had already taken their orders and they were just waiting for the food to arrive.
Darius reached across the table and captured her hand in his. “Get you naked in my bed and not let you out until Monday.” Brisa licked her lips, reminding him of what it felt like to have them wrapped around his cock. It jerked, pressing up against the zipper of his jeans.
“I’m sure that can be arranged,” she said, her voice tinged with a seductive huskiness.
He sucked in a big gulp of air and smelled the scent of Brisa’s arousal. His cock went hard. One sniff and he was raring to go. She enticed him like no other. The longer he spent with her, making love to her or just talking, he felt as if he never wanted to let her go. Even though they’d only known each other for a couple of days, he felt as if Brisa had been a part of his life for much longer.
“Does that mean you’d be willing to get our food for takeout instead?” he asked.
Brisa shook her head. “No way. I’m starving. You promised a meal out at a nice restaurant, and I’m holding you to it.”
As if on cue, the waitress returned with their orders. Wearing a smile, Brisa picked up her fork and dug into her food with gusto. Darius settled for watching her eat. Even though she wasn’t doing anything overtly sexy, she was still turning him on. His gaze followed her tongue as she licked the melted butter off her fingers after dipping the crab she’d ordered into it. He got so caught up in Brisa, he ate without really tasting anything. The throbbing in his cock—and the person who caused it to be in that condition—demanded too much of his attention.
Brisa held out a bit of her food. “Would you like some crab? It’s really good.”
Drawn to her like a moth to a flame, Darius leaned forward over the table. He opened his mouth for the morsel she offered. She placed it on his tongue. He closed his lips around Brisa’s fingers before she could pull away and licked each one thoroughly clean, then released her.
He didn’t miss how much faster she breathed. Her cheeks had a splash of color on them that hadn’t been there a few seconds ago. And her scent had become more potent, telling him he’d gotten to her.
“Feed me something off your plate,” Brisa said.
Darius selected a plump shrimp, using his fingers instead of his fork. It had been cooked in lemon butter, so he ran it through the extra sauce before he picked it up. Brisa leaned forward as he’d done and opened her mouth. Instead of waiting for him to give it to her, she took it from him, closing her lips around his digits.
He had to hold back the moan of pleasure that threatened to break free when she pushed the shrimp to the side of her mouth, then sucked and licked his skin. She pulled back, scraping her teeth along his fingers. Too much more of that and he’d be making a mess in his jeans. Something he hadn’t done since he was a young teenager.
“Give me another one,” Brisa said after finishing the mouthful, her eyes taking on a slumberous look.
He shook his head and cleared his throat. “If I do, you’ll find yourself dragged outside, put up against the nearest wall away from prying eyes and have me between your thighs before you know what hit you.”
“Oh my,” she breathed and waved a hand in front of her face. “Did it just suddenly get very hot in here?”
It had, at least between him and Brisa. Darius was surprised not to see waves of heat rolling off them. Passion had flared to life in an instant, growing more intense by the second. He needed to get her out of the restaurant. His hunger for her was outdoing his need for food.
“I suggest we hurry up and finish our meals,” Darius said. “Then we can have our own dessert back at my place, which doesn’t necessarily have food involved.”
“Then what are you waiting for? Stop talking and eat.” Brisa attacked her plate, eating at a faster pace than she had before.
The bill paid and the waitressed tipped, Darius walked Brisa out of the restaurant. It was now evening, the sky just starting to darken. They were halfway to his car—he’d managed to have the window fixed on the way to the restaurant, since Brisa refused to ride on his motorcycle—when he felt it, the familiar pull on him. Given how he wasn’t on the verge of a shift coming on, he figured the evil he sensed wasn’t in the middle of a criminal act. But that didn’t mean he could just drive away with Brisa and ignore it. Once an evildoer had been sensed he physically couldn’t walk away until he’d dealt with the individual.