“Escape?” Marcus asked with surprise. “Why would she want to escape? I’m her life mate.”
“I don’t think she knows that yet,” Vincent said thoughtfully.
“Well then maybe it’s time I helped her with that,” Marcus muttered.
“You’ll have to help her with more than that,” he said solemnly, and when Marcus glanced to him in question, added, “She has no idea what nanos are or how they work. She really didn’t know they were man-made by scientists back in Atlantis.”
“What?” Marcus peered at him with surprise. “How could she not know something like that?”
Vincent shook his head. “I’m not sure. I guess you’ll have to ask her to find out.”
Marcus frowned and turned to peer at Divine. She was confident, caring, beautiful to him, and seemed so savvy on so many subjects that it was hard to believe she didn’t know what were basically the immortal facts of life. He hoped that she at least knew what the symptoms of immortals finding their life mates were. That thought made him ask, “Do you think she knows about life mates?”
The question obviously surprised Vincent and he blinked twice before saying, “For your sake, I hope so.”
Divine saw Marcus give her the thumbs-up in the rearview mirror, brought the RV to a full halt, and then slipped it into park and turned off the engine. Much to her surprise he’d suggested that perhaps she should be the one who parked the RV in the tight space left over once Vincent had parked the other RV. She’d been surprised because most men seemed to prefer to take the wheel when it came to driving. Apparently, Marcus wasn’t most men. He’d merely shrugged at her surprise and pointed out that he’d never driven an RV before while she had years of experience at it. She seemed the better choice for the job. Divine found she had a great deal of respect for him for that and was a bit ashamed that she hadn’t admitted her own lack of knowledge when it came to the origins of nanos.
Marcus didn’t mind admitting she knew or had more experience and skill than he did at something. Yet she’d been too embarrassed to do the same.
Ah well, Divine thought as she opened her door to get out. No one was perfect.
“Nice job,” Marcus complimented, meeting her halfway up the side of the RV.
“Thanks,” Divine murmured and went to move past him, but he caught her arm to stop her. Pausing, she raised her eyebrows. “What?”
“I wanted to ask you a couple of questions,” Marcus said quietly.
Divine hesitated, but then forced herself to at least appear relaxed and nodded slowly. “Okay.”
Marcus took a breath, considered her briefly and then asked, “Do you know about life mates?”
Divine tilted her head a little surprised by the question. “Of course.” She smiled faintly and admitted, “A visiting cousin and I used to play at being life mates when I was eleven. She was always the girl,” she added dryly and shrugged. “Don’t all immortal children chatter and dream about finding their life mate one day?”
“What do you know about them?” he pressed.
Divine shrugged. “They are an immortal’s one true mate, the one who can’t read or control them and whom they can’t read or control. They bond for life.”
“Do you know the symptoms of finding a life mate?”
She frowned now. “Why are you asking me this?”
“Because I’m 2,548 years old,” Marcus announced. “And I can’t read you.”
Divine blinked. He was old . . . but she was older. His not being able to read her, therefore, was no great surprise. However, as the older one, she should have been able to read him . . . and couldn’t. She hadn’t enjoyed any of the other symptoms of meeting a life mate though, at least not that she’d noticed. She wasn’t hungering for food, but then she hadn’t really been around any unless you counted the canned and boxed goods in Vincent and Jackie’s pantry.
“And neither Jackie nor Vincent should be able to read me, but they can for the first time since I’ve known them,” Marcus added solemnly, and then pointed out, “The inability to block younger immortals from reading your thoughts is another symptom of finding a life mate.”
Divine swallowed, her mind beginning to whirl.
“And,” he added, “while I can’t read you, Jackie and Vincent can.”
Divine actually felt the blood leave her face as this news struck her. This was . . . Cripes, Vincent and Jackie could read her? Two babies like them? Impossible. But if they could . . . Was Marcus her . . . ?
What had they read? She worried, suddenly. What did they know? Was all of this true? Was Marcus her life mate? She remembered the sensations that she got whenever their bodies touched, brushed, or accidentally rubbed together and had to shake her head. She couldn’t handle that just then. She couldn’t handle Marcus being her life mate either. This was some cosmic joke. One of Lucian’s spies her life mate?
Dear God, Divine thought with dismay and then her mind circled back around to wondering what Vincent and Jackie had read in her thoughts. What did they know? What had she given away?
Marcus was her life mate, her mind screamed, and Divine raised her hands to rub her temples. Her thoughts were too chaotic. She couldn’t deal with all of this right now. Couldn’t even consider him being her life mate. He was Lucian’s spy, for God’s sake, and her son might be in jeopardy from whatever Vincent and Jackie had read in her thoughts.
“Divine?” he asked with concern.
“I have to—” Divine shook her head and tried to move past him, but was so shaken up she stumbled over her own feet and would have fallen if he hadn’t caught her arm. Marcus saved her from falling, but her momentum swung her around and she slammed up against his chest with a surprised gasp. Swallowing, she stared at his chest briefly, but then closed her eyes as his scent wafted up to her nose. His scent was definitely male, something woodsy but with a hint of citrus. It was incredibly . . . tempting. She wanted to press her nose into the crook of his neck and just inhale deeply. Instead, she stopped breathing altogether and tried to gather herself to step away.
“Divine?” His voice had dropped, becoming this sexy, husky murmur of sound. That combined with his warm breath brushing her ear made a small groan slip from her lips.
“Did you hurt yourself?” Marcus asked with concern, urging her back slightly to try to see her face. The action pressed their lower bodies tighter together, nestling her groin against his, and Divine bit her lip at the sensation that sent rushing through her. Dear God.
“Divine? What’s wrong? Look at me,” he insisted.
Tipping her head back, Divine reluctantly opened her eyes and then simply stared. His eyes were a black glowing with silver streaks through it. They were fascinating, hypnotic. In fact, they so had her attention she didn’t notice that they were moving closer until a heartbeat before his lips covered hers. Divine had that heartbeat to pull away, and should have, but instead she hesitated and that was her undoing. Once his mouth brushed over hers she was lost.
Fourteen
It started with a tingling that erupted where their lips met, like a sparkler spitting out little flames of heat. Then Marcus’s arms slid around her back, pulling her closer, and his mouth opened over hers and the night exploded inside Divine’s head. That was the only way to describe it; heat and light and color all seemed to explode behind her eyes, and fire licked up her body as his tongue slid out to spread her lips and plunge between them.
At first they clung to each other as if each were the other’s lifeline in a stormy sea, but then Divine was left to cling to him alone as his hands began to move. Anywhere Marcus’s fingers roamed, her body burst into flame . . . and his hands were everywhere, moving with a swiftness that was almost dizzying, as if he wanted to ensure she had all the necessary parts, or he wanted to touch all of her at once.