“Then we will be spending a great deal of time together,” she snapped as she got to her feet. “Mr. de La Vega, it was a pleasure meeting you. I wish you a safe journey on your travels.”
Miguel had risen to his feet when she stood up. “I hope this is not the last we see of each other, Kass.” He walked over to her and lifted her hand to his lips. She froze, uncertain what he planned to do. Her palm tingled where he’d nipped it before, but this time he pressed a soft kiss to the backs of her knuckles. She felt slightly disappointed when he let her go. Then she berated herself for being foolish.
She turned and jerked to a stop when she came face-to-face with Julien. He’d silently moved behind her while Miguel had kept her attention. “Dinner will be served at seven. Try not to get into trouble between now and then.”
Kass inclined her head but refused to say anything. She stepped past him and out of the door. Once the door slid shut behind her, she took in a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She hadn’t realized how much their presence had affected her until she’d gained some space.
“Try not to get into trouble…” She parroted Julien’s posh tone and warning, and she strode down the hallway. If he thought for one moment that she would remain on this level when her crew was somewhere else on the ship, he truly had gone insane.
Relying on her memory, she navigated her way around a series of corridors until she found what she was looking for, the stairwell to the lower levels. Atlantis was set up like a labyrinth deliberately as a defense against invasion. Only a crew member with intimate knowledge of the layout could successfully navigate, and anyone else would easily lose their way around.
Her hand was on the handle when she paused. This was too easy. He would expect her to defy him right away and head down there. She wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he had a guard on the other side of this door or one waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. She could push the issue right now or bide her time. Her crew would be well taken care of. Julien was a bastard, but he wasn’t completely evil. She stepped away from the door and continued on her way down the hallway.
She’d turned two more corners when she almost ran into one of Julien’s men. She didn’t recognize him. He was built like a black bear and resembled one as well. Broad chested with long black hair and a beard, he lifted his eyebrows as if he hadn’t expected to come across her. “Mrs. Kincaid?”
“Please call me Kass,” she automatically replied. Being referred to as Mrs. Kincaid felt like someone poking a tender bruise on her heart.
“My name is Grizz. The captain asked me to escort you to your room.”
“I would greatly appreciate that.” She gave the man her best innocent smile. “I haven’t been here in years and completely forgot my way around. It’s very confusing with all the corridors.”
“That’s understandable, ma’am.” He smiled back, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Come this way please.”
He held out his arm, and she laid her hand on his thick forearm. As they moved she chatted about how much things had changed since she’d been here and how much she was looking forward to getting to know everyone again. Meanwhile she planned her next move. Grizz was far too observant, and while he was obviously willing to play the game, she didn’t think he believed her “lost” story.
When Grizz stopped at Julien’s private quarters, her temper started to boil. “Why are we stopping here?”
“This is where you will be staying.”
“No. Please escort me to one of the guest chambers and I’ll be quite comfortable there.”
“Sorry, Mrs. Kincaid, Captain specifically requested you stay here. Some of your belongings have already been transferred from your ship to this room. We’ll see to the rest shortly.”
She frowned up at him for using her married name and set her molars together before she snapped at him, “Please, don’t rush on my account. There isn’t much aboard my ship that I need, and I’m sure what has been brought here already is fine.”
Grizz nodded his head. “Have a nice evening, ma’am.”
“You, too, Grizz. It was a pleasure meeting you.”
The big man turned and headed down the corridor as Kass hit the entrance button with her fist. “High handed. Arrogant. Bossy.” She started listing off Julien’s qualities that annoyed her most. Looking around the room made one thing abundantly clear. She needed a plan for a quick escape. His room had not changed a whit since the day she left. There were too many memories in here.
She ran her hand along one of the four posts that stood at each bed corner. Closing her eyes made the memories harder to withstand. In her naiveté she’d seen Julien as her hero. A man who whisked her away from slavery, who gave her a place to call home, safety, and security, and she loved him body and soul. He had secrets. She’d known that but had been willing to overlook it.
He’d handfasted with her, something she’d been certain would never happen considering she’d been a den slave. It’d been luck that she’d been slated to be auctioned off the day Julien had raided the pits holding her. Something about him…she’d known she could trust him the moment he scooped her up and handed her a gun, telling her to shoot every slaver she saw.
A sharp knock at the door yanked her out of her musings. She strode out of the bedroom and into the sitting area, curious who was on the other side. Julien would’ve walked in without any warning. “Come in.”
The door whisked open and a different guard stepped into the room. Kass casually dropped her hand to her hip and slipped her fingers into the slit in the material, easing her gun out of the holster strapped to her leg.
“Captain asked me to bring these up here, ma’am.”
“Yes, of course.” Kass backed to the side but kept her weapon in her hand. Three uniformed men carried a trunk each and placed it in the bedroom. She’d be willing to bet that Julien had her trunks searched before bringing them up here. He wasn’t a stupid man, but she’d learned a couple tricks over the years.
Chapter Four
Julien fought the urge to follow Kassandra out into the hallway. He imagined she would make a beeline straight for her ship or sit quietly and plan. Personally he hoped she headed for her ship. It would be much easier to deal with her then.
He walked over to the sideboard and picked up the intercom. He waited as it buzzed twice on the other end. “Yes, sir,” a voice answered.
“Grizz, have men posted at the bottoms of all the stairwells leading to the lower levels. My wife is aboard and is confined to this level for now. Have Gabe and Raz return her crew to the Aphrodite and send them to the surface on the mission we discussed.”
“Right away, sir.”
“Oh, Grizz, don’t underestimate Kassandra. If she smiles and acts completely calm, she’s planning something.”
“Understood, sir. Out.”
Julien placed the intercom back in its holder and smiled to himself. This would really anger her, but he needed her to stay here until he could figure out how to make it permanent.
“I can understand now why you took her desertion so hard,” Miguel commented from his position on the sofa. “What made you decide to collect her now?”
Julien remembered a conversation he’d had with Yzzi a few months before. He’d confessed to her that he’d decided to wait for Kassandra to return to him instead of continuing to chase her. Yzzi had told him he was an idiot, and she was right. That bit of truth was hard to swallow. Liam and Tristan were acting much as he had with Kassandra, and he hadn’t wanted them to suffer the same consequences. At the time he’d hoped that giving Yzzi insight into their point of view would help her understand what leaving them might lead to. “A conversation with a friend who was on the verge of making the mistake I did.”
Miguel sipped from his teacup and watched him from over the rim. Julien knew he’d essentially made the same mistake with Miguel as he had with Kassandra. Of course having them both here at the same time only exacerbated the problem. He was on completely u
nknown ground here. He’d grown up in a family that didn’t show emotion, not that he was certain his parents ever felt any. In fact when they were both killed, it had taken him weeks before he felt any kind of loss.
Having someone as vibrant as Kassandra in his life gave him a sense of feeling. He was happy when she was. She had a natural passion about her that made him hunger for more. Miguel had made him feel the same way, but he knew that multiple partners in a marriage wasn’t as accepted in España as it was in the Old World.
“So this friend, what did they say?”
“Essentially, she told me I was an idiot and my expectations were outrageous.”
Miguel smiled and Julien felt his cock twitch with excitement. One of Miguel’s best features was his beautiful smile. He’d seduced hundreds of women with that grin and who knew how many men. “Sounds like a good friend.”
“She is and thankfully took her own advice.”
“With a bit of help from you?”
“All I did was lock her men in…in this room, come to think of it.” Julien looked around. There used to be a secret passage to the lower levels from here, but Julien had it barricaded. No one would be using that again.
“And how long did it take you to collect her?”
“Longer than I expected. She’s gotten sneaky. Why?”
He sat in the chair across from where Miguel lounged back against the sofa. His arms were stretched out along the back cushions again, open and inviting Julien to do whatever he wanted. But that was before, and he knew that part of his life was over. In order to keep Kassandra he was going to have to give up a lot of things, but he’d do it to keep her happy.
“I’m curious about your woman. You told me quite a bit about her, do you remember?”
“To be honest, no.” He’d spent more days drunk than sober in the weeks following her abandoning him. After she left he continued to feel everything too acutely. It was excruciating and the only relief was drinking to dull the emotion that pounded against him.
“It was enough that I was curious to meet her.” Miguel’s smile curled his lips, once again intriguing him.
“How did you find her?” Julien had to admit he was a little annoyed that Miguel had an easier time than he did looking for her.
Miguel stretched and arched his back slightly like a cat on a warm windowsill. “It bothers you? It shouldn’t, she wasn’t hiding from me.” He placed his hand in his lap and rubbed his cock through his pants before putting his hand back up on the back of the cushions.
Julien kept his eyes off Miguel’s lap, knowing the man was deliberately baiting him. Being this close to Miguel and not touching him was making him as crazy as Kassandra did. The one moment of indulgence in Kassandra wasn’t enough, and he wanted more, but he wanted Miguel there, too. There was something hardwired into him regarding these two.
“I found her in a brothel.”
Julien felt the bottom of his stomach fall out. He hadn’t heard anything about that, not that it made him love her any less. She was his and no other man would touch her from now on.
“You really can be an idiot.” Miguel shook his head. “I said I found her in one. She didn’t work there. She’s really quite genius. The women in that place are incredibly faithful to her, and she was protected and hidden.”
“How did you know she was there?”
Miguel shrugged. “I waited until she’d gone on a mission of some sort and broke in. It wasn’t hard to figure out which rooms were hers. I’m good. I made it in here, didn’t I?”
“That’s more than a little unnerving. I need to increase the training of my crew.”
“I do think I’m losing my touch though. You’re still wearing your clothes. I believe last time I had your pants off you before you knew my name.”
“Last time, I believe we were under the misunderstanding that each had information the other one wanted.”
Miguel graced him with another smile. In their short time together Julien learned that this particular smile was not one that other people saw. The intensity of their affair burned hot, and the two of them got to know each other much faster than he ever dreamed possible. He let his eyes drift to Miguel’s lap and saw the tent his cock was making of his pants.
“Do you love your wife, Julien?”
Julien quickly lifted his gaze back up to Miguel’s face. Guilt ate away at him. He had no business staring at another man’s cock when he’d just brought his wife home. “Yes, I do.”
Miguel locked his gaze with Julien’s and moved across the space that separated them. Julien’s heart skipped a beat as he watched the other man draw near. He knew he didn’t have a future with him, but he wanted one last touch. A taste to carry as a fond memory of a man he could’ve shared his life with.
He dropped to his knees in front of Julien. They leaned close enough their breaths mingled. Julien could smell the exotic vanilla spice that always reminded him of Miguel. “What if I was to tell you I still craved your touch?” Miguel whispered against his lips.
Julien sat completely still, his cock throbbed hard in his pants, and a part of him wanted to tackle Miguel to the floor and plug his cock deep into the other man’s ass. He wanted to wrap his hands over his hard ass and pound until Miguel cried out as he had that last night they were together. He wanted to place Kassandra between the two of them and ride her together.
“What if I was to tell you I want you both?”
Julien drew back, uncertain if Miguel had said those words or if it was only his imagination.
“Could you share her with another man? With me?”
He gripped the arms of his chair tightly as Miguel’s strong hand lightly traced a line up the inside of his leg. Light strokes with his thumb teased and promised more pleasure.
“My plan was to seduce you separately and then bring you together. But, now you have made this so much easier for me.”
“Do you understand what you’re asking?”
“To stay here with the two of you. To promise my life to you both. I know exactly what I’m asking. I’m asking you to share your life and your woman with me. I’m not from the Old World but I know the customs. España is very locked in its traditions. I would be an outcast, but I have enough information to stop them from hunting me.”
“You don’t understand.” Julien lifted one hand and stroked the backs of his fingers along Miguel’s cheek. “I have to give it all up for her. She is part of my soul but will never understand what you need from me.”
This time Miguel leaned back on his heels, his hands still resting on Julien’s thighs. “You said you found her in the dens. She’d been in a pit for long enough to develop a fear.”
Julien nodded. “I cannot be parted from her any longer, but she cannot accept that part of me.”
“It makes no sense. If you give up your whip and your need to be in charge, you give up a part of your soul. You will no longer completely be the man that she loves.”
“I’m not entirely certain she loves me anymore, but I plan to fix that.”
“Oh, she still loves you. No woman with as much passion as she has gives up a man’s touch unless she cannot stand the idea of allowing another man to touch her.” Miguel stood and rested his hands over Julien’s. Bending close, he lightly brushed their lips together.
Julien couldn’t have stopped kissing him any more than he could stop the currents from pushing Atlantis through the ocean. He tasted of tea and brandy and uniquely male. Their tongues collided, and Julien pulled his hands from under Miguel’s and grabbed his hair. Taking control of the kiss, he deepened it, biting Miguel’s lower lip hard enough to sting but not break the skin. Miguel groaned low in his throat, and when Julien let go he dropped to his knees in front of him again. “Look at me, Miguelito.”
Miguel’s eyes flicked open at his command. Julien kept one hand locked in Miguel’s hair, his head tilted back. He traced the delicate bow of his upper lip. This mouth was made for kissing. “Could you truly share me with Kassand
ra, Miguel? Could you love her with your entire being?”
“Yes,” Miguel answered, and Julien saw the truth in his face. His lover never allowed anyone to see his true personality, but Julien had demanded no less and Miguel had gifted him with that. The circumstances that pulled them apart had more to do with the path of self-destruction Julien had set for himself than anything else. Ironically it was having Miguel walk away from him as well that pushed Julien back on track.
“I watched her for a very long time, wanting to figure out what it was about her you couldn’t live without. She’s a complex woman who fascinated me. I’ve watched but never touched. Do you know you were not the only one looking for her?”
Fear struck Julien’s heart. “Who?”
“That I do not know and I wish I did. But someone learned that she is your wife, and there are rumors that she knows a bigger secret that the New World wants kept quiet.”
“Gold.” Julien had heard the rumor. During the raid on the slave den that held Yzzi, there had been two men there. They were interrogated by the slavers for information about rumors of alchemy being done in the West. Like the children’s tale, a man had learned not to spin hay into gold but to change normal stone into something much more valuable.
“Even España hungers for precious metals, and they want her.”
“Was your trip here for more than one purpose, Miguelito?” Julien tightened his grip on the other man’s hair. Pulling his face closer, he whispered, “Will you betray me and take my wife?”
“Never,” Miguel replied, and Julien could see the annoyance that crossed his features at being questioned about this. “I swore a fealty to you. I would never do anything as dishonorable as going back on that.”
“She is our future, Miguel. I wish I could say she is happy here, but the first chance she gets I know she’ll try to leave. We’ll make certain she’s happy enough so it never crosses her mind.”
“If we both come at her, she’ll run in the opposite direction.”
Davies, Corinne - Steam-Driven Seduction [Steampunked Lust 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 5
