by Lucy Fear
She suppressed a sigh of frustration as she began to eat the food on her plate. She knew there was always the alternative choice—that she could just stay here. But she enjoyed working every day. The last thing she wanted to do was retire, and become some fat, lazy housewife with nothing of importance to do. That was not the life for her.
But if Brendan taught her everything he knew, maybe they could go on tour together. The thought appealed to her once it had entered her brain, and persisted there, growing from a mere idea into a much hoped-for outcome in the space of a heartbeat. Would she really leave the agency on a whim and take up permanently with him? If she followed the trend of her thoughts to continue, the answer seemed to be a resounding yes.
Of course, she hadn’t been offered that chance, and she had to remember that she was currently omitting a few things about herself, which might end up ticking him off in the end. She needed to remember why she had come here to begin with. Her foe was very strong, but Brendan was helping her to find strength. Together, they should be able to put the attacker’s machinations to an end.
Time enough to make her choices then, when it was all over and it was likely that the truth would come to light. She doubted Brendan would send her and Rory both packing just because Rory wanted to save his best friend. But she wasn’t his best friend, and they hadn’t known each other for years. She might not be quite so lucky as him.
Whenever she thought of returning home to her job and having to endure Todd’s proximity she was filled with disgust. The memory of why she’d wanted a break to begin with still filled her with anger. Not regret anymore, just a sense of not wanting to be anywhere near the man she’d once thought was the entirety of her world. Maybe she’d already half-decided what she was thinking about before she had even left there.
Margot had refused to give Rhi the transfer she felt she needed, citing that she was needed there. But that didn’t have to be the end of the discussion. The woman had superiors. Rhi could simply put in for a transfer from here. And if they said no, there was always the option to change her career.
“You thinking again, woman?” Brendan teased her.
“Always,” she replied, smiling sweetly in his direction and remembering she was meant to be eating her food.
“Sometimes I sure wonder what’s going on in there.”
“I’ll never tell,” she said, trying to be sly.
“Not with words, in any case,” he agreed, winking at her saucily.
Rhi could feel a hot blush creep up onto her face as she tried to avoid Rory’s prying eyes.
CHAPTER SIX
“Well, I’m beat,” Brendan said a few hours later. They were in the study working on his book again, and Rhi had just finished turning the notes he’d taken about the first couple of topics into the actual chapters. “Just watching you plow into that mess and make order out of it was amazing, Rhi. You really seem to be good at this.”
“I never realized just how much until now,” she said, somewhat amazed with what she’d been able to accomplish. “I’m actually enjoying it, to tell the truth. Maybe I should switch careers or something.”
“What career do you have now?” he wanted to know. “You never did tell me what you were doing at that office, did you?”
“Oh, no, I suppose I didn’t,” she shrugged. “Nothing too exciting, just investigative work.”
One of Brendan’s eyebrows briefly raised, but he didn’t comment on the fact she’d just evaded his question once again. That was something about him that she could like—never trying to pry an answer out of someone. Todd would have been all over her by then, demanding to know what she was trying to hide.
“Anyway, like I was saying, I’m tired,” he said a second time. “And I know we didn’t talk about this exactly, but I’m thinking I’ll need to keep you safe again. As in, you’re coming to bed with me.”
Looking up at him, Rhi flushed as their eyes met. She could feel the intensity of her desire amping right back up to where it had been before, hearing that. She didn’t know if it was wise to simply agree to him telling her this with no complaint, but the alternative was that they’d discuss it and then she’d end up in his bed anyway, and she was frankly too tired herself to bother.
“I don’t mind,” she told him. “But I do wish you’d ask me instead of telling me, though.”
“So then you actually want me to say those words?” he said with a smirk.
“What words?” she asked, yawning.
“Rhiannon Woods, will you go to bed with me?”
She felt her breasts react by beginning to tingle insistently. Her breath caught in her throat, and Brendan somehow seemed much closer than he’d been before. He clicked his tongue as his hand caught her chin, turning her face up so she was looking at his.
“You’re such an open book, Rhi,” he whispered playfully, bending forward until the tips of their noses rubbed together. “But you didn’t answer me.”
Every possible scenario for what might happen next flitted quickly through Rhi’s mind. She wished Brendan would close the gap and put her out of her misery by kissing her at last. She thought about how he might react if she decided to kiss him. She also thought about how much effort it might take for her to actually pull away, but that idea she dismissed immediately. She didn’t want to pull away from him again.
Probably sensing her mood, he whispered, “I don’t think I should kiss you right before taking you to my bed, sweetheart. I couldn’t guarantee my continued good behavior if I did.”
“I’ll take my chances,” she whispered softly.
Brendan’s lips ghosted lightly over hers before he backed up and kissed the tip of her nose instead. She groaned in frustration, making him chuckle.
“Let’s go,” he said, standing up and tugging her to her feet.
They walked down the hall and up the stairs to the bedroom suites, entering his rooms through the main door. Rhiannon stepped into the bathroom to put on a nightgown and brush her teeth. She had the water running and her toothbrush in her mouth, humming tunelessly, when she suddenly looked up into the mirror and saw a man standing behind her.
Screaming, she turned to look, but nobody was there. Brendan rushed into the room to check on her.
“What’s the matter?” he asked urgently.
“I saw a man in the mirror,” she said. “He was standing behind me, just there.”
Brendan went to the place she had indicated and stood in the exact spot, attuning with the energies around him. “What did he look like, Rhi?”
Rhi shut her eyes, trying to remember. “Dark, curly hair, over his ears. I’m sorry, the face was a blur. The eyes were dark, but I couldn’t discern a color. He was stalky, but lean. That’s all I can remember.”
“Did he try to harm you?”
“No, he was just standing there,” she said. “Like he was watching me, learning more about me. It was kind of creepy, to tell the truth.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Brendan agreed. He stepped closer and folded his arms around her from behind, leaning his chin on top of her head. Their eyes met in the mirror and Rhi cast him an amused look. “Here you go, he won’t get you now.”
She laughed. “You want me to finish brushing my teeth with my head pinned to your chest?”
“What, that doesn’t work for you?”
“Brendan,” she grumbled with an exasperated sigh.
“How about I’ll just sit over here then?” he chuckled, closing the lid on the toilet before taking a seat there.
“Good idea,” she agreed.
“You know, if this keeps up I might have to help you shower as well,” he mentioned with an outrageous grin.
“Yeah, but I doubt you’d have a problem with that,” she said around the brush as she finished the rest of her teeth, then put some water into the cup to rinse her mouth.
“You may be right,” he said, waggling his eyebrows at her.
“Well, I’m done in here for now in any case,” she said tiredly.
“I hope the jerk will let me get some sleep.”
She turned for the door, but Brendan caught at her hand and pulled her back to him. “Hey, Rhi? I’m sorry I dragged you into this mess.”
“You didn’t drag me in, Rory did, remember?” she scoffed. “He’s the one who brought me here.”
“I doubt he expected you to fall in with me—literally—on the very first day you got here.”
“No, that’s true,” she chuckled. “I’m such a klutz.”
Rhi looked down and realized Brendan had stood her between his legs. He’d also let go of her wrist and slid his hands around the back of her waist, and now his hands slid down a bit, very close to caressing her ass. Their eyes met and held, and heat slithered all through her body in pleasurable waves.
“Brendan, what are you doing?” she asked softly.
“Truth? Envisioning you in the shower.”
“How very—ungentlemanly,” she said huskily.
“I told you I shouldn’t kiss you earlier,” he reminded her.
“You call that a kiss?”
“Oh, that one wasn’t good enough for you?” he teased. “Maybe I should try again.”
“I wish you would,” she replied.
He pulled her onto his lap, one leg to either side. Their lips crashed together and parted, and Rhi gave him no opportunity to pull away like he’d done before. Not that he tried. No, he most definitely meant it this time. Their tongues twined together, hotly stroking each other in a dance as old as time.
Brendan’s hands found their way up to play with her nipples through her nightgown, which had now slid up her thighs, leaving her hips and panties exposed in the back. Rhi didn’t even care. She was too busy moaning into Brendan’s mouth with wild abandon.
When he stood up, she wrapped her legs around his hips and let Brendan carry her out to the bed. Something told her that sleep was the last thing on his mind.
*
Brendan laid Rhi with her head nestled among the pillows, then pulled off his shirt before he got onto the bed with her. If she’d thought her sensses were reeling a moment ago, she was wrong. Watching this handsome, well-muscled man creep slowly up the bed and over her body had an effect on her she’d never have believed she was capable of.
Her sexual experience with Todd had been somewhat limited, even during the two months she’d spent in his apartment. That was mostly because the man was perpetually out on assignment. In any case, when they’d finally gotten around to it, it had been perfunctory at best. At the time Rhi thought things would get better, but then she’d come home early and found him in bed with someone else.
She willed those thoughts out of her head, though. Because the man she was with now had finally reached her head in the pillows. His descending lips were anything but perfunctory, and as she released that former resentment, contentment easily took its place. Brendan’s kisses were hot and breathless, making her own desires mount as she returned them.
“You’re so beautiful, Rhi,” he told her softly. “You have no idea how much I want you.”
“Not true, since I want you even more,” she told him, gripping at the back of his head as she hungrily devoured his lips and tongue. He leaned down into her, and she wrapped her legs around his hips again, pulling him down on top of her.
Her heart pounded into her ears, and her breaths came in short gasps. Brendan thrust against her, and she hated the fact he was still wearing his pants. Smoothing her hand over his belly, she tugged rather insistently on the button that kept them closed.
“I see I won’t have to worry about any maidenly modesty,” he said with a grin as he quickly unzipped his pants and shed the rest of his clothes. “But if I’m not wearing anything, it would only be fair for me to undress you, too.”
Rhi held her arms over her head and cast him a look of invitation. He was more than happy to grasp the nightgown by its bottom and yank it up and over her head, tossing it over the side of the bed with a satisfied smile.
“Better?” she teased.
“Let me look at you,” he said, grasping her wrists and gently spreading her arms wide. His eyes caressed her face, then drank in the sight of her breasts as he sucked in a heated breath. His jaw went slack as he let her go, then pressed her down onto the pillows again.
He blazed a trail of kisses from her throat, down her collarbone, and then to her nipples. Her breaths were erratic with excitement, she gasped at the feel of his tongue there. “Brendan!”
Her fingers delved into his golden mane, tugging as she writhed beneath him. She felt him plant one knee between her thighs, parting her legs before he moved to settle his body between them. For a moment, she wasn’t certain what he was up to, but when he moved again, his face was suddenly where the knee had been. He attacked with a vengeance, tasting her with a little groan of his own.
Nobody had ever pleasured her like this before. It was all sensation, and she loved it. She was so wet for him now that she could barely control her movements. All she could think of was her need to feel him enter her and take her.
“Please,” she whispered softly. “I want to—taste you, too.”
Rhi pressed on his shoulders, and he willingly moved. She pushed him down onto the bed, reveling in the notion of his cock in her mouth even before she put it there. He was long and thick, almost too wide as she worked open her jaw to fit him in. He tasted perfect, like a fine wine or the best steak in the universe. Divine!
She moved on him reverently, worshipping his body. Little grunting noises came from the back of her throat which she couldn’t seem to stop. Then he shuddered, and hot come hit the back of her mouth. She willingly swallowed it all, even hoping for more.
“Gods, Rhiannon,” he groaned, pushing her off him and pinning her down. He mounted her, sliding into her slick wetness and pressing as deep as he could. Her legs came up and around his ass, encouraging him.
Brendan thrusted, hard, then thrusted again. Their movements became a crazy blend of loving caresses and savage, wild need finally being freed. Both of their brows broke out in a sheen of sweat, and there seemed to be no end to it in sight. Their voices mingled with moans, groans, and heady whispers about how good it was.
But when it was almost over, when each of them were well aware they were about to come, it all changed. Suddenly, instead of crazy movements and meandering words, the noise ceased. Rhi drew Brendan in deep, holding him there. Their movements gentled, and his face fell into the curve of her neck, groaning one last time as he spilled his seed. Rhi’s jaw set wide open in a spasm of delight.
***
Rhi was sleeping, and she had floated into the land of dreams. As before, she could sense the unwanted presence of the attacker lurking on the fringes, but this time she felt more powerful, and she had come here with a purpose. She’d caught a brief glimpse of him in the mirror, but she had been unable to see his face. She hoped to change that by getting a look at it now.
“I must be careful,” she repeated for about the hundredth time since she’d entered this realm. She was ready for whatever this person intended to dish out, but still she needed to remain aware.
She was walking along a long, winding road in the hills. This place was familiar to her, though she would never see it in the waking world. This pathway was from another place, in another time, some remnant of a past life she no longer knew. It didn’t matter where it was, or when, only that it was a sanctuary all her own.
When she reached the far end of the path, the wind began to kick up. A figure in a dark cloak riding a black horse rode into view, staring in her direction with malevolent force.
“Are you looking for me?” he sneered.
“Not especially,” she lied.
“Ridiculous girl,” he scoffed. “You know that you cannot lie to me in this place.”
“Why should I look for you, when obviously, you can’t seem to go away to begin with,” she pointed out. “Rather, I would say I knew that you’d be here. So, I want to know. Why don’t you ju
st tell me what’s got you so mad at Brendan anyway?”
“The secrets of the ancients are not his to tell,” he hissed angrily. “They are much too sacred to be spread about like parlor tricks for anybody who wants to play. He was told this when they were revealed to him, and he promised to treat them with respect.”
“He’s only using them to help people,” Rhi protested.
“He is only using them to make money,” the man countered. “And for that, he is going to pay. But you, I have not yet decided your fate. You are a lovely young woman. Maybe there is another way.”
“You were watching, weren’t you?” Rhi hissed in disgust. “Earlier, before we went to sleep. You must have been.”
“Yes, I saw what I needed to see,” he smirked. “I find I do not wish to kill such a—loving lady. I may decide to claim you for me.”
“Like hell you will,” Rhi spat angrily. And then she was awake.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“You were dreaming,” said Brendan as he looked into her eyes. “Was it him again?”
“Yes,” said Rhi with a disgusted frown. “I hoped to see his face, but I woke up before I could do it.”
“If you manage to do it, I’ll want to see it too.”
“Can you do that?” she asked curiously.
“Just obtain the memory, and then we’ll find out,” he said, leaning over to kiss her forehead. “But he didn’t try anything again. That’s a bit strange.”
“Not really; I think I’ve found out why.”
“Mm, why then?”
“He’s hoping to steal me away from you,” she explained.
“What, he told you so?”
“Actually, yes, he was very specific about it,” she nodded. “But I didn’t get to see his face.”
Brendan grinned. “Trying to get a look at my replacement already, eh?”
“No way,” she shuddered. “I haven’t gotten nearly enough mileage out of you yet.”
He sighed. “You’re right about this thing, though. If you could get a look at his face, we might be able to find out who this guy is. Maybe even where he is, too. And that would be a good thing.”
