Jerrick snorted. “Nice try, Blondie.”
Stifling a laugh when Mara tweaked Jerrick’s ear, Dash turned and caught Avily staring at the back of Jerrick’s head. It wasn’t the first time he’d busted her doing it, either. She shifted restlessly. When she noticed him noticing her, a fierce blush rode her cheeks and she mumbled something about needing to use the bathroom facilities. Hugging her chest tight, she spun around and trotted from the terminal.
Dash swung his gaze back to his brother. His suspicions started buzzing louder than the irritable sounds coming from Piper. He strode to the group clustered around the screen and tapped Jerrick on the shoulder. His brother glanced up with a distracted scowl.
“We need to talk. In private. Now.”
Jerrick’s scowl didn’t budge. “I’m in the middle of something.”
“That can wait,” Dash said, waving at the screen. “This can’t.”
“Fine.” Jerrick shoved his chair back and stood. The second he vacated his spot, Mara plopped onto the seat.
“This better be damn important.” Muscles rigid, Jerrick stalked from the room.
Dash trailed after him. Once he felt reasonably assured of their privacy, he glared at his brother. “You stupid ass. She’s just a kid.”
Jerrick blinked. “Who you talking about?”
“Avily.” Dash grabbed the edge of the doorframe to keep from plowing his fist into Jerrick’s nose. “What were you thinking bedding her?”
“What?”
“Can the innocent act. It’s all too clear now why you’ve avoided Avily’s doorstep the past five years.” Dash blew out a disgusted breath. “We all know Leena hurt you, but I thought you had more class than to screw her baby sister.”
Jerrick’s forehead furrowed. “I haven’t touched Avily.”
Dash’s righteous indignation dissipated slightly. Either his brother was one amazing actor or he was telling the truth. “What about the crack you made back in the Glasstisserie?” He grunted in response to Jerrick’s blank stare before elaborating. “When Avily needled you for swearing, you made a crack about kissing her. And don’t deny she was the one you were referring to. Her expression gave it away.”
Guilt flashed in Jerrick’s eyes. He swiped a hand through his hair. “Okay, I admit I kissed her. But that’s still a big jump from screwing her.”
Dash mentally replayed the look on Avily’s face before she realized she’d been busted. “Must have been one hell of a kiss, because she’s been giving you the stink eye all night.”
Jerrick remained quiet for several telling seconds. “Yeah, it was.”
When his brother didn’t furnish any further details, Dash decided to let the conversation rest for the time being. Besides, there were certainly more pressing matters to contend with at the moment. “So what’s the verdict on the rune? You have any better luck than me?”
Jerrick appeared relieved by the change of topic. “No. But I think you might be onto something with questioning the original buyer. Tomorrow I’ll drive out to Magnus Lefere’s place and have a chat with him.”
“You sold the rune to Lefere?” Dash gripped the doorframe until his knuckles went numb. “Were you out of your damn mind? He’s nothing but a backstabbing cheat.”
“At the time, I thought I was being ironic,” Jerrick said dryly.
Dash released the doorframe and paced in front of the terminal. “Lefere’s going to demand steep payment for any information.”
“Probably.” Jerrick leaned against the wall and crossed his ankles. “What do you care? Isn’t that bitch Nalia Artronté footing the bill?”
“Doesn’t mean our resources are unlimited. The cost of staying here is eating up the merca as it is.”
“There are cheaper places to bunk for the night.” Jerrick’s mouth tugged into a crafty grin. “Though I suppose they’re not in the same league when it comes to setting a seductive scene.”
Dash scratched his jaw. “I’ve no idea what you’re referring to.”
Jerrick’s chuckle broke off when the soft patter of Avily’s impractical slippers announced her reappearance. She stopped outside the terminal entrance, her expression wary. “Were you just talking about me?”
“Not at all,” Dash and Jerrick piped in unison.
“Oh gods.” After a quick moan, she glared at Jerrick and stomped through the doorway.
His brother slapped the side of the wall. “Great, now she thinks I told you.”
“Since you stand accused, might as well spill the beans.”
Grunting, Jerrick entered the terminal.
“It was worth a shot.” Realizing he was talking to no one other than himself, Dash ambled inside the narrow little room.
A good half hour later, everyone decided to call it a night. While Jerrick and Avily left for their respective abodes, Dash escorted Mara and Piper to their room before retiring to his own quarters. After kicking off his shoes, he clicked on the hotel’s visio system with the prompter imbedded in the nightstand and began stripping from his shirt.
A transparent twenty-inch screen blinked on a foot above him, hovering in midair. Lusty moans filtered from the speakers when the picture flashed to a busty blonde being serviced by a lad wearing nothing but a tool belt.
Pants halfway shucked down, Dash blinked. “That’s definitely not a drain he’s snaking.”
Odd, he hadn’t ordered up any raunchy entertainment.
“Well, no sense wasting the merca they’re probably charging me.” He settled on the edge of the bed just as a hesitant knock rapped against the connecting door. Distracted, he kept his focus glued to the intriguing visuals floating overhead. “Yes?”
The door slid open and Mara walked inside. With a whoosh, the door shut behind her and her gaze jumped to the hovering screen and the action carrying on between the blonde and tool boy. Her eyes doubled in size.
“What are you—?” Mara’s attention cut back to him and dropped to the trousers sagging around his knees.
He gave her a lopsided grin. “This isn’t what it looks like.”
She slanted him a suspicious glance before letting her stare drift down his body. The snug fit of his cotton briefs made hiding his erection impossible. Her intent fixation made the idea of it dissipating anytime soon an even bigger impossibility.
“You did say come in, right? Because, I uh…” Mara stopped and cleared her throat. “This obviously isn’t a good time to talk.” She began inching backwards towards the door.
“No, stay.” He jumped up. Hooking his thumbs through his belt loops, he hitched his pants in place before ambling to the nightstand and switching the visio screen off. “What can I do for you?” Good gods, there was a loaded question. He could envision several things he could do for her at the moment. Most of them involved nudity, a can of whipping cream and a few creative contortionist positions.
Mara’s focus thankfully didn’t linger too long on the opened fly of his trousers. “I wanted to apologize again for tricking you earlier this evening.” She shuffled her feet in the thick pile of the carpet. “It seems I’m guilty of doing quite a bit of that. Tricking you, I mean.”
“If you hadn’t, Jerrick and I most likely wouldn’t have reconciled, nor would he have discovered the truth about Leena.”
She inclined her head in acknowledgment. “You know, Avily feels pretty rotten about what she had to tell Jerrick. I wish there was some way to make them both feel better.” She plopped on the edge of the mattress and gave the floor a glum look.
Dash’s heart filled with a soft glow that felt both disturbing and wonderful. He’d never known anyone like Mara—feisty and temperamental, yet possessing an innate empathy for everyone she met. It would be beyond easy to fall for her.
Who am I kidding? I’ve already fallen. So hard and fast, it scared the living hell out of him. Like she’d said, they didn’t have a future together. Why couldn’t his pathetic heart understand that?
“They’ll be fine.” Despite his best efforts
to conceal the raw emotion in his voice, he realized he’d failed miserably when Mara whipped her head around, her blonde curls sweeping over her shoulder.
“Jeez, I’m a moron.” A disgusted groan rushed from her mouth. “I didn’t even consider what an emotional ride these past few days have been for you. In a matter of minutes, you were transformed from the villain in your brother’s eyes, and into another victim of Leena’s scheming. Must be pretty tough to digest.”
He smiled at her. “There you go again—worrying about everyone else and pushing your own troubles to the wayside.” Buttoning his trousers to safeguard against any temptation, he dropped onto the mattress and scooted behind her before wrapping his arms around her middle. He was ridiculously pleased when she stayed put. “How about you let someone worry about you for once?”
“I don’t know if I can.” Despite her claim, Mara relaxed against him with a shudder, resting her head on his shoulder. She tried so hard to retain the self-reliant image she clung to, but deep inside he sensed her longing to give up a corner of her burden. Everything inside him gravitated towards that longing, ached to fill its void.
Mara’s fingers slipped over his, absently swirling little circles. Hot shivers raced under his skin. Crazy how such a simple touch made him break out in a cold sweat.
“It kills me, you know—Nalia having this much power over all our lives.”
He freed one hand and stroked her soft curls back from her forehead. Her comforted murmur fanned against his collarbone. For several minutes she lay curled against him while he petted her.
“I have to tell you something.” He could sense her wariness as she shifted restlessly. “I’m pretty sure it’s going to make you despise me,” she added in a guarded tone.
Damn, he’d known this peaceful moment was too good to last. “Nothing could make me despise you.”
She peered up at him and her hair slithered against his chest, a tormenting, delicious shiver of silken sensation. “I don’t know. It’s pretty…bad.”
He tweaked her nose. “Bad as throwing a wild monkey through a window?”
“Worse.” She released a shaky breath. “A lot worse.”
“Then don’t tell me.” His hand returned to the crown of her head and pressed her back against him. “It doesn’t matter anyway. Like I said, nothing could make you look despicable in my eyes.”
“I kidnapped you to free my brother.”
His hand stalled against her scalp, her admission piercing his consciousness like a poisoned dart. Tense silence stretched between them.
Mara sat up and anxiously searched his face. “Please understand that I only agreed to Nalia’s insane proposal because I was desperate. The fairy prison is a horrible place and I…” She stopped and swallowed hard, visibly trembling. Her wide, expressive eyes pleaded for understanding. “I was so scared for Gideon.”
The tightness slowly eased in Dash’s chest. Deep down, he couldn’t fault Mara for the choice she made. He would have done the same thing if in her shoes. Hell, he’d never fingered Jerrick for the rune’s theft out of fear of condemning his brother to the fairy prison. “Sher ’tian, it’s okay. I’m not angry.”
She blinked. “You’re not?”
He shook his head and scruffed her hair. “No point taking it personally. You hadn’t met me yet and discovered my charming allure.”
That managed to sneak a smile from her. Leaning down, he planted a quick kiss on her forehead. “No more guilty conscience, okay? I think you’ve punished yourself enough these past twelve years.”
Her eyes misted over with emotion. “Thank you. For understanding.” She lifted a hand and stroked his jaw. “You’re a good fae.”
“I’m a good fae?” He chuckled. “That sounded bloody weird.”
“Well, you’re not technically a man, so what else am I going to call you?”
She had a point. “Regardless, I don’t think you’d consider me a good anything if you’d been privy to my thoughts when you first came into the room.”
“Trust me, I had a pretty good idea where they were leaning.” Mara’s gaze dipped to his lap.
Okay, time to get her out of the room before Mr. Happy decided to make things difficult. He started to get up but froze when Mara settled her palm low on his abdomen. Right above the fly of his trousers. The glance she gave him from beneath her lush eyelashes was as arousing as the heat of her skin mingling with his.
“If you’re looking to tease me, it’s not a wise idea.”
“What if I’m not?”
He settled a finger beneath Mara’s chin and tipped her head back. “You were the one who said no intimate contact, remember? For fear it’d cloud your reason.”
“Right—but only if you’re the one doing the touching.”
The oxygen left his head. “What are you bloody proposing?”
“You…know.” Her hand slid lower, brushed over his fly, and he sucked in his gut.
Good gods, she’s killing me.
Bright blue eyes stared up at him. Giving himself no time to rescind the temptation, he leaned down and kissed her.
Mara’s lips parted in sweet invitation and he delved inside the velvety intoxication of her mouth, exploring her taste and texture. She curled her hand along his neck. Fingernails scored his nape, pressing him closer. Not giving a damn about the painful crick at the base of his skull, he obeyed her urgent demand by deepening the kiss.
In all his thirty-five years, he’d never kissed a woman with such pure abandon, using his mouth and tongue to convey the emotions ripping his insides apart. Mara seemed to intuit this, because she tugged him onto the mattress and twisted in his arms until she straddled his lap. She stroked his face, driving him insane with her feverish kisses.
Racking tremors shook his body. He was on fire, strung out on his desire for her. The need to take her consumed him. Teetering well past the edge, he pulled back with a groan. “This isn’t going to work. We have to stop. Now.”
Her hands slipped from his neck. One of them trailed down his chest, caressing over his taut abdomen. Growling, he grabbed her hand, stopping its descent. “Damn it, Mara, I told you it won’t work.” His chest heaved in and out with his ragged panting.
“Stop being so stubborn and let me take care of your…little problem.” She yanked hard on her hand and he banded it tighter in his grip.
Sweet goddess, how he wanted to take her up on her offer, but no way would he survive such torture. “Not a good idea. And for your information, it’s hardly a little problem,” he said, slightly peeved.
In the sneakiest move he’d ever witnessed, she skated her free hand across his rib cage and under their twined fingers. He held no chance of capturing the marauding invader in time. If he weren’t so damned annoyed, he would have been highly impressed. With that kind of tricky handwork, she’d make one hell of a pickpocket.
She popped the button free on his fly and slid beneath the waistband of his trousers and briefs. The first brush of her fingers over the swollen head of his cock elicited his helpless groan.
“Mm, you’re right. Definitely not a little problem.” Mara’s hand ventured lower and enveloped him fully. He jerked, nearly unseating her from his lap.
Her breath puffed fast against his cheek, keeping rhythm with her questing strokes. “You feel amazing. Hot and hard.”
His skin became damp with perspiration. “I get it now. This is really payback for The Fairies Grotto, isn’t it?”
“Not at all.” Smiling like a cat with cream, she pumped her fist with a tantalizing squeeze that had him seeing stars.
Hips bucking, he dropped her hand and grabbed the mattress in a stranglehold. “For the love of everything holy, don’t do that,” he pleaded between gritted teeth.
“Why?” Her innocent tone stood in direct conflict to the wicked motion of her hand.
“Because you’re going to make me embarrass myself worse than a wet-behind-the-ears virgin.”
“Oh, you mean like if I do this?�
� She pumped her fist, slow and teasing, before swirling her thumb across the head of his cock.
It was too much. Nothing would save him now—not even reciting the goddess alphabet backwards while he envisioned a whole roomful of naked, hairy Vorhians. Fisting the silk coverlet with both hands, he surrendered to the white-hot release pounding down on him. A ragged, agonized moan ripped from his throat and his eyes rolled back.
Several minutes later, still gasping for breath, he collapsed in a boneless heap. Mara leaned down and gave him a demure peck on the lips. “Hm, thirty seconds. Has to be a record.”
He glared at her through slitted eyes. “It’s bloody amazing I lasted that long.”
Chuckling, she patted his chest before springing from the mattress. The brain-frying orgasm she just provided dulled his reflexes and he missed grabbing the tail of her skirt. With a suitably evil laugh, she escaped through the automatic door.
Chapter Eighteen
Dash exhaled in relief when he pulled up in front of Jerrick’s rented room and spied his brother tossing a black satchel onto the backseat of a vintage cherry red Air Racer. He thought for sure Jerrick would have taken off the second the sun rose above the horizon. Crazy kid had always been an early riser, an annoying habit that regularly chapped Dash’s ass back when they were partners. Really, was there ever a good reason to get up before nine?
Throwing his vehicle into park, Dash climbed out and ambled towards the Air Racer, silently admiring its pristine paint job. “I can’t believe you still have this ancient hunk of scrap metal.”
Jerrick swung around, his head narrowly missing the vehicle’s doorframe. His shoulders relaxed when he spotted Dash but his scowl remained firmly etched in place. “Scrap metal? That’s blasphemy, my friend.” His gaze flicked over Dash’s shoulder to the Cloud Chaser. “Especially when you’re driving around in that thing.”
Yep, he had a point.
“What are you doing out here anyway?” Jerrick slammed the Air Racer’s door shut. “I didn’t give you my address just so you can start stalking me.”
Lover Enslaved: Thieves of Aurion, Book 1 Page 17
