She licked her lips, imaging the slide of his tongue instead of hers.
His gaze locked onto the movement. His eyebrows dipped low at the center and his focus grew distant. He cocked his head. “Get dressed and wait here.” He was out the door without another word, leaving her alone with her thrumming heart.
Maxis.
Reese had said Maxis knew where he lived. He’d even gone so far as to say he hoped his brother would show for a chance at evening the score.
Like histus she’d wait here. She drew on her crimson slip, mentally fastening the buttons along the back even as she slid one arm into the corseted outer piece. Maybe she should call for Eryx or Ramsay. Or Ludan. Ludan would come just for the chance to snap Maxis’ neck and wouldn’t say a word to either of her brothers out of gratitude alone.
She hustled down the hall, stopping to slide on her sandals between steps. The bookcase hiding the stairwell was nearly shut, letting only the barest stream of light shine down the stone steps. Floorboards creaked above her and a muted clang sounded from farther away.
Silence settled for a moment, followed by muted male voices. Reese’s voice was easy to catch, but the other she couldn’t quite gauge from her vantage point. She held her breath and pressed close to the nearly closed door-a-la-bookcase. It wasn’t Maxis’. This one was too low to fit Maxis’ grating tenor, too familiar.
She reached out through her links. Eryx was at home, but Ramsay—
Praise the Great One. Why would Ramsay be here? She hurried forward, shoving the door open on silent hinges.
Reese was tall enough only the tip of Ramsay’s chocolate and sun-streaked hair showed. The way Reese gripped the barely opened door and jam made it clear he wasn’t about to let Ramsay one step farther, no doubt an attempt to save her any pain or embarrassment.
She started forward and faltered. Maybe Reese was right. Throwing her presence on her brother wasn’t the smoothest way to deliver the news. Maybe she should wait until things were calmer. Find some place with more common ground to share the direction she’d chosen.
Shaking her head, she reengaged. Reese had faced his worst fears. Had laid his heart out to her in so many ways it still made her shudder. If she couldn’t face her own brothers with her feelings she didn’t deserve him. She touched his shoulder and the muscles beneath her palm went rigid. “You can let him in.”
Ramsay’s voice faltered.
“It’s okay, Reese. Let him in.”
Reese stared straight ahead, no doubt meeting her brother’s death stare. His stern jaw looked like it might snap at the slightest increase in pressure.
She hedged back and waited.
Reese swallowed and his grip on the door tightened until his knuckles ran white. He stepped aside.
Ramsay’s scowl locked onto her then shot to Reese. “And here I thought your apology meant something.” He focused on Galena. “Stupid me. You just wanted to lay a little ground work with my sister.”
“You went to him?” Normally her brother’s nastiness would have kept her locked in place, but surprise wedged her feet free. “When?”
“Yesterday.” Reese sighed and let go of the door, letting it swing open. “A few hours before you showed up. I owed him that much.”
She swiveled her head, anger bubbling beneath her skin as her brother’s accusations registered. “And you think he made his apologies to lay a little groundwork?” She prowled forward.
Ramsay straightened, a cautionary light dawning in his silver eyes.
Good. He needed to be wary. “Are you saying he needed to get in your good graces so he could fuck me?”
The crude statement worked Ramsay as sure as a slap across the face, his head snapping back.
Reese stepped forward. “Galena—”
“No.” She waved him off, keeping her focus on Ramsay. “First, what makes you think you hold any sway over what I do or don’t do? You think he’d need to get permission from you to touch me? You think I don’t make those decisions for myself?” She straightened and shook her head. “Oh, wait. Maybe the old me did, but let me assure you, the new me doesn’t.
“Second.” She glanced at Reese, shock doing more to loosen the tension in his jaw than any amount of soothing probably would have. “Where do you get off being so judgmental? I always believed you were reasonable and decent-hearted. Do you think it was easy for Reese to be in his position? To lie to a man he considered his friend? To man up and apologize for it years later after making such serious mistakes?”
She paused, lungs burning from her fury. “Frankly, big brother, I’m beginning to wonder if you’d man up enough to match what he’s done.” She huffed out a breath and what was left of her ire evened out.
Ramsay stared at her, wide-eyed.
Damned if she didn’t feel about thirty pounds lighter. Not the classiest way to go about throwing out what she had to say, but she’d bet Lexi would’ve scored it a ten.
She smoothed out the front of her dress, cringing at the wrinkles marking the delicate crimson silk, and strolled with as much dignity as she could to Reese. She went on her tiptoes and urged him down for a kiss. “I’m proud of you.”
He kissed her back, a cautious touch that seemed obviously mindful of Ramsay’s shaken but steady stare. His gratitude—or was it awe—moved something in her soul. When was the last time someone had stood up for this man? Really, believed in him?
She pressed another chaste, but lingering kiss against his lips and smiled. “Very proud.” With that, she pulled away and let out a satisfied sigh. “I should be finished checking in with my patients around dinner time. Why don’t you pick me up at the castle and we’ll spend tonight at my place?” She strolled out the door without waiting for an answer, leaving two open-mouthed men staring after her.
Liberation felt good.
* * * *
Eryx paused in the castle foyer and pulled Jillian to a halt beside him. Through the tall arched windows, Lexi and Ian sat laughing in the flower-shaded arbor, lavender and cream bell-shaped blooms dangling in the wind above them. “We don’t have to do this yet. No one’s pushing for you to meet Ian today. Lexi knows him better than me, but he seems like a patient guy. If you say you need time, he won’t push.”
Jillian hung back, only inching forward enough to peek at the stranger she’d learned last night was probably her father. “What’s he like?”
Eryx sampled her emotions. The action was rude and a complete cheat, but when it came to protecting Jilly he didn’t give a damn.
Curiosity tapped against his senses, a sweet, sparkling sensation not unlike champagne. Fear seemed mixed in there somewhere too, but more apprehension than terror, the difference between forged steel and the coppery scent of blood.
“He’s strong,” Eryx said. “Protective of those he loves.”
Lexi’s laughter filtered through the open front doors, her bold gestures matching her wide smile.
Ian wasn’t as animated, but his face glowed with evident love for Lexi.
“Lexi said he never quit searching for you or his wife,” Eryx said. “You should know that.”
Jilly nodded, a shy, distracted movement he wasn’t sure how to interpret. “Lexi said he loved my mother. That he kept following leads even after they chose to set the case aside.”
“It takes a lot of fortitude for a man to keep going when his wife and unborn child vanish into thin air. That alone should tell you about his character.”
She dragged her gaze from the window and up to Eryx. “I want to meet him. I like Lexi and Ian likes her, so he must be a good man.”
Thank the Great One. If she’d said no, he’d have supported her, but he wasn’t looking forward to crushing Ian’s hopes. If the shoe were on the other foot, he’d be devastated at waiting so much as a minute to meet the daughter he’d thought lost.
He tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow and covered it with his free hand. “Then let’s go make his day, Squ
eak.”
They ambled along the white sand paths, the noonday sun warm, yet not hot enough to chase away what remained of the crisp morning. Jilly’s fingers tightened and her body angled close to his, but she kept her head up, gaze locked on the man not twenty-five feet ahead.
“Until you tell me otherwise,” he said beneath his breath, “I’m right there with you.” He squeezed her hand in reassurance as they rounded the last bend.
Ian’s deep voice trailed off and his jaw slackened, whatever he was saying lost behind the lock he had on Jillian. He stood, the remnants of his injuries making the move jerky and slower than his pride probably cared to admit. His Adam’s apple bobbed on a nervous swallow. “Jillian?”
Lexi rose behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder. Eryx couldn’t blame her for needing contact. The wealth of emotion in Ian’s one word could’ve gutted the diabhal.
Ian inched forward.
“Call me Jilly.” She held out her hand with the same cultured politeness Galena and Orla were renowned for. “No one calls me Jillian. Not unless I’m in trouble.”
Ian took the hand she offered, reverently cupping it in both of his. “All right then, Jilly it is.”
“Beautiful. Just like your mother.”
Eryx jolted at Ian’s voice in his head and glanced at Lexi.
She’d moved in closer to Ian and Jillian, her light banter filling the awkward introductions between the two of them. If she’d heard Ian telepathically, she sure wasn’t showing it.
It had to be his imagination. He’d probably just got caught up in the emotional moment and lost his focus.
He hoped.
“…If that’s okay with you?”
Ian’s voice pulled Eryx’s head out of his ass. “Sorry, I was somewhere else. What’s the question?”
Lexi scowled. “Jilly offered to sit with Ian for a bit while we took care of that errand we need to run.” She switched to telepathy. “Work with me here.”
Well, he sure wasn’t imagining the irritation in his baineann’s tone. “As long as you two are comfortable, I’m good.” He stepped aside and motioned Lexi ahead of him. “We shouldn’t be long. Give Orla a shout if you need help while we’re gone all right, Squeak?”
She nodded and a pretty flush dotted her cheeks, the kind he hoped Ian’s presence caused a whole lot more of.
“I thought that went well.” Lexi nearly bounced toward the castle, her soft-black hair swishing around her shoulders.
Histus, but he liked seeing her this happy. A far cry from where she’d been only a week ago.
Her steps slowed and her smile melted. “But that doesn’t look so good.”
Eryx followed her gaze and felt his levity fizzle right along side hers.
Making her way from the far end of the garden was Galena, her strides calm but purposeful. Ramsay stomped behind her, brusque, yet animated gestures flying as he shouted.
“You think we should run for it, or get a whistle?” Lexi pinched her chin. It was hard to tell if she was serious or if she’d jumped off into one of her playful spells.
Personally he’d had enough drama and wanted a little more alone time with his mate. “I’ll vote for running.”
Lexi shook her head and screwed her mouth up on one side. “Nope. We’re too late.” She tugged him closer and winked. “I think you’d better brace.”
Not two seconds later, Galena strode around the last corner.
“Come on, Lena. What the hell was I supposed to think?” Ramsay ground to a halt beside her and cast a desperate look at Eryx. “You’re not gonna believe—”
Galena held up a hand to cut him off. “Could you, just for a minute, keep your mouth shut? I wasn’t ignoring you, I was looking for Eryx because I only want to say this once.”
She took a deep breath and glared at the two of them, not sparing so much as a glance at Lexi. She ended the back and forth on Eryx. “You should know I’m involved with Reese.”
Shit.
Ramsay scoffed and turned away with both hands on his hips.
Lexi smiled and snuggled tighter to Eryx. “Oh, this is going to be good.”
“Can it, hellcat.” His mate got entirely too much pleasure out of matchmaking. “Involved how, exactly?”
Lexi craned her head up at him.
Both women glared with one raised eyebrow. Did they learn that expression in the cradle?
“She means, involved,” Lexi said. “As in to—”
“He knows what you mean.” Ramsay crossed his arms. “And so will everyone else when they see your hair bound. Really, Galena? You think you can publicly claim a guy like that after everything he’s done and it not fall back on you?”
Fuck, he’d missed the hair. Where in histus was his head today? Maybe he had imagined that bit with Ian.
Galena swung her arm between them to cut him off. “And that’s what we need to talk about.”
“I think you should have talked to us—”
“No.” Galena sparked with a fierceness he hadn’t seen since she’d caught a teenage boy hurting a helpless animal. “Here’s the deal. You two are my brothers. Not my keepers. I love you and I’ll support you in whatever you need, but you will not control my life. My decisions are my own. The sooner you both get that, the better off we’ll be.”
She paused, her gaze resting for a minute on Lexi. In that second, Eryx could have sworn some sort of feminine mojo swept between them. A silent ra-ra reserved for women alone.
“I get you don’t have reason to trust Reese, and I appreciate the position you’re in.” She eyed each of them. “But I feel something with him I haven’t ever felt before and I’m not going to pass up on the chance to embrace it.” She honed in on Eryx. “You of all people should get that. You risked your throne for your mate. The last thing I want to do is risk my relationships with my brothers, but what I feel for Reese is worth the risk.”
Lexi’s grip tightened on Eryx’s arm, a silent message he wasn’t sure how to interpret. She’d hinted at something between Reese and Galena. Histus, he’d seen them kiss in Reese’s memory, but had hoped it was an empty, one-time act. “What do you want from us?”
Lexi stroked the back of his arm with her thumb, a silent encouragement.
Galena pulled in a long breath and squared her shoulders. “I don’t expect for you to understand my reasoning or decisions, but I’d like to have your acceptance and your support.” She paused, the tension in her frame eking out enough to let her vulnerability shine through. “If I screw up, it’s mine to own, but I’d like to know I have your love no matter what.”
Ramsay held her stare for a heartbeat. “Always.” He turned away and stomped toward the house. “But I’ll kill him if he hurts you.”
Galena exhaled and glared at Eryx. “And you?”
Damn. That she’d even be forced to ask the question shamed him to the core. Eryx pulled her into a bear hug, her thick braid digging into the inside of his forearm. “You shouldn’t even need to ask, Lena.” He let her go and tucked Lexi against his side. “But Ramsay’s right. Reese will pay dearly if he hurts you.”
She rolled her eyes and walked away, shaking of her head. “Neanderthals. Every damned one of them.”
“Well, would you look at that?” Lexi crossed her arms, saucy and clearly pleased with herself. A satisfied smirk played on her lips. “I do believe my work here is done.”
Chapter 21
The sun warmed the back of Galena’s neck, nothing but her garden and her thoughts for company. The rich soil’s damp musk surrounded her, a protective cocoon more effective than the high stone walls at the back of her cottage. A slow ache had settled in her back over an hour ago, but her connection to the Earth was too peaceful, too soothing to set her planting aside. Too necessary in combating her tangled thoughts and emotions.
She walked her knees two paces to the left and plunged her spade deep. The muscles in her arms shook with fatigue. Reaching with her mi
nd, she slid the seedling tray beside her. Transplanting the tiny shoots this early was a bad idea, but she’d used up all her patience with her brothers. With a little luck and a nudge from her energy through the soil they’d find purchase anyway.
Maybe she should call Orla. The woman had a canny gift with all things green. One touch and a whispered encouragement could pull a straggling brown plant from the brink of kindling.
“I’d suggest sunscreen, but I guess sunburns and skin cancer don’t last long around you.” Lexi’s sandaled feet stepped into sight a second before she crouched beside her. “Which brother are you digging the hole for? ‘Cause if it’s my husband I gotta ask you to hold off a little longer before you plant him. Technically, it’s still my honeymoon and I wouldn’t mind basking in the afterglow for a few more days.”
Galena eased a seedling from its container, settled it in the center of the dark soil, and scooped the loose dirt around it. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
“I can be stealthy when I want.” Lexi fingered one leaf. “Frankly, you were so focused a herd of elephants could have stomped in here and you wouldn’t have known it.” She dusted off one of the paver stones on the garden path and settled on her butt. “Wanna talk about it?”
Galena chuckled. “I’m a little talked out.”
“Yeah, that was some speech. Pretty impressive if you ask me.”
Galena sat back on her heels. “Ah, but will they listen?”
“Who the hell knows? Men are goofs. Sometimes they need repetition.” She pushed to her feet and grunted on par with a man tasked with a honey-do list. “Seriously, let’s save the good chats for a decent barstool and a good-looking bartender next time.” She held out her hand and wiggled her fingers. “Come on.”
“Come on, where?”
“Eryx needs you.”
Oh, heck no. Galena edged over to the next open spot, her thick braid swinging to one side of her face. “I’ve had more than enough of their lectures and opinions. Unless something’s wrong with Ian or Brenna, I’m taking a little time to myself. Otherwise, I might slip a little something in their food I’ll regret later.”
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