Chapter Nineteen
MINA
That night, I slept better than I had in weeks.
I woke intermittently, but always with a feeling of joy and wonder, and I always slipped right back into sleep…
except the time Marius happened to wake at the same time.
His soft touches led us into another round of sex — a quiet, slow round that could have been poetry, it was that rhythmic and perfect.
Afterward, we’d held each other wordlessly.
Bong… Bong… A church bell struck four times, indicating the full hour, then twice more in a lower tone.
“Two in the morning,” I whispered, just because.
Marius’s lips played over my bare shoulder. “So close your eyes, Sleeping Beauty.”
I smiled and did as I was told, listening to his steady breaths and the tap of rain over the sidewalk. For once, my mind left me in peace, allowing me to enjoy the moment instead of worrying about the future.
The next time I woke, a garbage truck was rumbling down the street, and not long after, the church bell struck three quarters of an hour.
I glanced at the clock, shocked to discover we’d managed to sleep until seven forty-five.
All too soon, my mind brought me back to my natural state — namely, stressing.
Marius was sound asleep, so I reached quietly for my phone and started scrolling. And scrolling…
“Let me guess,” Marius grumbled sleepily sometime later. “You’re researching the buyers. Again.”
“Maybe I’m comparison shopping drywall prices,” I bluffed.
He shook his head. “You bite your lip when you comparison shop. But you frown when you think about anything related to Gordon.”
I frowned. Did I?
He gestured toward my phone. “Anything new?”
“Well, I figured out what Gordon wanted to discuss with Roux before we left Paris.”
“What?”
“Making sure Jensen got pushed to the top of Anastasia’s list.”
Marius yawned. Clearly, that wasn’t news to him. “It figures. The more a buyer is willing to pay, the higher Gordon’s commission.”
“How much is he charging?”
Another shrug. “No idea. What’s standard?”
“Well, Sotheby’s takes fifteen percent for anything valued over eight million.”
Marius snorted. “Knowing Gordon, he’ll charge more.”
“Unless he loses the deal entirely,” I hinted.
Marius’s brow creased. “And how might that happen?”
I reached for my phone and shuffled around, lying on my back beside him.
“Here’s a recent interview with Jensen.” I started to read.
“Nils ?ren Jensen: the tech visionary’s keys to success.
” I skimmed over the text to reach the relevant section.
“Number six: cut out the middleman. ‘Whenever possible,’ Jensen says, ‘I cut the middleman. It’s called streamlining.’”
Marius didn’t look impressed until I clicked back to my search results that listed article upon article quoting the same strategy: cut the middleman.
“Would Jensen be bold enough to go behind Gordon’s back?” I wondered aloud.
“Not sure if that’s bold or reckless,” Marius muttered.
“Well, he might try it.”
Marius thought it over, then shrugged. “Gordon’s problem, not ours.”
I wasn’t so sure about that, but I snuggled back up with Marius.
That inexplicable heat that started in my neck quickly maneuvered us into a sensual clinch, and nature took its course — doggy-style this time.
And blimey. A couple of happier, hornier hounds were not to be found anywhere in the kingdom.
We lay in bliss afterward, then took a shower — and headed straight back to bed, where Marius laid me out like a feast, went down on me, and… well, feasted.
A good thing the walls of this basement apartment were thick, because the sounds I produced made me blush afterward. But all I could think was, Heaven, heaven, heaven.
I, of course, felt obliged to reciprocate, and soon, it was Marius’s turn to moan and grip the sheets in ecstasy.
And, whew. We’d had great sex before, but this was a whole new level. The entire time, I felt radiant. Beautiful, even, and bonded to him in a way I’d never imagined possible.
Not that I was complaining. But I did worry that the huge, happy bubble I was floating around in was about to burst — and burst big.
The next time I checked the clock, it was almost nine. Which was all right since Anastasia wasn’t due to call with her decision until noon.
I giggled. “At the risk of sounding like something Bene would say… Boy, are we on fire.”
I expected Marius to chuckle, but he stiffened and went very, very quiet.
I turned in his arms, facing him. “What?”
He forced a smile. “We are. And it’s great.”
His tone left me hanging, so I waited. And waited.
“But?” I prompted.
He hesitated. “But this might be a good time to talk.”
Uh-oh. That didn’t sound good.
“That night by the canal in Paris…” he started haltingly.
My body heated at the memory, and my hand went to my neck in the new habit I’d formed since then. One guaranteed to set off all kinds of sensual imagery, even now, when my lust ought to have been more than sated.
Marius gulped, following the gesture.
I froze, then probed my skin in a more clinical way. “You mean that hickey you left me with?”
He shook his head. “Not a hickey.”
After waiting an eternity, I hit him with my sternest teacher look. “Explain.”
It took him a good minute to work up the nerve to begin, and when he finished, I practically shrieked.
“You what?”
He winced and patted the air, urging me to lower my voice.
“I marked you,” he repeated. “By moonlight.”
That part, I’d heard. I’d also caught that it was a form of staking one’s claim to a future mate. But like an engagement ring for supernaturals sounded way too harmless for the pained expression on his face.
I sat up and crossed my arms sternly, though part of me loved the idea that he wanted me the way I wanted him. Forever.
“You don’t sneak an engagement ring onto a woman’s hand. You discuss it with her to see if she agrees.”
“It will wear off with time,” he tried.
“An engagement that wears off?” My voice hit the ceiling.
“I didn’t mean to,” he tried lamely.
I glared. “Oh, that makes me feel better.”
“Don’t get me wrong — I would love to mark you if the timing was right. But at that moment… Well, it was destiny.”
I knew the man wasn’t an ace with words, but I was losing my patience quickly. Did he want me or didn’t he?
“So, destiny wants us together, but you don’t want me?”
“I want you,” he insisted. “More than anything.”
“And yet you decided to wait for the mark to wear off. Without telling me.”
“For your own protection.”
I put my face in my hands. There we were, back at the P word. The man was obsessed with it. A fact I ought to be grateful for, but there was the why and the how, and his how was so messed up, I didn’t know where to begin.
I waited until I thought my voice wouldn’t exceed the decibel level of a dragon roar to speak.
“And you were going to bring this up…when?”
“As soon as I could.” When I pinned him with a hard glare, he stuck up his hands. “Not soon enough. I know.”
That was an understatement, but I didn’t trust myself to reply.
Lucky for him, my phone rang.
“Yes?” I snarled into it.
“Um…everything okay?” Roux replied.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Next question.”
Poor Roux. He sounded stressed himself.
“Did you catch the morning news?” he asked a little ominously.
Marius leaned in to listen, but I pushed him away. He could come close when he made up to me…somehow. Right now, I was still furious.
“Uh…no…” I said, watching Marius pull out his phone. He hit a few keys, then cursed.
I leaned in, and he let me, but that was only fair in my book. He owed me, dammit.
My jaw dropped as I skimmed the BBC headline.
Latvian art expert murdered.
Underneath, the subtitle screamed, Hotel guests raised the alarm after hearing cries, but too late.
I skimmed the body of the article. Raisa Kepke, 59, pronounced dead at the scene… Signs of forced entry… Cause of death not yet officially established…
“Get your asses over here, tout de suite,” Roux grunted.
* * *
We did, though only after a thorough scrub in the shower to erase the scent of sex. But nothing dimmed the glow of my skin, and I grumbled at Marius the whole time we rode the Tube.
The nerve he’d had, secretly marking me! The gall! How patronizing!
Then again, if I were in his position, I might have done the same to him — and not just to protect him, but for entirely selfish reasons.
I glanced at him, going ramrod straight with a sudden thought.
“Wait. Did you say this marking thing you did is to claim a partner and keep others away?”
His throat bobbed. “Yes.”
I thought of Bene, Roux, and Henrik. “Will the others be able to tell?”
He nodded slowly, and I panicked, tightening my scarf.
“Shit, I need a bigger scarf. And perfume…”
Then it hit me, and I gaped at him. The other guys had been making me wear a scarf for days.
I smacked Marius on the arm and yelped, “They already know?”
At least half the commuters in our carriage looked up. The other half looked carefully away.
My cheeks burned as Marius nodded miserably.
“They’re in this with you?” I shrieked.
More looks while Marius squirmed in his seat.
“No. They just… They care about you, like I do.”
I put my face in my hands. Very sweet — in principle. Yet all I felt was burning shame.
The minute we marched into the suite where the others had spent the night, I crossed my arms and glared.
“We’ll be discussing this. Soon,” I growled, motioning to my neck.
“Talk to him, not us.” Bene pointed at Marius.
Roux shook his head firmly. “No time. We have a murder on our hands.”
He was right, and I chastised myself for being so self-centered. A woman I’d met the previous day had been brutally murdered. It was awful. If I had said or done something differently, might she still be alive now?
A knock sounded on the door, and Bene muttered, “Please, don’t let that be Gordon.”
Roux looked through the peephole, annoyed. Then he stiffened and opened the door. “Good morning, Gordon.”
I froze. Surely he was joking.