46 #3
Constantine said, “I approved the trip to the temple, so I take full responsibility for the complications, but the situation is delicate. If we start questioning people, we’ll have to admit we were in the temple.”
Mikhail met Amelia’s gaze. Her eyes were intense, her lips set in a sullen pout. Suddenly, he wanted to bury his face in her hair and wipe away that sour expression.
“We’re done for today,” he said. He wanted to keep Amelia alive, but he also wanted to make her happy.
She walked towards the door with the others. Mikhail called out to her. She pretended not to hear and left.
Fine. So be it. Mikhail would let her sulk – as long as she was safe and sound.
He lasted all of five minutes before following her. He found her in the room she’d stayed in while he was away. Her things were still there, for the simple reason that in the past thirty-six hours, they hadn’t had time to move them.
She was staring out the window. Her light blonde hair flowed like a living cascade down the curve of her spine, and the tight fit of her dark jeans hugged her rear.
Mikhail had never found a woman so attractive in simple dark jeans and a grey top, but Amelia could wear a potato sack and still elicit a reaction from him.
“Why did you walk out like that?” he asked when she finally acknowledged his presence with a glance in his direction.
“Because I needed some space.”
“Space…” Mikhail swept his gaze around. “Then why are you holed up in this little room when the entire twentieth floor is at your disposal?”
She faced him. “I need space from you , Mikhail.”
He stepped closer to her, resisting the urge to pull her into his arms, and said in a softer tone, “I can’t support decisions that put your safety at risk.”
“I think you’ve got the wrong idea.”
Mikhail’s body tensed. “About what, exactly?”
Amelia pressed her lips into a thin line, her eyes raking over him.
When she met his gaze again, she sighed.
“You’re incredibly smart, determined, and annoyingly attractive.
I’m happy to lie in your bed, and I’m just as eager to be part of your council.
But don’t think for a second that I need your protection against criticism from others.
I can fight my own battles. No one is responsible for the choices I make.
No one misled me into going to the Temple of the Dead Immortals.
And it’s certainly not true that I didn’t know what I was doing.
I agreed to go to the temple with the others and to take part in collecting genetic material because I want to help solve the regeneration problem.
Because before becoming the Oracle, I was a medical student who believed in genetics.
And because I was curious to see this temple. ”
Mikhail listened to her with a slight smile on his lips. It wasn’t that he didn’t take her words seriously, but his instinct to protect her would always take over.
He raised his hands in front of his chest and stepped closer. “All right, I get it. I’m sorry.” Despite his apology, when he leaned in to kiss her, she pulled away.
“Earlier, you treated your friends terribly,” she said. “You don’t know what it was like when you were gone – what they went through without you. They care about you and don’t deserve that.”
“I care about them too, Amelia.”
Mikhail placed his hands on the windowsill on either side of her, trapping her between his body and the window. “How about we pack your things and move them to the twentieth floor?”
Amelia shook her head. “I think I’ll stay here for now.” A hint of defiance flashed in her eyes. “Last night, you set your conditions. Now, I’ll set mine.”
Mikhail raised an eyebrow. “Let’s hear them, then.”
“If you want me as the woman by your side, you accept both Amelia and the Oracle.”
Mikhail was about to object – he had always told her she was both – but Amelia raised a finger in front of his face.
“That means you don’t just accept my gifts as the Oracle, but you accept that I’ll use them.
I’ll be the Oracle for the whole world, not just for you.
The previous Oracle ‘received’ messages for different people and delivered them.
I assume I’ll start getting similar ones at some point, which will require communicating with many more creatures. ”
“I can’t stop you,” Mikhail said. As much as I might want to.
“You never speak for me unless I specifically ask you to. You never jump to defend me unless I’m truly out of options. You never try to control my actions.” She narrowed her eyes and added, “And when we’re in public, don’t act like a dominant alpha male who can’t keep his hands off me.”
The description made him chuckle. “But I am a dominant alpha male who can’t keep his hands off you.”
“Well, sometimes you’ll need to control yourself.”
“I didn’t see you minding my hands on you earlier.”
“Because…” She pressed her lips together. “Because I didn’t mind them, but it was still inappropriate.”
He grinned. “All right… And when we’re alone? Any rules about touching?”
Amelia gave him a slow smile. “No rules when we’re alone.”
“Deal.” Mikhail grabbed her by the waist and dragged her onto the bed, falling back onto the mattress and taking her with him.
“I didn’t hear you agreeing to the rules,” she said, straddling his hips.
He slid his hands under her shirt. “I didn’t hear you agreeing to my rules last night, either, but I still let you sleep with me. I think it’s only fair you return the favour.”
Amelia leaned her face close to his. “I’m with you, Mikhail. But you’ll follow my rules, too.”
He cupped the back of her neck and kissed her. How could he refuse her? Besides, he really liked this Amelia who wanted to set rules.
He helped her remove her shirt, then pulled his own over his head.
When he reached for the buckle of his jeans, she gently pushed his hand away and unfastened it.
Sliding down the bed, Amelia wrapped her fingers around his length.
At that moment, Mikhail’s anger, along with his willpower, melted away.
It didn’t take long before he tugged her back on top of him.
***
Later, she did move to his room. He helped her gather her belongings and carried them to the last floor. The heavy, unspoken tension that had lingered between them was gone.
Once they set her things around the room, Amelia stood and inspected her new place as if seeing it for the first time.
The bare walls caught his attention. “We can put up some pictures. Or maybe a plant. Or… something else. Just tell me what you want, and we’ll send Stella to the city and get it for you.” He frowned at the sparse furnishings he was offering her. “If you want a TV, or a laptop…”
“Mikhail, stop. Everything is perfect.” She walked over to him and rose on her tiptoes to kiss him.
“I’m sure you’ll need something. You’re a woman…” He’d forgotten what it was like to have a woman beside him, but now that he did, and one so special, he couldn’t wait to use all his resources to make her happy.
Amelia smiled. “Everything I want is right here in this room.”
“Are you sure? You must need some more clothes.”
“I have enough.”
“Don’t you at least want me to buy you a car?”
“A car?”
“I still owe you one, after I wrecked yours when we first met.”
A small frown creased her forehead. “You didn’t wreck my car. I crashed into you. Besides, you left me money to get it repaired.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’ll buy you a new one, anyway. How about a Maserati? Not that I’d let you go out alone in it, but we could go together…”
“Mikhail, stop talking and kiss me.”
He smiled at the sharpness in her tone. Did Amelia realise how much she had changed over the past few months? One day, she would be an impressive Oracle.
He kissed her and silently vowed to kill anyone who tried to harm her.