Oh no!
There was movement in the public corridor just outside. Voices. Footsteps. Sevin didn’t seem to notice, or perhaps he just didn’t care that they might be discovered. Holding him at bay with one hand, she clutched the sides of her corset and bodice together with her other.
“Wait. No,” she whispered. “Someone’s coming.”
He looked at her then, his expression clouded with a blend of desire and confusion. “What?” His eyes were heavy-lidded, staring greedily at her mouth.
She turned her head as he leaned in to kiss her again, batting at his roving hands. “No. There’s someone out there.”
“Who the fuck cares?” he murmured against her throat. “I own this place. They won’t bother us.” He shifted his weight, his hands going under her bottom, tilting her to better cradle his erection.
Mmm.
Only her pantalets remained between them, and through this fragile barrier, his male member burned her, making her nether heart pulse for want of it. Her body was open for him, wet for him, dying for him.
He was a temptation she couldn’t resist, and for these stolen moments, she would not try. “Be quick then,” she urged softly.
His hand found the slit in her pantalets. She felt the nudge of his smooth, hot cock head. She tightened her thighs, slowing him.
“Once more. That’s all this is,” she whispered. He only grunted. Her fingers threaded his hair and she kissed him deeply, as he’d taught her last night. His thighs braced her weight, his hips pushed ...
Then there came the sound of a door, the one leading from the outside hallway to his adjacent office.
“Sevin!” Dane’s voice called from the office just beyond them.
“Five thousand hells!” Sevin groaned. Angling his head, he threw a reply over his shoulder. “Not now!” he snarled.
“Apologies, brother. It’s an urgent matter.” There was amusement in Dane’s voice now.
“Go.” Alexa pushed at him, wriggling and trying to straighten her clothing and hair.
Sevin stared down at her, still passionate and hungry. Briefly, he rested his forehead against hers. “This isn’t over,” he murmured. Then he was letting her go, and they were fumbling to right themselves. A moment later he opened the door to the office, one hand at her back.
“Your timing leaves something to be desired, brother,” he growled. He was just about to continue berating Dane when he noticed that he held a baby in his arms. And his wife stood just beyond him.
“
Buona sera,
Sevin,” Eva told him. “We apologize for barging in.”
Alexa’s eyes widened when she saw the child. Her hand fluttered down to her own belly, then she let it drop to her side. What had she been thinking just now? Her foolish behavior could have resulted in a child.
And what about last night?
she suddenly worried. The years ahead on her own would be difficult enough without a child to care for.
She said nothing of her fears, of course, and only nodded to Dane before slipping beyond him to greet Eva.
“Dane and I have business downstairs,” Sevin told her after a brief word with his brother. The two men headed for the outer door.
“You’ll check on the whereabouts of that attorney?” Alexa asked.
Sevin nodded, watching as Dane handed the baby he held over to Eva before their departure. He’d never considered himself father material, but suddenly the notion did not strike him as something so foreign. His eyes pinned the woman for whom his body still ached.
“You’ll stay put here with Eva till I return. Promise me.”
She folded her arms, not appreciating his tone.
“I’ll post guards if I must. Please, Alexa. I’ll worry.”
She sighed, her tone distant. “Very well. But make haste.”
At that, Sevin went back to her. Wrapping a hand at her nape, he gave her a brief, all-too-public kiss on the mouth. She blushed, looking flustered.
“Branded,” he teased softly. “Now they know you’re mine.”
Releasing her, he smiled over at Eva. “While I’m gone, maybe you can convince her to wed me. So far, I’ve not had much luck in the effort.” Then he and Dane left the two women together.
Eva’s eyes lighted at the mention of a marriage in the offing. “Is he sincere? Oh, it would be so wonderful if you were to wed Sevin!” she enthused. “You would be part of the family and all this hatred between you would end. He’s a good man. They’re all four good men,” she said, nodding toward the salon as if to encompass all the Satyr brothers.
Alexa raised a brow. “Is this the beginning of your campaign to convince me?”
Eva laughed. “Just my own observation. I trust and love Dane with all my heart. And he has only good things to say about the loyalty and heart of his brothers.”
“What does he say of Sevin in particular?”
Eva positioned the child she held over one shoulder, swaying from side to side to comfort her. “That he has always been a charmer. Good at cards, good at business, good at conversation. Resourceful. That sort of thing.”
Alexa folded her arms. “There was lip rouge on his collar, did you notice? It wasn’t mine.”
“Oh,” said Eva, her brow wrinkling. “Well, he does work among dozens of beautiful women. But I assure you that these Satyr men are constant, once they choose a wife. Now tell me. How did this all come about? Do you love him?”
“I only met him two days ago.” Alexa paced a few steps away, pausing to stare at a book that lay open on Sevin’s desk. It was a discussion of ancient fountains, some resembling the one from the catacombs. She winced, her thoughts returning to the previous night. Not looking at Eva, she murmured, “You know I was with him during his Calling? And also with ...”
“Luc. Yes, Dane told me,” Eva admitted, her matter-of-fact tone putting Alexa at ease regarding the previous night. “It made me hopeful that I might acquire you as a new sister-in-law. I—”
Alexa turned, cutting her off. “There’s something more I haven’t told you. I was married in Venice.”
“Oh, dear. Does Sevin know? Come, sit and tell me. My daughter is wriggling,” Eva told her, taking one of the two matching visitors’ chairs along the wall.
“There’s little to tell,” said Alexa, dropping on to the seat beside her. “My marriage was a mistake. I secured a divorce in England.”
Eva’s eyes widened, then she reached over and squeezed Alexa’s hand briefly. “Well, good for you. And so you’re free to wed Sevin?”
No, she wasn’t free. In fact, she might wind up incarcerated if she didn’t leave Rome soon. “I’m only here on business tonight. Despite what he said, there’s no question of marriage.”
Eva sat back, rocking her daughter. How Alexa envied her! She knew exactly where and with whom she
belonged
. She had a loving husband, a secure place in his family.
“Their parents died when they were boys, did you know?” Eva told her.
Alexa shook her head, wordlessly inviting her to continue.
Absently cuddling her daughter, Eva looked thoughtful. “Let’s see, Sevin was fifteen or so at the time, I suppose. Dane and Luc had disappeared to the catacombs, and then Bastian became caught in the grip of an alcohol addiction that led him on a trek to remote parts of Europe. In their absence, Sevin was turned out of his home, destitute and left to fend for himself for several years. However, not only did he manage to survive, he even singlehandedly convinced the ElseWorld Council to allow him to build this place, and then saw it all get done. No mean feat for an inexperienced young man in his teens.”
“I’d assumed he’d always lived in luxury,” said Alexa, stunned at this revelation. “After all that, it’s little wonder he works so diligently to keep his family intact.”
“You and he have both suffered abandonment by your families. It gives you a common experience. That can be the basis for a strong bond.”
Alexa shook her head. “I admit that the lure of joining his family is a strong one for me, but ...”
“Don’t forget that there would be other benefits to wedding him besides the family you would acquire,” said Eva, giving her a significant look. “Nightly benefits. Of the kind which greatly soothe and outweigh most other difficulties.”
“Ah, yes,” said Alexa. “I take your meaning.”
At that, the two women shared a smile, both well aware of how very delicious those nightly benefits could be when it came to Satyr men.
Eva departed a minute later to see to her daughter’s feeding, promising to return shortly. In her absence, Alexa wandered over to Sevin’s chair. Plopping down on it, she imagined him sitting there and working. Idly she studied the columns of figures on the ledger left open on his desk. Noticing an error in his calculations, she corrected it.
With little else to occupy her then except her worries, she took up the book of fountains again, flipping through it. Studying one of the illustrations in particular, she bracketed her hands around a portion of it as if to make a frame. Her heart picked up speed. When taken alone, that part of the overall fountain seemed very familiar.
In fact, it bore a striking similarity to the entirety of the fountain that stood in the catacombs. She’d had ample enough time to study it that last evening—hours, in fact. When she tried to recall the details of it now, a particular scene from last night sprang up in her mind’s eye.
She remembered that Sevin and Luc had drawn water from the fountain. It made her blush now to recall how they’d proceeded to wash her intimately, their big hands slicking over her flesh, until they’d all wound up in a breathless, sybaritic tangle. The feel of Sevin’s body against hers was so fresh in her mind.
A shiver prickled her now at the remembrance, and she shifted in his chair. His weight had pressed hers to the fountain’s cold, slick stone. How hot her skin had been from her lovers’ use of it, and how soothing the overspray from the fountain’s waters had been as—
Hearing a sudden noise in the adjoining apartment, she started guiltily. She half rose from her seat, looking toward it. “Sevin?” When there was no reply, she went across the adjoining hallway to his bedchamber and peeked inside. “Sevin?” she called again.
A voice from the closet called out at the same time. A woman’s voice. “Sevin? Is that you,
caro?
I’m sorry I’m late. Did you miss me?”
Alexa gasped. “Who’s there?”
When the woman stepped out of the closet and into the room, Alexa found herself staring at an exquisitely beautiful creature with red hair. “Who are you?” the woman demanded, her delicate brows drawing together.
“Signorina Patrizzi,” Alexa admitted. “And you?”
“Signorina Carmella Carbone. Sevin has spoken of you.” The woman’s gaze swept Alexa, obviously finding her wanting. “You’re the one he fucked last night, aren’t you?”
Heedless of Alexa’s second gasp in as many minutes, the woman continued. “Are you the one he plans to wed? Because of the proclamation?”
“What proclamation?” Alexa asked blankly.
The woman gave her an impatient look. “The one that prohibits any ElseWorld creature from purchasing property in this world. Clever of him to marry into property instead. A trifle annoying, however.” She pouted prettily, drawing Alexa’s notice to her mouth. Her lip rouge was an unusual orange tint.
The very same color I saw on Sevin’s collar earlier!
“We were supposed to lie together for the Calling, did you know? But I’m sure he’ll make it up to me tonight.” Signorina Carbone grinned wickedly. Alexa stepped back as if from a blow, putting a hand over her heart.
Ignoring her, the signorina proceeded to make free with Sevin’s room. Going to a cabinet, she took something from it, then plunked it on the bedside table. It was an artificial phallus made of lacquered wood! A device for giving pleasure. One that Sevin used in engagements with this woman, apparently. Alongside it, Signorina Carbone had set a flagon, likely filled with lubricant.
Feeling all the blood drain from her face, Alexa made for the door.
“You must ask him to make use of these with you sometime. He’s really quite talented,” Ella suggested casually. She pulled back the coverlet on the bed. Her back to Alexa, she began removing her robe. “Oh! I didn’t think to ask. Has he arranged for you to join us tonight?”
Hearing footsteps out in the hall, Ella looked over her shoulder to see that the Patrizzi wench had fled. She closed her robe again, smiling to herself. “That’s it. Run,
puta,
” she murmured.
Then she slipped from Sevin’s apartments and made her way to her own chamber, where she quickly readied herself. Now that that was taken care of, she had another appointment that would take her away from the salon for the next few hours.
If all went well tonight, things might take a more desirable turn with Sevin afterward. Or so her upcoming client had promised.
Upon returning to his office three-quarters of an hour later only to find Alexa gone, Sevin let out a roar that echoed throughout the entire salon. “Damnation!”
Dane had brought disturbing news from Bastian regarding the explosive that they’d found in the bar yesterday. Thinking her safe with Eva, he’d tarried with his brothers over the matter.
Summoning every guard in the salon now, he initiated a search for her. When she was nowhere to be found, he struck out for her home, praying to the gods that he hadn’t lost her.
S
ignorina Ella Carbone stepped into the hotel room, enjoying the sophisticated stylishness of its furnishings. They were expensive, just like the man waiting for her here. She didn’t know his name, but he was human like her. Unlike her, he came from money.
She wanted to come from money. And even more, she wanted to
come
under Lord Sevin. She smiled inwardly at her private little joke. If was the first genuine smile she’d managed in a while, for she’d begun to fear that any hope of having him was slipping away.
But she was resourceful and not the sort to give up. Out of desperation, she’d contacted this man. He had assured her he would help her achieve the outcome she desired with Lord Sevin. Or remove the major roadblock to her happiness, at any rate. He’d made good on his promises before, so she trusted him. Of course, he always wanted something in return, but she was accustomed to bargaining with her body.