everywhere in the world yet, but it’s definitely legal in this country. Nobody’s going to care who you love.”
“I wish it were that easy, but I don’t have a choice.”
“So you’re just giving up and leaving when Dimitri still loves you? That’s a fucking shitty choice. You’ll break his heart.” She grabbed a towel and dried off, then proceeded to glare at him while putting her dress back on. She grimaced at her panties, which were still damp.
“Let me,” Aurik said softly, reaching out for the bit of lace. “I’ll put them in the wash with our clothes, you can pick them up tomorrow.”
Thea gaped at the comment, completely flummoxed by it. By Aurik in general. By far the best single-partner sex she’d had in her life, which she was damn certain he would agree with, and here he was insinuating that they wouldn’t be spending the night together.
“Fine with me,” she said, shutting the door in his face before heading back downstairs.
Dimitri’s bright smile at her reappearance faded quickly when he caught sight of her expression.
“Thea?”
“I need a drink or three, and then you’re going to explain what the fuck that jerk up there thinks he’s doing.” Pissed didn’t begin to describe how she felt. Confused was part of it, of course. She hated men who only told half-truths. And where did he get off with a comment like “Never Leave” if that’s precisely what he was planning on doing? Forget that he’d said it in the heat of passion, she had felt that need of his deep down.
To his credit, Dimitri didn’t waste time before pouring her more wine. At least he still knew her that well. Aurik might have an excuse since they’d just met. And then had earth-shattering, universe-tilting, black-hole inducing sex. The alcohol calmed her after a few minutes and she got lost in watching Dimitri and Aurin cook. They shared a couple somber looks that weren’t lost on Thea, though, along with one sad glance on Aurin’s part to the upper floor when she heard her brother start to come back down.
“Dimitri…” Thea began in an impatient tone. She wanted it out before Aurik was back in the room.
Dimitri shook his head. “We’ll talk when I take you back to the hotel, alright? Besides, the research data arrived while you were in the shower. I’d like to go over it after dinner.”
That news let her relax. If nothing else she could finally get to work on her real reason for coming all this way.
Except for the rest of the evening, her mind kept replaying those moments with either of the twins, spinning endlessly over the way Aurik had made love to her, then slamming to a halt again at his confession.
***
Aurik lingered under the shower until the stream of water grew ice-cold. He was still, acutely attuned to Thea’s words coming up clearly from below. Her voice was as mesmerizing as her scent, drawing him back down to her.
He should have told her the truth. All of it, but believed she was still in Dimitri’s domain so Dimitri was the one responsible for imparting the necessary knowledge to her. Aurik wondered if Dimitri had any intention of doing it. Their secret was sacred and unless one of them had a good enough reason, they couldn’t share it without consulting with the others first.
Part of Aurik hoped Dimitri would tell her. Another part of him dreaded it.
He had to prepare for the worst. He had already resigned himself to giving in to the Council’s decree. None of the potential mates Dimitri had gathered had borne any fruit. Aurik felt nothing for them.
But Thea. She wasn’t on that list. She belonged to Dimitri as far as Aurik was concerned. It didn’t matter that he’d tasted her Nirvana already—she wasn’t marked by him. She belonged to another. That she was a human who had given herself to him didn’t matter. He still saw her as belonging to his friend in spite of her lack of magical link.
She was Dimitri’s. The kiss she had shared with Dimitri had conveyed
“I wish it were that easy, but I don’t have a choice.”
“So you’re just giving up and leaving when Dimitri still loves you? That’s a fucking shitty choice. You’ll break his heart.” She grabbed a towel and dried off, then proceeded to glare at him while putting her dress back on. She grimaced at her panties, which were still damp.
“Let me,” Aurik said softly, reaching out for the bit of lace. “I’ll put them in the wash with our clothes, you can pick them up tomorrow.”
Thea gaped at the comment, completely flummoxed by it. By Aurik in general. By far the best single-partner sex she’d had in her life, which she was damn certain he would agree with, and here he was insinuating that they wouldn’t be spending the night together.
“Fine with me,” she said, shutting the door in his face before heading back downstairs.
Dimitri’s bright smile at her reappearance faded quickly when he caught sight of her expression.
“Thea?”
“I need a drink or three, and then you’re going to explain what the fuck that jerk up there thinks he’s doing.” Pissed didn’t begin to describe how she felt. Confused was part of it, of course. She hated men who only told half-truths. And where did he get off with a comment like “Never Leave” if that’s precisely what he was planning on doing? Forget that he’d said it in the heat of passion, she had felt that need of his deep down.
To his credit, Dimitri didn’t waste time before pouring her more wine. At least he still knew her that well. Aurik might have an excuse since they’d just met. And then had earth-shattering, universe-tilting, black-hole inducing sex. The alcohol calmed her after a few minutes and she got lost in watching Dimitri and Aurin cook. They shared a couple somber looks that weren’t lost on Thea, though, along with one sad glance on Aurin’s part to the upper floor when she heard her brother start to come back down.
“Dimitri…” Thea began in an impatient tone. She wanted it out before Aurik was back in the room.
Dimitri shook his head. “We’ll talk when I take you back to the hotel, alright? Besides, the research data arrived while you were in the shower. I’d like to go over it after dinner.”
That news let her relax. If nothing else she could finally get to work on her real reason for coming all this way.
Except for the rest of the evening, her mind kept replaying those moments with either of the twins, spinning endlessly over the way Aurik had made love to her, then slamming to a halt again at his confession.
***
Aurik lingered under the shower until the stream of water grew ice-cold. He was still, acutely attuned to Thea’s words coming up clearly from below. Her voice was as mesmerizing as her scent, drawing him back down to her.
He should have told her the truth. All of it, but believed she was still in Dimitri’s domain so Dimitri was the one responsible for imparting the necessary knowledge to her. Aurik wondered if Dimitri had any intention of doing it. Their secret was sacred and unless one of them had a good enough reason, they couldn’t share it without consulting with the others first.
Part of Aurik hoped Dimitri would tell her. Another part of him dreaded it.
He had to prepare for the worst. He had already resigned himself to giving in to the Council’s decree. None of the potential mates Dimitri had gathered had borne any fruit. Aurik felt nothing for them.
But Thea. She wasn’t on that list. She belonged to Dimitri as far as Aurik was concerned. It didn’t matter that he’d tasted her Nirvana already—she wasn’t marked by him. She belonged to another. That she was a human who had given herself to him didn’t matter. He still saw her as belonging to his friend in spite of her lack of magical link.
She was Dimitri’s. The kiss she had shared with Dimitri had conveyed
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