“She is pleased by our forms.”
“Yet, she cannot accept them.”
The one who looked like Jacob kissed her on her cheek. “We know what to do.”
She inhaled sharply as their forms changed once more, until the two men merged into a funnel of water swirling around her, touching, kissing and caressing her. Liquid fingers pinched her nipples, circled her clit and slid between the cheeks of her ass. They were everywhere, all around her. In her.
The heated water hardened in between her legs, filling her sex until she cried out at the sensation. It pumped inside her and she closed her eyes, seeing Jacob’s intense expression. Those black, hungry eyes. “Oh, damn.”
She came over and over again as the water seduced her. Small little earthquakes of pleasure. But each one just made her want more, made her hungrier. Made her realize they weren’t real. Just a well-spoken spell. And they weren’t really Jacob and Ric.
And apparently that mattered.
“Stop. Please.” She touched the slick shoulder of the charmed male who appeared out of the water in front of her. She smiled at his expression of surprise. “But you are not yet eased.”
“I’m much better. You were wonderful. Thank you.”
He set her down and bowed, evaporating into the heated air of the room. The water was a waterfall once more, just water, and she was alone again. Harrison pushed her wet hair back from her face and sighed. There was something seriously wrong with her.
“Before you throw anything at me, princess, you should know I did knock. Quietly, but it did happen.”
She rolled her eyes. Ric. Of course. How long had he been there? And why wasn’t she upset at the idea of him watching? She covered her breasts with her arms, a little slower than she should have, but he just smiled. “I brought a white flag and everything.”
He held out his hand and the small, waving symbol of peace appeared out of the air, prompting an unexpected laugh. She couldn’t help it. The bastard was charming, even in human form.
“Aren’t you scheduled for a flea dip or something?”
He clutched his chest. “I’m wounded. Not so long ago you promised me steak and called me your prince. Now I have fleas.”
She sniffed. “Yes, well, not so long ago you were calling me a snooty bitch before you’d even met me while your pants were down around your ankles.”
He cringed. “I’m sorry you heard that. I listened to the gossip, and I believed it because I was jealous. I hadn’t seen you. Didn’t know how I would feel when I did. We were just following orders. I think by now you know I’m bad at that.”
So was she. At least he apologized. Jacob certainly hadn’t. “If you’re really sorry you’ll hand me a towel and tell me whose orders you were following, where we are and what you have planned for me. Better yet, let me call home.”
“The towel I can do,” he chuckled. “But we can’t let you go. Not yet.”
He handed her a plush towel that had been camouflaged in the foliage, then held out his hand, gesturing toward the bedroom. “Come, we will try brunch this time without any throwing, and we’ll talk.”
She dressed and joined him on the balcony she hadn’t even notice was there. Of course it was magically shaded. Sealed off from bugs, the sight of the gardeners below…and escape.
But escape wasn’t in her mind. Curiosity was. And food.
She sat down to eat and listened as he began to speak. His voice was sensual, lyrical, and it drew her into his heart-wrenching story. His name was Ricardo, and he was Magian. A bastard that belonged to no proud family line, but magical nonetheless.
A shifting orphan, he’d learned how to survive on the streets. That people would often show kindness to an animal, share food with an animal, where they would turn away in distrust from a scruffy, dirty child.
He’d started hanging around the more ornate hotels in Argentina, in the back where the cooks left him the tastiest bits of beef and fish. He began to forget what it felt like to be an ordinary boy. To be more than a dog. That’s when he’d smelled them. The Gryffins. They spent one night in the lush accommodations, several servants and a small, blond boy dragging behind them, and Ric had known. They were like him.
He’d introduced himself, and they took him in to work for them in the biggest house he’d ever seen. Ric had learned quickly that the woman ruled the roost. And the woman, the boy’s mother, was more than demanding. She was cold and ruthless. She hadn’t cared that he was the same age as her son. To her he was a tool. A peon. After a few years of her abuse and insanity, he almost left. But he couldn’t. He stayed, not for the money or security it provided him.
He stayed for Jacob.
Ric knew that he and Jacob were two parts of a future triad, knew that when they were together, their magic was strong. And so was their passion. Jacob’s mother had not been pleased with the news. She’d wanted Jacob’s second cousin with his connections to
the older families from England to join with her son and an heiress from one of the best families in Massachusetts. Namely, Harrison.
He put on a mock expression of superiority. “The queen doesn’t like it when her subjects step out of line.”