Vows of Revenge

Surprise flashed in her blue gaze before she glanced at her phone and said, “You looked at my browsing history?”

“For the search-engine problems you were having. I wasn’t trying to spy.” He betrayed no hint of defensiveness. All his feelings were firmly buried in the sealed vault behind the barred door, in the bottom of the abandoned building that was his mortal coil. “The job board came up.”

She tucked her chin downward, half sheepish, half admonishing. “I’m not used to being idle, Roman. It’s making me a little crazy, doing nothing. I enjoyed Berlin and obviously Rome has an amazing history...” She frowned at the view of the Coliseum amid the rest of the red-tile rooftops across the city. “But it’s not really as if I’m on vacation. Not with you anyway. You’re working. I thought I might be able to find something that I could do remotely.”

Okay. He could see that, but “Why the flight, then?”

“Oh, that was for a friend. She’s been traveling around Europe and thought she might be able to join us here for a few days if she could change her flight home.”

The relief was so great in him he almost slumped forward, but he was highly experienced at not betraying his reactions. He only nodded. “You’re not planning on leaving, then.”

“No.” She searched his gaze and, he was quite sure, found little of his thoughts. “Not unless you want me to,” she added hesitantly.

“I don’t.” He could see the uncertainty in her, the need for reassurance. He felt a discord in himself, too, as if they’d had a conflict and even though it had been easily ironed out, something more was needed. Still, he only rose and said, “How do you feel about organizing the launch party for the phone? Marketing is already working on the timeline, but planning the event would be very much within your forte. Would you like that?”

“If you would like me to do it, then, sure.”

“I’ll inform them now.” He walked away, knowing he should have taken more steps to close the gap between them, but it had taken everything in him to face the possible dissolution of their arrangement. The spring of emotion at their staying together was too raw and concentrated to work through anywhere but in complete solitude.

* * *

Melodie nursed a let-down feeling until that night when she and Roman went to bed, practically acting like an old married couple in the way they brushed teeth and undressed, crawled in under the covers and snuggled close for a kiss good-night.

Their good-night kisses almost always turned into lovemaking, but tonight it turned into something that went beyond it. Roman was so hard, so urgent, he pressed into her almost before she was ready, making her flinch a little at the sting.

He groaned an apology and seemed to gather his control at that point, ensuring her pleasure again and again while he possessed her, imprinting her with his scent and touch and branding kisses to the point where she nearly wept with joy and fulfillment.

Later, in the sultry dark, pinned against him by arms that had closed tightly around her, she rubbed her cheek against his chest.

“I wish you would tell me what you’re thinking and feeling,” she murmured.

A long pause, then: “I know.”

Part of her suspected he had told her exactly what was going on inside him, but what if she was interpreting things wrong?

* * *

Two days later Roman and Melodie moved onto his yacht, sailing toward Sardinia with the intention of visiting both that island and Corsica before making their way to his home near Cannes. At least now he was working from his office on board, inviting her to interrupt him at any time. They were closer physically if not emotionally.

She told herself they just needed time. If she had any doubts about him, she just had to look at his actions rather than wait for words. Her life really couldn’t get much better than it currently was.

“Is there any way to improve the camera features on the phone?” she asked him one evening over dinner, feeling like a spoiled brat since, really, the camera was already quite good. But she’d resurrected a hobby she’d enjoyed as a teenager and handed over her phone so he could see the shots she’d taken thus far. “It’s better than any other phone out there, I know. And part of me enjoys the challenge of getting what I want despite its limitations, but there are some things I’d like to try that just aren’t here— What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. These shots are very good. I tend to think of you being a natural in front of the camera. I didn’t realize you had such talent behind one.”

“I don’t. It’s just something to keep me busy,” she dismissed.