I hum my appreciation at him jumping to my defense. The house is my problem, but it’s nice having someone else share my disappointment. “It’s okay. Bram’s helping me with it. Andyou have already done so much by offering me the use of that beautiful salon.” I’ve wanted to thank him in person, but Dash’s heat has taken precedence. Now I reach out and cup his left knee, watching for any sign that the contact is unwanted. I know that in time, I will learn to read him a little better, but right now I’m just going on instinct. “It’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me, Corbus, and I really hope I can live up to your expectations.”
His finger trails along the curve of my cheek, his gaze following in its wake. “I want to be a part of your success, even if it’s just giving you all of the opportunities you deserve.”
A warm coil of pleasure tightens my belly, and I slide my hand further up his thigh. The muscle ripples in response and I pause, watching his face. “Am I too close?” He shakes his head, his gaze now fixed firmly on my mouth. I’m floating right between his knees, his musk scent filling my lungs, but he’s not showing any signs of discomfort. “Will you tell me if I cross a line?”
His eyes flicker to mine, and I hold my breath, but he just gives me a soft smile. “There are no lines with you, Kate, just pauses while I catch my breath.”
“I’ll remember that.” To prove it, I stop with my hands cupping his inner thighs, giving him a chance to sink into the touch. His skin is warm and smooth, and my mouth waters as I watch his stomach muscles flex. I can see his erection straining the limits of his briefs, and I can’t hide the hunger in my eyes as I gaze up at him. “Does this feel good?”
His head bobs again, his gaze back on my mouth. I lean forward, watching his face as my lower body touches the tiled wall and my mouth dips towards his straining cock. This close to him, I’m saturated in his scent, and I almost whimper as I tip my face forward. When my lips brush the front of his briefs, a groan stutters out of his chest, every muscle going rigid. Still watching his face, I nuzzle the hard length for a moment, then pressa soft, careful kiss to the plump head beneath the fabric. He mutters something in his language, and I give him a sweet smile as I push off from the floor, floating backwards out of reach. When I resume my starfish position, he blinks at me, shock and frustration warring in his eyes. “What are you doing?”
I give him a coy look from beneath my damp lashes. “Letting you catch your breath.”
It takes a beat for my answer to sink in and then he laughs, a wild, rich sound that takes us both by surprise. I’m tempted to float back over to him and see what arealkiss will do, but he rubs his mouth and takes something from the pile of towels at his side. “I actually came out here to give you a gift. I didn’t expect…”
“A kiss in the moonlight?”
“A man can dream.” As the joke settles between us, he holds out a silk box. “This is for you.”
I’m lucky I’m in the shallow end or I’d probably drown as I take in the Paragon crest stamped on the top. “Oh,” he says when he notices the smile freeze on my face. “It’s not a bonding ring. I mean, it can be if you’d like, but I just saw it and thought of you.”
I grip the edge of the pool, visions of Suzanna LaGrange’s enormous diamonds flashing tauntingly before my eyes. “Um. My hands are wet.”And incredibly unsteady.“Can you open it for me?”
“Of course.” A practiced flick of his elegant fingers reveals a shimmering dark stone on a bed of tiny blue sapphires. The band is the same burnished white gold as his moonlit hair, but the centerpiece is as different to Suzanna LaGrange’s flashy diamonds as night is to day. “It’s calledstella obscura.”
I gulp as I stare up at him. The only jewels I know of with actual names are either in the Tower of London or Christie’s auction catalogs. “It’s stunning, Corbus. But is that an opal?”
“It’s from Lightning Ridge in Australia, arguably the best place in the world for black opals.” He takes the ring from the box and slips it on my finger, his mouth softening as it slides into place. “The harlequin pattern is unique, like you.”
I stare at it with dazed eyes, a question burning on my lips. Corbus must smell the tension in my scent because he tilts my chin up with a cool finger. “What is it, Kate? Don’t you like it?”
“I just…” How do I explain the fear twisting in my stomach? “Is this really for me? I mean, is it on loan, or do I get to keep it?”
“Of course, it’s yours,” he replies, looking puzzled. “Bram has already insured it in your name.”
“Oh. It’s just that….” I suck in a breath, but then the words come out in a gush. “My bonding ring from Lee. They came and took it off me in the grocery store. Debt collectors. I don’t know if he sold it or gave it to his new omega.” When I glance up, something flashes through his eyes, darker and angrier than I’ve ever seen him. “It wasn’t really about the ring,” I hasten to add, because the last thing I want is for him to think I’m still hung up on my ex. “It was just having something taken like that, in public. They made it seem like I’d stolen it or something.”
Corbus suddenly slides into the water with me, cupping my face so that all we have is eye contact. “I promise you,mijnliefje, no one can ever take this away from you. And if they try, they will not like what we do to jewel thieves in the diamond capital of the world.”
I smile at the thought of Corbus’ retribution, but there’s a deep line at the corner of his mouth and I run a careful finger over it. “You never said how things went with your mother.”
He goes still for a moment – taking a pause, I assume – and then the tension drains out of his body, leaving him looking weary. “They are done. She will have a bitter, lonely end, but that is her choice.”
My heart squeezes for his obvious pain. “You’re not going back?”
“Not for a long time.” He turns his head to kiss my finger, which is still lingering on his skin. “My home is here, with my pack.”
Dash announces he is well enough to return to rehearsals the next morning, but that plan is vetoed when he fails to pass his alphas’ sniff test. His heat is technically over, but the last remnants still cling to him, and no one is comfortable with him heading out into public smelling like a freshly claimed omega. He agrees to wait another day, spending most of it on a pampering mission while the rest of us try to get back into our normal groove. Lachlan has to go into Safe Haven, but the guys have home offices, and I’m using my old bedroom to work on my designs, when Bram sticks his head around the door. “Want to come with me to check on your house?”
I nod, even though I’m not really keen to swap the sweet cocoon of my current residence for my sad little money pit. But as I told Corbus last night, the house is my problem, and I need to decide what to do now that Stanley King is out of the picture.
To my surprise, Bram is already one step ahead of me, and my new contractor is waiting for us on the steps of my townhouse. Jen O’Reilly is a tall, muscular alpha with a quick smile and shrewd eyes, and if she can smell Dash’s heat on me, there’s no evidence of it as she shakes my hand. She explains that she was part of the team who worked on Corbus’ remodel, and it’s pretty obvious she’s only taken on a small project in the burbs because of her relationship with Bram.
“No need for you to worry about anything, Ms. Valentine,” she assures me as we start up the stairs. “I can keep you postedby email if that works for you. Weekly reports, unless you want daily updates.”
“Weekly is fine,” I reply, since she has a copy of the blueprints we agreed with King, and they’re already covered with detailed annotations. “I’m not going to be hard to please. The goal is to get this to a state where I can sell it, not give me my dream home.”
Maybe this should be a poignant moment, but the house is my last tangible connection to Lee, and any nostalgia I might feel was destroyed long ago.
