“Let me in, sleepyhead!”
Caroline turned to him, her brown eyes sparkling with delight as her mouth fell agape.
“It is Elara!” she exclaimed, then flew around the room to find her robe.
“So I heard,” Damien grumbled around his fist. He had been so close.So very close.
He let out another groan as he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, willing his need to temper down. Then he ripped the sheets away from him with great annoyance as he, too, left the bed to look for his breeches. He had barely had them on before Caroline, now covered in her nightgown and robe, flung the door open and sprang into Elara’s arms.
The two women squealed loudly with delight as they bounced on their feet and embraced tightly. So loudly, in fact, that Damien winced at the pitch and put a hand to his ear.
“Lovely to see that you arefinallyback, Elara,” he stated dryly.
Elara giggled as she and Caroline pulled away, and she looked over Caroline’s shoulder toward him with a feisty smile.
“Lovely to be back,”she answered impishly. He gave her a mocking grin, but even so, he already felt his annoyance beginning to fade. How could he be upset when Caroline was clearly so very happy?
“When did you return?” Caroline asked, still holding onto Elara.
“Yesterday afternoon,” Elara explained. “I am sorry it took me so long to come visit, but I needed to get the children settled down, and Constantine wanted...”
She paused as her gaze flicked back to Damien’s still half-naked form.
“Well, I think you know what Constantine wanted,” she finished with a giggle.
Damien felt his ears warm up and turn red as both women burst into giggles.
“On that note, I believe I shall leave you ladies be to catch up,” he muttered, reaching for his shirt. “Welcome back, Elara. Sincerely.”
Caroline and Elara turned to him, their arms wrapped around one another’s shoulders.
“Thank you, Damien,” she replied. “And yes, we do need to catch up on many things, but first, I wanted to let you know about your present.”
Damien raised a curious brow as Caroline looked questioningly at Elara.
“Mypresent?” he asked.
“It is waiting for you in the dining room. Get dressed and go down. Caroline and I will ready George and be down in a little while.”
Still confused about why Elara would bring him a present rather than Caroline, he cocked his head and looked from one woman to the other. Caroline shrugged her shoulders, clearly as confused as he was.
“All right then,” he said, then strode across the room until he was standing before Caroline.
His smile returned as she blushed at the way he wrapped his hand around her throat and tipped her head toward his, and he kissed her softly.
“See you downstairs,” he whispered as he pulled away.
He nodded to Elara, who was grinning from ear to ear and bouncing with excitement, and went to the door that adjoined their rooms. As soon as he closed it from the other side, an eruption of loud giggles came through.
Elara’s timing was off, and she shared Adrian’s tendency to sneak up on them—yet Damien could not help but enjoy how much her presence clearly made Caroline happy.
He quickly dressed in fresh clothes, eager to see what his ‘present’ was, and headed down the stairs. As he reached the foyer, familiar voices greeted him, and he quickened his pace even as he told himself it was not possible.
He was almost running when he suddenly stopped in the doorway of the dining room, relief spreading in his chest as he watched two of his oldest friends talking to each other at the table.
“Evander?” he breathed, taking a slow step forward.
Evander and Adrian both turned to him with grins spread along their faces, and Damien could not help but match their expression. His old friend looked much changed since he had seen him a month and a half ago. He was no longer skin and bones. Much of his muscled form had returned, even though he still was not the impressive size he was before his troubles. He was also clean-shaven and dressed in finely tailored clothes, and his once sallow complexion was now flushed with healthy color.
