Brandon reiterated everything I told him in the widow’s peak tower, his voice is sharp and straight forward, and I don’tmiss the way his arm is resting around my waist, holding me in a comforting way.
“Darren? Darren is a fucking Cambion?” Dean is turned in his seat and facing me directly for the first time all day.
“Yes.” Brandon and I answer at the same time.
Teddy grumbles something under his breath, and he is quick to unbuckle his seatbelt and goes to exit the vehicle- no doubt to take care of the problem at once but I grip his thigh to hold him back.
“Not yet, it’ll risk too much right now. We need to devise a plan to get him to the manor tonight so we can question him. After that, we can play. Me and you.” I say, hoping it would reel him in.
He stills and closes the door, “Me and you?”
“All of us.” Dean declares, and this is what brings my attention back to him.
I smile at him, a real one since the first time we’ve met, and as if hell has frozen over, he smiles back.
I must have fallen back asleep on the drive back to the manor. I woke up to Teddy tugging on my hair, and it’s like the rough act kept me from pouncing the same way I did when Brandon woke me up earlier.
Dean rescheduled the guard inspection for tomorrow, now that we have a more pressing matter. Our plan landed on Brandon and I staying at the manor while the other three went to catch Darren and bring him back here to the manor. Max, Dean, and Teddy left about five minutes ago and won't be back for hours, and Brandon and I are already in a standoff. At least,I feel like it’s a standoff; I think he is under the impression that we are flirting.
“I am not putting that on.” I cross my arms while Brandon holds up an itty-bitty red bikini.
“Princess, this is the only swimsuit that Max must have gotten when he got all those clothes for you.”
“Then I guess we aren’t swimming, Because I am not wearing that, I might as well just wear my underwear, at least that way I’d have more coverage.”
“I also support that decision.” He winks and looks me up and down like he can see through my clothes.
“Fine. I’ll just wear what I have on under my clothes then.” I shrug, giving in because he told me the indoor pool was already heated, and my aching muscles are dying to feel the hot water.
“Good with me. Follow me, Princess.”
I still haven’t gotten a full tour of this manor, so when I was told there was a heated indoor pool just chilling somewhere on the second floor, it was an instant must. I know Brandon is only wanting to see me in as little clothes as possible, and maybe I am craving to see more of him too, but I needed some sort of reprieve.
I need a way to relax after this shit show of the day. I don’t want to drown all of these new trudged up emotions about Darren in liquor, and if I go to sleep, I know the nightmares will come, even more so now that Teddy won’t be there to interrupt them like last night.
My train of thought comes to a halt when Brandon brings me to a door I haven’t passed before. We walk in and I gape at the pool room. The pool is almost the same length and width of the room with glass floors around the edges, the light is warm and low giving the reflection on the glass an ethereal glow. I follow the light dancing along the walls to find natural ivy climbing along them and stretching onto the ceiling, it’s like the room is a pool room and greenhouse hybrid. The greenery stretched across the ceiling is contrasted with vibrant pops of color in the flowers. This room is completely different from anything I’ve seen in the manor so far. Where this room is natural and raw the rest of the home is contemporary and gothic.
Letting out a wistful breath I whisper, “It’s beautiful.” I let my fingers graze along the leaves that seem to be an extension of the wall itself.
“You’re beautiful.” Brandon whispers, keeping his voice low as if this moment is just for us, and wants to be sure nobody can hear us, despite us being completely alone.
“Why do you do that?”
His brows pinch together to create a dimple that I’ve grown to admire, “Do what, princess?” He takes a step closer, popping my bubble of space.
“The flirting, the compliments, the touching?”
Keeping his voice low, he says, “If you feel the need to ask, you obviously have never seen yourself.”
I turn from him, trying to break the spell he is starting to cast over my body and I make my way to the opposite side of the pool. Surprisingly, he doesn’t follow. He stays in his place but keeps his eyes on me. Always watching, always observing.
His eyes burn holes though my skin, setting my nerves on fire with the way he tracks each movement of my body. It’s like I’m a puzzle he is always trying to piece together, or a machine that he needs to understand each function- each gear, and every tick.
“You like to watch.” I still whisper, but the echo of my voice carries over to him.
“You say that like it’s not a question.”
Kicking off one shoe at a time I ask, “Does it need to be?”
