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With her thoughts dimmed by the reality of her existence, Brynne drifted farther into her private suite. Sunlight streaming in through the parted drapes drew her across the soft Persian rug to the window where the estate’s grounds spread out in an explosion of lush green and brightly colored blooms.
She had forgotten how breathtaking the back gardens were. Flowering bushes and elegant topiary trees complimented an intersecting maze of manicured hedges that meandered from one corner of the grounds to another. Off the back of the mansion, a broad terrace patio led out to flagstone walking paths that drew the eye from one tranquil corner of the grounds to the other.
And that’s when she saw him.
Zael, standing in the center of the garden with his head tipped back, muscular arms spread wide open beneath the morning rays. This was almost exactly how she’d found him that other morning here at the Order’s headquarters. The day they’d met for the first time.
As she had then, Brynne froze, utterly transfixed by the sight of him.
Bare-chested, his smooth skin and copper-shot, golden hair gilded by sunlight, Zael seemed to both absorb and reflect the sun’s rays as he stood there, engrossed in his private ritual. Light radiated from the impressive outline of his body, gathering with brighter intensity in the open palms of his upturned hands.
He was unearthly…powerful.
Heart-stoppingly sexy.
She tried not to stare, but it was futile. Against her will, she felt those strong arms wrapped around her the way they had been on that dance floor. Warm, sheltering, so unexpectedly tender.
She could still taste his kiss. Catching her lip between her teeth and the tips of her emerging fangs, she groaned with the memory of his mouth on hers.
She wanted him.
And, maybe, she acknowledged ruefully, she had been wrong about him. After hearing what he’d done for his friend, Cass, and Jordana, Brynne struggled to hold on to her initial opinion of Zael.
In fact, she struggled to do much else right now besides gaze at him from her window and try to resist the urge to go out to the garden and join him. If for no other reason than to try to unlock their horns and see if they could move forward as something other than adversaries.
Not that they’d felt anything close to adversarial on that dance floor in London.
And not that the low thrum of her pulse had anything to do with making peace with him and moving on as if their kiss—and her embarrassing proposition—hadn’t happened.
Brynne gnawed her lip in silent indecision as she watched him slowly lower his arms to his sides. She was about to collect her nerve and hurry down when Zael lowered his head, turning to face someone who approached him in the gardens.
Brynne’s breath halted in her lungs. The woman was beautiful. Flame-red waves bounced as she walked, her beaming smile trained fully on Zael. She raised her hand in greeting to him.
He knew her. His answering smile conveyed recognition, affection. The way he opened his arms to her then enfolded her within them seemed to say that Zael felt something more than simple affection for this woman.
Brynne reflexively stepped back from the window, feeling awkward and intrusive.
Feeling stung.
She watched from within the shadows of her room as Zael and the woman finally released each other from their unrushed embrace, then began a leisurely walk together in the gardens.
Apparently, the Atlantean had no shortage of fawning admirers among the Order.
He certainly didn’t need Brynne feeding his oversized ego any more than she already had.
With an unimpressed roll of her eyes, she pivoted away from the window. Although she’d come back to her room to relax, she knew if she stayed in there now she’d only be tempted back to the window eventually to look some more for Zael and his smitten female companion.
Instead, Brynne took her time showering, then slipped into her fresh clothes. She couldn’t deny that she was still rankled by her reaction to Zael and the other woman, but the suds and warm water had washed away most of her indignation’s edge.
She hoped the vast collection of books in the library next door would be enough to keep her mind distracted from any further thoughts of Zael for the rest of the day. With her damp hair falling in loose waves down her back, she padded out of her suite and into the adjacent room.
With any luck, Zael would not only be finished chatting up his pretty friend, but also be gone from Order headquarters long before Brynne had to leave her cozy third floor sanctuary.
Resolved to stay where she was until Tavia or someone else came to drag her out, Brynne perused the bookcases. Everything from contemporary novels and classics, to history and biographies, foreign language novels and poetry filled the beautiful old wood shelves. She browsed several different titles, flipping through the pages with preoccupied disinterest.
Wondering who Zael’s companion was and trying not to imagine how many other beautiful women the Atlantean probably had wrapped around his finger.
Not to mention other parts of his anatomy.
