Daughter Trilogy Bundle (107 page)

She sighs, and then loops my arm through hers as we follow the group onto the luxurious plane.

My pictures are lining the inside like wallpaper, and there’s one of me sleeping on Devin’s chest that almost brings tears to my eyes.  He’s kissing my forehead while holding the camera at arm’s length, and the memory of so many nights sleeping that way almost overwhelms me.

I miss that touch from him, and it
’s aching it hurts so badly.

“
You okay?” Deacon asks, and I almost jump out of my skin at the startling insertion.

“
Yeah, I just need to sit down,” I lie. 

Devin
’s eyes are focused on me with a burning intensity, and Jace grabs his phone when it buzzes.

“
Hey, sorry I bailed.  I’ve got some business in Miami, but I’ll give you a call when I get back,” he lies before the girl can get a word in.

“
Okay.  Don’t forget to call me.  I’ll make it worth your while,” she seduces, and then he hangs up with a chuckle.

Devin seems to relax slightly when he sees how jealous I
’m not, and Jace rolls his eyes as he tosses the phone in the trash can.

“
I’ll get a new phone in Miami,” he chuckles.

“
I’ll probably need one too,” I whisper, and Jace instinctively glances to Devin which arouses his suspicion.

“
If you say so,” he whispers back.

“
It’s not polite to whisper,” Hale chimes in as he makes an opening between Jace and me. 

He wraps his arm around my shoulders and Jace can
’t help but laugh.  Devin relaxes even more when he sees Hale doing his dirty work for him, and then Kry walks over to turn on the monitor with red and blue dots on a map.

“
Hellhounds and harpies,” Hale says to answer my silent question as to what the dots represent.  “We’re charting their appearances and trying to find out where in the hell they’re coming from.  The harpies are the most baffling.  They’re more organized than usual.”

“
Harpies are never usual.  They shift and evolve with each rebirth.  They started off as mindless drones, and now they’ve adapted and show beauty, finesses, and wit,” Jace adds as if he has experience.

“
Where have you been, Mr. Expert?” Hale jokes.

“
I’m a bounty hunter.  I’ve been hired to do all sorts of jobs, and harpies have been high on the list many times.  Hellhounds happen to be a specialty of mine though, so you’re in luck,” he boasts.

“
Well, well, well.  Adisia did make a good contact,” Deacon muses.

“
I made a good friend,” I correct, and Jace gives me a wink.

I yawn fiercely, and Hale slides me against him when I feel my body getting to heavy for me.

“When did you sleep last?” Camara worries.

“
I don’t remember,” I yawn again, and I see Devin flinching at my confession.

“
The most sleep she’s had in a while is when she passed out at the wedding,” Jace gripes.  “I’ve harped on her for that, but she won’t listen.”

Devin stands up and walks over to pull a blanket out, and then he flashes over to me.  I tense up when his hand barely touches my arm while putting the blanket over me. 

“Go to sleep,” he commands softly.  “We’ll wake you when we get there.”

“
I’ll be fine.  I’m just a little tired.  It’ll pass.  It always does,” I yawn again.

“
No.  Go to sleep.  You need it to be alert and ready,” he orders, and for some reason I can’t argue with him the way I do Jace.

My eyes flitter shut and I feel the warmth of the sun against me.

Devin
’s soft touch is so
glorious as his body covers mine, and I feel the needful grip against my skin.  His firm, perfect arms wrap around me as his smoldering blue eyes seduce mine, and I claw at his back as his provocative lips trail across my neck.

The scorching desire that has been bottled up for too long is ready to explode, and the brief affair never happened as his lips fall on mine.

“Adisia!” Camara warns, and I have a small panic attack when I see my lips are pressed against a startled Hale.

“
Oh crap.  Sorry.  I was having a dream, and… Why are you carrying me?” I stammer out.

His lips find mine again, and I grimace when I realize I
’ve just intoxicated him with my supercharged pheromones running amuck the way I did Jace.  I don’t want to shock him away, so I struggle to push him back.

He jerks my hips to him, but Camara rips him off me before he can try too much.  A slight
thump
emerges as he gently collapses to the floor from her forceful detachment.

He swallows hard, and I can tell he
’s trying to regain composure from my sleep-kissing assault.  It’s too much for anyone, even with the slightly diluted aide from the skunk.

Camara stifles a grin, and then she walks over to pour herself a drink.

“Devin said to let you sleep.  I was going to put you in the bed,” he gushes out, finally answering my question.

I can see I
’ve had a very haunting effect on his libido.

Crap.

“You need to go find some… release,” I hesitate.

“
We don’t have time,” he chuckles uneasily.  “We’re about to change and go meet up with the others.  They’ve been doing some shopping and Intel gathering.  You’ve been out for a while.  Devin carried you to the couch when we got here.  He called a few minutes to go to say he wanted you put in the bed since you were still asleep.  He said we could go speak to Graven by ourselves.”

“
I’m glad I wasn’t dreaming that when
he
was carrying me,” I mumble to myself.

I wouldn
’t have stopped.  I would have fucked him and caved on the very first day.

Hale tugs at his shirt collar, and I see a blushing hue staining his face.

“I have mixed emotions on this subject.  It’s definitely something I’ve always wanted to do, but Devin must never know,” he mutters warily.

I laugh a little, and Camara just rolls her eyes while unsuccessfully restraining her new grin.

“Go get dressed.  Now that you’re awake, we can meet the others at the club,” she says casually.

“
What kind of club?” I chirp.

“
The stripping kind,” Hale says while his eyebrows dance menacingly, and then he downs a cup of scotch while trying to escape my seductively toxic remnants still running wild in his system.

“
Great.  Please tell me none of Devin’s exes work there.  I don’t know if I can deal with another stalking stripper.  Though I suppose it’s not as bad as a finless mermaid,” I murmur with a wince.

“
No exes, and we need to hurry.  They’re meeting with Graven at nine.”

I flash downstairs to find my bag, but I don
’t see it anywhere.

“
Where’s my stuff?” I ask.

“
Devin’s room,” Hale says with a smirk as we casually strides down the stairs to join me.

“
He really thinks it’s that easy?” I scoff.

“
A man can dream,” he teases, and then points me in the direction of the room.

“
Show me one that doesn’t belong to a man with dreams, please, so I can move my crap to it.” I grumble.

“
Down the hall and to the right,” Hale chuckles out.

I walk into Devin
’s room, but I’m almost breathless when I see all of our wedding pictures covering every inch of the walls.  My fingers graze across a photo of us laughing at our wedding reception.

There are so many candid shots I never knew were taken and so many where he
’s watching me when I’m not looking.  Tears spring free, and I wipe them away before they become too abundant.

I flash out of the wedding memorial that only hurts to remember now.  The unoccupied room I enter has pictures of us as well, but I quickly remove every one of them.

Once I have all of them turned to face the wall, I rifle through my bag to find something to wear.  Aphrodite’s will to be desired has infected me more and more now that I’ve left her alone.

A simple, strapless white corset with a rhinestone trim catches my eye.  I smirk deviously as pull it on and couple it with a dark pair of denim jeans that mimic the same stone effect on the back pockets.

I work in the diamonds Devin gave me when he still loved me, and then I brush through my hair enough to give it a sexy, tousled appearance instead of bed-head.

“
You ready?” Hale asks, and then barges on in as I pull on a pair of white high heels.

“
Oh.  Sorry,” he murmurs while covering his eyes.

“
It’s fine.  I’m ready,” I say deviously.

Those covered eyes become revealed before gaping open in disbelief.  The sun swirls as he tries to refrain from doing something foolish.  His mouth cocks open slightly, and then he raises one side of his brow to question my attire.

“I’m not sure that’s supposed to be worn without a shirt,” he says with a semi-seductive tone.

“
People do it all the time, and Aphrodite feels like building my confidence,” I smolder.

“
Well, I think that could be arranged.  I’m damn good at confidence building skills,” he provocatively dares.

“
Down boy.  It’s just Aphrodite’s passion.  It flooded your mouth.  I told you that you need to find release,” I tease.

“
This sucks, you know?” he asks pitifully.

“
Think of how Jace feels.  Your kiss was an accident,” I foolishly say without thinking.

“
What do mean?” he asks very seriously.

“
Nothing.  Let’s go,” I grumble, and I grab my purse before flashing out the door.

“
You kissed Jace… for real?” Hale calls out.  “And yet you’re mad at Devin for doing the same.”

“
We were on our honeymoon, not separated.  My kiss with Jace was a moment of desperate weakness.  Aphrodite is suffering, therefore so am I - according to Persia anyways.  Apparently it’s dangerous for me to deny her for too long, and that night she bested me for a brief moment.  That’s why Jace was gone when you came to pick me up.  He had to go find release,” I explain.  “He knows it wasn’t him I wanted.”

“
Are you sure he knows?  He doesn’t seem to upset about another rejection,” Hale observes.

“
Jace has changed a lot over the four months he’s been with me.  He’s backed off big time, and that night caught us both off guard.  Besides, it was Devin’s name I called out during our torrid make-out session, not his,” I confess.

“
Well that would be a buzz kill,” Hale scoffs.

It didn
’t stop Jace.

“
Whoa.  I feel like I’m really over dressed,” Camara interrupts.

“
It’s a strip club.  I’m just half way there already,” I joke.

She smirks a little, and her eyes narrow suspiciously at me.  I give her a shrug, and Hale starts ushering us out the door.

We follow his brisk pace out of the apartment building, and he stops in front of a wildly roaring building.

“
Just a heads up, this club is for immortals only.  You’ll have to flash your eyes to get past the bouncer,” Hale whispers, and then he steps up to face the hulking bouncer.

I follow his lead, and offer the bouncer a sneak peak of the goddess within.  His jaw pops open, and he sways as if he
’s under some sort of spell I never meant to cast. 

My scent
… Damn,

“
Yeah, it’s back.  The skunk wore off much quicker than last time, and that’s another reason everyone disappeared,” Camara says to confirm my inner thoughts.

Oh poor Hale got double dosed.

“Sorry, Hale,” I murmur softly.

“
I’ll survive,” he says with a forced grin.

Camara flashes her eyes, and then everyone in the room stirs as we walk in.  The black lights bring my white corset to life under their illuminating glow, and now I
’m agitated by Aphrodite’s craving for attention when all eyes glue themselves to me.

“
Damn it,” I grumble, and then I see our group.

Jace tilts his head as though he
’s uncertain about what he’s seeing, and Devin’s glass breaks in his hand when his eyes fall on me.  The bartender instantly replaces his shattered drink.

“
What the hell are you trying to do to us?” Kry gripes in exasperation.

“
It’s not her,” Hale chuckles.  “Her goddess is craving some attention.  It’s not good to starve an Aphrodite of needed desire.”