Celt. (Den of Mercenaries #2)(36)

He dropped down to his elbow, his weight on top of her pleasant, even as she felt his racing heartbeat beneath her palm as she laid a hand on his chest.

Reaching up, unable to quell the impulse, she brushed strands of his hair back out of his face, smiling when he pressed a quick kiss to her wrist. “I like the way you apologize.”

His smile grew even wider as he laughed, gingerly easing out of her. “I’ll spend the next week making it up to you if you want.”

He knifed off the bed and as she watched as he headed out of her bedroom to the bathroom across the hall, she couldn’t think of a single objection to his comment.



* * *



“I need a towel!”

“They’re under the sink!” Amber shouted back, too busy hunting through her refrigerator for something to eat to pay much attention to Kyrnon’s antics.

After drifting back off to sleep, she had slept in, only to wake up a few hours later with Kyrnon already up and getting in the shower. Her face had heated in remembrance of the night they shared, but before she let herself get caught up in those thoughts, she forced herself out of bed, failing to ignore the slight ache between her legs.

Amber was just setting a carton of eggs and bacon on the counter when there was a knock at her door. Glancing back to the bathroom, the door was cracked, the shower still going.

Brushing her hands off on the front of her shorts, she went over, checked the peephole first, and promptly cursed.

She just couldn’t win.

“Rob, why are you here?” she asked the moment she got the door open, though she stayed in the doorway to make it clear that he wasn’t coming in.

Though it was only ten in the morning, he was in a suit, hair in place. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“There’s nothing for us to talk about. If you want someone to talk to, go find Piper.”

He didn’t budge. “It’ll only take a minute.”

“Now’s not a very good time,” she said, hoping that Kyrnon would stay in the shower for just a little while longer. “And I honestly don’t think there’s anything left to be said.”

Scrubbing a hand down his face, he looked off to the side, trying to find the right words. “I was serious when I told you I made a mistake, but I didn’t get to say …”

He was not … “Please don’t say you were thinking of us getting back together.” When he didn’t rush to say no, she decided that despite his degree from an Ivy League school, he wasn’t that bright. “Your girlfriend, my cousin, is pregnant with your child. If that’s not answer enough for you, then here’s another: no. And if you want, I can say it in Russian too.”

“Oy! You call this a bloody towel?”

Amber spun in surprise at Kyrnon’s voice behind her, she hadn’t heard his approach. The moment she caught sight of him, her mouth dropped open.

He stood there soaking wet, naked as the day he was born, with one of her decorative hand towels in his hand. He looked indignant, like she had purposely made him walk out there.

A hysterical giggle grew, but she slapped a hand over her mouth before she could let it out. Rob asked, “Who are you talking to?” Then pushed the door open farther as he stepped in and got an eyeful of Kyrnon.

Kyrnon’s expression shifted, jaw going hard, but a smirk still curled his lips as he took his time covering his junk. “Whoops.”

Rob’s face mottled with rage, whether from Kyrnon’s nudity or his taunt, she didn’t know. “Who are you?”

“I think we’ve already been through this once, mate. Let’s keep it to that.”

“This has nothing to do with you. Go away.”

Kyrnon’s face screwed up with mock confusion. “Oh? It has everything to do with me. You’re trying to step between me and something I want, boyo. I don’t take kindly to that.”

“Rob, you need to leave,” Amber spoke up, not liking the challenge to Kyrnon’s voice. The last thing she needed was the pair of them fighting in her living room.

“Amber …”

“She asked you to leave,” Kyrnon butted in, and this time, there was no humor in his voice. “I suggest you keep moving.”

Rob looked desperate in that moment as he turned to face Amber, his hurt reflected in his eyes. “This is who you want? This *?”

“Yeah, Rob, but even if it wasn’t him, it wouldn’t be you.”

He looked like he wanted to say something, anything, but when no words would come, he hurried back out the door disappearing down the staircase at the end of the hall.

Sighing, Amber closed the door, pressing her back against it.

“If we’re going to have guests, you should probably warn me, eh?” Kyrnon put one hand on his hip, the other pointed to his cock. “I’m not even wearing pants.”



* * *



“Impeccable,” Gabriel said to himself as he surveyed the canvas, his leather shoes clicking on the floor. “You’ve done excellent work.”

After the last two and a half weeks, she was finally done. They hadn’t been aged yet, but all of her work was finished.

And she was damn proud of the results. All of her hard work rested right in front of her eyes, and just the satisfaction she saw in his eyes was enough to make her feel like she’d done a good job.