Anna (Book 2, The Redemption Series) (25 page)

I raise it out of the water and watch Malcolm’s face as he gives it the same gentle treatment. I notice his breathing is a little more labored now than it was when he first started
and see my opening to end the pleasurable torment we’ve both been suffering through practically since we met.

As his fingers glide down my leg and
dive beneath the water again to reach my thigh, I say, “Malcolm…”

The sound of his name passing between my lips isn’t just me saying his name. The word is filled with a
desperate request that he not take his hand away from me. It’s a quiet plea for him to continue along the natural trail my inner thigh leads to because I feel like I might die on the spot from want if he doesn’t touch me there in that instant. The ache has become more than I can bear, and it would be so simple for him to satisfy my physical torture, to finally help me find release.

I see Malcolm swallow hard as his hand
gently massages my inner thigh, but he doesn’t give into my desires. Instead, he gently glides it across the sensitive flesh of my belly and between the valley of my breasts until it emerges out of the water, sliding up to behind my neck. In one quick motion, he leans in and at the same time pulls me forward until our lips meet. His mouth ravishes mine telling me without words how much he yearns to oblige my request. The kiss is almost savage in its intensity, making me want him even more.

Malcolm suddenly pulls away, leaving me longing for so much more from him.

He stares down at me, and I can see a war raging behind his eyes. It’s so plain to see that he desires me as much as I desire him. Why does he keep denying us both so much pleasure?

“
I’m here, Lady Anna!” I hear Millie call from the bedroom, breaking the intimate connection between us with her arrival.

Malcolm leans in
one more time and kisses me again, but it’s different now because we both know our moment has passed.

“
Millie will help you get dressed,” Malcolm tells me as he stands to his feet. “I should go get dressed myself. They’ll be here soon.”

I don’t say a word because I know it would simply come out sounding like a plea for him to continue what he started.

Malcolm phases. I notice his phase trail leads out to the courtyard for some reason. Why would he go out there to get dressed for a dinner party?

I l
ie back in the tub and try to purge myself of the pent up desires his bathing of me has induced.

What was he thinking? How much torture was he trying to put me through before he finally relented and gave into our mutual desire for one another
?

“
Lady Anna?” Millie says, cautiously peeking into the bathroom. “Are you ready to get dressed, my sweet?”

“
Give me a minute, Millie,” I say, trying to hold onto my last bit of sanity and pull myself together enough to make it through the dinner party we were hosting that evening.

I stand from the tub and
grab a towel that’s been left on a nearby stool. After I dry my body, I go to the bedroom and see Millie fussing over a gown lying on Malcolm’s bed. It’s a deep red, full length dress with a crystal beaded waistline and shirred bodice. An extra swath of fabric cascades down from the one-shoulder strap to gently sweep from front to back across the upper arm.

“
Did you make it?” I ask Millie.

“
Oh dear me no,” Millie says with a small laugh. “I bought it the other day when I went shopping for your clothes.”

“
Why haven’t I seen it before now?”

“
Master Malcolm asked me to keep it hidden until tonight. I guess he wanted it to be a surprise.”

Millie helps me dress and styles my hair into a classic loose bun.

By the time I’m ready, I realize it’s time to go back down to the kitchen and finish preparing the meal.

“
Oh, don’t worry about it,” Millie tells me. “Giles and I will handle the rest. You’ve done all the hard work. Let us worry about serving it. And Vala has volunteered to stay down in the kitchen with Luna to keep the pup from disturbing your evening.”

A quick knock
resounds on the other side of the door just before Malcolm pokes his head in and asks, “Are you decent?”

Seeing that I am fully clothed, he opens the door the rest of the way
, and I see my two men dressed rather sharply for our evening together.

Malcolm and Lucas are dressed in matching tuxedos. The jacket and pants are made out of a dark grey pinstripe material with silver cravat ties and matching vest
s and pocket squares. The picture they make standing together instantly brings a smile to my face.

“
Well, don’t the two of you look dapper this evening,” I say as I walk over to them.

“
Wow,” Lucas says looking at me with his eyes as wide as saucers. “You’re beautiful, mommy.”

“
Thank you.”

Malcolm holds his hand out to me.
“Shall we go greet our guests?”

“
Are they here already?”

“
No,” Malcolm says. “But they’ll be here in exactly five minutes.”

I laugh.
“How on earth could you know that with such precision?”

Malcolm shrugs as I reach out to take his proffered hand.
“It’s a Watcher trait. We have internal clocks that make it almost impossible for us to be late or early anywhere.”

His words explain how all of the other Watchers phased to the spot where we met Levi for the trade
at the exact same time.

“
You look lovely by the way,” Malcolm says as we make our way down the hallway to the staircase. “Have I told you lately what a lucky man I am?”

“
Yes, but I don’t think you can ever say it enough.”

“
I’m a very lucky man, Anna,” he says again, gently squeezing the hand he holds to emphasize his words. “Very lucky indeed.”

Malcolm escorts me into the formal dining room, a room I haven’t been in yet.

It has a very tall ceiling, nearly twenty feet, with dark wood wainscoting and walls painted a warm light yellow. Hanging on the walls are portraits of women, some of whom I actually recognize. The most prominent one is of Lilly which hangs on the wall behind the head of the table. It’s at least five feet tall and shows her in a black dress standing in a rose garden.

“
Brand painted that portrait of her,” Malcolm tells me. He points to a slightly smaller portrait to the left of Lilly. “That’s Caylin when she turned eighteen.”

I look around at the other portraits in the room.
“Who are the other girls?”

“
The descendants who came before you,” Malcolm says looking at them all.

I search the
portraits but see one descendant missing from the bunch.

“
Where’s the one of my mother?”

“
You had that one,” Malcolm says. “Andre took it to Cirrus so you would always have her near you.”

“
Oh,” I say, remembering Levi destroyed my mother’s portrait with his lightning whip the night he revealed himself to me. “Maybe I can paint another one of her from memory to replace it.”

“
I’m sure you can,” Malcolm says full of confidence in my untested ability. “All of the descendants painted their own portraits.”

“
You could practice with me,” Lucas volunteers. “I promise to sit real still while you do it.”

I hug Lucas close to my side.
“I would love that.”

“
They’re coming,” Malcolm says, just as our guests phase into the dining room.

I feel my forehead crinkle as I look at them all.

They’re all dressed in the same exact tuxedo as Malcolm and Lucas.

I want to ask why they’re all dressed alike but feel such a question would seem rude. Only Linn stands out amongst the group in a traditional Chinese evening
gown. It’s made of royal purple silk with a gold lace overlay, mandarin collar with frog button, and short cap sleeves.

They all walk over to us.

“
You look lovely, Anna,” Linn says to me as she leans in and kisses me on each cheek.

“
And you are simply gorgeous,” I tell her. “That dress is stunning.”

I look at the other four Watchers in the room.
“You all look very handsome…in your matching suits.”

“
Matching?” Jered says, feigning ignorance as he looks down at himself and then to his brothers. “Oh, I guess we do, don’t we?”

“
Yes…” I say, seeing them all smile at one another in a conspiratorial fashion. But, I still refrain from asking why they’re all wearing the same suit. I assume if they truly wanted me to know the real reason someone would say it.

“
So,” Brutus says to me, “Malcolm told us you were cooking the meal we’ll be eating this evening.”

“
Yes, I did,” I say proudly.

No one says
another word. They all just stare at me looking somewhat worried over this fact.

“
Well,” Desmond finally says, breaking the silence in the room, “this should be…interesting.”

Before I can ask why they all seem so sure I’ve failed miserably in my attempt, Millie enters the room with Giles
following close behind her, rolling in the meal I prepared on a wooden cart.

We all sit down at the table as they serve us the
potato and sausage soup I made.

I watch the men, except for Malcolm, around the table as they all peer into their bowls with apprehension, like the soup is alive and might eat them instead of the other way around.

Linn shakes her head at their behavior and picks up her spoon to take the first sip of the soup.

The others watch her
closely like their expecting her to have an adverse reaction after eating it.

After she swallows, she looks over at me and
smiles.

“
Delicious, Anna,” she compliments.

I audibly hear a collective sigh of relief as the others reach for their
own spoons and tentatively begin to eat the soup. After a couple of bites, the boys dig in with gusto and even ask for a second helping of it from Millie.

I feel Malcolm place
a hand on one of my thighs underneath the table and give it a gentle squeeze. I look over at him, and he winks at me.

Millie quickly serves us the baked chicken
, salad and rolls I made while Giles refills everyone’s crystal goblets with white wine, except for Lucas, of course, who gets some white milk instead.

This time no
one seems concerned about surviving the meal I’ve prepared and eat while we have casual conversations about what’s going on in their respective lives.

“
Well, I have some interesting news to report,” Desmond tells us while he butters his roll. “Something very odd is going on with Lorcan Halloran.”

“
Why?” Brutus asks, obviously interested in what his soul mate’s brother is up to. “What’s he done this time?”

“
Nothing bad,” Desmond is quick to tell Brutus to ease his worries. “He’s actually been rather generous the past few days. He’s sent more supplies to the down-worlders in the past two days than the Hallorans have during their whole entire reign of Stratus.”

“
Do you know the reason why?” Malcolm asks, I can tell from the tone of his voice he finds this uncharacteristic behavior of Lorcan’s suspicious.

Desmond shrugs.
“Haven’t got a clue. All I know is that they were desperately needed. Maybe the drugs he’s been taking have actually transformed him into a real human being.”

“
Is Kyna all right?” Brutus asks.

“
I haven’t heard from her in a while,” Desmond admits. “I’m sorry. I wish I had more to tell you.”

“
But you would know if she were in trouble?” Brutus presses.

“
I’m sure word would have reached me if she were,” Desmond tries to reassure Brutus.

Brutus nods
, accepting Desmond’s assumption, but I can tell he’s still worried about her. I silently hope we can resolve the situation with the princes quickly so we can all get on with our lives.

“
I can’t believe this meal,” Jered says in amazement. “Did you help her do any of this, Malcolm?”

“
Not a bit of it,” Malcolm answers succinctly.

“
Well, you certainly are a miracle worker then,” Daniels says with a shake of his head. “I didn’t think you would be able to do it. Congratulations!”

“
I knew I could do it if I put my mind to it,” Malcolm answers modestly.

I just stare at them all
as each of them congratulates Malcolm.