Hidden Depths (31 page)
“Yes,” he said, the word like a heavy weight dropping from his soul. “I think I could manage that.”
* * *
God, he hoped this business wouldn’t get much messier.
Knowing it could, he was squeezing his eyebrows along their bone when Harrison appeared at the door. The butler wore his full black-and-white uniform.
“Sire,” he said, “might I inquire if you’d like me to order breakfast or if you prefer to sleep?”
“It’s morning?”
“Yes, sire. Going on six a.m.”
Anso’s eyelids felt as if they’d been lined with sand. “I don’t think I’m hungry, but you could ask the others.”
“Very good. You might wish to know the new shift of guards is posted outside the royal apartments, Lord Otari is in the dining room with Mr. Forster, and I gave the Press Office strict instructions not to accept interview requests until you speak to them yourself.”
“Thank you,” Anso said. “And thank you for your work on the banquet. It went off well right up to the end.”
“I am only glad we were spared a worse conclusion.” Harrison started to turn back to the door, then stopped. Despite his as-ever upright carriage, Anso noticed bags underneath his eyes. No doubt the overworked man needed sleep himself.
Harrison tugged his stiff black waistcoat and spoke again. “Sire, if it wouldn’t be too forward, I’d like to remind you of your father’s favorite saying: Seize the -”
“ - seal by the tail?”
“That is the one. Her Majesty is in the large guest bedroom. I did not intrude, but her footsteps have been going back and forth for some time.”
“I understand,” Anso said. “Thank you for your advice.” He didn’t want to take it, but he suspected it was sound. Satisfied he’d been heard, Harrison bowed and left.
Anso leaned back in his desk chair and laughed to himself at the irony.
Seize
the seal by the tail
. Wasn’t that what caused his problems in the first place? He’d seized the seal too tightly, and now she wanted to flee from him. No lesser person than the Magus had confirmed it. Anso hoped Ty was having better luck with
“Mr. Forster.” Maybe James could convince his wife to stay.
Except that wasn’t what Anso wanted. He wanted Olivia to stay for him. He needed her to love him.
He didn’t know if he was following Harrison’s suggestion, but decision seized him. With only a vague idea of what he’d say or do, he left his office to find Olivia.
* * *
Step up to the plate
, Olivia exhorted herself.
Grab the bull by the horns and
all that
.
She literally crashed into Anso as he shut the door to his office.
He caught her, his hands staying on her arms after he’d steadied her. His touch felt like twenty circuits flipping on inside her body.
It had been too long since she’d made love to him.
“I was coming to see you,” he said.
“I wanted to apologize,” she blurted, her words running over his.
His expression softened, his grip tightening. The glow that began to kindle in the depths of his eyes drew hot sensations between her legs.
“I shouldn’t let you look at me like that,” he said huskily.
“Why not?”
“Because it’s just our mating heat working on you, and you and I need to talk.”
“That’s the girl’s line,” she teased.
He stroked her cheek, his warm palm melting much lower parts of her. His eyes were fond but serious. “I know I ought to offer to let you leave, but I can’t. I took you against your will. Stole you from a life you loved. I saw what that did to my mother, how every day she grew sadder. Maybe you were smarter than she was. Maybe she should have run away before she killed herself. You owe me no apologies.”
Olivia’s heart felt like he’d kicked it. “Your mother killed herself?”
“I’m sorry, I thought you - I thought someone must have mentioned it.”
“No.” She shook her head, then had to do it again. “No one mentioned it.
Were you afraid I’d be as miserable as she was? Were you thinking I’d never love you even before you swam up on that beach to claim me?”
“I thought ... when I saw you and James were married, I hoped bringing him too would make it easier for you.”
It had a kind of crazy logic, crazy and terrible. She should have realized how much
not
a game this was to him. “Now I feel even sorrier. My God, I shouldn’t have led you on. If I thought I was going to leave, I never should have slept with you!”
“Olivia, with the best will in the world, you’d have had to be a Titan to fight that. Not in the beginning and not after the bond was set. I’m not angry with you for ... making our time in bed memorable. You thought playing along would help you regain your freedom, which is no more than you deserve. I just don’t know how to stop wanting you to love me. I don’t know how to stop loving you myself.
That
isn’t the blood bond. That’s my heart wanting someone I care deeply about to feel the same way for me. My whole life I’ve longed for a lover I could count on.”
This was a whole other kettle, though Olivia saw how one pain led to the other. She took hold of his creased white shirt - the same he’d worn into the water, she realized. He hadn’t bothered to change it before he went to work. Just barely, she resisted her urge to give him and the cotton a wake-up shake. “Anso, when I said I’d never be the only one to love you, that wasn’t an empty reassurance. Ty loves you back exactly as you describe. Hell, he adores you. And if you think you can’t count on him, you haven’t been paying attention!” He seemed caught off guard by her defense of his long-time lover.
“Ty is ... well, I know he loves me,” he said. “And I’m glad he gets along with both of you.”
“He has your back, Anso. No matter who else he’s slept with, I expect he always has. I can see how his promiscuity might have played into your fears, but in your heart, you know he’s there for you. You put your gun down when he was the only one left to defend me. You
knew
he’d make that shot.” Not seeing what she was getting at, his brows drew together in confusion. “Ty is an expert marksman.”
“It’s more than that.” Olivia gathered her thoughts so she could be as clear as possible. “If you don’t trust him with your heart the way you were willing to trust me, this isn’t going to work.”
“This?” he asked.
Olivia screwed up her nerve. “James and I want to stay. We want to make a go of ... whatever you call four people in a relationship. If it works out the way I hope, someday we’ll all have each other’s backs.” She supposed it was appropriate to say his mouth fished open. He closed it and swallowed. “You want to accept our four-way blood bond. Voluntarily. Even though you’re homesick.”
“Yes,” she said firmly.
Her eyes hadn’t been searched with this particular mix of hope and amazement since she’d accepted James’s marriage proposal.
“Come on,” she said, giving his hard chest a playful punch. “Me saying yes can’t be that surprising. Don’t forget I came back before the hairdresser’s spell wore off.”
“And you think you could come to love me.”
“I
do
love you. Right now. No waiting period required.” No one who saw him break into that smile could have thought him older than eighteen. “Right now.”
“Right now, Your Majesty. I love you.”
He lifted her off her feet to hug her bear-style, his pleasure at squeezing her causing him to growl. “And Ty? You think you’ll love him too?” Olivia thought it nice of him to remember, but kept her amusement to herself.
“Ty too,” she assured him with only a hint of dryness. “He and I have interests in common.”
Without setting her down, Anso drew back to grin some more at her. “God, I love you,” he said. “My genes were genius to send me after you.” Ty and James walked up on them just like that. Anso set her on her feet but didn’t let her go. Instead, he held her against his side. When Anso and Ty’s gazes found each other and glowed brighter, she knew the four of them had a real chance for happiness.
Ty was always beautiful. When Anso smiled, his normal attractiveness became breathtaking. “I guess you got the good news too.”
“I did.” Ty’s grin broadened, then faltered. “You’re okay with this, right? Me being in this quartet for real?”
“Ty. Don’t you know you’ve been a part of my dreams of happiness since we first became friends?”
“Well, I hoped so. You were ... you were always a part of mine.” James and Olivia exchanged eye rolls, pressing their lips together against their impulse to laugh. The king and his captain were too freaking sweet for words.
Olivia knew she and James both loved it.
“And Olivia,” Ty said, turning to her almost too quickly for her to get her face in order.
“Me?” she asked, trying to sound innocent.
“James is your husband. Do you mind him ... having feelings for me?” Olivia didn’t want Anso to let go of her, so she reached to tug Ty closer.
When he was near enough, she stretched onto her toes, wrapped one hand behind his neck, and laid the most blistering kiss she had in her onto his tempting mouth.
Ty stiffened in surprise for a millisecond, after which he dove into the kiss like he was drowning and she was air. Olivia had hoped he would kiss her back but was rocked by the fervor of his response. Ty felt like he had twelve hands, and they were all over her.
Oh wait, one of those palms contracting on her bottom belonged to Anso.
When Ty finally let go, she was disheveled and breathless. It took her two tries to speak. “I had something smart planned to say, but you kissed it out of my head.”
Ty laughed, a purely happy, purely masculine sound. “Glad I could oblige.”
“Oh,” she said, jumping a little as his strong hands continued to smooth around her hips. “I remember. I wanted to say why don’t you ask James if he minds
me
having feelings for
you
?” Ty’s yellow eyes welled up. “Liv.”
“I do,” she said shyly. It was odd to be making this declaration with her two other men close by, but certainly not odd bad. “I know it’s early days, and my feelings are new, but I’m sure they’ll get bigger. You’re a wonderful man. Not to mention really hot stuff.”
“Plus, I saved your life.”
“You did!” she agreed. “Which was very nice of you.” He smiled and kissed her, more gently this time, though the way his tongue stroked hers was exciting. Through it all, Anso’s arm didn’t leave her waist. If anything, it braced her for Ty. By the end, Ty was rocking his erection into her belly, his arms wrapped around her back while Anso’s fingers caressed her side.
Both of them were affecting her. Olivia’s pussy brimmed with arousal.
Ty seemed to reach his limit just as she did. He rested his mouth against her brow. “I’m about to say something smart, so I hope you’ll forgive me.”
“What is it?”
He pushed his erection against her harder. “Olivia,
nothing
I feel about you is small.”
“I see. You care about me eight inches worth.”
“Nine,” he corrected, straight-faced. “Because of how we’re built, wereseals are hard to measure.” He raised inquiring eyebrows at Anso. Having received whatever answer he was looking for, he swung Olivia up into his arms. The ease with which he did it was pleasant. “We’re moving this celebration to Anso’s room. When you’ve got servants, hallways are bad places to have sex.”
“Thus speaks the voice of experience,” James quipped.
Olivia looked at him over Ty’s shoulder. Her husband was smiling and unbuttoning his shirt, maybe the easiest of all of them with this.
“My experience benefits you,” Ty said with put-on dignity. “All of you should be writing thank you notes to my old lovers.”
He said this as if they were history.
“How hard are we going to have to work to keep you from taking new ones?” Anso asked mildly.
He’d opened the door to his bedroom suite. Ty stopped on the threshold to look at him.
“I wouldn’t insist on it,” Anso added. “I’m simply admitting I’d rather only share the people I love
with
the people I love. I’d like to think we’re enough for you.”
Ty’s body stilled even as his breathing deepened with emotion. Olivia knew he’d heard Anso say he loved him. “You’re enough,” he said roughly. “If the three of you loved me, I’d count myself the luckiest man in the world.” Anso leaned in to press his lips to Ty’s. He probably meant to keep it light, but Ty wasn’t a man anyone could kiss halfway. With Olivia still in his arms, the two men got seriously into it. Olivia could feel their groans rumbling in their chests, could hear and see their tongues working greedily against each other. She shivered with excitement, and Ty’s arms tightened under her.
“Christ,” Ty whispered into Anso’s mouth. “I think Her Majesty’s temperature just jumped ten degrees.”
Anso pulled back and laughed, tugging both of them into his bedroom. “Hey,” he called to James. “Why aren’t you in here and naked already? I’m pretty sure your wife would enjoy us putting on a show for her.”
“I’m pretty sure
your
wife’s the pervy one,” James said. “My Liv was always a straight arrow.”
“Ha!” Ty and Olivia scoffed in chorus.
Still holding her, Ty stopped so they could admire the sight of James shucking off his trousers and underwear. He was hard and getting harder, his erection a steely rod sticking out from a tangle of black pubic hair. His physique might have changed a little, but he was the same gorgeous hero who’d ridden right through her shyness to sweep her up, the same funny adventurous man who made her heart beat harder. Wasn’t it a miracle when someone you desired wanted you in return? As James straightened, showing off his abs and chest, Ty let out a happy sigh.
