Invidious Betrayal (27 page)

M
AKING AS LITTLE NOISE A
s possible, Ian silently entered the room Pop had pointed out to him, locking the door behind him. Inside, a king-size, country-white bed with platinum blue and brown sheets and a half-dozen matching pillows didn’t put a dent in the spacious room. Several large pieces of bedroom furniture and a sitting area also graced the space. Pictures, wall art, and assorted decorations completed the serene look.

Ian noticed their bags on the bench seat at the foot of the bed, but he didn’t see Aria. Scanning the room, he saw steam slipping through a partially opened door and heard the unmistakable sounds of a shower running. He crossed the room and began to go through his bag when the shower cut off and the sound of humming filled the room.
Is Aria happy
? With all that’d happened he’d assumed she’d be tired and a bit crabby, but she was humming a tune that was slightly off key.

Smiling, Ian kicked off his shoes and placed them under the bed, then pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it on the bench seat. He raised his arm as he crossed the room to the sitting area. Taking a seat, Ian inspected the site where he’d cut the chip out. It had been completely healed the morning he’d discovered Aria had fled his friend’s condo. He was shocked that he had no scab or felt any tenderness there; in fact, his skin was smooth, as if he’d never taken an X-Acto knife to the sensitive area.

He thought about the various things happening to him physically, and suddenly the weight of his head seemed overwhelmingly heavy, so he let it fall back to the headrest and closed his eyes. Accelerated healing was one more piece to the puzzle he had to put together.
What’s next?

“The hot water is endless,” Aria said from behind him.

He could hear the satisfaction in her voice, for something so trivial, and it made him want to tell her that hot water will never be an issue in
their
home. Furthermore, he wanted to tell her that he would never rest until she was satisfied in every way. That whether it be hot water or the moon, he will find a way to provide it. But he allowed the promise to dissolve in his throat before raising his head and watching her as she passed by.

Ian sat up and, feeling like he was being pulled by some unseen force, he moved to the edge of the seat. Aria’s silky, dark brown hair was pulled into one long damp braid that hung over her shoulder. She wore a pale pink sleep tank that exposed the perfect mounds of her breasts as well as some of her flat stomach just below her navel. A pair of very short matching bottoms with yellow trim rode high up her creamy thighs. She sat on the edge of bed and produced a small bottle of lotion that she squeezed into her hand. She rubbed some over one of her feet, and for a minute he wished he was the creamy substance.

“How does your body feel?” she asked.

Mesmerized by an act as simple as her rubbing lotion on feet, Ian didn’t hear the question.

Aria looked up at him. “Are you all tensed up still?”

Ian tilted his head in response. “As stiff as a board,” he said, before he could stop himself. Her face reddened and he muttered a curse when he realized he’d spoken out loud.
Smooth, asshole
.

Aria didn’t seem angry, just ruffled. “I asked Mr. Morel for some pain relieving cream. Your joints are probably sore from the fighting and traveling.”

He doubted anything other than being inside her could help his stiff joint. Although he had kept that thought to himself.
Original and mature
, he thought.
I need a cold shower
.
Now
. Without thinking, Ian crossed the room to the bathroom. A
thud
and a gasp caused him to stick his head out of the door.

“What happened?”

Aria had dropped the small bottle of scented lotion to the floor, but she made no moves to get it. If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have believed it. Fear and excitement coursed through her as she stared at Ian. It reflected on her face. Ian looked at her, confusion on his face.

He took a step out of the bathroom, moving slowly toward her. “Are you okay? What happened?”

“You just moved like… like the Flash.” She gaped at him, stunned. He looked even more confused now. “The Flash, you know the superhero that moved with lightning speed.” She could tell the description hadn’t clicked for him yet. She added “DC Comics…” There it was; a flicker of understanding lit his eye.

“Oh. I’m more of a Marvel kind of guy.” Ian joked as he looked over to the chair he had been sitting in, and then a look of fear and astonishment washed over him. The chair was a good distance away from the bathroom and he
had
moved from one to the other in a ‘flash’. He looked back at her. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t conscious of… It won’t happen again. You’re safe with me, Aria.” His voice sounded pained and he hung his head.

Now Aria knew she hadn’t imagined it when he’d kicked that car like it was a soccer ball, at his trainer. But she was curious. What he’d done just seconds ago, what he could do, it embarrassed him.
Why
? Didn’t he know that people would kill for those kinds of abilities? But it was clearly written on his face that he didn’t want them.

She wondered if he told the Morels about it. But as soon as the question came to her, the answer did too. He wasn’t comfortable, or he probably didn’t even know exactly what he was capable of. Add that to his anxiety and the angry thought that he had been used in some kind of science experiment. He was clearly uneasy; Ian wouldn’t share this with anyone.

She just happened to be here to witness it.

“The way you move,” she said, “it’s amazing. Even when you move ‘normally’ it’s like you’re moving to music. You have grace and beauty in your every step, and with the speed added… It’s lovely to watch. The only thing wrong I can see is that when you do move that fast, no one will see how poetic your movements are.”

“Thanks.” Ian rubbed his head, but she could tell he was hiding a smile. Then he frowned. Just like that, he’d shut down. “I’m going to take a shower now.”

Aria waited for him to close the door then she picked up the lotion and began smoothing it over her skin again. An image of Ian’s hands rubbing the lotion on her instead popped in her head, causing her skin to instantly heat. A throbbing of need began to vibrate through her body. At that moment she wanted Ian more than she’d ever wanted anything else in her life. Only she couldn’t risk her heart, not full-out anyway.

She knew she felt something for him that she couldn’t really put into words. Aria also knew that the bond they shared due to her trauma, the baby inside her—because he was sure he was the father, and their travels together would be life-long. It was clear that their relationship was going to grow, but the question is, in what way? Whether she wanted him sexually was not the question. She did. But did she want him bad enough to accept whatever kind of relationship he wanted?

From what little she knew, Ian wasn’t boyfriend material. He was young, excruciatingly handsome, wealthy, and protective to a fault, but he was also emotionally guarded, too damn charismatic, and on his father’s side of the family were emotionally stunted males and a mad scientist. Ian was raised without the kind of love that breeds love. What if he was incapable of such a simple, free, yet beyond-important emotion? And if he was, how could he love his child, or her for that matter?

Focusing on his status in life alone, Ian was totally out of her league. He was scholarly and financially set for the rest of his life with a wealthy senator for a father. Debutantes and models were more his taste—he’d confirmed that during their ‘get to know you’ talk on the train. Plus there was that little issue of her introduction to sex—rape 101 with half a dozen assholes enrolled and satisfied.

Aria fell back on the bed and sighed. Add in a non-consensual pregnancy and his uncle who didn’t want her to be anything to Ian, other than a victim. Love between the two of them was a fantasy

“Do I need love?” She sighed.

Thoughts of Ian washing his toned body in the bathroom so close by invaded her mind then. She twisted the corner of her mouth as her throbbing need for him intensified.
Why do I wish I was a bar of soap in his hands right now when the bathroom only has liquid soap
?

“Because I think bars are sexier.” She frowned.

Rubbing his hair dry, Ian walked into the room. He stopped when he saw Aria lying back on the bed, her legs slightly apart with her shirt raised, showing more of her tempting flesh than she was probably aware. His tortured manhood pulsed, urging him to cross the room and slide between those heavenly thighs of hers. His mouth watered for a taste of her soft skin.

Ian closed his eyes and muttered a curse, then he remembered what she’d said when he came into the room. “Why are bars sexier?” Why was she thinking of bars, and what the hell was sexy about being inside a badly lit room surrounded by drinking men on a mission, anyway? Aria obviously hadn’t notice his entry into the room because she jumped with fright, then sat up when she realized it was him. “Sorry.” He chuckled. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Yeah, I freak easily these days.” She scrunched her nose up as she let out a nervous laugh.

Ian winced, feeling guilty about scaring her, but smiled when he saw her cute gesture. She’d made light of their situation. Most of the women he knew, and he knew a lot, would have been complaining and crying this whole time. They wouldn’t have tolerated that small train car, the crowded bus, or the ride here in the pick-up truck.

Showing up on his welcoming grandparents’ doorstep would have smoothed things a bit, because most girls love to meet a guy’s family; but he would have had to fuck them to sleep to get a moment of peace.

Moving toward the sitting area, his first thought was to fling the towel back in the bathroom, but he remembered his cock was engorged and he needed the towel to cover it. But before he could sit on the chair, Aria patted the space beside her. Ian hesitated, not sure what to do.

“Aren’t you ready yet?” Aria asked him. She reached out to grab a metallic-looking cylinder from the nightstand, then got to her knees in the center of the big bed, resting her round ass on her heels. “We need to loosen up all that tension in your body from all that fighting.”

He knew a way. Lord knows the tension in his body was not due to sore muscles from the fighting she was referring to. One of his body parts had him on edge, and oh boy, rubbing the pressure out of it was an excellent idea.
Classic
. Engrossed in his thoughts, Ian still hadn’t moved.

“Don’t just stand there. Come on.” She waved him over.

With the towel doing little to hide his tented shorts, Ian slowly walked to the bed, then climbed on and lay face-down beside her. When her oiled hands first touched his skin, his body jerked.

“See,” she said with satisfaction, as if her point had been proven.

“I’m not that sore. I just wasn’t prepared for your touch is all.” He turned his head so he could look at her, then thought better of it and closed his eyes. When her soft hands touched him this time, he was prepared. Well, not entirely. He didn’t expect them to feel so good on his bare skin.