I awake in the middle of the night, my body exhausted from Aeron’s attentions. I smile, remembering the sweet moments I had watched him come, but as the fog of sleep slips away I find myself thinking of Dane. I shove the thought away.
Aeron is spooning me from behind, and I feel so safe and comfortable in his arms. He had made love to me almost tenderly earlier, and yet there had been few words between us. No chance for me to tell him that I loved him, and no sign from him on whether he was willing to trust me. I hadn’t wanted to spoil things by telling him the truth.
My ass is cupped against his hips and I can feel the semi-hardness of his cock. Part of me is tempted to reach around and touch it. To bring it to full hardness and climb on top of him and ride him until we both come again. I have not done that yet. But he is sleeping so peacefully, I cannot bring myself to disturb him. His breathing is deep and even. No sign of any nightmares.
I turn around slowly and carefully in his arms so that I can look at him. The sight of his face, so peaceful in his rest, fills my heart with an overwhelming tenderness. A hot tear slides slowly down my cheek. I want to be in this moment forever.
Surely what he said yesterday about this being just sex is no longer true? Not after tonight.
And yet my eyes drop to the pendant that is resting against his chest, and I feel a tremor of anxiety. My mere presence here is a lie. It would be so easy for things to go wrong. Already his uncle has shown he doesn’t trust me. If he questions Robb, he will discover Robb was paid off to bring me here.
How will I explain that to them? I don’t even know who Dane is. Why didn’t I ask him more questions? And why is my every instinct screaming at me not to mention his name here?
I shiver, suddenly feeling chilled. After everything Tyler told me about Aeron’s family heritage, I realize that I have allowed myself to be used as a pawn in some sort of power game. Aeron thought that I would betray him, and he was right to be suspicious.
But there is still a chance to fix things. No matter how earnest Dane had been, no matter that every glance at Aeron’s face reminds me of Dane, I will not take the pendant.
Tomorrow I will return the bracelet to Dane, with his fake pendant inside. It is time for me to put Dane out of my mind. To never think of him again. This thought makes me feel like weeping.
But I can’t bear to lose Aeron now. So this is what I must do.
Aeron shifts slightly in his sleep, as if sensing my turmoil. I slowly and carefully climb out of bed, and gently pull the sheet over him to keep him warm.
The moonlight coming in from the wide window draws me towards it. Their sky is different to ours even at night. It is a deep purple-black in which the stars shine brightly. The moon is huge, and so close that I feel I could reach out and touch it. At its edges I can see those shimmering sparkles that I had seen in the daytime, as if they are tiny creatures worshipping the glory of the night.
Movement catches my eye. In the courtyard down below, a tall blond girl is running on light feet down the path towards the adjacent wing, where Tyler’s workshop had been.
She has on a silken purple-black robe that blends in almost perfectly with the night. It clings to every gorgeous curve of her long, lean body, and ripples back in a gentle breeze to reveal her long golden legs. She looks like she is naked beneath it.
She glances around briefly and I see her face. She is Cilla.
A rush of jealousy takes my breath away. She is clearly going to see Tyler. Does she know that we made love earlier? Does she want to win him back for herself? It will be easy for her. She is the type of beauty whose every movement is seductive.
And perhaps Tyler will be in no mood to resist her. It’s not like he and I are together, and I have just spent the evening making love to Aeron. He has every right to be with another woman if he wants. Except that the thought of it sends a searing pain through my heart. I can’t bear for him to be with anyone but me.
I find myself pulling on my robe and slipping quietly out of Aeron’s room. I head back in the direction that we came from earlier, towards where Tyler’s bedroom must be. In the moonlit dark, I try to find his workshop, thinking that his bedroom must be nearby, but this residence is so large and sprawling that I quickly lose my sense of direction.
It is only the sound of a door clicking shut in my vicinity that makes me realize where Cilla must be. She has gone through a pair of double doors nearby, and is a sheer luck that she didn’t see me.
The doors are made of heavy wood. I turn the handle, and fortunately the door opens soundlessly and easily.
I listen, and hear no sound inside. If I hesitate too long she will get away and then I’ll have no idea where Tyler’s bedroom is. I slip through the door quickly, into a deeper darkness, and close it soundlessly behind me.
I take a cautious few steps forward, listening for where she might have gone. The windows here are covered with heavy curtains and it takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. I see the outline of a bed.
I freeze. I am not in another hallway. I am in a bedroom!
The bed is empty. There is no sign of Cilla or Tyler. I can make out light coming in at the edges of another door opposite, perhaps a bathroom. She must be in it.
Now that I am here, I realize I had no plan at all. And what if this is not Tyler’s room, but Cilla’s?
Horrified, I back quickly towards the door. To my shock I see its handle turn. I run to one side, frantic for somewhere to hide. A walk-in wardrobe appears from the darkness. I slip inside just in time. Somebody walks into the room and turns the lights on.
The wardrobe door is still open a crack. I did not have time to fully shut it. My every instinct screams at me to hide at the very back. I bury myself between some hanging clothes, and try to listen above the sound of my frantic heart beats.
I hear voices within the room, a man and a woman speaking. It is some time before my heart beat calms down enough for me to more clearly hear the words. Except I cannot understand them. They are speaking in a different language.
The tone of the woman’s voice is low and seductive. The man’s is slightly more brusque. I cannot make out if it is Tyler. If it is, I hope he is telling her to get lost. It soon becomes clear to me that this is not the case.
I try to deny the sounds that I am hearing. It isn’t possible. It can’t be true.
But soon the sounds of her moans clearly penetrate the wardrobe. She does not bother to keep her voice low. Her moans turn to short rhythmic screams, as if the pleasure she is feeling is unbearable.
I clench my fists. I want to run into the room to shout at him, to make them stop. I crawl quietly towards the door and peer out. They are on the bed, him on top of her, his body thrusting hard.
It isn’t Tyler.
I cover my mouth to muffle my cry of relief. His face turns slightly towards me and my eyes widen in shock. It is Geoffre Balthazar!
