Page 61 of Quiver of Cobras
She turned. ‘I’m taking this round the back,’ she said pointedly. ‘It’ll take me ages to label it properly and make sure it’s safe. You two will have plenty of time alone to sort out whatever crap is going on between you. I don’t have time for this dust – and you two don’t have time for this dance.’ With that, she disappeared.
I shuffled my feet as silence descended between Morgan and me. ‘You hid from me,’ I said quietly. ‘You conspired with Artemesia to keep me away from this place so I wouldn’t discover you were here.’
Morgan didn’t move a muscle. ‘You decided you were a bad person because you made a mistake.’
‘A catastrophic mistake.’
He waved his hand. ‘You made a catastrophic mistake and then decided it defined who you were. You thought that one mistake made you a villain so that’s what you became. It’s still in you now – I can see it inside you. Deep down, you don’t believe you can be good so you make the effort to be bad because that’s all you think you deserve.’
‘Hey!’ I protested. ‘I’m not all bad! I am trying to stop Rubus, after all.’
He smiled slightly. ‘You are. Maybe, just maybe, there really is a superhero inside you.’ His expression sobered. ‘I felt guilty,’ he said. ‘I asked you to come home with me and a couple of hours later all but demanded you return to Rubus instead. I have no right to make demands of you but I did it because my brother has to be stopped. You might be the only person who’s capable of doing it. I asked Arty to keep my presence quiet because I didn’t think you’d want to see me. I wouldn’t blame you for that.’ He sighed. ‘I expect it.’
I stared at him.Hefelt guilty? I was the one who’d consigned us all to a lifetime trapped in this demesne. I was the one who’d dropped him the first time around to be with Rubus. A trickle of discomfort filtered through me. I didn’t deserve Morgan. He was far too good for me.
Then I remembered that I was the Madhatter. He was lucky I was even deigning to have this conversation with him, let alone entertain visions of hot-blooded, sweat-soaked sex.
I sniffed. ‘I’ll permit you to grovel.’ I looked him up and down. ‘On your knees.’ Morgan laughed. I put my hands on my hips. ‘I mean it!’
His lazy smile returned. He took a step towards me. ‘I’ll get on my knees if that’s what you really want, Maddy. Or I could stay on my feet and run my hands through your hair, down your back, across your breasts…’ He licked his lips. ‘I could press my body against yours so you can feel just how hard you make me. Even just the thought of you affects me.’ His voice was growing huskier by the second.
Involuntarily, my eyes drifted downwards. Oh. I swallowed. I supposed it was only natural. I was indeed remarkably sexy. I looked up again, losing myself in Morgan’s mesmerizing emerald gaze. Then I bit my lip. ‘I’m sorry,’ I whispered. ‘But will you just hold me?’
If I’d thought that Morgan was going to be disappointed that I wasn’t ordering him to strip off, I was mistaken. Despite his body’s physical response, his features softened with warmth and kindness. He covered the distance between us and wrapped his arms round me. I put my head on his shoulder and inhaled, closing my eyes.
Orgasmic.
Chapter Sixteen
‘So you still won’t tell me which actor I’m meeting?’ Rubus asked from the back seat of the car. ‘I won’t be happy if it ends up being Sammy.’
‘I’ve never watched the show,’ I admitted. ‘But I do want to.’ As soon as I had some time and I wasn’t running around trying to save the world. ‘I don’t know who Sammy is.’
‘The dog. Sammy is the dog.’ Rubus wrinkled his nose. ‘I can see how you might find it amusing to sit me down in front of a bowl of Pedigree Chum but I assure you, Madrona, it will not go well for you if you do.’
I was almost disappointed that I’d not asked Julie if there were any animals onSt Thomas Closethat I could pressgang into meeting Rubus instead of her. I rather liked the idea of seeing him trying to engage a pooch in artful conversation. ‘It’s not the dog,’ I told him. ‘I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.’
‘I hate surprises,’ he growled.
That’s what I was counting on. ‘You’re going to meet her in ten minutes. I suppose I can tell you who it is now.’
Rubus leaned forward, green eyes wide. ‘Go on then.’
I used the dashboard to beat a drum roll and build up tension. Rubus looked irritated, as if he was worried that I’d leave fingerprint smears on his pristine interior. Not much of a music lover then. ‘It’s the one you mentioned. The one you wanted it to be.’
His mouth formed a perfect O. ‘Stacey?’
‘Well,’ I demurred, ‘that’s her character’s name. She’s Julie.’
He couldn’t hide his excitement. ‘Really? That’s amazing!’ He beamed, his eyes lighting up like a giddy schoolboy’s. ‘She’s the best one!’
Somehow I couldn’t quite connect my image of Rubus as an evil drug lord with that of a soap-opera addict. I supposed it took all sorts. ‘How much do you love me now?’ I enquired.
He sighed happily. ‘I won’t deny that I’m impressed, Madrona. Good work.’ He said that last part as if I’d befriended Julie purely so that I could introduce him to her. And I’d thought I had an ego the size of a barrage balloon; I had nothing on him.
‘You’re going to have to be careful,’ I warned him. ‘She’s a creative and she’s used to getting what she wants. You know what these actors are like.’
‘Of course, of course.’ He nodded like he spent all his time hanging out with Hollywood types. ‘Give me some tips.’
