Page 42 of Dying in Flames (Reborn 4)
Maya
“Who are you texting, kitten?”Sai’s voice had chills erupting on my skin.
Something that should have been impossible since I was currently soaking up every ray that the French sun had to offer, my skin hot to the touch and covered in a light layer of sweat. Luckily, the pool was literally right underneath me, my chair on this neat little shelf of the pool that was super shallow, allowing me to dip my body in whenever I want. It was essentially the perfect setup.
I had never considered how much I would enjoy being laid out under the sun like this, but my phoenix was absolutely thrilled, which is why I’d been out here for nearly four hours. I was, however, a bit surprised that I was enjoying being by water, considering that I lit up in flames. Yet instead of being uncomfortable around it, I found it refreshing as I laid on my stomach, my fingers trailing back and forth in the water.
I was already feeling a marked amount better than I had when we had first arrived at the gorgeous Mediterranean estate extremely late in the night. It helped that I had slept until early afternoon between Ledger and Marco, their warm, muscular bodies cocooning me. I had somehow managed to escape the bed without waking them up, and began my tour of the estate, which had led me to find this pool.
I couldn’t lie, this was possibly one of my favorite places I’d visited with my mates, and while I knew we were here for a larger purpose, I hoped to stay for some time. Despite being huge, the smooth, pale-yellow outside of the house made it feel warm and welcoming, the lush grounds around it only adding to the vibrancy. From out here, I could see how each window and door arched to encourage the ocean breeze to break through the light curtains that brushed in and out of them. Even the open floor plan and simplistic furniture styling seemed to scream ‘simple and welcoming.’
This was a place for a family…which was one reason that I hoped we could stay, because my phoenix was perfectly content here.
Of course my morning had only been made easier, because it seemed my mates had thought of everything. Before I’d stepped outside onto the pool deck, I’d found a bathroom right inside the house that contained a collection of swimsuits, all with fresh tags on them and in my size.
After slipping on the gold bikini, I had made my way out onto the stone-paved back courtyard that looked out on a cliffside ocean view. There were bushes and gardens of lavender to each side of the pool, but my focus had been on the way the massive pool seemed to extend out into the ocean, with a nonexistent edge.
I had yet to go towards it because the water was too deep and I didn’t know how to swim, but I added that onto my list of things that I wanted to learn by the end of the year. Right now, swimming and driving were two massive goals of mine… Oh, that and bedazzling my clothes.
“Maya.” Sai chuckled, his lips brushing up my spine as I let out a small laugh at how the delicate touch almost tickled. I hadn’t meant to ignore him, but I was a bit sleepy today, so when I turned my head to look at him, I offered a soft smile in apology.
“Nova,” I responded to his previous question, and found him sitting on the edge of my pool chair. I wasn’t positive who had come up with the idea of putting a built-in sun chair into the very shallow area of the pool, but it was possibly the best idea ever.
“Nova?” He frowned in confusion.
“Demi-goddess. Marco, Ledger, and I met her when we were at the Halloween store.” I let out a happy hum as he ran his fingers up my back gently, causing my legs to press together as my breathing hitched.
“Those fuckers never tell me anything,” he grumbled. I briefly noticed that he was wearing only swim shorts, the rest of his body completely on display and making me want to run my fingers along his warm skin.
“I think she and Jordan would get along, so I figured I would extend the invitation to hang out.” I shrugged and then nibbled my lip. “Whenever we get back, that is.”
Sai’s expression turned more serious as he urged me to turn over so I was looking up at him. His fingers intertwined with mine as he brushed his lips over my hand. “You know we can move wherever you want, right? We don’t have to stay in Seattle.”
“You guys have a home there,” I said softly, even though his words caused a sense of hope to filter through me at the prospect of not going back to Seattle…at least not right away. But I didn’t want to be the one that made them move, the one who uprooted their entire life because of all the memories that seemed to now taint the air. I would always be thankful it was where I’d found my mates, but I’d lived so much of my life in darkness that being here felt like I’d been transported.
“We have a home everywhere.” He nodded towards the gorgeous fortress of a house that we were staying in. “This is one of our favorites and one of the newest. You will find absolutely no complaint if this is where you want to stay. I can feel that your phoenix is happier here, and I won’t lie, dragons tend to gravitate towards warmer weather as it is. The only reason we chose Seattle was to get out of California but still keep close enough to the dragon council.”
A dragon council that I didn’t foresee being important anymore.
“Really?” I hedged, looking around at the gorgeous blue water that seemed to be so vibrant that it felt a little unreal.
“Really,” he insisted. “Anything you want, Maya, just ask for it.”
“I would like to stay for a bit,” I admitted softly, my cheeks flushing at the reasoning that popped into my head. “I like the idea of being somewhere safe and more private…especially with the mating heat thing.”
Sai let out a hum of agreement as worry flashed in his gaze. “I completely forgot about the nest back home.”
I felt a pang of pain at that as well. “Yeah, my phoenix isn’t very happy about that, but I have a feeling that once I am back to feeling a bit more energetic, I will do it again. It feels so weird to talk about, and I have no idea if that is something a phoenix normally does…but I think wherever I build the next one is where we should stay.”
“I think it should be here,” Sai offered softly, his eyes moving towards the pool. “Besides, this place has everything—just wait until we show you around town. There is a larger city nearby, but the local village has an entire marketplace that we can go to every morning if you want.”
“Is it safe, with the Malcolm thing?” I asked, loving the idea.
“We have teams out scouting for him.” His voice was even, but I could see anger flaring in his gaze. “Even if he is here, he has no reinforcements. Once we track him down, we will figure out what is going on and if there are other phoenixes that we need to help.”
Before I could respond, the back door opened, and out walked an older woman dressed in a pale blue dress. She brought out a large silver tray, offering us both a sweet smile. It was clear that she worked here, but unlike many workers I’d seen at the hotels and properties we’d been to, she seemed exceptionally happy. Her eyes were bright, and her silver hair was in a loose braid that hung down almost to her waist. The automatic warmth I felt towards her had me sitting up slightly, curious to know who she was.
“Good evening.” Her French accent immediately had my ears perking up.
