“I can’t either. Once was plenty for now. But it doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy each other. And have more later.” Dusk kissed her neck again and Layla turned into him, letting his smooth lips find hers. They devoured each other a long moment, Dusk taking Layla’s lower lip in his teeth and grinning as they finally released.
“You are so bad,” Layla murmured at his lips.
“You like me bad. Bad is better.” He grinned.
“Yeah. But bad boys can be exhausting.”
“You attract a lot of bad boys, Layla.” He murmured at her neck, smoothing his hands over her belly again in the water. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Me, Adrian, Adam when we still thought he was Adam. Reginald.”
“You told me about Reginald, way back when.” Layla spoke thoughtfully, stroking Dusk’s muscled thigh beneath the water. “I didn’t believe you at the time, but now…”
“Now you’re starting to see it, aren’t you?” Dusk’s voice was sober now. “He may be an asshole, but Reginald’s strangely tender with you. In a way I’ve not seen with anyone, really. It gives me hope.”
“Hope of what?” Layla turned her head so she could see his face.
Dusk’s eyes narrowed, thoughtful as he met her gaze. “That he actually might be an ally to us rather than a thorn. Reginald and Bastien hate each other, but I thought Reginald hated Adrian more. Now, I’m not so sure. I think because of you, Reginald is willing to play ball with Adrian.”
“What do you mean?” Layla asked, watching him. “Play ball for what?”
“You know that the Paris Hotel is in trouble right now.” His gaze was eloquent.
“Reginald told me.” Layla raised her eyebrows. “What does that have to do with Reginald stepping up to bat for us against his brother?”
“Bastien Durant is the front-runner for Adrian’s position as Hotel Head if Adrian is dismissed by the Board.” Dusk spoke darkly.
“You’re joking.” Layla blinked, horrified that if things went badly, that asshole of a Siren might become their boss at the Paris Hotel.
But Dusk wasn’t joking, continuing with a sober darkness even as he smoothed his hands over Layla’s skin. “One of the reasons I curry powerful friends is so I can go where I will when I will, Layla. I enjoy my freedom, and peace. But now a war has come to us. Since Adrian bound you, it’s stirred up a hornet’s nest of enemies who don’t want to see Adrian come into his full power. Hunter kicked that hornet’s nest at Samhain, but it was already buzzing. Right now, it’s a simmering conflict in the shadows between Adrian and the people who don’t want to see him rise any higher… but what if it wasn’t anymore?”
“How bad could it get?” Layla asked, listening intently.
“Bad.” Dusk breathed, moving one hand through the water, the other still wrapped around Layla’s ribs. “Twilight Realm wars are bad news, Layla. There are reasons we have strict laws against feuding. And people to enforce them.”
“The High Court?”
“The High Court,” he nodded, “and their watchdog enforcers, the Intercessoria. If things get bad, you’ll see Juds – the Intercessoria Judiciary. Believe me, we donotwant Juds sniffing around this place. There are many people on staff here who are here specifically because they wish to keep a low profile with the law.”
“Like you.” It all clicked into place for Layla. “And Reginald. Starting a war between the North Sea Sirens and the Blood Dragons like he did. Supposedly.”
“Reginald told you about that?” Dusk frowned at her.
“Not really. Bastien was berating him at the party, and I learned a little.” Layla sighed. “But why are you hiding from the law here at the Hotel?”
“You know that my clan and the Tunisian Crystal clan killed each other off.” Dusk spoke, a darkness in his sapphire eyes.
“Yeah?”
“Well,” he continued with a sigh, “once I was an angry youngling with a murdered clan and no one to restrict my rage. Adrian’s father Issam helped me; took me in and gave me a safe place in the Sahara to vibrate out my fury without triggering active fault lines. But I killed three villages of humans in my grief before he found me – and the Juds never forget something like that, no matter that it happened when a person was only six years old. If you think the Hotel has a long memory, it’s nothing compared to the Intercessoria. Generous donations can eventually buy off the Hotel. The Juds – nothing can buy them off your scent. No matter how young you were when you committed your crime.”
Layla considered that, understanding that the Intercessoria Judiciary were the kind of elite police force that held ultimate authority. The kind who put people away in dark oubliettes that never saw the light of day.
“If anything happens here, anything we can’t solve internally – will Juds get involved?”
“You can count on it.” Dusk’s voice held a growl now and it was not a nice sound, nor was the prickling, tense vibration that accompanied it. Layla smoothed her hand over his thigh and he took a breath, leaving off. But she’d felt enough to know, and had felt enough earlier in their passion, that it was only the barest hint of Dusk’s real power, the edge of a very deep fault line.
If he ever decided to shake the base of that fault line in anger, Layla could only imagine the result.
Behind her, Dusk gave a hard sigh, then lifted Layla to settle her in a more comfortable position on his lap. But they could both feel the mood waning, the hour late and the difficult day all too near now that they were speaking of dire things.
