“You weren’t holding onto me hard enough.”
Her arms and legs tightened around him. “Trust me, flyboy, I have no intention of letting you go.”
He let their bodies sway with the waves and brushed her hair off her face. “You happy?”
“Incandescently.” She pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I feel…at peace. No blades, no guns, no orders.”
“Freedom.” He understood because he felt the same way. He couldn’t stop himself running his hands down her hips, his thumbs sliding into the narrow strings of her bikini bottoms.
She undulated against him. “Yes, freedom.”
He buried his face against her neck, loving the salty taste of her skin. He let one finger slip inside her bikini and brush against where she was so, so hot.
“Zayn,” she murmured.
“I’ve already had you in the waves. How about we try something different? Ever made love in a hammock?”
“I haven’t. Maybe Viktoria had?”
“Vik? Nah, she wasn’t that adventurous.” Saying Vik’s name didn’t hurt quite as much as it used to. He liked that he and Ria could talk about her without it feeling uncomfortable.
And he was enjoying watching as Ria accepted who she was. Ria Dante. Former assassin, budding treasure hunter, and lover to Zayn Phoenix.
Damn, he was happy.
He carried her out of the water, and she gripped him hard. “Zayn, you can’t be serious about the hammock. We’ll kill each other! It doesn’t look strong enough.”
He flashed her a grin. “Come on, live a little.”
He stepped up onto the wide wooden deck. The multi-colored hammock was swinging in the breeze.
One step away and he heard the ring of his Sync.
“Dammit!” He paused. “I’m not answering it.”
“It’s probably your brothers. They wouldn’t call unless it was important.”
With another curse, Zayn dumped her in the hammock. Seconds later he snatched up his Sync from the table.
“Dath? Everything okay?”
Dathan’s face appeared on the screen. “We’ve got a hunt. Need you two to cut the lazing around and get back here.”
Zayn scowled. “Dath, I?—”
“What’s the treasure?” Ria leaned over Zayn’s shoulder and waved at Dathan.
Dathan waved back. “Terran treasure.”
Another face pushed in front of Dathan. “Three dusty-looking statues.” Lala poked her tongue out. “The pictures of them look kind of dry and crumbling and not very sparkly, but Mr. Hunky Hunter here tells me they are worth a fooor-tuuune.”
Zayn hid a smile, especially when he saw the frustration etched on his brother’s face. They’d all been happy when Lala had decided not to go back to Diablo, and all very surprisedwhen she’d decided—without any consultation—to join the Phoenix clan.
Dathan wrestled the Sync back from the teenager. “We got a lead on three life-sized terracotta warriors.”
Zayn whistled. Only one terracotta warrior had ever been found and was on display in a Galactic Institute of Historical Preservation museum. There were myths about more. Some said thousands had been created by a Terran emperor whose name had been lost in time.
He felt that tingle that came at the beginning of every treasure hunt. The excitement, the promise, the possibility. Then he looked at Ria and realized he felt the same way every time he looked at her.
