Her heart dampened at the reminder of her husband, now on the other side of the world, under the eye and care of the enigmatic Nainai.
“And when do I join for family healing?” Sabrina’s tone was measured but firm. There would be no ‘if’.
Jack pressed a kiss to both of her hands. “Soon.” Nainai had been cagey about specifics, leveling him with a frosty glare when he tried to pin down a time frame for his wife to join the sojourn to Hong Kong.
Sabrina slowed her pace as she remembered the brief, but powerful look on Jack’s face when he recounted the ‘dark blood’ diagnosis. He was a pragmatic man but the fleeting stare that she caught before it faded away had clutched her heart in a painful grip.
He believed it. Teri. Renee. His father. Graem. Nakia and now Thane. The blows within his family had done damage. The things he had done, whether to safeguard the world at large or do bidding for the more unscrupulous members of government had taken its toll. He had seen death and destruction again and again. There had been nights when he awoke shaking like a leaf, his eyes wide with horror, gripped in a vivid memory. Only Sabrina folding him within her safe embrace, her soft voice soothing his trembled state seemed to quell the infrequent spells.
Over the years, the spells lessened, but they hadn’t stopped.
Sabrina turned to look at the diminutive woman who now sat patiently on a nearby chair, her handbag on her lap, her weathered hands resting primly on the bag. As if sensing Sabrina’s gaze, the woman turned, her dark eyes serious and unflinching.
For a brief moment, Sabrina was struck by how similar the woman’s expression mirrored that of her brother, Stefan.
Her heart without its mate and her bed much too cold, with each day that passed, her patience thinned. She and Jack had spoken and texted but there was still no word on when Nainai would beckon her. Jack’s departure and her sometimes sullen and brittle demeanor had not gone unnoticed by the family
The smell of bacon now invaded her senses and she breathed deeply.
“Good Morning Sabrina.”
Nikolas smiled as he took a slow gulp of his coffee. Beside him stood Verasha’s dog, its eyes intent on the strips of bacon near the waffles. Feeling protective, Sabrina strode to the table and snatched the plate away from the edge. The dog blinked, watching as his prize was pulled away.
“Good morning,” she said, sliding into the chair opposite Nikolas. She nodded to the dog and he shrugged. “He seems to think I am as pliable as Asha.” The dog’s tail thumped against the rug covered floor as it blinked at Sabrina and then back to the bacon.
“There are usually four strips of bacon on this plate,” Sabrina replied. Nikolas averted her gaze as he popped a slice of pear into his mouth.
“Really?”
Sabrina poured herself a glass of orange juice. “I remember you with that cat when you were a boy.” Nikolas’s eyes warmed at the mention. “You doted on that hissing thing like it was your baby. That’s who Asha gets it from.” She pointed at him, her eyes affectionate. “Your soft heart.”
“You are missed at breakfast.”
Sabrina pulled the fluffy warm waffles to her plate and accepted the butter dish Nikolas handed with a nod of thanks. “I usually eat here with Jack.”
“Not when he is away.” The comment was not a challenge and yet she bristled anyway.
Sabrina did not lift her gaze as she steadily buttered. “Did you return home to fix things or make things worse?”
A calm pause filled the silence as Sabrina poured a healthy dose of syrup over the waffles. An excited snuffle from the dog caused her to lift her gaze and the dog thumped his tail against the floor once more, happy to be acknowledged. With a sigh, she broke off a piece of the bacon and held it out to him. Expecting a slobbery snatch, she stilled as the animal carefully took the strip of meat from her outstretched hand, his tongue flicking against her finger only slightly.
Finally she turned her eyes back to Nikolas. “Athena? Helena? Archer? Your father and mother? Ronan? Kristina? Andresj? Must I list everyone?” Her voice had trembled at the last name, that of her beloved Dre. With the quietest of movements, he had pulled back from the family ever so slightly and it pained her heart to see such a moment of fracture.
Nikolas inclined his head. “There is much turmoil, I agree.” His voice was soft and he rose, rounding the table. He bent towards her and she felt a gentle kiss against her cheek. Her heart swelled with love for and from her cousin. “I am home because this is where my family and heart reside,” he said.
He stepped from the table and gave the dog a scratch behind its ear. His warm chocolate eyes held her gaze once more. “Join us for breakfast tomorrow. You are missed.” He tapped his thigh and the dog immediately bounced to Nikolas’ side.
Sabrina arched a brow. “That was a smart move, bringing the dog,” she acknowledged. Nikolas gave a faint smile.
“I am not the only one who doted on that cat.”
*~*
Alexis sighed as Marcus’s mouth devoured hers in a toe curling kiss, his hands roving her backside, pulling her tight to him. She let out a contented laugh as her husband’s amorous intent became abundantly clear. Kristina had driven Molly to school, and from the moment the front door beeped closed, securing the house once more, Marcus had pulled his wife to his muscled frame, coiling himself around her warmth, ready to take full advantage of her rare morning off.
“Detective,” she moaned as her hands slid beneath his shorts, hungry for his touch. Marcus let out a low growl, thrusting gently into her hand as he began to peel her shirt from her.
“MOM!” The front door crashed open and closed, startling both as Kristina’s wail filled the house. Instantly, both scrambled for their clothes as Kristina’s cry for her mother became more tearful.
“MOM!”
Flinging on a robe, Alexis waited a second for Marcus to do the same before she unlocked the bedroom door and entered the hallway. Kristina stood in the kitchen, a small card in one hand, the phone in the other. Eyes red, it was evident she had been crying.
“What happened?” Alexis demanded, her thoughts falling to images of a car accident and Molly hurt or a carjacking with Molly gone. “Where’s Molly?”
“She’s at school, she’s fine!” Kristina cried out. “It’s Ronan! He’s gone!” She punched numbers in frantically. “I’m calling Robert.”
Alexis let out a long breath, exhaling her fear as Marcus grumbled from behind her.
“Never a damn dull moment.”
*~*
It was not difficult for his thoughts to drift to her when she was not with him.
He struggled to maintain focus on the tasks at hand, and to look ahead at the steps that would follow.
Yet as soon as a momentum would build and he would power through one pile of work demanding his attention, he would falter and a memory of Lainey would take hold with a fierce grip and he would be lost again.
“You like that, don’t you?” Her sultry purr sent a slow tingle down his spine and he closed his eyes, unable to deny her words.
Hell, unable to deny HER.
Her fingers gently massaged him intimately as she moved back and forth, astride his manhood and seemingly enjoying the torture as it played about his countenance. He could only take in breaths when he remembered to breathe, so consumed he was by her power, her control over him and the delicious, endless sensations that rocked him.
Not that two couldn’t play at that game. He was a Cassadine, after all.
He opened his eyes to see a blissful look to Lainey’s visage, her dark skin aglow as she moved in tempo to his thrusts and with a quick movement, rolled until she was beneath his powerful frame, already parting her thighs to accept him deeper. “Yes,” she whispered, biting her lower lip with anticipation.
Archer pulled from her completely and an unmistakable whimper fell from her lips. The heels of her feet dug into him, urging him back within her walls and it took all the control he had to resist that carnal need. Not only his, but also hers. Instead, he teased her, butting the tip of his member to her heated entrance, feeling her twitch and arch, her body keening for his.
“Archer,” she breathed; her voice a low croon of want. She tossed her head from side to side, her hands clutching the rock hard hills and valleys of his back. Eyes glazed, she let out a jagged breath and only when her eyes connected with his, did he sink fully into her once more. She let out a cry and he smiled at the sound.
“I like that too,” he remarked as his mouth began to suckle her earlobe.
“Shit,” Archer hissed as he felt himself grow hard at the previous night in his hotel suite. His blood boiled even as he downed a glass of ice cold water. So consumed with Lainey, he wanted nothing more than to go to her office, shut out the world and adore her body and soul completely.
It unnerved him, this growing appetite for all things Lainey Winters. Not just her physical state, but her spirit, her mind, her heart.
Her everything.
Archer pulled another bottle of chilled water from his office fridge and downed that one as well. Only then did he feel his body begin to settle.
But it did not still the pounding in his heart, or the alarm bells in his mind.
There was so much more to consider than his needs.
As if on cue, a text message came through on his screen.
Find Athena. Come to Venice with her by Monday.
He paused and considered sending a message back, but then dismissed the idea.
Helena would not read a reply to see if they were coming.
She would not even think to do so.
She would simply arrive at the designated meeting place and expect both of them there.
Which meant he had 2 days to find his roguish niece.
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