She put a hand on his leg. His hand sewn Armani suit was made of lightweight woven wool that stretched taut over the thick, powerful muscle of his thigh. “We would need more than just the office complex. There will need to be living space for security and staff, and for the sentinels, because they’ll be flying back and forth. As spacious as that mansion is, it’s no Cuelebre Tower. We can’t all live there, nor would I want to try.”
He rubbed her back, his clever fingers following the curve and hollow of her spine. “We could build along the lake. There’s plenty of space to spread out. None of us would need to feel crowded.”
She broached another subject hesitantly. “I would want to redecorate the main house. Maybe even do some renovations.”
“You should,” he told her, smiling. “Hell, you can bulldoze the place if you want, and start over from scratch.”
That thought was a little too overwhelming. “I don’t know if we need to go quite that far.”
Dragos stroked a loose strand of hair away from her face. “But do we both believe that we need to make the move?”
She looked down. The weight of Liam’s body lay draped along the back of her neck and shoulders, and his slender, graceful white legs and tail curled around her, just underneath her collarbones. While it seemed like it might be an awkward position, he didn’t appear to mind at all. In fact he seemed perfectly comfortable, and he was sound asleep.
He was not a perfect white, but more of an ivory hue. His hide had the same iridescent sheen that Dragos’s did, but he had gotten his pale coloring from her. She wondered what people would think when they saw him. She put a hand lightly on one of his forelegs, and he stretched, flexing his paws, and sighed.
“Yes, we need to move. But we won’t have time to start building or redecorating until July. First we’ve got to get through all of the inter-demesne functions surrounding the summer solstice, and Graydon needs his vacation.”
“Agreed.” He gave her a lopsided smile that eased his harsh features and banished the tiredness from his expression. “In the meantime, is it too much upheaval if we consider taking a long weekend away?”
She loved him so much, with all of her heart. She loved his harsh side and needed his ruthlessness, because she knew he would always provide for her and Liam, and protect them with every ounce of his considerable power. But when he smiled at her like that, everything inside of her brightened, until she felt like she floated in a sea of light, and she grew weightless and dizzy with delight.
She peeked at him between her lashes. “I don’t know, Dragos, this is awfully sudden. Where would you want to go?”
He tugged at a strand of her hair behind her ear, and her gaze fell to his wrist. It had been a year since she had sewn a lock of her braided hair around his wrist, and he still wore it. He had done something to protect it, and it shone with an extra sparkle of Power.
“You said you’ve never been to Bermuda or the Caribbean.” He angled his head, watching her expression. “How would you like to go there? I think it would be fun to do some treasure hunting. We can go swimming and soak up some sunshine, and go out to eat. I could use a break before we plunge into all of the summer solstice activities, even if it’s a short one, and I’ll bet you could too.”
She smiled. “I would really love to get away.”
“How soon could you be ready to go?”
She tilted her head, and her smile turned into a grin. “Is fifteen minutes soon enough?”
“Really. Fifteen minutes.” His gold eyes narrowed suddenly. “Those books. That conversation. You little Machiavellian, you set me up.”
She closed one eye and held her thumb and forefinger close together. “Maybe a teensy, weensy bit. Actually, I just presented you with opportunities.”
He laughed. “Is that what you call it? I should know by now to expect this kind of thing from the thief who stole from my hoard.”
Her eyes rounded. “You’re never going to get over it, are you? I only stole one time, and it was just a penny!”
“I can’t tell you how glad I am of that,” said Dragos. “Because you’re pretty lousy at it. The gods only know what kind of trouble you would have gotten yourself into, if you had kept up your life of crime.”
Her tone of voice turned aggrieved. “That is completely untrue. I was absolutely excellent at stealing the very one time I did it. I was not quite so excellent at the getaway.”
“You have a point,” he admitted.
She grew serious. “While everybody else has a vacation scheduled, you need and deserve a break more than anybody. But you’re so driven, I knew you would have a hard time disconnecting from work unless you had something else to focus on, so I went to the library to do some research. When I found new books about ships that had disappeared, I thought if I could interest you in some treasure hunting, it would be a good way for you to stop and smell the roses—or, in your case, search for some shiny sparklies.”
His eyes flashed with an acquisitive gleam. “It’s been a long time since I’ve found a good stash of treasure.”
“I know.”