Chapter 3
1003 Words
Chapter 3
Madeline rolled over to find Ciaran’s side of the bed empty and cold. She sat up too quickly, making herself slightly dizzy. They were in a hotel room. This was the most cynical twisted joke fate had played on them since they’d left Earth. Ciaran had run a global pharmaceutical conglomerate before they’d left. He’d had the red carpet laid at his feet wherever he went. But now they had to stay in a downtown hotel like ordinary humans.
She sighed, resigned to the situation. The truth was that, although they were Eudaizians now, once a human, always a human. Her psychic ability wasn’t flaring, so that meant Ciaran was fine. Perhaps he’d just sneaked out for a walk.
New York had been her home for thirty-three years. Although she’d had an ordinary life as a journalist, she had so many memories here. The LeBlanc’s New York headquarters was the second largest after the one in London. Ciaran must have had many business dealings here and worked with a lot of people. She smiled. Her husband was sometimes much too sophisticated for her liking. He always had stories and theories about everything that had happened in his life. She wondered if there was anything he couldn’t explain.
A shadow from inside the room moved past the window only a few feet away from her. She jerked away, startled. But when she looked again, all she saw was the empty corner of the luxurious suite. She shook her head, willing her mind to scan around the room.
Her psychic ability had improved. Most of the time, she could turn it on and off and read the minds of ordinary humans. She respected people’s privacy, though, and didn’t scan unless it was absolutely necessary.
The signal bounced back. Empty. She must be tired.
She walked around the room, contemplating a harder mind scan. If there were any creatures nearby, she’d be sure to pick them up. She had a strange feeling she was missing something, and she didn’t like it.
The door slid open, and her gorgeous husband walked in like a god, brightening both the room and her mood. Ciaran LeBlanc—king of Eudaiz, the most prosperous universe in the cosmos, warrior in many battles across the multiverse, and undefeatable predator in his business on Earth—stood there with a paper bag in his hand. He smiled and opened the bag, and she could smell freshly made bagels. She now saw what her psychic ability hadn’t allowed her to see.
Damn! It wasn’t the food or the fact that she was starving at the moment that made her stomach flutter. It was the twinkle from those striking gray eyes and the killer smile on that God-given face that made her stomach flip and her body quiver with lust.
“Bagels from your favorite bakery on Fifth Avenue, First Councillor. I hope you’re happy with the room service.”
She stepped up and over to cross the bed, reached up to grab his collar, and yanked him down to the bed. She straddled him and smiled down at him.
“You’ve crushed your bagels, First Councillor.”
She ravished his lips, and he responded hungrily. Her hands slid under his shirt and roamed up his taut torso, caressing each well-defined muscle.
He didn’t just lie there and take it. His hands traveled all over her body. No matter how many times they had been intimate or how long they’d been together, he always surprised her. She soon lost track of what they were doing. And then, he did what he did best.
He took control.
When their needs had been sated, she curled into his arms. “Where’re my bagels?” she asked.
“I’m sorry to say you’ve lost your privilege for those bagels. Plus, you’ve crushed them somewhere beneath us on the bed. I don’t think they’re edible any longer.”
She propped herself up on her elbows and kissed his cheek. “You bought them, so I’ll eat them. I don’t care how deformed they are.”
He chuckled and sat up, finding his shirt and tossing it to him.
She spoke through a mouthful of bagel. “Arik’s father is fine. So now, we’ll go back to Eudaiz…or do you have other business to see to here?”
He tied back long raven hair that nearly touched his shoulders. She knew he did that when he anticipated action. “He said he was fine on the phone, but I think the explosion was too much of a coincidence. I’m going to visit the site and stop by to see if Diana is okay. He said she was fine, but I don’t believe him.”
“How will we get there? You wanted to keep a low profile, and you didn’t contact your staff. Are we going to take the metro?”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t stoop that low, First Councillor. I’ve arranged transport for us. We’d better go soon—the sight of you eating bagels naked could possibly delay my important business all day long, and then we’ll never get home to our children.”
She grinned, finished her bagel, and dressed. “What kind of transport? You didn’t get a ridiculous sports car, did you? Remember that you want to lay low, my king.”
He shook his head and smiled. “Well, it’s something on wheels.”
Suddenly, a vision flashed at her, hard and fast. She gasped and grabbed the edge of the table to steady herself.
Ciaran held her shoulders. “Madeline, are you okay?” His eyes grew intense, and the smile faded from his face.
She pasted on a smile. “It’s nothing!”
“You’re as pale as a sheet. It must be something. Are the children okay?”
“Yes, Ciaran. The kids are fine. It wasn’t a precognition.”
She hadn’t given him a satisfactory answer, and he knew it. But she hadn’t lied—it hadn’t been a precognition.
It was a flashback, and one she didn’t want to talk about.
“Are you fine to go with me now, or do you need to rest?”
“I’ll go with you.”
He nodded. At the door, he stopped and asked again, “Is everything okay?”
“Yes.” She smiled and sauntered ahead. She didn’t need eyes in the back of her head to know he was frowning at her.
- Writer
