lounge chair, finally allowing his excitement some rein. “You’re starting to remember who you used to be.”
“Don’t get too ahead of yourself. It was a tiny little flash. Not even anything helpful, for Pete’s sake.”
“But it’s a start. Maybe your nymph is responding to this place, to its proximity to Atlantis. The portal is right out there, not even two hundred feet from where we’re sitting.” He took her hands, his thumbs massaging lightly over her dainty knuckles. “We could go there, right now, if you want.”
“To Atlantis?” Her pallor became ashen. “I—I don’t know if I’m ready for that.”
“Why? Sweetheart, the reflecting pool isn’t that deep. You don’t have to be afraid. It’s perfectly safe. I’ll protect you. Always.”
She stared at him, her eyes going wide.
He squeezed her hands. “What?”
“You’ve said that to me. Before.”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Yes, you did. And you…”
“I what?” he prodded.
She gulped. “You left me to drown.” Her soft whisper was like a sucker punch to his gut.
He let her fingers slip from between his. “Baby, what the hell are you talking about?” The notion that she would even think him capable of such a thing gutted him. He would let himself drown before ever allowing anything bad to happen to Willa.
“It was in my dream.”
“Well there you go. It wasn’t real.”
“It doesn’t matter. I—I still don’t want to go there. To Atlantis.”
Frustration pounded within his chest, but he wouldn’t force the issue. Not when she was so obviously scared out of her wits. “Okay.”
Burrowing in to him, she rested her cheek on his biceps. “I’m sorry for letting you down.”
He smoothed back her hair. “You could never let me down, sweetheart.”
She crawled into his lap, holding him tight. Soon he detected her faint snores. Careful not to wake her, he straightened. With her curled in his arms, he walked to the king-sized bed and tucked her beneath the sheets. He quickly stripped and climbed in next to Willa, spooning her close to him. As he breathed in her sweet scent, a hollow ache settled in his heart.
Christ, he’d fallen head over fin in love with her. A woman who in every way was completely off limits to him if her identity was ever revealed. How much of a selfish bastard did it make him that he’d deliberately withheld the information from Justin when he should have come clean? He’d stood there in that opulent entry, surrounded by all the luxuries Willa was damn well entitled to, and he’d lied. Why? Because he’d taken one look at Justin—someone he’d always considered a good, honorable man—and been seized by insecurities. Suddenly Justin had become the competition. The perfect royal match.
He’d wanted to slam his fist into Justin’s nose. For absolutely no reason other than the duke’s fucking title. Yeah, that definitely made him feel like a bastard. But damn if he could do anything about it.
Just like he couldn’t do anything to change the fact that he was filled with conflicting desires when it came to Willa. On the one hand, he wanted so much to see her legacy returned and given its proper due. But that would mean giving her up. Eventually he’d be forced to endure the sight of another man holding Willa. Kissing her. Loving her.
When it should be him.
Chapter Eighteen
“You look amazingly alive for a dead woman.” Reva circled Aurele Telluride, her black eyes oily cesspools of hate.
“So do you,” Aurele shot back. “Just goes to show that even hell doesn’t want your evil ass.”
Reva backhanded Aurele, snapping her head sideways. Harrison stifled a yawn. Frankly, he was becoming bored with this tedious display. It’d been going on for the past hour and didn’t show signs of dwindling any time soon. He gazed toward the six other leviathans who were sprawled on the motel room’s double beds watching porn. Every once in a while they’d snicker at the cheesy soundtrack.
This was nothing like how he’d envisioned the beginning to his world domination.
“Tell me where the trident is!” Reva bellowed.
“How many damn times do I have to say it? I don’t know. And even if I did, I would sooner die than tell you anything.”
Menace darkened the duchess’s face. “You might get that wish granted.”
Worried that Reva might snap into demento mode again and kill the Telluride woman before they got the information they needed, he rushed to intercede. He shoved the duchess aside and crouched in front of the chair that their hostage was bound and tied to. He’d learned firsthand