Shadow Revealed (The Enlightened Species Book Two) (24 page)

“It would be an honor if you would consider me for a mentor. I understand Greyton’s an assassin and I respect his training. It isn’t my intention to undermine his mentoring. I would be pleased to be a secondary source of mentoring, if you prefer.” Eros showed amazing sensitivity to Brae. There could be no question he should mentor his daughter. The SOSC would have never paired her with an Aquatie who didn’t share her unique abilities had they known of Eros or any of his sons. Yet the male didn’t push her. Enlil wished he’d been as diplomatic in dealing with Ediku. He had been disappointed in Ediku’s continual refusal to be apart of his mother’s legacy, the SOSC. His lack of acceptance had driven a wedge between him and his son that he hoped to repair. Maybe Eros would mentor Enlil in the art of fatherhood.

Enlil felt Brae shiver next to him. He wished that he knew what she thought, how all this made her feel. How she processed everything that was happening. It took her several minutes to reply, but Eros displayed no sense of rush. Enlil could tell he would have been content to wait for her decision no matter how long it took. He had to strain to hear her sitting beside him, her voice was so low. “You want to mentor me?” The vulnerable crack in her resiliency was telling. She was beginning to hope for something she didn’t yet understand. Family.

Eros beamed at his daughter, his expression softened with emotion. He blinked moisture away—the male had been more anxious for Brae’s acceptance of him than he’d shown. Enlil’s respect for the male continued to grow. Eros leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, meeting Brae’s gaze with an intensity that conveyed the male’s sincerity. “More than anything else, I want to be in your life. To be your mentor, your father, to offer you the haven of paternal love that we’ve both been denied. Any capacity in which you will have me, Umbrae, I will embrace.”

Brae choked back a sob and rushed from her seat. Eros rose to capture his daughter in their first embrace. Brae’s shoulders racked from her emotion. Tears tracked down Eros face. Enlil was near tears watching them. Eros opened his eyes to meet Enlil’s and gave him a nod of thanks. Enlil wasn’t sure why the male gave him gratitude; he’d been an observer.

Brae’s sobs evolved into a chuckle as she looked up at her father. “I want all those things. I don’t know how to be a daughter, but I want to try.”

Eros rubbed the tears from Brae’s cheek with the back of his fingers. “You’d don’t have to try, baby. You’re already more than I ever dreamed a daughter to be.” Oh, yeah, Enlil definitely needed parenting classes from Eros. “You’re also exhausted. Shall we continue this in the new day?” Eros looked expectantly at Enlil.

Enlil had checked the occupancy of Jess’s home earlier when he’d taken Brae’s brothers to the sparring room. He led Brae and Eros up the stairs and showed Eros to the room across the hall from the master suite. Father and daughter hugged again, and Eros placed a kiss to Brae’s forehead before retiring into the room.

In his earlier exploration Enlil had found a duffel bag with Brae’s name on it in a room down the hall. Now that they were alone, he wondered if taking the liberty of moving her things into the master suite Jess had offered was presumptuous. She’d displayed comfort with Enlil, that didn’t mean she would be comfortable sharing a room with him.

He was a completely blank on how to broach the subject with her. She blushed and looked up at him through hooded eyes. Enlil wanted to pull her against his chest, and his fist clenched to refrain from the impulse. Brae blushed deeper, stammering, “W-would you stay with me tonight?” She looked at the floor, embarrassed.

His chest constricted, he lifted her chin, bringing her eyes up to meet his. “I would like that very much, Brae. Thank you.” He dropped his hand to the knob of the door, swinging it open for her to enter first.

She glanced at her bag, unconcerned to see it waiting for her. She explored the room, avoiding the massive bed. Enlil was worried she might be rethinking his invitation. Stepping past her, he turned on the light to the bathroom, reaching in to pluck a robe from the stack Jess always had on the shelf, and then turned back to Brae. Taking the elephant in the room head on was the only solution to the discomfort that both of them had to be feeling. Not like he had been alone with a female in a long time.

“I have to tell you Brae, I’m a little rusty on the night routines of a female.” Brae looked up when he spoke, a smile of understanding on her face.

“Truth is, so am I. Irsu spends forty minutes every night with creams and gadgets. She calls me a wash-and wear girl.” Enlil’s admission of his ineptitude had opened her up. Thankfully.

He held the robe out to her. “Do you want to shower first?” She looked from the robe to him, nodding. He stepped out of the entry to hand off the robe. “Do you want me to move your bag into the bathroom?”

She took the robe. Her fingers brushed his, and she gave a swift intake of breath. The gray of her eyes swirled. “Thank you, no, it’s fine where it is. I’ll hurry so you can get a shower too.” Instead of the bathroom she stepped into his arms. “I’m scared,” she admitted. Enlil knew how hard it was for her to admit. Hell, he was scared too.

Drawing her peppermint scent deep in his lungs, he held her tightly. “Me, too. Let’s take things slow.” His body wanted to rebel against his words. It was the right answer; Brae deserved a chance to know him without fear.

She nodded. “I feel things for you that I don’t understand. I always have. At first I thought that it was an echo of Etana’s love. When you held me in the Oracle chamber, I knew the feelings were mine. I apologized to Etana for them when she came into me. She told me she loves us both. She told me she supported my feelings. She said to make your life wonderful. What if I’m unable to do that?”

Enlil expected to feel the dagger of pain that usually accompanied any mention of Etana. What he felt was an overwhelming gratitude to his mate. His love for Etana was stronger without the hollow ache. What he was feeling for Brae didn’t detract from it in the least. It was similar and different. The two loves didn’t compete with each other; they complemented. Etana had truly bestowed the most amazing of gifts.

“You remember the arguments she and I used to have,” Enlil reminded her. Brae had given him an overview of the memories Etana had gifted her. She nodded against his chest. “Making a life wonderful means fighting for it. I think you are my bloodmate, Brae. I want to know you; I want you to know me. The adventure of discovery began the moment we met, and Fates willing it will last for the rest of our lives. What comes next with us should only be what comes naturally.”
Fates willing?
Did he trust the enigmas to not destroy his world again?

She looked at him. “You’re different than she remembers you. Would it be wrong to tell you I like the hard edge I see in you?”

She’d alleviated one of his many fears. Enlil smiled at her. “Would it be wrong to tell you I find you incredibly beautiful? That you intrigue me on a level I’ve never felt before?” Brae’s return smile was brilliant. The pressure in his chest returned. The erection she must surely feel against her stomach hardened further. He brushed the shell of her ear with his thumb. “Go take your shower.” She nodded, releasing her arms from him, and backed into the bathroom clutching the robe to her chest. She slowly shut the door.

Enlil turned down the coverlet and then paced the room. Her smell wafted from the bathroom, driving his lust. He willed his control to bar him from going to her. She isn’t ready, he reminded himself. True to her wash-and-wear comment, she emerged enveloped in steam within ten minutes. Her short, finger-combed hair lent a wild sexiness he was hard pressed to resist as she headed to her bag.

Enlil hit the shower, staying under the water far longer than he normally did, trying to rein in his desire for Brae. The room was dark when he exited the bathroom. Brae’s sleeping form, illuminated by the bathroom light, and her relaxed features showed she’d surrendered to her exhaustion. Unable to resist touching her, Enlil followed the shell of her ear with his thumb again. She sighed, making him smile. The covers were mid-chest-high on her, revealing the tee shirt she wore. It had tightened across the small rise of her breasts, her nipples peaked against the thin material. What was she dreaming of?

Enlil debated pulling on a pair of shorts. That didn’t jive with what he told her earlier. He wanted her to know him, and he slept in the nude, always had. Tonight would be no different. He slid beside her warmth. She rolled to him in her sleep, snuggled to his side. Enlil wrapped an arm around her and stared up at the ceiling. There was nothing more natural than this.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Taptaptap
. Brae woke to someone softly knocking on the bedroom door. The sun sat low in the sky; it was late afternoon. Enlil was spooned to her, and she could feel his manhood hard against her bottom. It should scare her, but she felt anything but fear. Half of the things that she felt she didn’t even recognize.

Taptaptap.
“Brae.” Irsu was the only other person beside Enlil who referred to her by that name. Enlil tightened his arms around her, holding her still. “We need to go shopping if you’re going to have a dress to wear, sleepy head,” Irsu’s voice came again.

“Shit.” The first word out of her mouth for the day made him chuckle. Nuzzling her, he laid a kiss to the junction between her shoulder and the curve of her neck. Fates, that felt good. “Go away, Irsu,” she yelled at her friend

Not to be deterred, Irsu cracked open the door. “Five second cover-up warning, three two one.” She opened the door, uncaring that Enlil was in bed with her, and marched over to Brae’s side. “Jerika and Aymee are waiting downstairs with a full, fresh pot of coffee, unless your brothers have already annihilated it. Get your ass out of bed.”

“Why do you do this to me? You know how much I hate shopping.” Brae rolled over to bury her face in Enlil’s chest. Turning away from Irsu, her body pressed naturally to his. Wait … “You’re going to be at this thing right?” The thought just occurred to her. If she was going to look her best for Enlil, she did need to go shopping.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Jess and Nin would kill me if I tried. Looks like you’re in the same boat,” Enlil affirmed.

Brae pursed her lips, looked over her shoulder to Irsu. “Pour my cup; I’ll be down in five.” Irsu grinned at her and left the room.

When the door shut behind her, Enlil asked, “How did you sleep?”

“Apparently too good. How much trouble have my brothers caused. Jess will never invite me back. Then to top it off I have to go shopping.” She started to pull away from him. “I better get moving; Irsu won’t hesitate to barge in again.” She couldn’t stop staring at his lips.

“A good-morning kiss is an important way to start a day.” He kept his hands out of the equation, giving her plenty of opportunity to refuse him, and leaned forward to place a feather-light kiss to her lips. She didn’t know what to do. Until Enlil had done the same thing last night, no one had ever kissed her. Not anyone she’d ever wanted to kiss back. She looked at his defined chest. “Was that okay?” Her inadequacies were making him question himself.

She nodded, keeping her gaze at his chest, and rose from the bed. She’d slept fully covered with sweat pants under her tee. She practically ran to grab cloths from her duffel bag, turning when she heard Enlil getting out of bed too. Oh, sweet universe, he was naked. The rest of his body was beautifully chiseled like his chest. He looked over at her when she gasped. She made a conscious effort to refrain from bringing her balled fist to her chest. This was Enlil, the male who wanted her for a bloodmate, the person she loved most in the world.

“Brae, I’m just a male like any other. I’ll never force or push you, but this is how I sleep. If you want I will invest in pajama pants.” He couldn’t possibly think she didn’t like the sight of his body. She was more concerned about what he would think when he saw the scarred up mess of hers. Maybe she could make it a rule to always have the lights off. Course, he could see in the dark just as well, better than her Hulven eyes could. Maybe she could stay shadowed and keep him blindfolded.

She stared a moment longer, and Enlil stood his ground, letting her look her fill. If her visual focus made him uncomfortable, he didn’t show it. What did he ask her? Oh, pajama’s. Did she want him to wear clothing to bed? Now that she was seeing what he looked like all night long, she wished she’d woken up earlier so she could have looked at him for hours while he slept.

“You’re not like any other male. You make me feel hot and fluttery inside. I don’t know how to kiss. I like you without pajamas.” If she sounded like an idiot again, so be it. He wanted her to be natural with him? Well, she naturally lacked social finesse.

Enlil gave her the greatest smile ever. “How about tonight when we go to bed we make out like human teenagers at a drive-in movie? We’ll work on the art of the kiss together.” She’d have to ask Irsu how teenage humans made out in a drive-in movie to know exactly what he’d just said. The art of the kiss sounded wonderful. She returned his smile and nodded.

Enlil left the door open, turning on the shower. She could see glimpses of flesh through the fogged mirror. Keeping one eye on the view, she quickly changed into jeans and an SOSC-issued halter, throwing a lightweight button-front shirt over it. She didn’t own girly things. Maybe Irsu and her daughter would help Brae improve her wardrobe today. She had a few thousand dollars saved up.

Her toothbrush in her hand, she looked from the open bathroom door to the bedroom door. Should she find another lavatory to brush her teeth in? An open door was an invitation, right? She headed to the bathroom. If she was wrong about going in, she could always blame her inexperience. Let the truth work to her benefit for a change.

Clearing a spot on the mirror, she ogled him while she brushed her teeth. Ran her fingers through her hair, stared some more. Smelled all the bottles of stuff Jess had on the counter, stared some more. Finding the courage to join him under the spray eluded her, so, sighing, she left the flesh smorgasbord hungry, resigned and aware that Irsu would be pounding on the door any minute. Following the sound of voices to where she hoped the kitchen was, Brae rounded the corner to find the room brimming with males. Her father sat just inside the door, and all six of her brothers were scattered about. She did a quick mental rundown of their names and faces. Jacob, Daniel, Othos, Victor, Brock, then Baden, or was it Baden then Brock?