–Translations in corresponding trivia. —
The solitude Marielle had craved suddenly turned into not wanting to be alone at all. She wanted Austin to come back, wanted him to join her in the pool and splash around with her. Maybe she didn’t want him to kiss or fondle her, and she certainly wasn’t ready for him to “try something,” but the moment he’d walked away, she had instantly missed him and wished she had said something… anything. What? She had no idea. “I love you, Austin” would have been too obvious, and too real. She did love him, but there was no denying her heart was split on these issues now.
The good news was, she was falling in love with Vincent. The bad news was Austin’s damned handsome face that wanted her so badly, and gave her no secrecy about it when he looked at her. Of course, Vincent was handsome, too… his appeal was more subtle, but it existed, and she knew she wanted him, no ifs, ands, or buts.
A cry of “Geronimo!” broke her out of these thoughts as the water behind her splashed upward and engulfed Jamie’s body, shortly followed by Mateo’s, and finally Wingman’s.
Jamie came up sputtering. “Okay, okay, okay… That was a mistake,” he said, shivering and wading as fast as possible to the stairs to get out. The resistance of the water made it look like he was trying to force a boulder through quicksand. Marielle was laughing as Mateo came up with a look on his face that said the same thing and waddled to the stairs. This became even funnier when Wingman surfaced and lay on his back, floating as if nothing was wrong.
“It’s cold, it’s cold, it’s hella cold!” Jamie muttered, pulling himself out of the icy water and hopping for a moment on one leg, his white shorts dangling between his legs like he’d wet himself.
“That was kind of the point, Jamie.” Marielle tried to stifle her rumbling laughter at the two grown men dancing their way out of the water.
Jamie raised a hand as he hobbled a little. “Okay, okay, I’m coming back in. Watch!”
He ran to the far side and jumped in again, creating a tidal wave that caused Wingman to drift toward the far-left side. He put his little hand up against the wall and pushed himself back toward the center of the pool. All Wingman needed was a pair of sunglasses, and the hilarity would have been complete.
Then Jamie popped up again. “Nope… No better.” He made his way back to the stairs. “No better.”
Marielle was in stitches.
“Yo, man, but like, I’mma try real slow-like, aight?” Mateo stuck a toe into the water, then jerked it back out.
Both Jamie and Marielle laughed at him, although Jamie was back out in the hot sun and doing a little one-two to warm up again.
“You guys are babies,” she laughed, flashing Jamie a “get back in here” look. “It’s like ninety out here. This should be easy.”
“Okay, okay.” Jamie went to the end and prepared to jump in, whispering something about how the third time was the charm. When he plunged in a third time, came up, and stood shivering and complaining under his breath about “micro twig and berries,” she snickered and shook her head at him adoringly.
“Yeah, you know…?” Mateo began. He loved to start sentences like that. “We saw you in here and thought, sure.” He was inching in one foot, one step, at a time. “Like, it’s hot, ya?”
“Very,” she agreed, paddling her way to one side of the pool. That’s when she felt the gentle caress of a hand on her back. She turned. “Han!”
Han’s first name was Sunwoo, but no one called her that, and if you asked her, she preferred Han anyway. Marielle gasped in surprise as she drew her best girlfriend against her, having missed the warmth of her touch. Han’s agent name was Jett, and Marielle always envied the fact that she could hover off the ground. She’d often had dreams of flight as a little girl, like being a bird or an angel. Han looked like an angel to her with her white hair and vibrant blue eyes.
“I had no idea you were back!” she squealed, holding her beautiful friend, who was also in a one-piece Valorant swimsuit. Han’s white hair danced in the water as they pulled away. She had been in Japan for several days now.
“I couldn’t let you take up all of the cooking duties, now could I?” she replied, her chin resting on Marielle’s shoulder. They held one another for a moment, but both became squeamish when they realized the men were staring. They pulled away, giggling a little.
“How was your trip?” Marielle asked.
Wingman floated by, raising a small thumb in the air. He gurgled something as if responding for Han.
“That’s true,” Mateo said, answering Wingman. He was now knee-deep on the steps, while Jamie was paddling like he was drowning as he tried to adjust to the temperature. “Don’t mind him.”
None of them replied.
“It was nice,” Han said, then lowered her voice. “There was an incident in Italy. Did you hear?” Marielle narrowed her eyes and shook her head, using her right hand to keep herself afloat as she hung on the wall with the other. “Something happened in Venice. It’s one of the reasons I’m back. We’ll talk more later, though.”
Han floated on her back for a moment and splashed her hands in the water. “Let’s go out,” she said with a smile. Marielle nodded in agreement. They needed to get some cocktails or something and catch up.
Marielle’s attention was drawn back to the boys, who were using Dizzy as some kind of pool ball, throwing her up into the air, letting her float, and then come back down with an exclamation of “Dizzy’s up top!” The little, blue armadillo-like creature’s wide eyes stared down at her with a clear “halp” written in them.
“Oh!” Han stood up, planting her feet on the bottom of the pool and leaning toward Marielle suggestively. “Tell me about Chamber and Dr. Rancor,” she said, doing the breaststroke back to her, eyes wide with interest. “I heard they both kind of like you.”
Marielle felt the color rise in her cheeks. “‘Kind of’ is probably too delicate a way of putting it,” she chuckled.
Han slid in next to her, both ladies against the wall once more. “Oh?” She leaned closer, interested. “I saw Vincent. He’s handsome, but not really my type…” She drummed her bottom lip for a moment. “But that Austin Rancor?” She made a little groan and fanned herself with a laugh. “I’ll take five.”
Yeah… and I’d take one. One perfect Austin, not so completely engulfed in his addiction and fantasies.
Marielle threw her head back and laughed with her, sending a scoopful of water into Han’s face. “Cool off,” she chortled, hearing Austin in her own words.
Both women giggled, then decided to do strokes across the pool together. Having Han there again was exactly what Marielle needed. It made her feel some amount of normalcy. They had a lot of catching up to do.
A few minutes later, she looked up to see Vincent walking to the pool, hands in his pockets. “Barbara wants us to meet now,” he announced.
Marielle got out of the pool, and the others followed her. She rushed inside to her room, where she was able to quickly dry off, although her hair would stay wet for a while. She braided it to hide some of the dampness, and dressed again.
When she made her way back into the familiar room with the stale coffee and the oval table, everyone was already seated around it, including Han, and Barbara, not Vincent, was standing to speak for the first time in several weeks.
Marielle grabbed a paper cup, poured coffee, and took a seat, flashing a look at Austin and Vincent, who were sitting next to one another. She had no idea how that seating arrangement had occurred, but for a moment she was worried about it. Both were looking at Barbara, but Austin flicked his eyes toward her briefly.
“It’s pretty clear they’re going to keep attacking Valorant as long as Vincent is here,” Barbara was saying. “They also seem to do so almost exclusively at night, presumably because they think it gives them the upper hand. So I think it’s time we allow him to leave.”
“Where’s he going to go?” Austin asked, his hand blocking Vincent’s view of his face.
“Wherever he wants,” Kirra said from the back of the room.
Sabine took in a deep pull of air. “I feel like having Vincent out and about and with Chamber is just… such a bad move,” she said under her breath.
“Can we again review the fact that Vincent can leave here whenever he wants?” Marielle snarled. “I mean, this whole charade about keeping him? It’s silly.”
Sasha nodded, giving Vincent a look of camaraderie. “I agree.”
“We feel similarly,” Wei Ling said, and the entire room turned to her. Wei Ling didn’t speak often despite being at the top of the command list along with Liam and Sabine. Sabine rolled her eyes, obviously disliking the fact that Wei Ling was speaking for her.
Vincent cleared his throat. “I’ll state upfront that if I am able to leave, I’ll be heading out of the country for a day or two.” Marielle’s heart sank. “But I’ll be back shortly.”
“We need to talk more about John,” Sabine growled hotly, leaning over the table toward him. “He’s stable, but we have to know what the next steps are.”
“The next steps are to help him reestablish some kind of life,” Klara said. Tayane nodded and put an arm around her. “You’ve already done a good job with part of that,” Klara added, giving Sabine a small smile. “I think there might be love there.”
Sabine glared at her for a moment, then looked away to the wall on her right. Vincent smiled softly, as did Marielle. She knew Sabine loved John, even if she wouldn’t say it. Five years of taking care of him and helping him through his deepest fears had created a bond that nothing could sever.
Her attention returned to Vincent. “Why are you leaving?”
“There’s something I have to do.”
“With Chamber?” Tayane asked, tilting her head toward him. He nodded in response.
“And, because of who you are, we have to assume that that’s to kill someone,” Liam muttered.
The entire room fell silent for a few moments.
Austin sighed. “Well, that got awkward fast.”
“If I tell you, will you allow me to go?”
“Depends on what you say,” Liam grunted, scratching his beard.
“There is a stable fusion device at a site in New Mexico, the Everette-Linde Research Facility. We’re going to see it. That’s all.”
Vincent gave a small, dismissive shrug, as if he was offering the entire room a blade and telling them to go stab at something. No one was sure if he was telling the complete truth, not even Marielle. It was like he wanted to, but he himself was uncertain whether or not what he’d said was true.
“I need to see it,” he continued. “Because of its location and what we’ll call some local gossip, both Chamber and I feel that it is important to assess what might be happening with dimensional travel there.”
He looked around the room expectantly. No one moved or said anything for a moment, but then Han waved at him.
“Hi, I’m Han, by the way,” she said.
“Bonjour,” Vincent replied with a small bow. Austin’s eye roll was so large Marielle thought he might be able to see the back of his head. She almost laughed.
More awkward silence. “I’ll be back in time for the announcement,” Vincent explained at last, looking at Marielle when he said this.
She sighed with a bit of relief. She had no desire to go to the dance without him.
“I guess we don’t really have a choice, huh?” Tala piped in. Being the youngest, she generally didn’t say much.
“I mean, check it. It’s like this, yo, right?” Mateo began. “If he… Bro, what?” Flustered, he stopped, seeing everyone’s eyes on him. “Never mind.” He waved a hand in the air glibly.
Tala lifted a single finger. “I feel like we need to talk about Cory.”
“A good point, really,” Kiritani said, turning to Vincent. “You said he was here, right?”
“He was here, and he was not here,” Vincent replied, seesawing his hand in the air.
“How does that work?” someone asked from the back.
“Am I the only one who just really wants to know how to kill the son of a bitch?” Austin leaned forward, looking at Vincent for the first time.
“You kill the son of a bitch the same way you kill any son of a bitch, Austin.” Vincent lifted his index and middle finger at him like an imaginary gun. “Aim, fire.” He glanced at everyone else. “But he has to actually be there first.”
Austin narrowed his eyes at Vincent, who was trying to hide a smirk. “Okay, can you like… explain that in English?”
Marielle was pretty sure that at any moment they were going to throw each other to the table and start wrestling. She was also pretty sure that half the women in the room wanted to see that.
“It’s one of his abilities. Mirror image works like a reflection. He projects an image of himself.”
“Then how did he help Hazal back to… wherever they came from?” Marielle asked, sipping some coffee.
Vincent took a deep breath. “Neither of them was exactly where they projected themselves to be,” he explained, running his hand over his hair. “I believe they were nearby, but both possess mind-altering abilities. They used to enjoy playing tricks on all of us.”
“So what do we do if they show up while you’re gone? Aren’t they supposed to attack us again?” Sabine hissed.
Vincent nodded. “I’ll be back by Friday evening. I promise.”
Liam lifted a hand at Barbara, and she nodded. “I’ll allow it,” she said flatly.
The meeting was dismissed. Afterward, Marielle approached Vincent, noticing how Austin’s glance followed the two of them. Then his cellphone rang, and he got up and walked out, saying, “Yeah? Now? Well, I get that, but…” She couldn’t hear any more after he left.
“I was kind of hoping you’d be my date,” she said, stretching toward Vincent on her toes. He towered over her.
“I was kind of thinking that was a given,” he replied. She blushed and glanced down. He pinched her chin, forcing her to look back up at him. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry I ran out this morning.”
“You needed to be alone. I get it,” he said with a shrug.
She pressed her fingers together a few times. “Do you really have to go?” she asked.
He nodded. “Chamber and I have deals that we must keep.”
Marielle let out a long, exasperated sigh. He bent, lowering his face to a level under her own, which took effort since he was so tall. She chuckled, and he bobbed a little from one side to the other, making her giggle.
Then he straightened up and drew her into a hug, enveloping her in his arms. “Take me back to your place,” he whispered, and her skin prickled. Was he finally going to touch her? Kiss her more fully at least? She could only dream.
***
Marielle felt strange riding the subway with Vincent. Of course, she had just done so not ten hours ago with Chamber, so it shouldn’t have felt much different, but somehow it did. She was shaky, anticipating what might happen when they got back to her place. She found herself racking her brain. When was the last time she’d cleaned the bathroom? The toilet? The kitchen? Was any of her underwear lying around? Oh, gosh! When she’d changed yesterday, had she put all her clothes away in the hamper?
Marielle almost laughed at herself. She was taking a “boy” home, and who knew how that would go. Maybe she’d run in and glance around before he made it through the door. She decided not to care too much and just deal with it when they got to that point. He was towing all of his clothing over his left arm, so maybe he wouldn’t mind.
“Vincent… you had me followed,” she eventually said over the swaying of the car.
He nodded. “So Chamber did what I asked.”
She tilted her head at him admonishingly. “Yeah, but… why are you having me followed?”
He turned to her and leaned back the same way Chamber had the other day, one elbow on the back of the seat. “I’m worried about you, simple as that. I knew they would try to attack us again, I just didn’t know when or where. It seems that they don’t know where you live at this point, which is good. That means the best place for you to be is probably at home.” She sighed. “I told him not to get too close, not to listen in.”
“You know I went to Austin’s?”
“Chamber didn’t need to tell me.” She looked out the window. “You’re a big girl, Masin. You can make your own decisions.” There was a pause. “Plus, I told you to spend the day with him, so… no loss there.”
She fiddled for a moment with the ends of her hair. “I’m very confused about why you would tell me to be with him even though you say I shouldn’t trust him, and then act like he’ll protect me.”
“He will,” Vincent said matter-of-factly. “And I trust him to protect you more than I trust most people at Valorant. That may sound strange, but believe me for now. All will be revealed in time.”
She leaned over and put her face into her hands with a frustrated growl. “That makes no sense.”
“Wait, Masin. Just wait.” He reached over and combed some of her hair behind her left ear. Then he leaned in a little, whispering, “Soon, I promise.”
Once they were at her building, she shakily led him up to her apartment on the second floor and through her front door, where they were greeted immediately by Felix. She’d fed him the night before, but he wanted food today.
Vincent smiled and bent down, picking him up and cradling him like a baby. Felix was fine with it; he was that kind of cat. Vincent rubbed the kitty’s face, and he purred as Marielle poured him some dry cat food and filled his water bowl. Vincent set him back down, and the glutton rushed over to gorge himself on every bit of food he could fit into his gullet.
Marielle put things away and started some coffee. She was closing the coffee lid when Vincent came up behind her and leaned in, pressing the side of his chin to her temple. “Show me around,” he murmured, “then let’s have something to eat.”
Her whole body tingled in anticipation at his intimate touch. “Do you want me to cook, or…?”
“Whatever you want,” he replied with a soft smile, wrapping his arms around her abdomen and pulling her tight against him. She trembled a little in his arms, closing her eyes as he rocked her gently.
This was the first moment when she realized how tired she was. She hadn’t slept well the night before, and who could blame her? The ordeal with Hazal and Cory had left her agitated and restless, and after being in the sun and splashing around in the pool earlier, the day was taking a toll on her that she didn’t like. She yawned.
“Are you tired?” Vincent asked. She nodded. “That makes sense,” he said, and he gestured for her to lead him on.
She did so, taking his hand and guiding him into the living room. “Ta-da,” she said with a little bounce.
He smiled, sitting on the couch, his eyes never once breaking away from her. She felt like she was meant to perform with him staring at her like that. “Okay, what am I supposed to say?” she asked.
“You’re not supposed to say anything. Only what you want to say.”
Marielle gestured around the room. “Okay, well, this was my grandmother’s piano. I inherited it from her because…” She turned back to him. “I don’t really know, but I think it might have been because I took piano lessons as a kid, and she might not have known before she died that I didn’t really play anymore.” Marielle chuckled, and Vincent laughed, too. “You said you play?”
He nodded. “I do, yes.”
“Will you play something for me?”
He got up, went to the bench, and sat down, plinking out “Claire de Lune.” Of course that was exactly what he’d play. He got through it with a few minor mistakes and stops, then looked up at her a bit embarrassed, rubbing the back of his head. “I’m afraid I’m a little rusty.”
“No!” she said modestly. “Well, it’s better than anything I could play right now, anyways.”
“My true weapon of choice is the violin,” he reminded her.
“That’s right.” She recalled him telling her that while he painted. Where did that painting go? she wondered. Must be in the closet or something back at his room in Valorant.
Covering another yawn, Marielle went to get them coffee. He followed her. “You need to rest, Masin,” he said.
“I’ll be okay,” she assured him, pouring herself a cup and glancing down at Felix, who was still making his way through half a bowl of kibble.
Vincent touched her shoulder from behind. She froze again; his touch was so warm. “Masin,” he whispered, “you didn’t sleep well. A few hours.” He took the mug from her and set it aside. “Rest,” he ordered gently.
Again, he picked her up in a bridal carry and walked her through the living room and down the hall. She was practically asleep before they got there, wrapped in his arms and listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat as he carried her into the bedroom, the echoes of “Claire de Lune” still swirling around her mind.
Marielle looked up at him with wide, expectant eyes, but his expression told her he wasn’t planning to do much that was exciting. She sighed heavily, squirmy and desperate.
“Vincent?” she asked as he laid her down on her bed. He put his fists on the mattress and leaned over her, waiting to hear the rest of her thoughts. She bit her bottom lip as she eyed the gold tattoos on his arms. “Can you… can you put those in me?”
He hung his head with a deep exhalation. “Masin,” he groaned in a way that begged her not to ask him this, and even though she knew his tone was more exasperated than sensual, her body responded in a needful way. “This took me days, and it was excruciating. I would not do such a thing to you. I would not do such a thing to a snake.”
Biting her lip in thought, she paused, unable to let this go. “What if I wanted you to? You wouldn’t do it even if I wanted you to?”
He lifted a finger to her temple and drew a line down her cheek in the same place where his own gold shone. “To such perfection?” he breathed, taking her in adoringly.
She shrank a little. “I mean, I’ve always kind of wanted a tattoo,” she replied quietly.
He drew his hand back. “It is not like getting a tattoo, Masin. It’s like being torn apart. Your skin must be burned off and tiny machines implanted into your body. It took me over three weeks of excruciating pain to do this to myself. You’re in pain for many days afterward, and it’s a pain that over-the-counter medicine barely touches, even if you overuse it.” He scowled. “It’s not peaceful after that, either. For the rest of your life, you constantly feel your skin crawling, no matter how much you wish you didn’t. You would always feel unrest.”
“What if I still really want it?”
Exhaling, he shook his head. “Why, little one?” he purred, pinching her chin and tipping her face to his.
“Because then I wouldn’t need someone to protect me.” She sighed and sat up. “Look, my thoughts on it are similar to what yours were. I’m a good shot, and I can take care of myself for the most part. Admittedly, the last month has been new territory for me, which is why I’m a little off my game, but…”
She stopped, seeing the look of terror and concern knitting his brows. Without thinking, she grabbed his cheeks and kissed him, the same way he had kissed her a few days ago in the lab. When she pulled back, he was smiling at her in a way that said, “That was clever.”
“Sorry,” she whispered, pressing her forehead to his and letting out a long, ragged breath. “I couldn’t stand the way you were looking at me,” she said, mimicking him.
He chuckled and glanced down between them. “Would you like to try again?” he pressed.
Her entire body gasped, and she nodded excitedly. But she didn’t want to kiss him again, she wanted him to kiss her. So she paused, not pushing in, not trying to reclaim territory, while he sat staring at her, making her wait, forcing her to ask for him.
Marielle shuddered in a good way. What did he want from her? He smirked knowingly. Shit, he wanted her to beg, didn’t he?
She bit her lip in the most suggestive way she could, and her bottom half squirmed a little as delicious feelings traveled that direction. “S’il te plaît, embrasse-moi, Vincent.” He cocked his head a little and smiled, still not moving. Simpering, she leaned in a little more. “S’il te plaît, embrasse-moi, Vincent,” she repeated, putting strong emphasis on the words and leaning into the sensuality of each one.
He only smiled and pushed his glasses back up a little. “Oui…” He slid his fingers into her hair and brushed it back from her face, drawing his fingertips across her scalp to the back of her head, where he gently took a fistful of her hair and tugged a little possessively. With the same motion, he pulled her head toward him and lingered his mouth near hers for a moment before closing his lips around hers. They were warm and gentle, yet somehow also possessive, full of intention and desire. His intention? To drive her insane. He had told her so in his room last night.
I-I’m losing control…
Good.
She put her palms onto his upper chest as he drew her torso against him. If she could have actually purred, she would have. Her entire body collapsed against his, and a small sound came out when he gently pressed the tip of his tongue between her lips, feeding it to her, telling her without words, “Kiss me back, Masin…”
Marielle complied with a groan, swirling her own tongue around his and then using her full lips to surround his warm, wet flesh and lightly tug. He let out a little breath and pulled her even closer against him, surrounding her with himself, his hands against the small of her back, pressing her into him.
God, how she wished she could come inside of him. She wanted it so badly.
For a moment, they were both silent against one another in a deep, sensual kiss, one that felt like he was trying to find her very soul with his mouth and breathe life into it. In a way, he did, because every part of her felt alive, blood coursing through her body like a waterfall pouring over the edge. The emotion was so strong that when they parted, both were trembling.
“My… gosh.” She let out a ragged breath, resting her forehead against his. “And you’re just going to leave me with that, aren’t you?”
Vincent grinned and nodded knowingly. He covered her up. “I’ll rest on the couch,” he whispered, then he patted her side and left.
She lay for a moment with her heart pounding, but once she felt safe, she was asleep in moments.