Playing with fire

A triumphant smile curved his lips as he straightened. "What, no comebacks or new trick ideas?"

She glared up at him. "What if I were being serious? What if I was willing to give myself to you?" She gripped the open flaps of his robe, her knuckles brushing his bare chest. She could feel the muscles jerk involuntarily beneath her touch.

His hands clasped over hers tightly causing her to hesitate. His cold glare sent shivers down her spine. "I'll not be tricked or played by a woman again. Mark my words, Kraken."

She tilted her head as her gaze moved between his narrowed eyes and where her hand rested. "Would you trust anything I say to you?"

"Very doubtfully." He snarled in a low even tone.

"I'm not trying to trick you… test me if you must. I'll help you get free. Just let me see Arei." She tugged one shaky hand free of his tight grip and pressed it to his bare chest. She could feel his heart rate increase. Her brows knitted. "You're heart-"

With a growl, he pushed her hands away. "What of it?"

Jos tilted her head studying him closer than she yet had. "Why is it that you can touch me so freely but every time I touch you, you react so stiffly?"

He brushed her hands away again, more gently this time. His clouded violet eyes holding hers. "It's… been a while… is all…" He murmured as he turned his back to her. "I was not lying. If you utter a work of our agreement to Arieon, I will see that you are imprisoned here as well. If he already suspects my involvement and you must explain, simply tell him I've been trying to trick you into being my lover. I'm sure it wouldn't be surprising to hear yet another man has his eyes on you…"

Her mouth dropped open. "Does… does that mean you're releasing me tonight?" She quickly covered her mouth.

He gave a stiff grunt as he glared at her newfound chipper. "Consider it a test…"

Jos stumbled as consciousness came rushing back into her body. She was laying on the cold tile of the bathroom. Muffled knocking reverberated through the room.

"Are you ok in there? I thought I heard something fall… and it's been a while…" Chary's worried voice echoed through the thin wood of the door.

Jos let out a sigh. "I'm fine. I'll be out in a minute." Jos wiped the water from the front of her shirt as she righted herself. She glared at the mirror. "If he can do all this fancy shit with mirrors, why couldn't he have saved me the time and zapped me over to Arei's place…"

Three hours and twenty minutes later Jos was pulling into the familiar apartment complex. Her heart beat hard against her chest as she pulled into a parking spot and cut the car off. She swallowed hard as she reached for the key Poseidon had given her. Her shoes felt like they were made of concrete as she made her way across the parking lot and up the stairs. She held her breath as she knocked on the door once… twice… then a third time… {He must not be home…} She glanced around the hallway toward the railing over looking the parking lot. {Would his car even be here?} She stared down at her tightly clenched fist. {Would it be ok to let myself in? I mean… he did tell me he'd be here… I could just wait inside for him to return…} Her hand trembled so bad that she missed the keyhole several times before finally getting the key turned and the door open. She swallowed past the lump in her throat as she looked around the familiar, empty apartment. "Hello?" She let the door close behind her as she moved through the apartment toward his bedroom. Familiar saddlebags rested beside the bed. A smile spread across her lips as she walked toward them and opened the bag. She tugged a tee shirt from the bag and held it to her face, breathing in the scent of his laundry soap.

***

Russ let the papers fall from his hands back onto the desk as he sat back in the chair he'd been in most of the night. "I don't understand half this…" He rubbed his tired eyes as he blew out a heavy breath.

Georgos set back in the chair across from Russ. "I wish I could be more help…" He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I don't have any experience in these areas… I… I appreciate the offer of beta… but I'm not sure if I deserve it…" He kept his gaze focused on the desk.

"Do you think I have any experience with any of this?"

Georgos moved his gaze to Russ. "Even so, if I were a proper beta, I would be able to support you more until you grew into the role."

Russ shrugged. "We can grow into it together… I trust you… that's all that matters to me right now."

Georgos nodded. "Alright… If you say so…" His eyes moved back to the stack of papers. "So… what are we going to do about this, then?"

"The only thing we can, I guess." Russ set forward and grabbed his phone. He waited as it rang several times until a voice more tired than his own answered. "Um… you ok, man?"

Arei stared out over Tampa Bay as he held the phone to his ear. "Don't worry about me, kid. What's going on? You alright there or do you need me to head back?"

"No, it's fine. I was just wondering if Chary agreed to help or not. I still can't figure out these finance documents… or any of the rest of it… if we're being honest."

Arei took a long hit of the cigarette he was smoking then blew it out slowly. "I'll call Peg. He's not as good with it as her, but he'll be able to explain the majority of it to you."

Russ was quiet for several seconds as he debated his next question. "So… um… how… how was she?"

Arei frowned. "Overall well… I guess…" He took another long hit of his cigarette. "As long as everything is good your way, I'll be staying until Wednesday… not that it went well… but just in case she decides to actually give me a chance to talk with her."

Russ sighed as he ran his hand over his hair. "So, it didn't go well then… She's a stubborn one, that's for sure…"

Arei huffed out a laugh. "You can say that again." He crushed what was left of the cigarette against the rails and tossed the butt into a trash can. "Keep me updated and let me know if you need me sooner. I'll call Peg as soon as I hang up with you, alright."

Russ let out a relieved breath. "Yeah, thanks. I'll call you tomorrow for updates then..."

Arei couldn't help a faint smile. "Alright kid. Later." He shook his head as he ended the call. As much as he wanted to hate the werewolf prince, he just couldn't. He dialed Peg's number and was surprised when he answered on the second ring. "Hey, how's your workload right now?"

[Not horrible, why?]

"I was going to see if maybe you could help Russ with some palace management shit." Arei described some of the tasks Russ had been having problems with as he began walking back toward his condo. "Even if I wasn't in the states right now, I wouldn't be much help with those matters."

[When does he need it done by?]

Arei shrugged as he paused at a crosswalk and took out another cigarette. "As soon as possible." He answered as he stuck it in his mouth and dug in his pocket for the lighter.

[I could drop by tomorrow evening… maybe… I'll have to check with Andy first, of course.]

"Ah, shit…" Arei grumbled as he patted his empty front pockets.

[If it's that urgent, you could have him email them to me. I could probably look over them tonight.]

Arei chuckled. "Don't get me wrong, that would be great; but that wasn't why I was cussing." He checked inside the package, but his lighter wasn't there either. With a sigh, he shoved the pack back into his pocket and stuck the cigarette behind his ear, instead. "I lost my lighter…"

[I thought you quit… again…]

Arei shrugged as he took the stairs two at a time. "Yeah… well, I started back, again."

[Things there not going well, I take it?]

Arei sent the phone a glare. "I swear this family gossips so damn bad." He grumbled as he pushed the door open and stepped inside.

[Dad's been at the Embassy nearly every day working shit out with the new council selection, so of course, we all know EVERYTHING that's going on.]

Arei rolled his eyes. "Figures…" He bit out as he searched the small kitchen. He found his lighter and grabbed the cigarette from behind his ear. He was headed toward the balcony as the light in the hallway caught his attention. He arched a brow as he looked down the hallway, noticing the slightly jarred bedroom door. "I'll call you back in a few minutes, man. I think someone's been in my place…"

[Alright. If you'd like to give me about an hour, I'll be able to let you know when I can help the pup.]

"Fair enough, I'll talk to you then." Arei said distractedly as he ended the call and shoved his phone into his pocket. He made his way slowly toward the door, sticking close to the wall. He pushed the door the rest of the way open, prepared to attack, but froze in his tracks. His mouth dropped as his eyes widened in disbelief. "J-Jos?" She was sitting cross-legged on the foot of his bed, clinging to one of the tees he'd packed. His feet began moving toward her involuntarily. He reached out tentatively and cupped her face. When she nuzzled against his palm, he could feel his breath catch. "It's you… You're really here?"

She nodded against his palm, her watery aqua eyes meeting his stunned gaze. Before he knew what he was even doing he was dropping to his knees at the foot of the bed and throwing his arms around her waist. He pulled her closer to the edge of the bed and rested his head on her lap, warm tears filling his eyes. "I… I didn't expect you to come."

Jos released the tee shirt she'd been hugging to her and ran her fingers through his hair. "Arei…" She swallowed past the lump in her throat. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean any of those things I said back at the townhouse." She swallowed hard. "I… I thought I was dreaming… that it wasn't really you…" She prayed he didn't ask her to explain further.

Arei lifted his head and cupped her face between both his hands. He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. You're here now." He traced her face with the pads of his thumbs. "You're really here…" He repeated again.

Jos nodded, tears burning her eyes. "I am." Her hands trembled as she reached to touch him. {This is Arei, the real Arei. No one could ever emulate his level of love and devotion.} She ran her fingers through the short scruff of his beard. A smile curved one corner of her lips as she moved her eyes from his beard to his shimmering eyes. "It's scruffier than usual… and you smell like cigarettes… it reminds me of the first time I stayed here with you." She bent forward and pressed a light kiss to his lips. "I wanted to do this so bad the entire time I was here." She whispered, her eyes still shut.

"As did I." Arei moaned in pleasure as he pushed up from the floor. The mattress caved under the weight of his knee as he moved onto the bed. He slid his hand down her neck causing the tiny hairs there to send shivers down her spine. "And so much more…"