The only answer I’d ever been able to come up with was that in spite of her mission rather than because of it, she hadn’t been able to resist. Some part of herhadcraved us, just like Darius had implied.
The knowledge and the flickers of memory shouldn’t have stirred my dick the way they did. Neither should the fierce look Anthea shot me, like she was trying to burn me to death with her gaze. But just like that, I was half hard.
Maybe abstaining all these years hadn’t been the best strategy. Anthea had messed with my emotions, made it difficult for me to think or see the situation clearly back then, and I’d wanted to avoid a repeat of that experience at all costs. It wasn’t as if I’d run into any women who’d particularly tempted me anyway.
I hadn’t counted on running intoheragain. Or how much some part of me would still want her. But there really weren’t many women like her out there.
Thank God. Or maybe it was a pity. I couldn’t quite decide.
“Once was more than enough,” she said, turning her attention back to Darius. “For me, anyway. You do seem awfully infatuated. Who knows what I might be able to offer as a woman, after all—if I was remotely inclined to offer it to you?”
She tilted her head to the side in a way she had to know was magnetically coy. Darius’s grin didn’t budge. He hadn’t kept his cock in his pants all these years—he knew how to handle himself better.
It was a good thing I’d come only to watch.
He skimmed his hands down her arms without actually touching her skin, just a fraction of an inch away. Then he teased them back up again. Anthea’s stance stiffened a tad, but I didn’t need to tell my brother what else I’d noticed.
His voice dropped lower. “I’m not even touching you, and you’re already shivering with need.” He leaned in, his lips nearly grazing her temple. “Just keep imagining all the things I could do to you that your old fart of a husband never even considered.”
“And you can keep imagining that I’ll ever welcome your touch.”
He made a dismissive sound as he trailed his fingers across her chest, again not quite touching the fabric of her bodice. Then he sank down, the skirt of her dress rippling in his wake. Anthea sucked in a breath.
He gave her a sharp little smile from down on his knees. “And what are you imagining while I’m down here?” He did touch her then, his hands coming to rest on her calf a few inches below her dress’s hem.
She smiled back at him, just as tightly. “I’m thinking you’re finally figuring out a position of proper deference.”
“Oh, really.” Without warning, he jerked one of his hands upward between her legs. As he cupped her cunt beneath her dress, a gasp tumbled out of her—and I was fully hard in an instant.
Darius lowered his hand as quickly as he’d raised it, his smile completely a smirk now. “You’re drenched. Your pussy doesn’t lie, no matter how much your mouth does.”
Anthea glared at him. “I was reading a spicy book before you came in. It’s got nothing to do with you. On the other hand, how you’d explain the hard-on you’re sporting right now—”
Before she’d even finished speaking, she was yanking her leg up, aiming her knee at Darius’s nose. He dodged to the side with a rough laugh, and she shoved past him, smacking his head farther aside with her hand. As she spun around by the foot of her bed, no longer pinned against the door, I frowned.
I hadn’t really paid attention to her hands when we’d first come in. Her fingers were smudged with something grayish brown. Whathadshe actually been up to this afternoon? She hadn’t gotten scuffed up from a book.
My gaze darted through the room, scanning as swiftly as I could—and snagged on a few small smudges on the edge of the window frame. Hmm.
That was all I had time to observe. Darius stood up with a cocky chuckle and shook his head at Anthea. “Lie to us all you want, but you can’t lie to yourself. Enjoy your ‘book.’”
Shaking his head, he motioned for me to follow him out of the room. He walked with more confidence than the last time we’d left her presence, triumph radiating from his stance.
“Did you notice anything else I should know while we were in there?” he asked me as we headed back up to the third floor.
I turned over what I’d seen in my mind. If Darius heard my suspicions, he’d want to charge in guns blazing. I had the feeling unraveling Anthea’s plans might require a subtler approach.
“I’m not sure yet,” I said. “I’m going to do a little more digging, and then I’ll let you know.”
“Just don’t keep me in the dark if you turn something up, Lucan,” he said, clapping a brotherly hand to my shoulder.
* * *
Several hours later, I found myself in the dark—in the most shadowy section of the street at the far end of the block from the side of our brownstone on the corner. As soon as Anthea had turned in for the night, I’d gotten my car out of the garage and driven off as if I had business to take care of… which I did, but it’d involved looping around the neighboring block and parking here where I had a view of her bedroom window.
What I’d observed didn’t mean she was necessarily going to try anythingtonight. But chances were that she hadn’t done anything already—she’d only recently tested her options. And why would she be testing them if she didn’t plan on acting on them soon?
If I was wrong, well, then I’d suffer through some fatigue tomorrow and survive.