Page 36 of Dark Gambit Reliance

"What's wrong?" Marcel unfolded the towel and spread it, waiting for her to get out. "You suddenly lost your good mood."

Sofia stepped out of the tub and let him wrap her in the towel and pull her into his arms. "I thought about transitioning, and then I thought about waking up to find out that something had happened to my family."

"Don't think like that." He rubbed his hands over her towel-covered arms. "We need to stay positive and visualize the best possible outcome."

She chuckled. "I’ve heard of that method. What is it called?"

"I don't remember. The gist is that if you believe you will get everything you want and ask for it, the universe will manifest it for you."

"Do you actually believe that?" She leaned into him and lifted her face. "Did you ask the universe to give you a perfect mate?"

He chuckled. "I must have yearned for you subconsciously." He drew the towel along her arms, then her belly, and as he dragged it up between her breasts, his knuckles brushed against her nipples, seemingly unintentionally. "Did you yearn for me?"

"I did," she admitted, her arousal dimming as her guilt surged. "I dreamt about being free and finding a man who I could share my life with. I didn't anticipate the unintended consequences."

Marcel arched a brow. "Freeing your family might be an unintended consequence, but it's a good one."

She closed her eyes. "If anything happens to them, I will not be able to forgive myself."

He hooked a finger under her chin and tilted her head up. "You were the one who told me to forgive myself. You should follow your own advice."

"The circumstances are very different."

"I don't think so." He lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bedroom. "I was willing to do anything for the woman I thought I loved, and you are willing to do anything for the people you love."

Marcel's logic was a bit skewed, but what Sofia had heard loud and clear was, "the woman I thought I loved."

"When did you realize that you didn't love her?"

He laid her gently on the bed and sprawled on his side next to her. "When I fell in love with you, I knew that what I felt for her hadn't been real." He cupped her cheek. "This feels real. What I felt for Cordelia was what I imagined love should feel like." His thumb dragged over her lower lip. "It's ironic that you set out to manipulate me, and yet everything you showed me, every emotion, every moan, and every sigh, it was all genuine. I don't think that you are capable of faking love or even like, and certainly not lust."

"About that. Eleanor told me that immortal males can smell a woman's arousal. If Cordelia was faking her attraction to you, you would have known that."

"That was the only thing she didn't fake."

26

DARLENE

Darlene pulled an outfit from the closet and carried it to the guest bedroom.

"How do you want your eggs this morning?" Eric asked from the kitchen.

"Scrambled, please."

She'd asked for sunny side up the morning before, and it had proven too difficult for Eric. She hadn't minded that the eggs had ended up scrambled, but it had frustrated him. It was better to ask for something that wouldn't mess up his mood first thing in the morning.

It occurred to her that she was falling back on her old habits, avoiding anything that could upset her partner like she used to do with Leo. In her need to keep things calm and smooth, she'd often allowed herself to become his doormat.

Funny how dormant and doormat sounded the same but were the exact opposite. She was the granddaughter of a god, an immortal in the making, and she was nobody's doormat.

"Do you want onions in your eggs?"

"Sure." She draped the outfit over the back of the footboard.

They were using the other bedroom in the house until their new bed arrived. Eric had insisted on ordering another four-poster, even though she'd told him that she was never doing the thing with Max again. The frame of the new bed was made from iron posts that were welded together, not screwed, and it looked like nothing could destroy it.

Looking at the skirt and blouse she'd pulled out, Darlene sighed. The skirt was a little tight in the waist, and she was too tired to deal with anything uncomfortable. Perhaps she should just wear a pair of leggings with a long blouse over them.