Grace Goodwin - Ascension Saga - 5

I walked around the couch, dropped down onto it so I faced my sister. “God, I’m naked. I smell like sex. And I had to sneak into Mom’s palace wearing a stupid-ass sheet.” I tugged at the collar of the robe I wore and pulled it more tightly around me. Even covered now, I felt more naked than ever. “I need a shower.”

“You have crazy sex hair. So, yeah, I was wondering how long it would take you to realize that.”

I took a breath, then another. “Trin, what am I going to do?”

She cocked her head to the side, smiled, but this time one that was laced with sympathy. “Leo and his dad are looking into Thor and his parents.”

“You said you had evidence against him. What kind of evidence?”

She nodded. “Leo’s dad—the older guy who burst into your little love fest this morning—retrieved data that showed Zel had a comms call with someone in the Jax household just a few hours before he tried to kidnap me. The call went to Thor’s bedroom, to be exact.”

“He doesn’t live there anymore, which you are well aware of since you burst into his apartment like a SWAT team.” I wasn’t really upset that the guards had come. If Thor was bad, it was better he was caught. But I hadn’t really needed those guards to see me in such a compromising position. The first time I saw Leo’s dad I had Thor’s head buried in my pussy.

I groaned.

“True, but security data shows that Thor was at his parents’ mansion at the time. He has a history with Zel. They were best friends. Leo said they grew up together. They were close, Faith. That’s two strikes against him.”

I remembered back to my conversation with Thor the night before. He’d told me the exact same thing as Trinity, that they’d been childhood friends, but he’d also said he hadn’t spoken to him in years. “I don’t think… I don’t think he’s bad,” I replied.

When he’d mentioned this, Thor’s cock had been in me at the time, or pretty darn close to it. Unless he was a really good actor, I believed him. He’d thought I was a maid then. And that we were mates. He’d said it over and over, touched me like I mattered. Naked, in bed, sated after hours of sex? It would be a difficult time to lie. And if I really had been a maid, he would have had no reason to avoid the truth. What did I care about some man I’d never met before? “He told me they hadn’t spoken in years. I don’t think he would have lied to me. He didn’t know who I was. He thought I was his mate, the household servant.”

“ Think he wouldn’t lie, or hope ?” she countered.

I harrumphed, because I hated when she thought logically. Damn her linear brain.

“He’s the one who left me with Zel at the reception, Faith,” she continued. “He said I was in good hands and patted Zel on the shoulder before he walked away. He practically handed me over to a ruthless bad guy on a silver platter.”

“Thor has no reason to do this.” I said it, but I didn’t quite believe it. Not anymore.

“Did Zel?”

I shrugged, thought of the unconscious guard whose life I had been determined to save. Remembered the irritated look on the assassin’s face when he told me I’d saved the life of a traitor and nearly gotten my sister killed. Shit.

I licked my lips, tried to condense everything I knew about Thor down into feelings. “It doesn’t make sense. I mean, he rescued me at the police station from being taken off by the Optimus unit.” I shivered and lifted a pillow off the sofa, hugged it to my chest. “That would have been bad. You saw how he protected me from you.”

“Faith, I know you want him to be innocent. God, if it were Leo we were talking about, I’d be freaking out. But Nix and the others broke down his door while he was eating you out.”

“Don’t remind me. I don’t think I’ll be able to look Leo’s dad in the eye. Ever.”

“Thor fed your Ardor. I know what that feels like. It’s a really deep connection. Trust me, I know what you’re going through right now. I really do. And I don’t think you can be impartial. Especially not while your Ardor is still going strong. All I could think about was getting Leo in bed again.”

She was right about that; all I could think about was Thor. Over me. Inside me. Kissing me. Fucking me. But I couldn’t go there. It hurt too much. “But, Trin, if Thor were truly evil, he’d have left me to Lord Wyse’s interrogation and some creepy place called cell level C. I would have taken the fall for his crime. Why would he rescue someone who could divert all attention away from him?”

“You’re his mate.” She was quiet for a moment, clearly thinking hard, but those three words had the force of a baseball bat striking my rib cage at full swing. Things were breaking. Not literally, but this hurt just as much.

“So, he saved me because his cock got hard, and not because he’s a decent human being?”

“They wait years to find a mate. There’s no way he could walk away from you once he found you. I don’t think it’s biologically possible for them. He’s not human, Faith. Don’t forget that.”

“Neither are you.”

“Ouch.”

I was turning into a bitch. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said that.”

“I do. He hurt you. I don’t know how or why he’s involved in all this, but the queen’s guard will figure it out.” She reached over and took my hand. “We’ll figure it out. I promise.”

I laughed, or tried to. It came out as a sad little squeak of sound. “Why does he have to be so freaking hot? It was like being in bed with Captain America.”

“True. I noticed, when I came in. I mean, some guys don’t look too great naked, but he was like—”

“Captain America,” I cut in.

“I was going to say a guy from the Thunder From Down Under calendar.”

“He’s hotter than that.”

She waggled her eyebrows and grinned. “Not as hot as Leo, but not too shabby. Especially when his head’s between your legs.”

I flushed hotly and my pussy clenched at the memory. I couldn’t help but smile. “My new favorite way to wake up.”

Trinity grinned. “Yeah, mine, too.”

I sighed. “God, I missed you.”

“No, you didn’t. You were busy fucking your brains out.”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Before that.” I sobered, felt the ache in my heart. And the rage. Why me? Why did I have to be the freak of the family? The one who things never worked out for? Why did I have to want to be with Thor, even knowing what I knew now? God dammit. The whole thing pissed me off. “What am I going to do? I need him.”

She sat up, reached out and put her hand on mine. Her blue eyes held my gaze like a tractor beam from Star Trek . All playfulness was gone. “It’s the Ardor, right? Or did you fall in love with him?”

“I’m not sure.” I sat up, knocking her hand away. “How bad is it down there in the dungeon? Rats and stuff? Medieval torture devices? The rack?”

Trinity shrugged. “I’ve never been, and Leo said I should stay out of there.” She made quotation marks with her fingers. “ No place for a princess.”

That made me roll my eyes. Obviously, Leo had a thing or two to learn about my stubborn, buttoned-up sister. She was deceptively mild on the outside, but pure steel beneath. If she wanted to go check out her creepy basement prison, she would. End. Of. Discussion. “Men. So bossy.”

“Especially when you’re sleeping with them.” She did laugh then, and it was a contagious sound, full of happiness I seriously envied at the moment. I was happy for her and Leo. Thrilled, actually. But a bit distracted by my own pile of stinking dog-poo at the moment.

Didn’t help that I remembered exactly how bossy Thor had been, in bed. And when he’d saved me from Lord Wyse, from the extra-special interrogation that old jerk had planned. Thor was a lot like Leo, but also like Dad. Alpha male, protecting women while letting them run the show. Oh, Dad wasn’t a chump. Hell, no. He just knew how to respect and appreciate women. Like Thor. God, Thor.