“That side of Willa has been repressed all this time.”
“Didn’t look that way last night.”
Recalling the event in question, Max stiffened behind his fly. “Yeah, I’ll grant you that. Sex definitely appears to coax her nymph out of hiding.”
“Then I’d say you know what you have to do.” Boone flashed a grin. “The things you gotta do in the name of duty, eh?”
“The only problem is it’s not exactly foolproof. There have only been two times that her nymph has made a complete appearance. I don’t know what to do to guarantee her showing up.”
Boone remained quiet for a moment before hooking his arm on the back of his seat. “Remember I dated that nymph from Virginia Beach a few years back?”
To be honest, he’d totally forgotten about it. There’d been too many lovers in and out of Boone’s life to be able to keep track of.
“Shelby liked when I…invited others into our bed.”
He stared at Boone. “You’ve had a fucking threesome?”
Boone chuckled. “More than once. Like I said, she really got into it.”
“Did you?”
“Yeah, it was damn hot. Plus I like to watch.”
Max automatically veered to Boone’s revelation from earlier that morning. He swallowed. He had a good inkling where Boone was headed with this, but he wanted to make sure before the conversation went much further. “You’re suggesting a threesome with Willa.”
Boone inclined his head. “It might work. Would you be okay with it?”
He let the question sink into his consciousness. Would he be able to handle seeing another man kiss Willa? Possibly fuck her? Normally he would say no way in hell. But Boone wasn’t any other man. If there was anyone he trusted with Willa, it was his best friend. Plus he couldn’t deny how turned on he’d been, knowing Boone had watched them. Christ, if that did it for him, what would it be like actually having Boone in the middle of it all with them? The throbbing in his cock was all the answer he required. Still, he needed to know what he’d be getting himself into before agreeing to anything. “Would you want to touch Willa?”
“Yes. And most likely, that’ll be the best way to get her nymph into the action. But if you don’t want me to, I’ll content myself with watching. Well, and beating the salami.” Boone’s eyes twinkled.
Max chose to ignore that comment and the resulting visual that popped into his head. “I guess I would be okay with you touching. But it’s strictly up to Willa. I won’t ask her to do anything she’s not comfortable with.”
“You realize she’s probably not even going to be comfortable with you broaching the idea, right? I mean, Shelby was a full-blood nymph and engaged in orgies on a regular basis. Somehow I don’t see Willa as being that hardcore.”
Damn. He hadn’t considered that. Still, there’d been no mistaking the signs of her arousal while listening to Boone’s confession. “Maybe we’ll have to approach this in a roundabout way. So she’s not expecting it. That way Willa won’t have the chance to overanalyze it or freak out.” Kind of like he was doing at the moment.
Boone’s smile was loaded with sin. “In that case? Tonight, forget my advice about shutting your bedroom door.”
What the heck is taking them so long? Willa watched from her spot next to the Palladian window while Max and Boone continued yakking away in the Land Rover. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she was the subject of their chat. And it didn’t take much to figure out exactly what they were discussing—getting her damn memories back. It probably made no sense to Max why she was secretly terrified of that happening. Most folks would want to remember who they really were. But it was scary even contemplating giving up the person she’d always thought she was. Yes, it was an illusion. But a safe, comfortable one.
Okay, the truth was, she hated change. And this? Hell, it was the honkin’ mother of all changes. She slumped against the wall, the heaviness inside her staggering.
“How did everything go?”
She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Justin’s voice. Mentally steadying her runaway heart rate, she turned to face the duke. Max and Boone hadn’t told Justin the real reason for their trip to the aquarium, only that they’d tracked down a possible lead to the whereabouts of the trident. “We didn’t have much luck, unfortunately.”
“I’m sure something will turn up. We can’t lose hope yet.”
She somehow managed to return Justin’s smile, even though she’d hazard a guess that hers was filled with far less confidence. The duke started to take a step back, only to halt and cock his head to the side. “It’s odd, but I haven’t been able to shake this feeling that we’ve met before.”
“Maybe another lifetime?”
He chuckled. “Now there’s a whimsical thought.”
Not so much. Still, she couldn’t help wondering what life would have been like if Reva hadn’t gotten away with murder. Would she and Justin have been friends? Judging from the brief flash of memory she’d had yesterday, it seemed pretty likely. She glanced around the entry of the mansion, picturing what it would have been like growing up in such an environment. According to Max, the royal palace had been even more opulent.
Even so, it wasn’t unknown luxuries that she missed. Frankly, she didn’t give a crap about any of that stuff. The real treasures in life were those you loved. She’d had that with her parents, and later with Aurele.
She wanted it with Max. Yeah, there, she’d admitted it. He owned her heart. She harbored no doubts about it. Her past meant nothing if it didn’t include a future with him. She blinked and noticed that Justin was still watching her. Only now he wore a quizzical smile. She gave him a sheepish grin. “Sorry, didn’t mean to daze off on you. I think I’m still just dazzled by your home.” It wasn’t entirely a lie, and it was less painful than fessing up about her heart being tied up in knots.
“It’s perfectly all right. I admit to sometimes looking around here and thinking to myself, bloody hell, I need to have a garage sale.”
His offhand quip earned her laugh. “Well, if you do? Invite me. I’ve got my eye on that mermaid fountain outside.” She tapped her chin. “Although, I bet it’d be a bugger fitting it in my car. Of course, Max is strong enough I could probably strap it to his back and have him haul it home for me.”
“He’s crazy about you, you know. Even a blind man would be able to see it.”
Her heart danced an ecstatic jig at Justin’s pronouncement. Still, her rational side refused to get too excited. “We haven’t known each other that long.”
“Does it matter? Sometimes one look is all it takes to know you’ve found your mate.” Despite the conviction in his words, a hint of sadness lurked in Justin’s eyes.
Before either of them could say anything more, the front door opened and Max and Boone stepped inside. They both glanced at her, but it was the red flush creeping along Max’s neck that made her suspicious.
Well, that answered that question. Obviously they had been talking about her in the car. “What have two been up to?”
“Nothing.” Max’s response came a little too fast, and it stood in sharp contrast to his guilty expression. She stared him down until he cleared his throat and looked away.
What the devil had he and Boone talked about that would make him turn red as a lobster? Before the night ended, she intended to find out.
She didn’t have much opportunity to grill either Max or Boone on their conversation as the evening progressed. But when dinner was announced and they all took their seats at the massive mahogany dining table and she took in the five millionth covert look that passed between Max and Boone, she knew something was definitely up. Chewing the tender sliver of lime-and-dill-glazed salmon the duke’s personal chef had prepared, she contemplated Max’s flushed features.