Eva laughed with him at the memory, and Will couldn’t believe how lovely she looked.
I haven’t thought about that in so long. And I just told it to this woman I barely know. What the hell is going on with me?
“Well, technically, Coriolanus is only part Shakespeare. It’s actually a very old Roman story that he retold,” said Eva.
“So we really have been doing remakes forever,” said Will as he sipped his coffee. He winked at Eva when she gave him the stink eye for his terrible joke.
“It’s a story meant to be remade. It’s so powerful,” she said, her voice taking on a wistful quality. “The great drama of the warrior and people; the balance of peace and war.”
“And whose side are you on?” asked Will.
“I think they both have their merits,” said Eva. “I understand why Coriolanus is upset with the plebeians. Being in war is a difficult thing, and it changes a person. It changes the way they see things. Sometimes they can’t see normal, peaceful life anymore, because it seems like an illusion.”
Will’s chest was tightening up as she spoke, because he felt like she was reaching right into his mind and yanking out his own thoughts; his own fears; the way he saw the world now.
“But Coriolanus didn’t react how he should have. Being excellent on the battlefield doesn’t always translate to being excellent in other areas. He got beaten by better politicians, and then he tried to come back with violence, compelled by thoughts of vengeance and retribution, and because that’s the only way he thought he could win. But violence isn’t always the best tool.”
Will looked at her, watching the depth in her eyes as her brain worked out her thoughtful answer. Her soft lips pursed closed as she waited for his response. For a moment, all he could think about was smashing his own lips against hers in a passionate kiss.
Instead, he gathered his thoughts and spoke. “It’s an ancient cautionary tale. I always enjoyed him, though—Coriolanus. I enjoy his fighting spirit.”
Eva gave him a smirk, but it wasn’t bitter like yesterday’s—this was more playful. “You, enjoying the warrior archetype? Color me shocked.”
“And I enjoy how he doesn’t let the shitty decisions of his superiors sway him from what he knows he has to do,” said Will. As the words came out of his mouth, he realized exactly why he liked Coriolanus, really. Doing a little hero worship of yourself, are we?
“He does have some of the best speeches,” said Eva.
Will nodded. “So did Volumnia. Such a supportive mother.”
Eva let out a cackle. “Supportive? She encouraged his aggression! She almost ruined him.”
Will shrugged. “At least she understood how he felt. My favorite line from that wasn’t one of the big characters, anyway.”
“Oh?” The eyebrow raised on Eva’s face was a challenge, Will could see. With a cocky half-smile, he heartily accepted.
“ ‘Let me have war, say I: it exceeds peace as far as day does night; it's spritely, waking, audible, and full of vent. Peace is a very apoplexy, lethargy; mulled, deaf, sleepy, insensible; a getter of more bastard children than war's a destroyer of men.’ ” He took a drink of coffee and watched with satisfaction as Eva’s smile widened with every word.
She was quiet for a good long moment after he finished, like she was drinking it in. “Of course that’s your favorite,” she said softly. She shook her head at him and laughed, then got up from her chair and went to refill her coffee. Her bare thighs walked right by Will within touching distance, and he felt his cock ache against his jeans when he smelled her body wash.
It only got worse when she came back and stood in front of him instead of sitting in her chair. Will had to practically rip his gaze away from the flesh of her legs just begging to be touched to look up at her face. The expression she wore said she probably didn’t even realize what she was doing, and somehow that made it sexier to Will.
“You think force is the only way get things done, then?” said Eva. She shifted on her legs, hiking her robe up just a little bit more.
Will bit his lip and adjusted in his seat to hide his growing erection. “Not all things,” he said. “Some things require a bit more… delicacy.” He made sure his eyes were on the skin at her thighs when he said it. When he trailed back up her body, Eva’s mouth was open, realization slowly dawning in her eyes.
“Oh…” It was less a word, and more a sound that escaped her mouth with a breath.
When she didn’t back away, Will couldn’t help himself. He looked up in her eyes, and then brought his left hand slowly up from his side and laid it on the skin of her thigh. When his skin met hers, it felt like a jolt of electricity running through his nerves. Her skin felt even softer than it looked.
Eva gasped, but it was a drawn-out, heavy thing that was just as much relief as it was surprise. When he looked up he saw her eyes closed against his touch, her mouth half-open, taking in deep breaths. He watched her mouth widen even more as his hand softly traced up along her skin, from her knee, all the way back up to the bottom of the bathrobe. He only hesitated there a moment before he pushed up even further, palming the skin of her upper thigh, and moving around to grasp her ass.
Eva moaned, her hips bucking under his touch. Will’s cock pushed against his jeans, already painfully erect. Just as he felt the soft skin of her ass under his fingers, the sound of a door shutting and shuffling footsteps interrupted from the hallway.
Will yanked his hand back, and Eva went pale and stepped back until she was practically against the kitchen wall. Charlie must have been too tired to notice how odd it looked when he came into the kitchen. “Morning,” he said, heading straight for the coffee pot with a yawn.
“Morning,” said Will. He looked up at Eva, saw the heat flush still on her pale cheeks, and he grinned at her wickedly. He saw her struggling, trying to decide if she wanted to return it or not, still fighting the clear attraction she had to him.
I know you want me, he thought. I know it for sure, now. I felt the way you moved under my hand.
Eva and Will’s moment ended unceremoniously as Charlie joined them at the kitchen table. Eva went back to her book, ignoring Will for as long as it took her to finish her second cup of joe, then she disappeared into her bedroom. When they were alone, Will admitted to Charlie that he had been right about Eva not wanting to stay in the house.
“She does not like to feel confined,” said Charlie with a shake of his head. “Blame it on her ex-husband. He pretty much kept her trapped like a rat.”
Will raised an eyebrow, a bit of anger bubbling in his gut. “Is that right?”
“Yeah, that guy was a piece of shit.”
“Well, maybe I can find something safe for her to do, then.”
“As long as it keeps her out of harm’s way,” Charlie agreed.
After breakfast, Will waited patiently for the Murdocks to finish their morning routines. On his second extended intelligence-gathering mission ever for the MC, Will had learned the enormous benefit of keeping a compact travel toothbrush nearby, and he used the one he kept stashed in his saddle bags over the kitchen sink.
Eva met him first, coming out of the bedroom in a beautiful white dress that fell to her knees, sleeves halfway down her arms. He couldn’t remember the last time he met a woman who always looked so put together. She carried Coriolanus in her arms; the smile she gave Will when she saw him had a glint of mischief to it.
“Where is it you think you’re going?” he said.
“To help open the bar,” said Eva. In her eyes was a challenge, a dare for him to keep to his word from the night before and drag her back to the house for her insolence.
Oh, honey, you are definitely asking for more than that. “You can help open. But you’re coming back up here as soon as that neon sign gets turned on.”