Chapter 3

“No, it doesn’t, Gina,” Aiden grumbled into the phone. He took another lengthy gulp of exquisite bourbon. “It doesn’t change anything. I rejected Dumont. Now, she treats me like a ghost.” A harsh chuckle left him. “But it’s been three weeks, and I haven’t been fired, so there’s that.”

After finishing his daily swim, he sat on the edge of a jacuzzi with his legs dangling in the dark, swirling water. Wisps of steam rose from the surface. They were illuminated only by the dim lights of the rooftop pool area, and the stars twinkling in the clear sky. When a gentle breeze, humid and warm, swept past, he tracked the languid motion of scattered potted trees. Their round bases were scattered amid tall shrubs. Together, while not screening it entirely, they separated the hot tub from the rest of the roof.

Still breathing hard from all the laps, a smile slipped onto his face. The quiet. The solitude. This had become the best time of his day.

“Did you eat, master?” Gina Davis’s worried voice brought him back to her. “Are you taking care of yourself?”

“Yes, I ate”—he laughed—”slut. God, I miss you. Also, yes, I worked out this morning. And ran. But you already know all that.” Another guffaw escaped Aiden. “Just like I know how much you need to visit.”

“P-Please, master,” she said, her voice suddenly husky. “When can I come up there?”

“Not yet. I’m not sure what’s going on, but”—Aiden scanned the pool deck. Though it was empty as usual, he still lowered his voice—”the ring is acting strange. And—”

“I feel it too, master. She’s special.”

Although Eva’s eyes flickered into view, he shook his head and gulped more bourbon. “What? No. Not her. It’s just. Things are working out, sorta. I think. I’m putting in my time. Found those who are sharp. And noted the slugs. And they know I know. I’ve got to prove myself. Let me get that settled first.”

“Hmm, would I be too much of a distraction, Aiden?” Her playful tone brought a smile to his face.

“Yes, Gina. Right now, yes.”

After ending the call, Aiden tossed the phone to a towel on a nearby chair and lowered into the whirling jets. A deep sigh escaped his lips as he reclined, gazing at the starry sky. Right as he was about to take another sip, voices echoed across the patio. In the weeks he’d lived in the building, nobody else had appeared that late at night.

A young couple, mid-twenties, strode from the mirrored entrance door. In long, blue and white trunks, a sandy-haired man with a paunch held a bottle and two wineglasses. Other than being very pale, he was wholly unremarkable. But every muscle in Aiden tightened at the sight of the woman under his skinny arm. With long, wavy auburn hair, golden brown highlights framed sharp, high cheeks. Black shorts hugged sleek hips and a loose sable tank, cropped short enough to reveal impressive underswells, swayed from her chest.

Despite the glittering diamond wedding band on her slender finger, Aiden’s body continued tensing. At the ring’s growling rumble, his eyes narrowed. First, as he’d talked with Gina, it had been focused on something else all evening. And second, it hadn’t made such a noise in years. Not since Catherine.

Before a snarl could escape him, it died on Aiden’s lips when the young woman peeled down those tiny shorts. The rest of the deck faded to a blur. Pale and round, firm spheres shone in the dim light. Between them, the red bikini bottom she wore was nothing but a narrow triangle. When she turned to lift her cropped tank, the curves of her mound were visible under a larger, if also taut, shape.

And when she placed the top on her shorts, Aiden’s breath caught in his throat. Beneath a straining red band of fabric, immense globes jutted.

Again, the ring, though flameless, rumbled.

“Not yet,” hissed from Aiden.

Despite his mind clamping the heating circle ever tighter, the blurry rooftop began a slow, twisting swirl. After lifting his gaze from them, he looked at the dark sky. The stars also blurred, merging into a matching whirl. And, as if beneath the ocean, music burbled.

As the couple splashed and laughed in the water, Aiden risked only swift furtive glances. When she took a long sip of wine, he caught the twinkling gray-green eyes set in a soft face. While her body was curvaceous, it was also lean and toned. And whenever her large natural breasts, flat stomach, or firm round derriere came into view, his glances lingered.

While they were playful and becoming ever more inebriated, she was also ... At the ring’s sudden focus, he gasped. The woman was brimming with raw sexuality. Uncontained need swept from her. Aiden stared at his hands. His fingertips trembled.

The ring’s rumbling intensified.

“No. Not yet,” Aiden repeated in a hoarse, strained murmur.

When he again looked over at the couple, she caught his eyes through her matted, dark mane. At first, Aiden started to look away, but something gripped him. It wasn’t the ring. Or at least not it alone. And he held her gaze. After taking a long sip, she slipped behind her husband to whisper in his ear. With a laugh, he flung a glance at Aiden before sliding his hands along her ribs. As their lips sealed and moaning erupted from them, Aiden at last turned to gaze at the hazy stars.

With his heart pounding, he downed the last of the bourbon.

Just as Aiden was about to shove from the seat and depart, he froze. In a tight embrace, the couple climbed the steps and headed towards the hot tub. Between lengthy sips of wine, she was giggling. Her husband laughed while trying to plant a kiss on her cheek.

As the ring’s rumbling grew stronger, Aiden relaxed his arm and sank back into the heated jets. A breeze sent hair fluttering across his forehead. With the ring’s energy rippling through him, Aiden forced a grin as his gaze lingered on the approaching woman.

Under his inspection, she only blushed. Also noticing his focused scan, her husband whispered into her ear before letting his grin widen. At his words, she giggled again. And as she chewed her lower lip, her cheeks flushed darker. Just before the tub’s rim, both wobbled while draining their glasses. The half-empty bottle dangled from the man’s fingers as they came closer.

“You’re a lucky man,” Aiden called out. “Uh...?”

“R-Rory. Rory, um, Hobart.” His voice was slurred.

Rory’s hand slipped several times before he succeeded in clambering into the tub. With an embarrassed half-smile, he flopped into the bubbling waters across from Aiden.

While tracking the man’s wife entering the swirling water behind her husband, Aiden clenched his fists tight. Despite his heartbeat thundering at the glimmering in the most amazing gray-green pools, he struggled to tear his gaze from her.

But the power surges were intensifying. He glimpsed his hand. The ring’s rippling power wasn’t visible.

At Rory’s raised eyebrow, Aiden flashed another taut grin. In the darkness, he tamped hard on the ring, crushing its flames into an icy ball.

“Well, Rory.” Aiden controlled his voice. “Uh, color me jealous. Your wife is absolutely beautiful.”

“Anna,” she said.

The single soft word she spoke was an arrow slicing through his mind’s shaky grip. A gout of flame shot from the gap to scorch the ring’s cell. When Aiden’s brows tightened, her cheeks blushed crimson. After a brief shudder, she snuggled against her husband.

“I’m Aiden.” Again, he kept his tone despite the sliding circle of hot metal searing his mind’s fist. “Aiden Wilson.”

“Nice to meet you, Aiden Wilson,” Rory replied.

A snorting laugh escaped him when his wife’s tongue dragged along his ear. But she was staring at Aiden. At the man’s throaty moan and the sudden bowing of his back, Aiden’s gaze went to Anna’s twisting arm in the bubbling waters. As a deeper moan tore from him, Rory’s head slumped backward to thump on the tub’s snowy plastic side. Within the tightly stretched narrow band of red fabric, Anna’s voluminous breasts heaved.

Even as her lips found those of her husband’s, her shimmering eyes kept flicking to Aiden. When Rory’s hands moved over his wife, both their moans increased. With the ring’s rumbles growing ever more insistent, Aiden continued struggling to keep it clamped.