Chapter 5

“Please, uh, baby.” At Rory’s worried voice, Anna did nothing. “Sweetie?”

With her eyes still fixed on Aiden, she let him inspect her lean, curvy frame. Only once he’d returned to her face and nodded did she stare towards her husband. While waving his empty wineglass in the air, Rory was pushing from the side of the pool. With his lower jaw trembling, his wide-eyed gaze flicked between his naked wife and Aiden, seated amid the bubbling foam.

“You should go, Anna,” Aiden said in a quiet voice. Though the ring screamed from its dark corner, he clutched it, smothering its cries and flames. “Take care of your husband.”

For a brief second, with tendrils still wispy around her, she tensed as if to leap for Aiden. But when his smile widened, her nervous grin responded. After a slow nod, she scooped the bikini from the tub’s rim and stepped from the sudsy whorls. With a quick flip of her wet hair, she flashed Aiden a wider smile before sashaying towards the pool.

Sashayed.

Not walked.

Again, she was putting on a show. Rory’s gaze tracked her swinging hips before returning to Aiden. With his face ashen, eyes ringed with white and a quaking jaw, he said nothing. Nothing needed to be said. His wife was displaying herself for Aiden.

And Aiden, even as he clasped the ring tighter, chuckled.

Once at the far side of the pool, she lifted the bottle from the couple’s table. After a quick swirl of her shimmering tresses, she bent to refill their empty glasses. Beyond brash, all the while, she smiled at Aiden. While Rory stared, Aiden again chortled and inspected every inch of her.

And Anna let him. Unhurried, she met his gaze as it traced the back of her taut, spread legs. A perfect peach with a well-manicured, slim landing strip. And those impressive dangling, heavy breasts.

At a nervous laugh from Rory, Aiden jolted. The pale, trembling man was lifting a glass. As if it were a shield against Aiden, he held it before him. With the ring trapped, its wispy tendrils flailed across the pool but couldn’t quite reach their target, Anna.

But Aiden’s unblinking eyes could.

“Rory, your sexy wife’s amazing,” he called out. “That’s a hot, rocking body.”

After a long sip of wine, Rory shook his head before flashing a nervous grin at his wife. Although Anna had settled into a chair, she’d made no effort to cover herself.

“Doesn’t she, uh...” her husband replied in a hoarse, anxious voice. “Um, have the best tits?”

At the wavering hitches, Aiden held in a quiet laugh. Lost, the poor man was still trying to play his original game. But as he unfolded the fingers of his mind, the ring didn’t hold its chuckle. No, its laughter matched the rising beat of music behind a towering gyre of swirling flames. Like lightning, the faint tendrils shot across the shimmering blue water. When they slipped into her, Anna twitched. The glass in her hand trembled. But once it met her glossy lips, she stared at Aiden while sipping.

“She definitely does,” he whispered.

Although his words didn’t cross the pool, his gaze did. And her twinkling green pools flashed. After a muffled giggle, she drained the rest of her wine in one gulp. Once she’d placed the empty glass on the table, she raised an eyebrow. After a lengthy sigh, she gave a brief nod towards Aiden before turning to Rory. Enough of her show. It was time to play her role. The original role her husband expected.

“Alright guys. That’s enough,” she said with mock anger before surging to her feet. “I’m right here.”

After raking shiny, damp hair back with shaky fingers, she flashed Aiden a smile. And he sighed when she dropped into the glittering water beside her husband. As soon as Anna surfaced, Rory was waiting to wrap her in his arms. As a moan left him, she clamped her legs around his waist.

For a brief second, the ring fell silent. But when the couple rotated, Anna’s eyes caught Aiden. And they were afire. It sang. For the first time in years, the ring sang. Even louder than its incessant rumbling.

No words passed between them as Anna pressed her lips against Rory’s neck. His next moan, much deeper, echoed over the rooftop. When she began a slow rise and fall, her eyes flickered before fixing Aiden with a hungering stare. As rhythmic waves pulsed across the surface, she wasn’t riding her husband.

Not anymore.

After a swift nod, Aiden exhaled before rising from the swirling waters. With trunks in hand, he hopped from the tub to land with a splash. Jutting before him, his erect rod wavered in the cool night air.

When he flashed a smile at Anna’s tracking gaze, the ring roared. As its flames leaped, it once more thrust thickening tendrils towards the pool. But, with a growl, Aiden slapped it back into its corner and once more clamped it tight in the blackness.

“No. Patience. Not just yet,” he murmured while heading for the exit.

Once he’d tugged on his trunks, he stepped through the door. Behind him, amidst quicker splashing, the couple’s moans grew louder.

“Not yet,” he repeated under his breath.

With the door’s thunk sealing off the noise, he walked towards the elevator.

Alone.

Again.

The ring was—confused.