Rivals (Book 2 of The Warden series) Page 16

  If she were mature and reserved, she would have quietly taken her abuse. If she were a little less socially stunted by her experiences in life, she might have assumed that he simply hadn’t recognized her in her new haircut. If she were being logical, she would have announced her presence.

  Unfortunately, her last bit of social grace went out the window when she saw the wet mop by the doorway.

  Ethan headed away from the delivery dock. He planned to check in with Danato, but as soon as he could get away, he wanted to hunt down Cori and tell her how much he’d missed her.

  With this one thought in his mind, he passed by a waiting attendant without so much as, a “Hello.” He headed to the nearest exit.

  With visions of surprising Cori with flowers from her own greenhouse, he felt the painful whiplash of a heavy, wet mop hitting the back of his head. With mop tendrils noodle-whipping his face, he turned to see his attacker.

  The attendant he had passed just seconds earlier was enraged, standing at the end of the hall. Who knew a lack of courtesy could cause such incivility?

  Cori stood at one end of the hall like an angry bull, just short of snorting and stamping. Ethan faced off on the other end, looking baffled by the assault.

  “Hello?” Cori said propping her hands on her hips.

  Ethan’s face melted into shock. “Cori?” He laughed. “Is that you?”

  Cori dropped her hands along with her shoulders. “Yes, I guess you’ve already forgotten me.”

  “No.” Ethan removed the mop and jogged back to her. “I didn’t recognize you.” He looked her over. “You cut your hair.”

  He reached to touch her hair, but she pulled away.

  “I guess that shows how much you look at my face.” She took a step back, crossing her arms.

  “It shows how preoccupied I was when I got here,” Ethan assured her. “You look good.” He stepped closer to her.

  “Not too good, though.” Her voice turned solemn as she remembered her conversation with his friend Daniel.

  “What?”

  “Danato is waiting for you.” She brushed passed him.

  “Oh, how I missed this,” he said, following behind her.

  39

  After a quick meet and greet in the office, Danato, Ethan, and Cori headed back to the house for a meal of Danato’s welcome-back chili.

  “How many have you caught?” Danato asked as he added yet another dash of salt to his bowl of chili.

  “Only a dozen so far. It’s harder than I thought,” Ethan said, sipping on his wine. He had already scarfed down his first bowl, and intended on having another, but he was enjoying the sit-down part of the meal so much he wanted to draw it out a little.

  “Dangerous too.” Danato grabbed for the salt again. Cori snagged it from his grasp and gave him a hard stare. He seemed a little put off, but he didn’t say anything more about it.

  “Don’t start; things are just as dangerous here.” Ethan shook his head, not bothering to ask about the salt. “What about things around here?” He glanced at Cori. She had been working on the same bowl of chili for a half hour, even after fetching Danato a second bowl. “I heard you passed your written test.”

  Cori looked up and nodded. She went back to her chili.

  Danato leaned in to catch her eye, but she didn’t look at him. He looked back at Ethan with a raised brow. “She did very well. Surprisingly well.”

  “Stop saying ‘surprisingly’,” Cori scolded Danato.

  “Yes, I’m sorry, that sounds uncomplimentary. I was pleased to see she exceeded my expectations of her. How’s that?”

  Cori shrugged. “Better.”

  “I’m surprised she didn’t mention it the minute you got off the truck. She was very eager to tell you.” Cori stood and picked up Danato’s half-empty bowl. “Or did you not want to brag about that particular accomplishment?” he asked her as she moved into the kitchen to top off the bowl even though he hadn’t finished the first second helping.

  “I guess not,” she said.

  “How’s Belus?” Ethan asked. “I heard he got pretty banged up too when the elementals got out.”

  “Yes, he did. Nothing more bruised than his ego, but that’s just Belus. I was more than happy to have Cori save my prison.”

  Cori returned with his chili and pulled a yellow bottle from her back pocket. Ethan couldn’t see the label, but it appeared to be a no-salt seasoning. She showed it to Danato before setting it down on the table by his bowl. He smiled at it.

  Cori grabbed her half-eaten bowl and turned to leave. Danato grabbed her hand before she left. She looked at him. He winked at her and squeezed her hand before releasing her to put her dish in the sink.

  Ethan gave Danato a questioning one-eyebrow lift when he brought his attention back to the conversation. He felt like the odd man out. He wondered if Cori had felt that way after her time away.

  “Cori,” Danato explained as he started to season his food, “has been taking good care of me.”

  Ethan couldn’t help but smile. He caught Cori’s eye as she started packing up the leftover chili. “I wasn’t aware that the great and powerful Danato needed taking care of.”

  “Well, if she hadn’t been in cahoots with my medical staff, she wouldn’t have either.” Cori didn’t look up at him, but a half-cocked grin spread across her face as she put the lid on her Tupperware. “It’s only fair, since she’s the cause of my high blood pressure to begin with.” Cori’s grin widened as she put her leftovers in the fridge. “Where was I? Oh, yes, why didn’t you tell Ethan about your test score the minute he got off the truck?”

  Cori shrugged, grabbing a towel to wipe down the table with. “I would have, but he was preoccupied.” She said the last word slowly as she wiped her spot off.

  Ethan glanced at Danato. “Yes, I was preoccupied with the joy of seeing my friend again, but sadly I forgot what a pain in the ass she is.” He sipped his wine.

  Danato looked between them. “How’s that?”

  “I didn’t recognize her,” he explained.

  “Oh.” Danato sat back in his chair. “I see. Well, that is understandable.”

  “I was right in front of him,” Cori argued to Danato.

  “You’ve had long hair since I’ve known you. You look different, and no, that doesn’t mean you don’t look good.”

  “I don’t really have expectations for you in that area, anyway, do I?”

  Ethan glanced at Danato to see if he understood that. “What does that mean?”

  “It means you told your friend Daniel that I’m a wallflower.”

  Ethan stood, nearly spilling his wine on the way up. Danato reached over and took his glass from his hand, leaving him free to point an accusing finger at her. “That conversation was grossly misinterpreted and I wasn’t happy that he even spoke with you, let alone repeated my drunken babblings to you. If you wish to discuss my opinions of your beauty, I would be happy to save time for that later, but let’s get back to the anger that you’re harboring for me for this afternoon. I didn’t recognize you, and you didn’t say or do anything to induce that recognition.”

  “I did say hello.”

  Ethan scoffed. “After you were already raging mad!” Danato stood and placed his hand on Ethan’s shoulder. He wasn’t insistent with his pressure. It was just a reminder to him that Danato wouldn’t allow their argument to reach physical violence. Ethan hated that Danato even thought he would hurt Cori, but on this particular occasion he at least appreciated being reminded that Danato was still in the room with them. “You should have said my name! You should have waved! You shouldn’t have just let me walk away!”

  Ethan panted, feeling the conclusion of his long-winded argument come to a close. Cori stared back at him, looking a little blown away. He wasn’t sure if she was thinking the same thing he was. His last comment could have easily referred to their last encounter before he left. He probably meant it that way too.

  Everyone stood around the table, taking in t
he awkwardness of his outburst. An embarrassing dessert, following an acrimonious main course.

  Cori cleared her throat. “You’re absolutely right,” she said, slightly hoarse despite her precursory harrumph. “I should have spoken up.” Cori reached over and picked up his dirty bowl. “You guys can keep talking. I’m going to start the dishes.” She reached for the bottle of wine and poured a little more wine into each of their glasses.

  “Thank you, sweetheart,” Danato said and sat again.

  She headed into the kitchen and started running water for the dishes. With her back to them, Ethan and Danato were free to converse.

  Ethan sat back down and rolled his eyes at Danato before taking a sip of his wine. Danato motioned for Ethan to go to her.

  He shrugged back to him. He pointed at Cori and twirled his finger next to his head. Crazy.

  Danato shook his head. He pointed at himself, swirled his finger at the surrounding house, and vaguely pointed to the prison. He pressed on his shoulders. She has a lot on her shoulders.

  Ethan motioned to her and zipped his lips shut. She won’t talk. He displayed a final snotty head toss to finish.

  Danato pointed at him, made an alligator hand movement, and pointed to Cori. You talk to her.

  Ethan pointed to himself. He pointed at Cori. He made a strangling motion.

  Judging by the scowl on his face, Danato didn’t like that gesture one bit. Given their history it was a bit brash.

  Ethan waved his hand to erase the gesture. He motioned to her, and pulled his hands to his chest. She needs to come to me.

  Danato shook his head. He pointed at Ethan and then pressed his hand on his chest. He leaned in for a response and mouthed Do you love her?

  He nodded. Yes.

  Danato pointed to her, then him, then his heart.

  Ethan shrugged in response to what he thought was a question of her love.

  Danato shook his head. He pointed to himself, his head, her, his heart, and then Ethan. I know she loves you. He pointed to Ethan with one hand, he pointed to Cori with the other, and then he brought his hands together in the middle.

  Ethan nodded. Danato waved him passage to her before getting up and heading to his bedroom.

  Ethan gulped down the last of his wine, and Danato’s, before taking the empty glasses to the sink. Cori scrubbed her dishes with her back to him.

  He came up behind her slowly and placed the wine glasses in her dirty side. She jumped. He braced his hands on either side of the sink, encapsulating her in a touch-less embrace.

  “Hi,” he said softly behind her ear.

  “Hi,” she said. “I got this, don’t worry about it.”

  “You did well on your test?” he asked.

  “Yup,” she said as she washed the wine glasses.

  “Smart girl.” He moved his left hand to tuck a piece of her soft hair behind her ear. “You cut your hair for the test, didn’t you?”

  “Yup.” She nodded, pushing the same piece of hair behind her ear.

  “That’s smart too,” he said, putting his hand back on the sink. He moved just slightly forward so it was no longer a touch-less embrace. He kissed the back of her head. He wanted to kiss her neck. He wanted to pull her head back and kiss her lips, but he didn’t. He kissed the back of her head.

  “I guess.”

  “I like your haircut.” She didn’t say anything. “Getting back to the conversation you had with Daniel…” Her hands slowed, until they finally gave up washing completely. “You are smart, cocky, stubborn, argumentative, beautiful, a pain in my ass, and sexy as hell.” She didn’t say anything, but he felt her body tense. “Did you hear me?” She nodded. He butted heads with her. “What did I say?”

  “You said I’m a stubborn pain in your ass.”

  “Yes, and what else did I say.”

  “You said I’m not ugly.”

  “Say it,” he growled in her ear.

  “You said I’m beautiful... and sexy,” she whispered.

  “Damn straight you are. From here on out, you are not allowed in a room alone with Daniel, understand?”

  “Gladly.”

  “Now turn around and give me a hug, you stubborn pain in my ass. Damn if I didn’t miss you.” Cori turned and tucked her hands under his arms. He enveloped her body and rested his head on hers. He closed his eyes and drank in the smell of her apple shampoo. He could tell he was squeezing a little too hard, but he didn’t want her to try to pull away too soon.

  Even as he pulled her closer, she latched on that much tighter to his back. He couldn’t help but feel the heat in her body tempting the heat in his. He was painfully aware of how their last heartfelt embrace had ended. As much as he wanted to relive that tender electric kiss, he wanted to stick to the plan. Until Cori acknowledged her feelings to him or at the very least instigated an electric kiss herself, he wasn’t going to do anything.

  When he opened his eyes and prepared to disengage, he saw a dark gray blob hanging on her back. “Holy crap.” The blob unfurled and hissed lazily at him. His rat-like features were far less frightening than the girth of his belly. “Cori.” Ethan pulled back and looked at her.

  “I know; he’s huge.” Her face was fraught with embarrassment.

  “What have you been feeding him?” he asked, examining the dip in her shoulder. “Please tell me I’m not the cause for all that.”

  “Not exactly,” she groaned.

  “Come on.” Ethan took her hand, led her into the living room, and sat her on the couch. He sat on the armrest and started to massage the sunken shoulder. She hissed as his hands found the source of strain on her muscles. After a little more pressure, she relaxed into his grip. He had had so few opportunities to touch her body freely. He couldn’t help but think about other ways he wanted to touch her. “What is making him so fat?”

  “First it was you. Then there was the rejection of my application for warden. Then there were the elementals, then you again.” She took in a deep breath and cracked her neck. She exhaled an appreciative sigh. “There. I think I needed that.”

  Ethan eased the pressure on his hands and came to a good stopping point. He didn’t want to stop, but he needed to. He slipped down between her and the arm of the couch. He sat behind her, hoping she might lean back against him, which she did.

  “Why didn’t you come back to see me after the elemental escape?” She shifted so she could look back at him.

  He debated what to tell her, but he decided he needed to be honest. “Fear. Fear that you would be the same, and I would be the same. I may not have a sorrow demon on my shoulder to prove it, but it hurt like hell leaving the first time. I didn’t want to do it again.”

  “What about now? What happens when you leave this time?”

  “I’m still afraid, but I couldn’t miss this. I wanted to see you kick dragon ass.”

  “Maybe you wouldn’t have to go again. Maybe you could just stay. You can be my Belus.”

  Ethan smiled. He reached for her hand, but stopped himself. “As much as I would like that, I’m kind of stuck. I’ve unfortunately paid the price for my loyalty. I have enough assignments to last me another six months. I don’t exactly think I can quit and come back. Not unless that dragon gets the best of you tomorrow.” Cori looked a little confused, but she nodded. “Oh, I almost forgot. I brought you something.”

  “What?”

  “A gift.”

  A smile perked to her lips. “You got me a present?”

  “Why don’t you check my coat pocket?” He winked at her and nodded to the coat rack by the door.

  She ran to the coat rack like a child to a Christmas tree and started digging through his pockets. He could have told her which pocket it was in, but he preferred to watch her scavenge. From his inside pocket she drew out a long blue hinged box, the type one finds necklaces in.

  “Is this it?” He nodded. She walked back over and sat on the coffee table in front of him. Danato would have objected, but he wasn’t there.

&
nbsp; He repositioned himself to watch her open it, but she didn’t. She stared at the box. “Aren’t you going to open it?”

  “I haven’t gotten a present in…” She lost her smile, but only for a second. “Thank you.”

  “You’re more thrilled with receiving the gift than the actual gift. Come on, you’re making me antsy.”

  Cori bit her lower lip and opened the box. Nine brightly polished gold rings lined the box. Her smile faded and her shoulders dropped. She looked up at him.

  He grimaced. “I’m sorry, Cori, I thought they would be right up your alley. You don’t have to wear them.”

  “They’re perfect,” she said, regaining her smile.

  “Are you sure? I had them made from that wizard’s medallion necklace I… stole.”

  “Why only nine? Did they run out?” she asked.

  “No, I have the tenth. I just didn’t want to presume you wouldn’t want to wear your original one.” Ethan nodded to the old gold ring on her thumb. She took all nine gold rings from the box and placed them on her fingers. “I debated on size, but I can always get them fitted.”

  “They’re perfect, Ethan. I can’t believe you did this. I can’t believe you thought of this, or even remembered…” She shook her head.

  “So did I take a little snack away from that sorrow demon?”

  She nodded. “You took a whole meal away.” She paused, looking him over. “I really missed you.”

  “Well, of course. I’m the guy who brings you jewelry,” he jibed.

  “No,” she said firmly. “I really missed you.”

  He nodded. It wasn’t an admission of love by any means, but it was a step in the right direction. “That’s good to hear, Cori. I really missed you too.”

  “Can I show them to Danato?”

  “Yeah, but don’t tell him what they’re made out of.” Cori kissed him on the cheek and ran off to show Danato her nine little gifts.

  40

  As the morning went by, dignitaries arrived in groups of two and three. Cori greeted them all in the main foyer before the guards escorted each one to the gym. Each one was introduced to her as if she were royalty, and they her loyal servants.