Page 46 of Wicked Bonds

The four-bedroom condo technically belonged to Alik, but they all shared it. Just as they did their properties throughout the world. It made for easy visits and comfortable stays.

“One of my favorite Italian restaurants is right over there,” he added, gesturing to the street across from them. “Their pizza is better than some of the most famous places in Rome.”

It was part of what he loved about Melbourne. So much culture all fused together in one place. Too bad they weren’t on vacation. Otherwise, he’d take Leela for a little stroll, feed her, then fuck her for dessert.

The concern radiating from her mind suggested a good time wasn’t on the menu for tonight. Or maybe it merely meant he needed to work a little harder. “Talk to me, Lee,” he said, his hand giving her a squeeze. “Do we need to mist to Sydney?”

She shook her head. “No. I have another place here. I’m… I’m just trying to figure out why we ended up here and not in Sydney.”And why it feels so familiar to be in this exact place next to him, she added to herself.

He considered that for a moment, searching his memories for times he’d walked this street. But there were too many for him to bring up at once. He wasn’t omniscient like Luc.

“Perhaps we’ve passed each other on this street before,” he suggested. “If you have a place here, too, it’s certainly possible we’ve been here before.”

Particularly as they both appeared to enjoy casual sex. Perhaps it hadn’t been together but with others around the same time. Or even a group experience. Balthazar was never opposed to those. The more the merrier, as far as he was concerned.

“It’s just…” She frowned, her brow pinching as she fought some sort of block in her mind. A thought that was there and then gone in the next instant, too fast for even him to catch. Like she was trying to remember something that should exist yet didn’t.

A sense of déjà ?vu,he realized. That occasionally happened to him when he’d frequented an area often. He’d lived so long that it seemed only natural. However, something about this instance bothered her. Like she should be able to remember exactly why it felt familiar but couldn’t.

Balthazar released Leela’s hand to draw his fingers up her arm. She was still wearing that adorable puffy coat. He wanted to remove it to admire the sweater beneath and her lack of a bra.

Alas, he needed to free her mind first.

“Maybe we can take a stroll and see if something jogs the memory.” He kept his tone soft, coaxing, but the glimmer in her blue-green irises told him she saw right through his words.

She wrapped her hand around his wrist and engaged her misting ability again, whirling them through time and space for a flash of a second.

Walls replaced the open air around him. Carpet cushioned his shoes, removing the concrete. And a sea of windows overlooking the water graced his vision.

They were still in Melbourne.

He knew this because Alik’s flat boasted a similar view.

But this wasn’t Alik’s home.

The furniture was too white, the balcony too bare, and the rooms were smaller. A living area bled into the kitchen. No dining room. And the hallway beside him suggested it led to only a single bedroom.

Not a problem with him. He’d happily share a bed with Leela.

She released him, but he caught her by the nape, tugging her forward. “You can mist all you want, sweetheart. That won’t distract me from wanting to know the truth.”

“About what?”

“Everything,” he said slowly. “Brazil. How many times you’ve seen me. What it felt like inside you. What you look like when you come.” He wanted to know it all.

Almost as badly as he wanted to understand more about her fears of reformation and the allusivehimthat she kept thinking about.

Who are you afraid of, sweet vixen?he wanted to ask. But he knew better than to push. Revealing secrets required a delicate touch. One he excelled at more than most.

Being able to read minds helped.

As did his ability to manipulate emotion.

But it really came down to bedside manners.

He brushed his lips against hers, tasting her with the age of experience behind his touch. Having access to her mind gave him the permission he sought, telling him that his kiss was very much approved and appreciated.

She would never say no.