He snorted and pointed to the stairs in the middle of the space. “Up we go.”
I climbed a set of spiral stairs, and wondered how the hell anyone got any furniture up here.
When we reached the landing, Micah slapped his hand around, looking for the lightswitch.
“Sorry. It’s been awhile since I’ve been back here.”
He finally hit the lights.
I sucked in a breath as my eyeballs bounced around, trying to take in everything at once. “Woah.”
The room was gigantic, stretching right across the building, the pitched ceilings tapering in sharply so I knew we must have been in the loft. It was not cramped at all, and even Micah in his morphed state could have stood comfortably in the room. Floor to ceiling, wall-to-wall glass-brick windows were at either end of the space and polished floorboards stretched between them.
My eyes snagged on the biggest feature of the room, and I couldn’t look away. There, in the corner, was the largest four-poster bed I had ever seen. It was like a small football field. It could have slept six people and even then they would barely be touching. The bedspread was made from a dark bronze silk, and it had jewelled silk pillows in deep reds, greens and purples. Emerald green curtains wrapped around the bedposts, ready to be pulled down to give privacy to the occupants. I stood there and gaped like a cod.
“My Persian roots came through with the bed. Make yourself comfortable, I’ll go down and get your things.” With that, he went back down the hidden staircase.
I wandered around the room, heading first toward the bed like a moth to a flame. I reached down and touched the silk bedspread. It was soft and sensual and had to be custom made. I ran my hands over the intricately carved bed posts, hooking my fingers through the decorative brass rings.
Was that for bondage or decoration? My face flamed at the thought. Maybe I could get him to tie me up on this island of hedonistic pleasure.
I headed towards the only other room in the apartment, which I assumed was the bathroom. I stepped into the room and was greeted by a large spa bath. It had a beautiful view out the window of the city, and I was going to beg to use it tonight.
I decided to stop nosing around and went to lie on the couch. I was exhausted. The last few weeks had felt like a tornado, but like the good kind, where I ended up in Oz, with the Lollipop Guild and a bitching pair of glitter heels.
I heard the door close and the sound of Micah’s boots trudging up the stairs. I’d brought everything I thought I’d need and the things I knew I couldn’t live without. Unfortunately for all involved, that included Pip and Fred, who I decided I couldn’t just leave alone out there on their own, when they had never been alone a day in their lives. Fred raced in ahead of Micah, apparently happy not to be in the car any longer. He walked around sniffing everything. Pip looked extremely grumpy in his pet carrier, though he’d probably only just woken up from the tranquilizers. I placed his litter box in the bathroom and opened the cage door. I’d let him out gradually over the next couple of days.
I walked over to where Micah was placing my suitcase on the trunk at the end of the bed. Fred weaved between his legs, huffing excitedly.
Micah sighed. His apartment was beginning to look more like my farm and less like a bachelor pad. “Thanks again for letting me bring them.”
He hugged me back, resting his chin on the top of my head. “I just thank god you didn’t want to bring Gladys the cow. Besides, the organization will enjoy having pets in the vicinity, especially the shapeshifters. I know Penelope especially loves cats.” He kissed me, sucking my bottom lip into his mouth until I made an embarrassing moan. “Now that we are all unloaded, how about you let me show you the view from our bathtub.” I was naked before I even reached the bathroom door.
I woke the next morning in a panic. Gasping, I looked around the unfamiliar space. Where the hell was I?
I took a quick, calming breath as things started to come back to me. Alistair and Penelope, Eden, and Micah in all his beautiful glory as he made love to me in his giant bath. I reached over and patted the lump in the blankets next to me.
Lying back down, I wrapped myself around his back, my hand running over his smooth skin. I kissed the back of his nape and he made a sleepy ‘mmm’ noise in the back of his throat that I swear went straight to my core.
“Good morning, Little Red.” He rolled over, kissing my forehead before he moved down to my cheekbones, and then further down to my lips. He gave me soft, sipping kisses that managed to be tender and full of heat all at once. I didn’t even worry about having morning breath.
He pulled away and stared down at me. His yellow eyes were still hooded with sleep, and it made him look like pure sex. “Stay in bed. I’ll make you breakfast.”
Not going to lie, a girl could get used to this really quickly. He pushed back the blankets and was out of bed, stretching tall in his full naked glory. Honestly, he was beautiful. So were Alistair and Penelope.
Maybe they only accepted beautiful people into the group?
“Are all the organization’s members as beautiful as you guys?”
He pulled on his clothes and I pouted. Sure, it was a little chilly, but were clothes really necessary? I mean, I was all for body warmth and saving on laundry.
“Most of the immortals are, I guess. We are like all non-living things, as time passes we become smoother and more refined, our rough edges just sanded away. But no, Eden isn’t filled with models or anything. We are as varied as mortals. But the supernatural world doesn't judge one another on looks like normal society. We tend to judge each other by our perceived power, which is far more dangerous then if someone finds you aesthetically pleasing to the eye.”
While I was happy that I wasn’t going to be surrounded by beautiful people all the time, because let’s face it, my inadequacy issues ran deep, I was still a little freaked out by the idea of being the only human in a building filled with people who were other.
Micah made me bacon and eggs, and delivered it to me in bed on a tray like we were in a romance novel, and my heart did a weird little somersault in my chest. He sat beside my legs, his big hand wrapping around my thigh. “I have to go see some people today, and I can’t take you with me. Will you be okay?”
I nodded, stuffing some toast in my mouth because food made by someone else just tasted better. And it had been a long, long time since someone had made me breakfast in bed. “I’ll leave you a key in case you need to take the dog outside. There’s a library and common room on the third floor; if you like you can meet some of the other members. Penelope also spends most of her time there mentoring. But you are more than welcome to stick around here if you want, I know you aren’t a huge fan of crowds.”
I was honestly curious to meet the ‘members’ of Eden, and besides that fact, my aversion to people and crowds always stemmed from being a freak in a perfect world, so maybe here I would find my kindred spirits?
My tongue darted out to lick some bacon grease from my lip, and he watched the movement with hungry eyes. “You make me want to climb back into bed and feast.”
I didn’t think he was talking about sharing my bacon. So I ran the tip of my tongue over my bottom lip one more time, just for good measure.
He groaned, leaning forward to kiss me. “Tease. I’ll be back later and then you’ll pay for that.” He gave me one last kiss and then tore himself away.