She walked over to one of the lawn chairs.
Erin untied the robe and pulled it off, revealing her swimsuit.
He quickly averted his gaze.
Too late.
The image had already burned itself into him.
Magnus took position on one of the chairs, lowering himself carefully.
His body still did not move with the mindless ease of other men.
Every motion required attention.
Erin slipped into the pool.
The water accepted her with a soft splash.
Magnus lay back on the lawn chair and stared at the sky.
He tried hard to ignore the sound of her swimming.
It did not work.
He could hear too much.
Feel too much.
Imagine too much.
His body responded naturally.
Magnus closed his eyes, groaning in exasperation.
He reached for the towel beside him and placed it discreetly over his hard-on.
It was not the first time his body had responded to her.
Even when she was not there.
All Magnus had to do was close his eyes and think of her, and his body betrayed him with pathetic enthusiasm.
Years of wanting.
Years of loving her.
He had been saving himself for her.
He could have taken lovers.
But none of them had been Erin.
She was supposed to be his first and his last.
Funny how life worked, hm?
What was he even supposed to do?
He had no idea.
If the opportunity presented itself, would he even know how to take it?
He had never kissed her.
Never kissed anyone else truly.
He had endured Evander’s shameless commentary on sex, but experience was different from theory.
Could he seduce her?
Could he change her mind about this madness with Garrick?
Did he even have the right to try?
He groaned beneath his breath.
“Evander, you fucktard.”
The ache of his brother’s absence struck.
The one person Magnus could have asked had sacrificed himself.
Erin surfaced near the centre of the pool, pushing wet hair back from her face.
Magnus could barely tear his gaze away.
She was perfect.
A few minutes later, Erin came out of the water.
Water spilled off her body.
Her breathing had changed from the steady rhythm of swimming to something relaxed.
He kept his eyes closed.
Possibly the only intelligent decision he had made all morning.
Then he realised he was in deep, catastrophic trouble.
The towel was still over his erection.
He could not stand.
He could not sit up.
He could not remove the towel without revealing the problem.
He lay there like a corpse.
Erin squeezed the water from her hair.
“Magnus?” she called.
He did not respond.
“Are you asleep?” she asked.
Magnus silently prayed to the Blood Goddess.
Please.
If there had ever been mercy in her dark and ancient heart, now would be a perfect time to prove it.
Let the pool explode.
Anything.
He would give anything.
Erin, apparently not wanting to bother him, stepped closer.
Her shadow fell across him.
His eyes remained closed, but he could feel her there.
Erin sighed.
Then she reached down.
Magnus felt her fingers close around the towel on his thigh.
His eyes flew open.
Her hand scooped up the towel, but she had grabbed too much.
Her fingers dragged against him, and for one stunning, brain-destroying second, Erin had his cock in her hand along with the towel.
Erin yelped.
She stumbled backward, horrified, the towel half in her fist, her eyes wide enough to hold the entire Blood City skyline.
“Oh my—” Her heel slid on the water-slick stone.
One second she was falling, arms flailing, body tipping backward toward the hard floor.
The next, his vampire instincts took over with a violent, impossible speed he had barely begun to trust since returning from purgatory.
He was off the chair in a blur.
His arm caught around her waist before she hit the ground.
Erin landed against him instead.
She was pressed to him from chest to thigh, her hands clutching his shoulders, her mouth parted in shock.
The towel was somewhere on the ground.
Their eyes met.
Erin’s heartbeat hammered against his chest.
He could hear it racing.
His hand remained firm at her waist.
Her fingers tightened unconsciously against his skin.
Then reality returned.
“What the hell was that?!” Erin snapped, jerking away from him.
“How!” she continued, pointing at his lower body.
“My God! Have you no decency?”
He had saved her from cracking her head open, and somehow he was on trial.
“I’m sorry…It’s a natural biological response.”
“A natural—” Erin broke off, scandalised beyond grammar.
“Goddess! You were just lying there with—with— With that! I grabbed—” She stopped and looked away, cheeks flaming.
“I grabbed your….”
“Yes,” Magnus said tightly.
“You did.” He should have stopped.
He truly should have.
But his body was still on fire, and the part of him that had spent years being painfully polite around her had apparently chosen this exact moment to become a petty bastard.
“You didn’t have to grab it so hard, though,” he muttered, helping her to her feet.
Erin’s mouth fell open.
“I didn’t know it was there!” she hissed, snatching her arm away once she was steady.
“It wasn’t supposed to be there!”
“Uh… where else was it supposed to be?”
“Ugh!” Erin threw her hands up.
Fantastic.
Truly, the Moon Goddess was having a productive morning.
“I told you I didn’t want to make this any harder.”
The words left her mouth.
She heard them.
Erin shut her eyes and groaned.
“Do not.”
Magnus’ mouth curved.
“I said nothing.”
“You thought it.” She opened her eyes and glared at him.
“How are we supposed to have the bond severed if you cannot behave?”
The amusement drained from his face so quickly she almost wished she had let him keep teasing.
“Honestly?” he said.
“I didn’t try to behave. Why do I have to behave?” he asked.
“You are the one fucking another man.”