My bra and panties.
“Better?” I look up at Ian who’s raising an eyebrow at me. He’s wearing only his boxer briefs and a smile.
I snatch my underthings in the water and glare at him.
It only takes me a minute to get them back on, and I only feel slightly less turned-on-embarrassed once I’m covered in all the important places. The second I give him the okay, Ian cannonballs into the water.
He surfaces, flicking his hair out of his face. He needs a haircut, but it suits him. Not entirely put together—free and wild.
“You really should quit staring, Liv,” he says as he swims over to me. “You’re going to give me all these wild thoughts that you want something from me.”
“In your dreams,” I breathe, trying to tease him off and totally failing.
“Many, many times since the day I met you,” he confesses with no shame. He’s stopped only a foot and a half away from me. He treads water with ease, and his eyes are intense on me. “You blew me off on Sunday. And haven’t answered any of my calls all week. You avoiding me?”
Water droplets cling to his lashes. His lips are wet and oh so close. Ian shifts in the water and without thinking, I move with him.
I bite my lower lip without thinking. My body is freaking out. “I had some thinking to do.”
“Hmm,” he says contemplatively. “So, you heard from your new friends since the ball?” he asks, whiplashing the moment.
It takes me a second to pull my thoughts from what’s happening in my lower belly to the question he posed.
“Uh, no,” I say. “It’s been a week, but there hasn’t been a single word. I’m guessing they’re all still trying to decide what to do with me.”
“They want to claim you,” Ian says.
“But they’re afraid of what will happen when the King comes,” I fill in.
“I’ve heard the stories,” Ian says as all the heat dies from his eyes, leaving me with a sense of longing. Like he waved the biggest box of chocolate in my face and then ripped it away, saying, just kidding. “He’s got this pretty sick sense of entertainment. He visits all the Houses from time to time. He gets bored easily after living for so long. Likes to play games.”
“Like what?” I ask, my brows furrowing.
“I heard he rounded up a dozen humans once,” he starts. “Whoever hunted down and fed on the most of them won a million dollars. Blood and money. Two of the King’s favorite things.”
“Why is everyone in the House here afraid of him, though?” I ask. “If he’s just brutal to the humans?”
“Because another time, he took two House members and told them whoever won that game could join his Court. It was a battle to the death, and they didn’t have any choice.”
“I get it,” I say, shaking my head. This guy sounds a bit like Markov, just with more money and more power.
“So, yeah,” Ian says. “I get why they’re taking so long to come to a decision on what to do with you. It’s a serious matter.”
I nod absent-mindedly.
“I still think you should have waited longer to out yourself,” Ian says quietly.
“They’d already found me,” I say, resisting the urge to start an argument. “I’d already met Jasmine, that day we went to town. She’s the one who gave me an invitation.”
Ian takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly when he looks away from me.
“I’m a tough, big girl, Ian,” I say. My insides are feeling complicated things. It’s been a long time since anyone looked out for me. “You don’t have to always try and protect me. You have no obligation to me.”
“Like I said,” Ian says as his eyes shift back to mine. “I can’t seem to help it.” He very slowly moves closer to me through the water. The small wave he sends rippling around my body makes all my nerve endings fizz to life. “You do things to me, Alivia Ryan.”
“What things?” I breathe, resisting the urge to close the small distance between us. Ian is only six inches from my face, but it feels like he’s miles away.
“Strange, unexplainable things.” His eyes shift down to my lips and the heat in the air doubles. “You’re a drug I can’t get off of. I know you’re going to be my worst enemy someday, but I think that’s part of the reason I want you so bad. I can’t have you.”
My own eyes are on his lips again, and I’m trying to remember what they taste like, and suddenly, I’m feeling forgetful and need a reminder.
“Are you two completely idiotic?”
We spring apart and whip around. Rath stands on the veranda, eyes livid and wild. His hands are clenched into fists, and his chest rises and falls.