Chapter 8

 

 

It was one of the greatest challenges of his life, but Rik managed to get through the next few hours of work without rushing to the Château to grab up his cara and steal her away until the bond was complete. He’d catch himself randomly rubbing the left side of his chest, then have to force himself to stop. He also was quite proud of the fact that although he’d randomly find his cock as hard as a spike, he didn’t once go into the bathroom to rub one out at work—not that he had ever, ever done that before. Ever. Really. No, seriously. Stop laughing.

Finally, around 3:30 in the afternoon, he’d had enough. Packing up his laptop, he tossed it in his bag and headed out. He ignored Lizzy’s poorly concealed smirk when he gruffly said, “I’ll be working from home for the week.”

The fifteen-minute walk to his penthouse made him wish he had driven, as every time he had to stop and wait for a crossing signal, he found himself growling. Damn, I’m acting like a fucking werewolf. At this rate, I’m going to bite her to mark my territory and start howling at the bloody moon! He was thankful he was wearing sunglasses, because he was quite sure his eyes were glowing at this rate, even through the innate glamour that prevented Mortals from noticing such uncanny events.

He couldn’t manage much more than a grunt at the doorman to his building, and the ride up to his penthouse seemed to drag forever. Luckily, he had the elevator to himself, because he was sure if he had to say more than two words to anyone, he’d start roaring like a possessed man.

His penthouse was more than 7000-square-feet of utter decadence, taking up the western half of the top two floors of the high-rise, and was one of the most expensive condos in the entire city. He had a view of the Rockies, the South Platte River, and his views were unobstructed—one of the main reasons he had purchased the place. The hot tub off the balcony of the master suite was just an added bonus. His family owned the matching penthouse that overlooked the east, for the rare occasions his grandparents came down from the mountains, or the even more rare occasions when his parents came to visit.

Shouldering open the door to the penthouse, Rik called out to his roommate, “Clay, you here, man?”

Not hearing a response, Rik heaved a sigh of relief. He loved his best friend like the brother he never had, but the man could sniff out trouble like no one else. He was never at the center of it, but Clay always seemed to be at the periphery, egging it on. Clay would no doubt eventually find out that Rik had found his cara, and would be more than happy to help Rik execute his plans to claim his soulmate, but Rik wanted to actually have a plan first. Otherwise, chaos would ensue.

Rushing into his bedroom, Rik hurriedly tossed together a suitcase as he made a quick call to the Château’s front desk.

“Good afternoon, thank you for calling Château de Lyon, this is Daniel, how may we serve you today?”

“Yeah, Danny, it’s Rik. Could you do me a favor? I’m going to be heading up there for the week to help start setting things up for the Village opening, so could you hook me up with a room in one of the towers?” Okay, so he was stretching the truth a little, but he would help. Really. Even without Andrea or Clara asking for it. Normally, he would just stay in one of the cabins on the grounds, since after he had permanently relocated to Denver, his old room at his grandparents had been converted into a playroom for his grandmother’s many, many cats. Don’t ask.

“Definitely, man!” Danny’s cheerful voice replied, the sound of the keyboard in the background as he checked the computer. “Looks like we have a suite available in the Dragon’s Tower right now, you want that one for the week?”

“Yeah, that’s great, man. Thanks!” Rik said as he finished shoving some clothes into his suitcase and zipped it up. Reaching into his closet, he pulled out the large, heavy travel chest that was already packed up. “See you in a bit.”

Carrying his suitcase and chest over to the door, Rik called the desk manager for the condo, “It’s Rikard Leon. Can you have my car brought around in about 15 minutes, please?”

“Yes, sir. It’ll be ready for you out front. Do you need assistance with your luggage, sir?”

“Nah, I got it this time. Thanks, Jorge. Give Angela a kiss for me, will you?”

“I’m sure she’ll appreciate that, sir,” Jorge replied drily. “See you downstairs in a few,” Jorge had been the day manager for the condos since the building had opened, and Rik quite enjoyed the man’s droll sense of humor. His wife was a freaking hoot, determined to mother him every time she saw him, even if Rik was nearly three times her age.

Everything set and ready to go, Rik dashed back into his bedroom and tore out of his suit, tossing the clothes on the bed until he wore nothing more than a pair of black silk boxers. What? He liked the feel of silk! He debated for a few moments, then ruefully tugged them off, opting instead for his more athletic cut boxer briefs—he had a feeling he was going to need that little extra support. Yanking on his jeans and pulling on a Broncos hooded sweatshirt, he shoved his size thirteens into his hiking boots and grabbed his leather coat before he headed out. Operation: Prince Charming was a go!

 

It took Rik almost three hours to get to the Château—three long, slow hours—after he got caught behind an accident on I-70 that backed up traffic for miles. By the time he pulled his Range Rover Sport into the underground parking facility beneath the Château, it was already past sunset. He could feel his heartbeat quickening at the thought of seeing Sam, this time hopefully face-to-face and with a little less yelling. One could dream, anyways, right?

He jogged up the stairs, unwilling to wait for the elevator, emerging into the Great Hall where he saw Danny sitting at the reception desk, working on the computer. Danny was a young Sidhe, technically still in his teens until he reached his maturity in his 25th year and came into his full power. Like most Sidhe born in the Americas, he had matured rather quickly, and at 19 was already showing the depths of his potential powers. He was also like that annoying younger brother Rik had never wanted, but was secretly glad to have.

Without looking up from his computer, Danny said, “Hey, Rik, Misty’s grabbing your stuff and will take it up to your rooms for you. Need anything else or you just hear to cruise the babes?”

Amused, Rik asked, “Babes? Is that still an actual word?”

Finally tearing his attention away from the screen, Danny rolled his eyes at Rik, “Dude, I know you’re like old and stuff, but you’re not that old. Not really.” He then grinned widely and winked, “And yeah, babes. There are a couple of total hotties that are staying right now, and Clara invited the sweetest looking redhead…”

Straightening, and resisting the urge to snarl at the younger Sidhe, Rik managed a nonchalance he truly wasn’t feeling, “Oh? That must be Ms. Kelly. Yeah, she’s one of the applicants for the Landsmaster position, so you may want to make sure you don’t scare her off.” Huh, when had he clenched his fists? And why did he suddenly have the urge to deck the ridiculously good-looking younger Sidhe? And why was he noticing how damned attractive Danny was? Fuck!

“Yeah, yeah, it’s not like there’s a no fraternization policy, old man,” Danny said with a laugh.

Deciding a change of subject was definitely in order, Rik cleared his throat. “We have another candidate for the position arriving on Friday. Could you go ahead and set him up for a room? I’m thinking that we’re going to want both of them to stay for a while, to see which is really the better fit.”

Turning back to his computer, Danny shrugged and said, “Sure, just send me his information and I’ll get it set up. It’s still slow right now until the Village opens up in a few weeks.”

“Great, thanks, Danny.” Clearing his throat, once more striving for nonchalance, Rik asked, “So where are my sisters, anyways?”

“Her Majesty, Queen Genevieve the Demanding, is in her lair, probably plotting on kidnapping virgins or terrorizing the neighbors,” Danny said with a chuckle as he jerked his thumb up over his shoulder. That earned him a snort of laughter from Rik. Genevieve could indeed be quite demanding, but considering she was in charge of security at the Estates, both for Mortals and the Uncanny alike, she had her reasons for being a bitch.

Turning his finger, Danny continued as he pointed down the hall toward the restaurant and kitchens, “And last I saw M’Lady Clara, she had kidnapped Kelly the Red and drug her off to grab some dinner.” Danny glanced at the corner of his monitor, “That was about an hour or so ago, though, but I haven’t seen them pass by since, so they may still be there.”

Already moving toward the hall that led toward the restaurant, Rik called over his shoulder, “Thanks, Dan-Man, I’ll catch you later.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Danny’s laughing response trailed after the departing Rik, leaving the younger Sidhe shaking his head in bemusement as he watched Rik walking with a rather hurried, determined stride toward the restaurant. He apparently really needed to talk to his youngest sister. With a shrug, Danny went back to working on his homework. He had a class in Economics he needed to pass, or his father would have his hide made into a jacket for his mother.