The Final Storm

25. Down into the Depths

Adaira Louise Jannet Melanie Georgette Ambrose stared up at her brother like a little girl caught with her hand in the cookie jar. This might be a lot more convincing if she had actually been caught with her hands in a cookie jar, and not with her tongue in a man's mouth, hidden in a secret closet in a compromising position.

Said man, by the way, was still busy kissing the life out of her and, thanks to his firmly closed eyes, didn't seem to have noticed a thing. He appeared to be intent on kissing her as long and as much as humanly possible before he got decapitated by the rebels they had been expecting. Something that, judging by the look in her brother's eyes, seemed to be rather likely, minus the rebel part.

That look...

It was as cold as arctic frost. It was the absolute zero of space. It was a volcano of ice, about to erupt and cover the entire earth in a new ice age.

Most likely, the only reason her dear brother hadn't erupted yet was that he seemed to be struggling with the decision whether to tear into her first, or tear off the head of the man who was still kissing her and didn't seem to have noticed they now had company, let alone who it was.

But, knowing her brother, making that decision wouldn't take long.

If only this moment could stretch for eternity. If only nobody broke the spell that seemed to hang over them, keeping her brother frozen in place. If only—

"Oh, hey there, Adaira," a cheerful voice piped up from behind her brother, and a certain ifrit from hell stuck her head over his shoulder. "Having fun?"

Adaira suddenly started to regret that she hadn't put her foot down and kept her brother from marrying that fiend.

Really? Did you forget that you met the man you're currently kissing at their wedding?

Deciding to ignore that inconvenient whisper at the back of her mind, Adaira re-focused on the here and now. Because Captain Carter finally seemed to have noticed that he was not yet decapitated by rebels and opened his eyes.

He looked up.

He saw her brother.

"Oh. Um." Parting his lips from hers ever so slightly, Captain James Carter smiled up at Mr Rikkard Ambrose. "It's you."

"Indeed," was her brother's reply. He did not smile.

"So...no rebels?"

"No. We took care of them."

"Ah. Good." The captain put on a thoughtful expression for a second. "Well...if that's the case, let's get back to more important things."

Then he closed his eyes and reclaimed her lips again.

Holy...!

Adaira felt herself blush. She stared over the captain's shoulder straight at her brother's suddenly frozen face—but only for a second, before her eyes went out of focus from the intensity of her man's kiss. That scoundrel! That blaggard! He was so...so...

...bold? Brave? Daring?

Well, yes. All of the above.

The heat in Adaira's cheeks intensified. She had to admit, any man willing to kiss her brazenly in front of her brother was braver than Heracles and Achilles put together. Those old fossils had only fought monsters and men. The man who held her in his arms was willing to face down a titan for her. Because that was what her brother was. Adaira had no illusions about her brother. He was a titan of industry, money and power. Someone like that could make a small army captain disappear in the blink of an eye. And yet, here James was, kissing the life out of her right in front of him.