Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

“Mummy! Mummy! Wake up! Henry’s here!”

Sapphie fought her way through the layers of the deep sleep she must have finally fallen into sometime during the early hours of this morning.

Initially, after parting from Magnus, she’d been unable to switch her brain off. To be able to stop thinking about Magnus, and the pleasure he had given her, to be able to relax enough to fall asleep.

She knew her brain was still foggy from having only a few hours of sleep, but it had sounded to her as if Angel had just said her spider friend, Henry, was here.

Which he really couldn’t be.

Angel had to have found another spider the same size as Henry somewhere in Magnus’s apartment, and she had now adopted him in the same way she had Henry.

Sapphie had to admit she was a little surprised that any spider, Henry’s size or otherwise, would dare to invade this luxurious apartment on the twentieth floor of the building.

“Mummy!” An impatient Angel gave her fingers a squeeze where her hand lay on top of the duvet. “Wake up and see!”

Sapphie gave a groan, pulling herself up into a sitting position against the headboard of the single bed, before even attempting to crack open her eyes.

She instantly recoiled, her head hitting the wall behind her as she went cross-eyed trying to focus on the clear plastic oblong case Angel was holding up by its handle just three inches in front of Sapphie’s nose.

There was a spider almost the size of her palm inside, very much the same size and coloring as Henry. It was happily weaving a web between the two twig-like structures either side of the case lined at the bottom with grass and stones. There was a sliding opening at the top of the case, which was thankfully closed at the moment.

Sapphie squinted as she leaned forward to press her face up against the see-through case. The spider definitely looked like Henry. Even to the fact that one of his legs was just a little shorter than the other seven.

Nah, it couldn’t really be Henry. Because Henry was still in the bathroom of the apartment she and Angel had so recently hurriedly vacated.

It had to be a realistic impostor?—

What the hell…!

Why would an impostor spider in a clear plastic box obviously designed for the purpose and which Sapphie had never seen before suddenly appear in Magnus’s apartment?

More precisely, appear in the bedroom Sapphie and Angel were sharing in said apartment?

She leaned back. “Where did you find him, darling?”

“He was sitting in this case on top of my bedside cabinet when I woke up,” Angel told her gleefully, her tears for the spider from the previous evening completely forgotten. “How do you think he got here?” she asked.

Luckily, her daughter was so busy smiling and talking to her beloved spider that she didn’t see the expression of absolute horror on her mother’s face.

Because Sapphie could think of only one way in which the spider, and the specially designed case, could have suddenly appeared at Angel’s bedside.

Magnus.

Sapphie hadn’t heard him leave the apartment, despite having trouble falling asleep. But, as she looked at the industrious spider, she was absolutely convinced that sometime during the night, Magnus had indeed left the apartment.

That after leaving he had somehow managed to buy a see-through plastic case for keeping arachnids in before going to the house where Sapphie and Angel had lived until recently. Once in the apartment they had rented, he had to have caught and collected Henry from the bathroom. Then he had brought the-no-doubt-disoriented spider back here safely ensconced in the case, before leaving it on the bedside cabinet for Angel to find when she woke in the morning.

Unbelievable as that all sounded, Sapphie was absolutely convinced that was how Henry the spider came to be here.

“Care to explain how a common spider, one that looks suspiciously like Henry from our old bathroom, is currently sitting in your spare bedroom being cooed over ecstatically by my daughter?” Sapphie challenged minutes later when she joined Magnus in the kitchen area, where he stood waiting for a pot of coffee to finish percolating.

He was leaning forward with his hands resting on the edge of a worktop, wearing those black biker boots and a long-sleeved black henley top with faded black jeans resting low on his hips.

He looked tired, the lines fanning out beside his mouth and eyes more pronounced, dark circles beneath the latter.

That, along with the guilty look on Magnus’s face, was enough to confirm that it was indeed Henry, and not a spider who looked like him, in that specially designed, and no doubt expensive, plastic arachnid case.

“Let me just reiterate,” Sapphie said slowly when he didn’t answer her. “You actually went out in the middle of the night, bought a suitable case for small arachnids?—”

“There is nothing small about that fucking spider!” he protested. “Neither of you told me the damned thing is enormous !”

She nodded before continuing. “You bought the case from…somewhere. You then collected Henry from our old apartment and came back here to put him on the bedside cabinet in our bedroom for Angel to find when she woke up.”

“I couldn’t sleep,” he muttered.

Neither could she, and probably for the same reason. Which they probably shouldn’t talk about right now, when Angel could join them at any moment.

“Is that what you did, Magnus?” she persisted.

“Angel was upset he wasn’t there when she had her bath,” he grumbled.

Sapphie gave an incredulous laugh. “She was overtired and emotional after all the traveling. A good night’s sleep and she would have been fine again this morning.”

“I couldn’t bear to see her crying over something that was so easily fixed.”

“Easily?”

He grimaced. “Okay, that spider is a bloody nightmare. But he’s here now, and you said Angel is happy?”

“Very,” she confirmed. “It was very kind of you, and I also appreciate your thoughtfulness.”

“But…?”

“But you can’t try to right all the wrongs in her life. Or mine,” she added huskily.

“I can if it’s within my power to do so,” he came back fiercely.

Sapphie gave an exasperated shake of her head. “Where on earth did you get the special case from?”

He looked sheepish. “I found a superstore that was open all night and has a pet section.”

“Where?”

“Online.”

“No, I meant where is the store situated?”

He winced. “The other side of London. But I wasn’t sleeping anyway, so I didn’t mind the drive?—”

“Magnus,” she gently interrupted him, placing her hand on his arm as she did so. “I couldn’t sleep either, and probably for the same reason,” she confided, her cheeks feeling heated. “But what you did when you couldn’t sleep is so out there. I can tell you don’t even like spiders.”

“I fucking hate them,” he confirmed vehemently. “Especially big fat fuckers like Henry.”

Sapphie couldn’t help it, she giggled at the thought of this six-foot-four-inch tall man, who admitted to not liking spiders, having somehow managed to coax Henry into the plastic box before bringing him back here.

She laughed even harder when she thought of the anxious glances Magnus would have given toward the occupied plastic case as it no doubt sat on the passenger seat beside him on his drive back to the apartment.

His dark scowl told her he didn’t appreciate her humor at his expense.

She patted and then released his arm once she’d sobered enough to speak. “Well, I want you to know, even though I think you’re slightly insane, that your good deed for the day has made one little girl very happy.”

Magnus would have preferred to do something that would make one big girl happy, but he would settle for what he could get. Which was making Sapphie’s daughter happy.

Besides, Sapphie might have called him insane, but his behavior had also made her laugh. Even if it had been at him rather than with him.

She was beautiful this morning in a violet-colored sweater the same color as her eyes, along with fitted black jeans that clung to every slender curve of her hips and thighs. Her hair was brushed back and up and secured in a ponytail at her crown. As usual, she wore no makeup. Because she didn’t need it. Her skin was flawlessly smooth and soft; her eyes, surrounded by naturally dark lashes, were beautifully mesmerizing.

“I’m interested to know, though,” she continued before Magnus could tell her how beautiful she was. “What are you going to do when Henry dies in a year or so, as, being a household spider, he invariably will?”

“I’ll find another spider that looks exactly like him,” Magnus answered promptly, inwardly thrilled by her accepting he would still be around in a year or so to replace the spider.

Sapphie burst into uncontrollable laughter for the second time that morning.

Magnus found himself grinning along with her when she seemed in no hurry to stop laughing.

She needed this release through humor, he realized. Both as an outlet to the strain she had been living under for so long and also to dispel the awkwardness that had initially existed between them when she came into the kitchen this morning.

Magnus had tried to sleep last night after Sapphie went back to her bedroom. But even after taking a long shower, his thoughts had been in turmoil and his engorged cock refused to deflate. Nor had he wanted to take himself in hand to deal with the latter when it was Sapphie’s hand and mouth he ached to feel on him.

He’d finally given up, gotten out of bed and dressed, before going in search of a huge fucking spider a nearly four-year-old little girl had named and called her friend.

“Well, isn’t this a cozy domestic scene,” Linus drawled as he strolled into the kitchen.

Magnus immediately turned to scowl at his youngest brother. “Did you forget—again—how to buzz up to alert me to your presence in the building so I could decide for myself whether or not I wanted to let you come up here?”

Linus appeared unconcerned by his aggression. In fact, he was openly grinning as he placed a familiar box containing donuts on top of the breakfast bar. “I come bearing gifts.”

“You—”

“Oh my God, donuts!” Sapphie rushed over to open up the lid of the box. “You brought my favorite one!” she cried before lifting out one of the decorated treats and carrying it to her mouth to take a huge bite. The groan she gave as she chewed was worthy of a porn star acting as if she were in the throes of ecstasy.

Or, as Magnus knew, the genuine groans of ecstasy Sapphie gave when she climaxed.

Magnus narrowed his eyes to glare at his brother. “How did you know she likes donuts?”

“Research,” Linus dismissed, taking a third mug from the cupboards where he knew they were kept and pouring the coffee into all three mugs. “She used to buy a box for them to share, when she could afford it, every couple of weeks or so.”

Magnus glared. “What else did you discover while doing this research on the woman I’m sure I told you was mine?”

“She likes fries, but not mash.” Linus took a sip of his black coffee. “She doesn’t like spinach or asparagus, but loves broccoli. She dislikes injustice and bullying of any kind. Oh, and she loves her daughter with a protective fierceness I am in awe of.”

Magnus’s nostrils flared. “Don’t be too much in awe.”

Linus grinned. “Never thought I would see the day you’re sooo pussy-whipped your jealousy is out there for all to see,” he murmured softly so that only Magnus could hear.

Just thinking about Sapphie’s pussy was enough for Magnus to once again taste her on his lips. To feel the perfection of her swollen pussy lips against his tongue.

“Getting hard there, brother, so maybe change the subject,” Linus warned softly.

Magnus was always hard when in Sapphie’s presence. It seemed to be his body’s reaction to everything about her. Looking at her. Touching her. Tasting her. Hell, just knowing she existed made him hard.

“Okay, that isn’t working,” Linus chuckled as he saw Magnus’s reaction. “I can’t wait until Fergus sees what’s going on,” he added with glee.

Sapphie turned from where she had been studying the contents of the box of donuts, having consumed her first one. “Fergus and Magnus are twins, yes?” she prompted as she put cream and sugar in her coffee before taking an obviously much-needed sip.

“Fraternal, not identical,” Linus confirmed. “Although he is just as big and hairy as Magnus, just a little more…put together. I think that’s because he lives and works in France and is surrounded by all those elegant French men and women.”

Magnus was relieved to have only one of his brothers’ teasing to contend with. For now, at least. His twin’s teasing would be remorseless once Fergus knew about his feelings for Sapphie.

Having finished drinking her coffee, she now glanced into the cardboard box before taking out another donut and putting it on a plate she took down from the cupboard. This one had a topping of pink frosting and colorful sprinkles.

“I’m taking this to Angel.” She moved to pour milk from the fridge into a glass before picking up the plate and donut with her other hand. “My daughter is going to love you for bringing the donuts over for our breakfast,” she told Linus before her gaze shifted to a softly growling Magnus. “She already loves you for returning her spider to her,” she assured before going through to the hallway where the bedrooms were situated.

A scream of childish delight was heard coming from the bedroom seconds later.