TONY: Slow Burn (Raging Fire Book 1) by Kallypso Masters (the false prince TXT) 📕

Should he knock or use the key Angelina and Marc had given him for emergencies? Not wanting to wake her, he decided to do a quick perimeter check to see if anything appeared to be out of order and leave it at that. She needed her sleep.

Walking around the side of the house, he thought he heard voices. The deck area was pitch-black, until he rounded the side of the log house and saw the light from the hot tub glowing.

Holy shit!

Out of the water rose Carm in all her naked glory looking like Aphrodite rising from the sea foam. Her high breasts glistened with rivulets of water. Tony’s eyes quickly adjusted to the light, and he could make out the side view of a dusty-rose areola surrounding an erect nipple. When she turned in his direction, the sight of the triangle of curls between her legs would definitely spice up the fantasy dreams he’d been having about her lately. Sure beat his imagination.

Everything happened so fast that Tony didn’t know what to do. Someone cut the hot tub jets and silence ensued except for the chirping of tree frogs and crickets. Carm glanced his way again as she came down the steps but didn’t acknowledge him as she picked up one of the white terrycloth robes draped over a patio chair. She seemed in no hurry to cover herself, so she probably had no idea he was watching her. Should he announce his presence and risk frightening her and anyone else who came out of the tub after her, or should he creep back to the front of the house and pretend he hadn’t seen a thing?

The lack of sound from the jets would amplify his footsteps, though, so he stood stock-still. Before he could make a decision about what to do, Angelina’s voice came from the front of the house, blowing his cover.

“Tony? Where are you?”

Trying to act as though he’d just arrived, he responded, “Headed ’round to the back deck!”

At the sound of his voice, Carm zeroed in on his location immediately and quickly donned her robe, cinching the belt tightly around her trim waist. Thank you, sweet baby Jesus. Tony wasn’t sure if he was more thankful for what he’d seen or that she was no longer a naked temptation. He already had enough vivid images to fill his nights with torturous fantasies for the remainder of his life.

“What are you doing out here?” Angelina’s question brought him back to the present. She’d exited the house onto the back deck also wearing a bathrobe, and probably naked underneath. He wasn’t going to think about what they were doing out here close to midnight but would be eternally grateful he didn’t catch his sister coming out of the hot tub naked.

“Just wanted to check and make sure you were okay, Sis. I thought you were sleeping and didn’t want to disturb you, so I decided to just do a perimeter check before heading home.” He truly hadn’t intended to be ogling Carm, that’s for sure.

“We’re fine. Turn around.” She and Carm opened up additional bathrobes to shield several more women so they could slip into them without giving Tony any further glimpses of nudity. How many women were in that hot tub? Rather than count, he faced away as Angelina asked, “Didn’t Rafe tell you I was having friends over tonight?”

“Must have slipped his mind.” Tony wanted to strangle his brother for not giving him a heads-up, but Rafe had a lot on his mind lately with his upcoming officer’s exam. And in fairness Tony hadn’t told Rafe he planned to check on Angelina, either.

“Okay, you can turn around now.” Tony did so and climbed the steps onto the deck to close the space between them and to give his sister a hug and a peck on the cheek. “Glad to see everything’s okay.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

He shrugged, knowing Angelina hated to be babied by her four big brothers. “I guess I’d better be heading back down the mountain and leave you all to your…party.” Or whatever this was.

“After you came all this way, I feel like I ought to offer you something. How about one of the goodies Carm brought from Bella Montagna?” She turned to the shivering women. “Girls, are you hungry?”

“I can always eat,” Karla said.

“Me, too,” Savannah chimed in.

Carm remained quiet, eyeing him cautiously. Yeah, she knows I saw her naked, even if we both try to pretend otherwise.

“Great. Let’s go inside before we freeze.” Inside the kitchen, Angelina added, “Go warm up by the fire while I brew a pot of coffee and put on the tea kettle.”

Clearly, that wasn’t an invitation to him, so he asked how he could help in the kitchen.

“Wash up and arrange the pastries on this platter, then grab some dessert plates from that cupboard.”

“I’ll take care of the pastries,” Carm offered before he even reached the sink. Tony grabbed the plates and took them into the living room and set them on the coffee table by the fire where the other women stood chatting while warming themselves up. He hightailed it back to the kitchen.

Angelina kept the conversation going, while Carm became unusually quiet. He caught her glancing his way several times, but whenever she noticed, her eyes darted back to the platter she was filling with assorted danish and enormous muffins. Tony should probably leave them to their midnight snack but for some reason didn’t want to make his exit yet.

His gaze strayed to where the vee in Carm’s robe spread open a little farther each time her arm moved to place a pastry on the tray.

Shit, man. Stop gawking at her like some lovesick middle-school boy.

“How are your diving lessons coming, Tony?” Angelina asked when she removed the whistling tea kettle from the stove. He’d told the family present at Mama’s last Sunday about his newest interest.

Carm’s eyes opened wide. “Scuba diving lessons?”

He locked onto her gaze before answering her questions,