Not Broken: True Destiny, Book 5 by Dana Marie Bell Page B

sheer joy, told her this meant more to him that she’d realized. She would do her best not to fuck things up. She wasn’t certain how she’d handle two strong-willed men. Could she deal with the fact that the both of them seemed fond of telling her what to do?
    Even as Magnus took her to the bedroom she wondered if getting everything she’d wanted would be worth the price.
    Sylvia woke the next morning knowing two things.
    The first thing was, she wasn’t alone. Someone was snoring so loudly she was surprised that she’d managed to sleep through it at all.
    The second was that she was being watched.
    Barely breathing, she opened her eyes, terrified of what she’d find.
    A dark gaze held hers. Slade’s full lips lifted in a soft smile. “Good morning.” His voice was soft, no doubt in consideration of the buzz saw going off behind her.
    “Morning.” She was still debating the whole good thing.
    “Sleep well?” He brushed back a strand of her hair, his hand surprisingly calloused. It was one of the many contradictions she’d noticed about Slade Saeter. Soft and hard, sweet yet determined, Slade was a mass of confusing signals.
    “Surprisingly, yes, despite Buzz.” She hitched her thumb over her shoulder, stifling a laugh as Magnus gave one obnoxiously loud snore.
    “We’ll get used to it.”
    “ We will?” Sylvia was still having a hard time with the change of direction her life had taken.
    Slade’s expression turned mischievous. “Either that or we smother him in his sleep.”
    Her eyes crossed. From the decibels coming from Magnus’s throat she would have thought he’d gotten the thunder part of Thor’s power, not the lightning. “I don’t think he’d notice.”
    Slade’s shoulders shook as he tried to stifle his laughter. Those dark eyes were filled with joy as he watched her. “You have no idea how happy I am that you’re here.” He stroked her cheek, his raspy voice deeper than she’d yet heard it.
    Despite Magnus’s snoring, there was something intimate about how Slade spoke, the way he cuddled them closer under the sheets. She was wearing a pair of Slade’s shorts Magnus had lent her, along with a T-shirt that she was swimming in. She had no doubt her hair was a mess, and her breath would probably cause a dog to barf, but Slade still looked at her as if she was worth more than all the gold in Alfheim. “Then tell me.”
    She winced. Could she sound any more needy? It had been so long since Sylvia had felt feminine, wanted, that Slade’s slowly heating gaze warmed her from the inside out.
    “I’ve watched you for a long time.”
    Her brows rose. “That’s not creepy at all.”
    He chuckled, the carnal heat morphing into affection. “So I suppose I shouldn’t mention how your scent would drive me insane?” He was running his fingers through her hair, gently separating the strands, seemingly fascinated by the texture. “Or how I’d watch you at gatherings, the way your hair shone brighter than the sun. The way you’d try and take care of everyone, or how steadfast you were even when it became obvious Thor wasn’t the man you’d hoped he would be.”
    Thor’s memory still hurt, even after all of this time, and it was that memory that kept her from fully embracing the attraction she felt toward Magnus. The man was yummy, his gaze filled with a longing she fully returned, but…
    But…
    Argh. She was his stepmother ! How could she get past that?
    Magnus and Morgan were the result of an affair Thor had while still married to her, and while she’d resented the mother, she’d done her best not to resent the sons. She hadn’t raised them because their mother had, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t remember a young Magnus running around the Thing , the sacred gathering place of the gods, laughing with his twin. Or the teenage Magnus, frowning in concentration as he learned how to fight from his father.
    Or an adult Magnus, watching her with a barely hidden hunger she didn’t