A tired sigh broke the silence.
“I find I am extremely anxious as to your welfare, Miss. Daxton. I have left you to rest and have not been able to check you for injuries, nor have you eaten anything since this morning. Please, Katherine, will you at least look at me?”
The sound of her name on his lips like a plea had her resolve softening. She couldn’t understand why this aloof and authoritative man would care so much. After another moment of uncertainty, she decided to pull up her big girl panties and face whatever revelations were to come next.
Slowly, she lifted her head from the bed to peer down towards the fireplace. There he sat, leaning forward resting his elbows on his knees, his dark eyes watching her intently.
They stared at each other for another long minute, Katherine tried to figure out if she could see any anger or annoyance or any kind of negative emotion in his eyes. Instead, all she saw was steady constant darkness, unmovable and unchanging. Oddly, she didn’t find it unsettlingly, his gaze had the opposite effect on her. It was something solid and unyielding. Something she could rely upon to be constant.
Katherine pulled herself upright to sit across from him. She lowered her gaze and ran her hand over her face, the scratchiness caused her to frown and glance down at her grazed and scuffed palm. Within an instant he was there by her side, her hand held gently in his. The speed of his movement caused her to gasp but the tenderness he showed as he inspected her slightly injured hand had her holding on to that breath.
Lord Nightingale’s eyes returned to hers and she could’ve sworn he looked remorseful. Something that she quickly dismissed. He had needed to go after her and fight a dragon, then drag her sorry ass back to his castle in the woods. There was absolutely no reason for him to feel any remorse over her having sustained a few minor cuts and scrapes.
“Are you hurt anywhere else? Are you in any pain?” His words were soft and filled with concern.
Her eyes tracked down to where he still held her hand in his. Then she dumbly shook her head. He raised his other hand as if to stroke back her hair, but he paused mid-air and dropped it back to his side, as though he thought better of it. Gently, he lay her injured hand back down upon the bedsheets and turned to pace by her bedside.
“I am a man who is used to having control. Used to reading a situation and instantly knowing how to respond. Half the time it's pure instinct and happens without my consciousness.” He spoke to the room, keeping his back to her. “But I am at a loss with you, Miss. Daxton. Clearly, there was something that caused you to leave, but I have tried and tried to ascertain your reasons and I simply do not understand why you would put yourself in such danger as to run from the safety of the estate and into the mountains.”
Katherine remained quiet, curious to see a hint of the man behind the mask of cool indifference. By telling her this about himself he was just showing her his hand unless it was a ploy to distract her and trick her into revealing things about herself.
“I have no way of knowing how I can fix this; how I can make matters right for you,” He continued, turning to face her, “please, Katherine won’t you at least speak to me and help me understand?”
It was a bold move to throw himself at her mercy but that wasn’t what caught her attention. A stain of crimson against his crisp white shirt, peeked out from behind his tailored jacket as he had turned. She was moving off the bed before she could even think to stop herself.
“You’re hurt,” she said, stating fact more than anything. “Why didn’t you say?”
Her hands pushed the fabric of his jacket aside and she bent her head to take a closer look.
“It is nothing.” Lord Nightingale straightened and pulled his jacket back in place. “Did you hear nothing of what I just said? Tell me what made you run.”
“It’s not ‘nothing’,” Katherine argued back and knelt down, shoving his jacket aside once more.
“Miss Daxton, I assure you-”
“You saw mine, I’m seeing yours. This is not up for negotiation, Lucian.” She said firmly, fixing him with a look that dared him to argue.
“Very well.”
The next thing she knew he had tossed his jacket aside and she watched as he began unclasping his cufflinks. The bloodstain on his shirt was larger than she had first thought and in the low light, it still looked wet as it glistened slightly with his brisk movements. Katherine’s brow furrowed deeper at the sight.
“Do you have a first aid kit? I’m no doctor but I’ve patched my father up enough times to be able to do a neat enough job.”
At her words, his hands stilled on the top button of his shirt. A look of sadness crossed his features for a brief second before the mask of frustration slid back into place.
“That won’t be necessary,” he said as he made quick work of removing his shirt and tossing it across the room to land with his discarded jacket by the fireplace.
Good lord.
Katherine’s mouth went dry as she found herself faced with a man made of pure lean muscle. His chest was perfectly defined as if sculpted from marble, each ridge of his stomach rolled down into the next until forming into a precise V that disappeared beneath his tailored suit trousers. Her heart was in her throat and every cell in her body was telling her to reach out and touch the fine specimen before her. Her eyes traced over his exposed body once more and this time landed squarely on a red line that ran from his ribcage down to just above his navel. The wound was still open and was weeping some kind of black oily liquid. The skin around the wound was swollen and red. Whatever had caused the injury had clearly also caused an infection. Her hand reached out to lightly touch the angry skin to see if it felt hot. Her wrist was clasped firmly in one of his large warm hands.
“Don’t touch it.”
Katherine looked up from where she knelt at his feet and found his solid dark eyes looking at her with his usual intensity.
“Why? It looks infected, does it feel hot?”
“Dragon poison can burn the skin upon contact with the strength of a thousand suns, so please, Katherine, don’t touch it.”
“Oh my God, what can I do?” Katherine’s eyes widened as she stood, ready to fetch whatever it was that would help.
“You can do nothing, I will heal given a little time.” Lucian gazed into her eyes, his hand still wrapped around her wrist.
“Lucian, you were worried about a few scrapes on me but you expect me to be unconcerned that you have a poisoned wound that must be causing you agony.” Katherine stepped forward to argue.
“It doesn’t cause me the same level of pain that it would cause you. My body is already purging the poison from my system, please believe me; I will be fine.” His dark features held stoically in the face of her opposition.
“How do I know you will be fine? What makes you be OK with this kind of injury but I’d be in agony if I were to touch it?” Katherine’s other hand darted downward to try and feel her way along his ribcage. She didn’t even see him move but she found both her hands firmly grasped and pinned against his chest.
“Because I am not like you, Katherine-”
“Well I figured that much out for myself; you move faster than I ever thought possible, you speak telepathically with dragons and you’re capable of carrying me all the way back here while sporting a hugely infected wound.” Katherine narrowed her eyes as she looked up at him. “Who or what are you, Lord Nightingale?”
He looked down at her, his eyes darting from each of hers before a shroud of heavy resolution dropped over his expression. He tugged her closer, pressing her against his chest making the air leave her in a gasp. He lowered his face to hers, his eyes so close that she could see her own stubborn reflection staring back at her in his dark depths.
“I am a vampire, Miss Daxton.” His voice low and deadly.
“And what? Is that supposed to intimidate me?” Katherine snorted back.
OK, so in truth, it did intimidate her, he frightened the life out of her but when she was threatened s
he had a tendency to become more stubborn, her poker face becoming one of arrogance and superiority.
“It should,” he ground out, his lips a breath away from hers.
“Well I hate to break it to you, buddy, but you don’t scare me. I just saw an actual, fire-breathing dragon, one that you fought off to protect me. You’re on my team,” katherine argued back.
She could feel the adrenaline pounding through her veins as she faced off with a man who had the ability to frustrate her, scare her and cause her heart to thrum like a bass drum all in equal measures.
“Perhaps I’m simply possessive. Perhaps I wanted my prey back where I could keep her tied up, so I could feed on her whenever and wherever I wish,” his voice became a promising whisper as he dipped his head lower to run his lips over the sensitive skin on her neck.
Katherine shivered as she felt his hot breath against her skin and she fought with her own instinct to squirm in his hold. He was trying to intimidate her and she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her fear.
“If that were the case we would be having this conversation in some dungeon, and I don’t see any chains holding me down, Lucian.” Katherine said quietly, she didn’t trust her voice not to give her away so she gritted her teeth and continued, “Instead, I woke up in a bed that smelt of you, and you practically begged for me to explain to you why I left. A monster who only wanted an easy meal, wouldn’t beg.”
“Perhaps I prefer comfortable surroundings when I feed,” Lucian countered his mouth back to being just a breath away from touching hers, “Perhaps I don’t want an easy meal.” Lucian moved forwards, forcing her to step back until her legs hit the edge of the bed. “Perhaps I prefer the thrill of the chase, the challenge of understanding my prey’s strengths and weaknesses,” His teeth lightly grazed her bottom lip and a sharp pang of need struck her, “Perhaps the challenge makes the feast all the more satisfying.”
“Perhaps you should stop talking and put your mouth to better use.” Katherine husked before she ran her tongue across his upper lip, unable to resist a small taste of him.
Lucian groaned, his tongue lightly swiping against hers before she found herself falling backwards onto the bed. His dark eyes were no longer distant and cold, a hunger stirred in their depths and Katherine found herself desperate for more of those looks. Lucian climbed onto the bed his shoulders rolling as he stalked his way up to straddle her. She had never been more nervous and excited, the anticipation of whatever would happen next caused her body to sing with baited need. She was fairly confident that he wouldn’t bite her, his main driver seemed to be to protect her and see to her wellbeing, but a small part of her trembled with the thought of what it would feel like to be devoured by the powerful man before her.
He gathered her hands up in his and held them above her head, she tested against his strength and found his hold firm but relenting, easing slightly to reassure her. He stretched his hand to hold both her wrists in one of his and used his other hand to gently turn her head to the side as he bent his head down to run his nose along her exposed throat. Katherine closed her eyes and prepared herself for his bite. A trail of teasing feather-soft kisses was not what she expected and she gasped at each tender caress of his lips. A coil of pleasure was turning tightly low in her belly, his slow and controlled taunting caused her body to shake.
When he finally slid his tongue past her open and gasping lips, she moaned loudly against her will as she sought to ease the tension by stroking her tongue against his. Like a dam had been untapped, she tilted her chin upwards, craning to have more of his delicious seduction. She was lost to him, following where he led as he teased her by hungrily tasting her mouth only to retreat and cause her to ask for more with a soft whimper and a gentle imploring lick of his lips. He gave her what she craved but kissed her less hungrily each time. It did nothing to calm her growing desire, her demand for more increased with each taunting dip of his tongue.
Just as she was about to complain and fight against his hold to take what she wanted from him, his free hand stroked possessively down her side, gripping at her hip as he slid his weight off her. She wanted to sigh out her relief as his touch eased her need for more of him, and also argue her frustration as he lifted away from her.
Her eyes flew open and she glared into his dangerously intent gaze. She had no doubt that she was his sole focus at that moment. She got the feeling that the world could be burning down around them and his eyes wouldn’t leave hers. That steady, ever-present darkness held her firm, giving her nowhere to go, nowhere to fall. There was safety in his darkness.
His hand slipped beneath her panties and a gentle caress against her sensitive nub made her cry out, as pleasure rippled through her. His eyes still held hers and she refused to look away or to submit as his fingertips lightly grazed her. Pleasure mounted and she swallowed hard as she fought with the need to press herself into his hand. His mouth came down to play with hers once more, mimicking the teasing touches of his fingertips and her resolve broke as she desperately arched into his touch, her mouth hungry for the taste of him and her body crying out for the release that threatened.
She was on the verge of giving over her control and letting herself free fall when he showed his true colours.
“Why did you run, Katherine?”
Chapter Seven
Katherine
Damn him.
Anger flared within her as she realised he was only seducing her to get his answers. She turned her head away from his kisses and bit her lip stubbornly. His fingers began strumming her a little faster and her mouth popped open against her will with a little gasp.
“Please tell me.” He pleaded as he ran his tongue along her jaw and nibbled on her ear lobe.
Her orgasm was hovering just out of reach as her mind desperately tried to fight against the onslaught of sensation and the heady but confusing power struggle that was happening between them. He was in total command of her, he held her on the brink of something spectacular, and yet she held the keys to her own pleasure.
His fingers dipped down to test her entrance making her wish for him to fill her, the thought of being filled by the infuriatingly addictive man sent another wave of desire to flood her. He dipped two fingers inside her, nowhere near deep enough for her to feel satisfied and upon finding her soaking for him, Lucian groaned in her ear. The sound caused her whole body to shake and her own answering moan was pulled from her throat. Lucian continued his torture by slowly withdrawing his fingers and once again began to softly flick his fingers teasingly against her nub, now slick with her own arousal.
God, she wanted what he was offering, she was so close to falling over the edge she could almost taste the sweetness of her release. She turned her head and fixed him with what she hoped was a look of defiance. The rebellion against him that existed within her was ever-present. She might be about to submit to his onslaught of pleasure but it didn’t mean she had to be happy about it.
“You lied to me.”
She hated herself for it but the words slipped from her lips on a quaking breath, and with a firm press of his finger against her clit, her orgasm struck her like lightning.
“Oh God.” She cried out against his lips as he finally plundered her mouth greedily as she had been so desperate for him to do.
“Yes, my beautiful darling,” Lucian coaxed between heavy pants as his kiss became more demanding and aggressive, his fingers circling her insistently, “Again, come for me again.”
Katherine screamed out her frustration as her traitorous body did as he asked and she flew apart in his hold. Her hips grinding instinctively against his hand as she rode out her release.
Sweet, merciful God.
She struggled to comprehend her reaction as her orgasm refused to end; pleasure rolling through her in persistent echoes.
“You son of a bitch,” Katherine panted as she struggled in his hold.
Annoyingly, she found she didn’t need to put up much of a fight as he released her h
ands immediately. Still high on pleasure, she used her newfound freedom to grab at his head, tangling her hands in his hair while she kissed him fiercely. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to shove him away or pull him closer, but her lips fought his for dominance as she attacked his mouth with harsh bites and growls of frustration.
“You bastard. I hate you.” She hissed as she ground herself against him, greedily seeking more. She cried out as if stung when he pulled his hand away from her aching and needy core.
“Why, Katherine? Why do you hate me? Why did you fight to tell me?” Lucian pulled away from her kiss and looked down at her with a mixture of desperation and hunger.
“You lied to me, it's obvious. You said I could make reasonable requests during my stay here, you said I was free to leave to explore the estate. When I tried both of those things I was denied. If you weren’t able to figure that out for yourself, then why should I make life easy for you and tell you when you sure as Hell aren’t making life easy for me.”
Katherine seethed at him, her body still high on adrenaline and her mind gearing up for another fight. She wanted to launch herself at him. She just didn’t know whether it was to attack him or straddle his lap, so she kept as still as she could muster.
“I have denied you nothing. I said I would see to it that your belongings were acquired for you and I have never tried to stop you from leaving to explore the estate.” Confusion marred his brow, as he eased himself away from her, to sit upright on the edge of the bed.
“I don’t want my belongings fetched for me. I want to be able to get them myself. I don’t want some stranger going through my things. And if you’ve supposedly never tried to stop me from leaving, why was the front door locked? Why was it that I have no way of looking outside of this prison to see my surroundings? Why is it I am taunted by the sight of a beautiful courtyard filled with roses but I’m kept from being able to even walk among them,” Katherine argued, sitting up to mirror his movements.
Escaping The Beast: A Darkhills Romance (The Darkhills Series Book 2) Page 6
