by Lisa Daneils
She let out an exasperated groan, “Of course not, you wretched creature. I would much rather die than have someone keep me, thank you very much.”
“That’s what I figured. It was you who implied that might not be the right way to let you go. I’m more inclined to release wild animals back into their natural habitat, though, so if that is what you want, I will be more than happy to oblige.”
“Stop talking about me like I’m some kind of animal.”
“But you are an animal. We all are of some type. Even I’m an animal. Just on a much higher playing field.”
“Your smugness will win you no friends.”
“I have enough problems managing the three friends I do have.”
“What, only three?” she said, giving him a look of annoyance.
“It’s more than you have.”
For three years, Alannah had been telling herself that she didn’t need anyone. Having it pointed out, though, that stung a little. Offended, she looked away. “And how can you be so certain that I don’t have friends?”
“Do you really want me to list the obvious for you? I can. I just don’t think that it will amuse me as much as a different topic.”
Alannah turned to give him a scathing look, “Is it always about your own amusement?”
“Not always. Just when I’m out avoiding responsibility. Then, well, it’s my only priority.” The smile he gave her was beatific, but there was something in his eyes that showed that it was not an honest smile.
“What kind of responsibilities can a demon possibly have? If anyone were to ask you to do something, isn’t it in your nature to not do it or to make things worse?”
He began to tut at her. Folding his arms across his chest, he gave her a mocking look of disapproval. “Such stereotyping of a non-existent creature is very cruel. What will the imaginary beings think?”
“Oh please, you all but admitted it when we first met.”
“Did I, now?” The sly grin was back, and Alannah almost enjoyed it. The way it highlighted the mischief in his eyes would have been great, if only he were directing it at someone else. The creature continued, “And just what do you remember of that first encounter?”
“Not much. I didn’t get a chance to see you. But you somehow figured out that I thought I was dead and that a sarcastic angel was talking to me. When I corrected my thinking, you said something like ‘That’s better.’ What else could it possibly mean?” She tried to give him a smug look, but when she attempted to cross her arms over her chest, the pull of the skin around the wound reminded her of her limitations. Settling for putting her hands in her lap, Alannah tried to appear more confident than she felt. Something in the look he was giving her let her know that the answer was going to be very simplistic to emphasize just how superior he was to her. The look was similar to the one she had given the dog when she wanted him to do something.
To her surprise, he made it worse by reaching out and patting her head. “So cute. How cute you are.” She was about ready to turn her head and bite him—if he was going to treat her like an animal, she would act accordingly. Almost as if he sensed it, he shrugged as he stood up and took the dirty dishes and tray before she had the chance. “I’m more often called negative names than positive ones. Being called a demon is much easier on me than being mistaken for an angel.”
He was about to open the door when Alannah’s mouth moved before her brain, and she blurted out, “Judging by your looks, you should be mistaken for an angel frequently.”
The creature stopped moving. Slowly, he turned to look at her, a curious expression on his face. He stared at her for a moment, then sucked in his cheeks. “You are incredibly strange, Alannah. Has anyone ever told you that?”
“My apologies. I never blurt out my thoughts like that.” She knew that her cheeks were red, but she couldn’t take back the words now. Then an idea struck her. “You never did tell me your name.”
His brows knit together for a second, but his face quickly slid into what appeared to be a default look of amusement. “I will want an answer to the strange train of thought that you just demonstrated. And as an aside, I will be encouraging more of that verbal thinking. It is… refreshing.”
“Are you avoiding telling me your name?”
“Are you avoiding talking about your thoughts?”
Alannah realized that they were just going around in circles. Whoever or whatever he was, the gorgeous creature standing at her door was not going to let her control the conversation. From the way he always had a retort, she had a feeling that he was accustomed to being in control of any conversation. Giving in, she said, “If you hadn’t already shown your true colors by opening your mouth, I would certainly have thought I had died and reached paradise. I can easily say that I’ve never encountered a more perfect-looking creature in my life. My train of thought is that easy.”
“You didn’t seem to find it easy to explain.”
“Of course it wasn’t easy to explain because it is ridiculously embarrassing. But it was a very easy train of thought to follow.”
“I see.” He nodded at her words as his beautiful eyes looked out the window, not explaining anything of what he was thinking. Finally, his eyes met hers. “Aiden.”
Alannah stared at him for a moment. “I’m sorry?”
“My name is Aiden.” He gave her a quick smile, opened the door, then left.
Chapter 4
The Dangers of Curiosity
It took her a little longer to recover than Aiden had initially expected, but this did not seem to bother him. He spent a good bit of time talking to her and finding amusement in the strangest discussions.
“I am really looking forward to seeing what you can do when you are up and on your feet again.” He had tears rolling down his face, his hand holding his stomach. “Every time I think that it would be impossible to beat the things you say, I remember what you were like the first time I saw you, and—I’m just so excited about how you will be once you recover enough.” Wiping the tears, he stood up.
Alannah was not feeling nearly so good about their relationship. “As always, I’m so pleased that you are entertained.”
“No need to lie. You are not at all pleased, but I don’t need you to be.” He picked up something from the dresser and began to clean it. Aiden’s attention was only half on her as he started to focus on what he was doing. “So long as you keep being yourself, I don’t really need anything else of you. Well, I suppose I need you to continue surviving without me having to intervene. That would be nice.”
Curious about what he was so focused on, Alannah sat in a chair nearby. “What are you doing?”
“Cleaning,” was the only hint he provided.
“I can see that. But what are you cleaning? Is it some kind of weapon?”
His eyes flicked up for a moment. “A weapon?” Holding it up, Aiden let her get a quick look at whatever it was. Small and round, Alannah knew that the thing was about as much of a weapon as a brush.
She frowned, “I have no idea what that is.”
“No, you wouldn’t.” He returned to his task.
“You know, I haven’t seen anything like a weapon on you. Do you leave them outside or something?”
“Do I leave what outside?” He was barely listening to her.
“Your weapons,” she said in a mocking tone. “You know, the things you use to take care of bad guys. All knights have swords, as I’m sure you must know.”
Aiden’s hands stopped moving and his eyes looked up under his brow. Then his teeth became visible, emphasizing a very wicked grin. “I may look human, but I am not so weak that I require weapons.” He offered no other explanation as his attention returned to what he was doing.
Too exhausted to keep trying to engage him in conversation, Alannah stood up and walked over to the bathroom. She stayed in there with the door closed for much longer than was necessary. For a few minutes, she stared out the window, contemplating if she should try to escape through it.
Given that they were on the second floor and it would be a long drop, Alannah decided she was not in the best shape to be trying to get away. It wasn’t just the distance and her condition that made her decide not to go through with leaving, even if she was not willing to acknowledge that.
As much as she hated to admit it, the young woman was also very much enjoying having the strange person around. Not only was he the physical definition of perfection, Aiden’s laugh was remarkably pleasant, even if he was laughing at her expense. And despite his apparent indifference, there was something behind those extraordinary eyes that hinted at a very different life.
Alannah found herself really wanting to learn more about what made this odd creature tick. Every once in a while, when he thought no one was watching him, a serious and sad look would cross his face. Aiden’s hands would be flying over a piece of paper, his mind fully consumed by whatever he was writing. Or he would be staring out the window, clearly lost in thoughts of some serious issue. It was entirely different than how he usually was when he was interacting with her or the family.
It came as little shock then that Aiden had managed to charm the entire family. Now they would constantly go out of their way to do far more for him than was necessary. And that did cause her some concern. Judging by his look, Aiden could definitely afford much better. But was he the kind of person who would charm his way through life and leave broken people in his wake? Alannah definitely did not want the family to be in a worse situation after everything they had done. Deciding that she was going to make sure that the family got the pay they deserved for their diligence, Alannah was determined to stick it out there.
If she were to speak her reasons out loud, that would definitely be why she said she would stay. The other reason was far too personal, and it involved an interest that she was not yet ready to acknowledge herself.
Taking a deep breath, the young woman wasn’t entirely sure what would happen when she left the bathroom. Aiden was clearly starting to lose interest in her in favor of whatever he was cleaning, but there was no telling how long that would last. Since her injury, she had only gone for a couple of short walks. Other than that, she really hadn’t left the room, opting to eat there so that the family wouldn’t have a chance to ask her too many questions about her life as a squire. Alannah wasn’t exactly looking forward to lying to them, something she had largely managed to avoid until Aiden arrived. The most obvious lie had been based on her appearance, so it wasn’t something she actually had to say. Then she chose not to correct them. However, being trapped in the room for so long was starting to grate on her nerves. Then there was the other problem of staying in one place for more than a few days. That was especially risky for her.
Giving a quick look in the mirror, Alannah ran her fingers through her unruly hair to try to tame it a little. Despite the current state, her hair was in much better condition than usual because Aiden had been taking care of her. He had never undressed her to wash her or anything like that (though he had no problem stripping her shirt off to take care of the wound). Mostly he would carefully wash a few parts of her, claiming that until he was able to haul her to a stream to wash her like she had washed Lucky, she would just have to remain dirty. Aiden would always ignore her protests that she was perfectly capable of cleaning herself, and promise that once he felt she was adequately healed, he would make sure to clean her up properly. Initially, her reaction had been quite lively, but after she realized he was doing it just to get a rise out of her, Alannah stopped. There was no point giving him what he wanted if it meant he was just winding her up.
After running her fingers through her hair a few more times, Alannah opened the door and walked right into Aiden’s back. The poor woman bounced off him, and began to flail her arms, smacking her wrist on the door. Her back was already hurting as the way her body moved as she fell pulled apart some of the skin.
But she did not hit the ground.
Alannah froze as she felt the well-formed muscles against her, and for a moment, her mind went somewhere it had not been in over a year. Her eyes looked up into those spectacular greyish-blue eyes and saw herself reflected in them. It was then that she noticed that the pupils were not at all human. If anything, they looked like a lizard’s eyes. A part of her mind noticed that there was no facial hair on Aiden either.
That sarcastic grin immediately reminded her of the situation, and she knew that he was going to make fun of the way she was staring at him. Before he could open his mouth, she leaned forward and kissed him.
The next thing she knew, her body hit the floor. Should have put my arms around his neck, she thought as her eyes looked up at the ceiling.
Then an extremely handsome face with a very clouded expression came into view. He shook his head and picked her up off the floor. Throwing her over his shoulder, Alannah thought that he might have read her intentions wrong. With his lips so close, she had been incredibly curious as to what it would be like to kiss him. Prepared to object to any activities beyond that, she didn’t get a chance to speak as he carefully yet unceremoniously tossed her on the bed. Glad that it was such a soft bed, she hit the pillows face first. Her shirt was pulled up and his hands were on her back almost as soon as she was on the bed.
Scrambling a little, Alannah tried to get away. Her voice was muffled as she tried to get her face out of the pillows, “Just what do you think—”
“Your little stunt surprised me. When you hit the floor, your wound reopened. As much as I have enjoyed talking with you, I am starting to get anxious to move on. I had not intended to be trapped in a small inn for my entire escape from reality.”
The warmth she had felt a few times before began to wind through her, and Alannah realized that he was not at all interested in her that way. Mostly she felt relieved that she would not have to worry about him making advances on her. But a small part of her realized that whatever curiosity she may have about him would likely never be quenched. Of course she was happy with the revelation, but a small voice in the back of her mind told her that in trying to pursue him, she might find a unique challenge that she may never have again. After what she had been through, marriage and close relationships were not something she thought she ever wanted. But that didn’t mean that she didn’t have desires. It had been more than a year since she had last indulged in any kind of pleasure. Usually she was the one to decide how far it would go—no man whom she had felt attracted to had ever so quickly rejected her. The panic of a few moments ago dissolved into a strange disquiet.
No longer scrambling to get away, she was able to untangle herself from the pillows. Turning her head, Alannah said, “You may not want to stand right in front of a door like that. You never know what will happen when someone tries to enter the room.”
He sighed, “You were in there so long, I was beginning to think you might try to escape.”
“Aw, were you worried about me?”
“Of course I was. I can’t have my wild little monkey getting away before she is properly healed. I didn’t expect that simply standing at the door would result in you further injuring yourself.”
“I didn’t expect for you to be standing right at the door. And why was your back to it? It wasn’t like you could check on me that way.”
“I didn’t want you to think I was trying to watch you in there.”
“Really? That’s what you were worried about?”
“No, I was just worried about you trying to leave. Finding out if you were does not require me to try to peek in on you.”
“You could have knocked.”
“If you had already started out the window, there was a good chance you would be startled and fall. With that fragile body of yours, that might have been even more detrimental than the stabbing. Besides,” his voice switched from sincere to taunting, “I prefer not to give people the wrong impression. At least not when it comes to my interest in them. With you, I have always wanted to make sure that my intentions toward you were entirely obvious.” There was de
finitely something in his voice as he said that.
“Then you might want to keep those perfect lips out of reach.”
Though she couldn’t see him smile, his laugh let Alannah know he was slipping back into his usual persona. “I shall keep that in mind for the future.” From the way he said it, she had a feeling that what he said and what he meant were two very different things.
“Oh gods,” she groaned, “are you going to start tormenting me now?”
“Please, I would never torment my pet,” he patted her head. “Much like you don’t have to do much to get Lucky to lick your face.”
“Great. Now you are talking about me like I’m a dog. This just keeps getting better.”
“First, I’m comparing your behavior to the dog’s because in polite society, you don’t go around just randomly kissing people. That’s considered very bad manners, even by most humans.”
“And you are nothing but good manners.” She tried to put a slight scathing tone to her voice, but her body was too relaxed to listen to her. It ended up being more like a statement than the sarcasm she was aiming for.
“Second,” Aiden continued without acknowledging her interruption, “I was comparing your behavior to something you could understand. The dog keeps trying to lick my face every time I give him attention, much like you just decided to put your lips all over mine. There really is not much of a difference. I suppose I could have made a different comparison, but most of them would not be anything you could comprehend. For example, if I were to say that your behavior was like a shape shifter scrambling over an iota of magic, you would have no idea what the important words of the comparison meant.”
This was shocking to Alannah, mostly because no one she had ever kissed had ever seemed unhappy with it, not even when they thought she was a man. Probably because they quickly realized she wasn’t as her chest pressed against them. She had fancied herself a good kisser, but now it was very clear that he really did not see her as any kind of potential romantic interest. He honestly saw her as being too beneath him to be a possible sexual partner. The rest of what he said slid out of her mind nearly as soon as he said it. Perhaps the way he had said it was insulting, but she could not deny that for most of it, she had no clue what he meant.
