“Fcking idiots!” Then he dragged a frustrated hand back over his head and it reminded me so much of Lucius I suddenly blurted out quickly,
“I have a boyfriend!” At this his head snapped up to look at me and it was easy to see the statement was being processed.
“Ye hae a what now?” he asked with a questioning frown.
“A boyfriend…I have a boyfriend,” I said, saying it twice and hoping this was enough to make it stick.
“Ye hae a boyfriend?” he asked again, and I nodded, still holding the tunic to the front of my body, glad that it hid everything it should.
“Yes,” I said in a sure tone.
“What are ye, a wee bairn?” he asked making me frown before asking,
“Erm…excuse me?” He then walked closer towards me and translated,
“A child, be ye a wee child…a little girl?” he asked again with his emotions making his Scottish come out thicker before he translated for me.
“What?! No, of course I am not a child!” I snapped making him grin and I felt like I was losing something here.
“Aye, I know…You dinnae feel lik' one,” he said, again with that wicked grin in place, as he ran his heated gaze down the length of me and I most definitely felt as if I was missing something here…something huge.
“Then why did you ask me if I…”
“Fur real men aren't boyfriends, Lass,” he stated firmly and I frowned back at him and said,
“Yes, there are!” But even when I did, I couldn’t help but snap back to that conversation between me and Lucius where he had pretty much said the same thing.
“Na, Lassie, they're not.” I rolled my eyes at him, and said,
“Then what are they?” But this was when the irritation blew from my sails as he said,
“A man wi' a woman lik' you...” he said nodding at me, making me hold my breath at what the rest of his bold as brass statement would be.
“The keeper 'n' protector of yer heart” he said after crossing his arms over his chest and making every muscle seem to pop out to say hello. And Gods, but if he hadn’t just said something incredibly sweet then I would have been able to argue with him even more. But damn him, that was too smooth to ignore. So instead, I focused my irritation on something else.
“Seriously, can’t you put on a shirt or something?!” I snapped making him smirk down at me and I swear the cocky bastard tensed his muscles on purpose.
“Why would I dae that, Lass, when ye obviously lik' what ye see?” he said coming even closer so I had no choice but to put my hand out to stop him. This was when he let his arms drop and the last step he made, walked him into my hand, so it was now against his rock hard abs that tensed the second he felt my touch.
“I, uh…I think you should go,” I said wishing I had done so with more conviction.
“Dae ye now?” he asked in a knowing tone that was all the confidence of a man who was used to having this effect on a woman.
“Aye, yes, most definitely,” I replied making him chuckle and I felt it under my fingertips. But then, before I could say anything else, he had my wrist in his hold, jerked it to one side and tugged at it so I had no choice but to fall into him, now without my hand against his abs to stop him. Then, before I could stop it, he tilted my head back with his free hand at my jaw so he could grant me a quick kiss on the lips. As I gasped in my shock he pulled back and said,
“'N' just so ye know, beautiful…I lik' a challenge.” Then he kissed me quickly one more time and before I could even react, like to slap him, he was gone from my space and walking out of the door without saying another word.
Meanwhile I was left dumbfounded and mortified at the fact I had just been kissed by another man,
A feeling that came out as a muttered,
“What the Hell just happened?”
Chapter 24
Hope Shattered
Okay, so I had to say the reasons for Lucius wanting to kill me were mounting by the second and I swear it felt like I was a bloody magnet for this shit to keep happening! I thought that I had done everything right with regards to another man making advances to someone in a relationship. I mean, I know I was a novice at this whole dating thing, but I always thought the general rule was not engaging in any sexual act, flirting, reciprocating the advances of others and acting single when you weren’t.
So where exactly had I gone wrong?
I questioned all my past actions when it came to Trice and I had to admit, I was coming up empty. I had stopped him from trying to kiss me and told him I was in a relationship, which in my obviously naive mind, had thought that would have been enough…guess I was wrong.
“That looks like a heavy mind you got there, Chica.” Nero said making me jump. I was currently in her copper bathtub that she had magically filled for me after Trice had sent her up to ‘deal with girl shit’ helpfully quoted by Nero. But dealing with ‘girl shit’ actually meant allowing me the means of getting me clean, which I had been more than grateful for. However, as for my eyes, then there was no hope for them.
“Aww shit, honey, there’s no reason to be upset,” she said putting down what looked like a new tray, one this time that was filled with what smelled like food. My stomach rumbled at just the thought, as I was famished!
“What?” I asked frowning, making her nod to my face, which made me realise she obviously meant my red, sore eyes.
“Oh no, it’s just my contact lenses, I haven’t been able to take them out as I wouldn’t be able to see anything and I don’t have my glasses with me…but you’re only supposed to keep them in for a day so…”
“Say no more, I got ya covered,” she said waving at me and making her navy blue and white hair dance.
“What do you mean?”
“You take em out and I will be right back. But here, I brought you some clothes to wear, because yours were trashed.” Oh, holy mother earth, clean skin and new clothes…I swear it felt like my birthday!
“Oh, by the Gods, I think I love you!” I said making her chuckle,
“Yeah, well according to Mr Broody Cocktease, then he thinks I got the hots for his little bro,” she said with a roll of her eyes.
“And do you?” I asked making her shrug her shoulders before saying,
“Honestly, Vern’s a pain in my ass but…well, it doesn’t really matter what, because he wouldn’t…you know…he’s a bit of a ladies’ man,” she said in a way that yeah, she totally had the hots for him but wasn’t going there because of his past with women. And really, I couldn’t blame her, as no one just wanted to become another number or name to add to the list of many…not when you really liked someone.
“Well, I might not know much about his past…exploits…”
“Nice,” she replied with a wink and a point of her finger at me, for saying anything but women, sexual conquests or any other referral or suggestion of someone in his bed, before carrying on,
“…But I do know that the kiss you shared, wow, now that was hot and looked way more than just an exploit to me.” At this she grinned big and said,
“You think?”
“Oh, totally!” I said nodding, and not really having much of a problem with the fact we were sharing this conversation with me naked in a bath. But then, that’s what some girls were like and besides, I had grown up around Pip, who let’s just say didn’t really know the true meaning of modesty…or the skill of hiding it. If anything, her skills came from the other end of that spectrum, where the scale was firmly labelled…NAKED AND ALWAYS.
“You know, I knew I liked you!” she said, yet again making this statement and it was one that made me laugh. Then she added,
“It’s true, I gave you the good underwear and everything.” Then she winked at me before leaving the room.
So, after this and with the smell of food luring me, I washed quickly, using the fresh bar of soap I found wrapped in brown paper that smelled like it was made from honey and shea butter. It was soft on my skin and smelled amazing, even as I
lathered it in my hair, after not finding any other products to use. In fact, I was amazed to find it didn’t knot even without having the usual addition of conditioner.
And I most definitely needed it too, as it showed in the water once I got out. Although, after what I had been through in the last twenty-four hours then it was of little wonder the water was now the colour of mud!
I also did as Nero suggested and took out my contacts, making my eyes even more sore in the process. Of course, it hadn’t helped with them becoming itchy from the steam of the bath when first getting in.
I grabbed a towel that was hung over the divider and dried myself off. Then I gently wrapped the towel around my back, which thankfully wasn’t sore anymore, but I knew the wound was still there. Which meant that Trice had been right, I needed to put some salve back on there and wrap it up. So, I grabbed the underwear, putting the plain black panties on and having no choice but to leave the bra as it would have rubbed on my back in the wrong place. Then I grabbed the trousers that were a soft, stretchy material in a brownish burgundy and dark navy colour with alternating vertical stripes. They were also tight at the top of my thighs but flared out at the bottom and were overly long. I looked down and yanked on the ties so they gathered up slightly, enough so I wasn’t tripping over them at least.
Then, as I held the towel to my front, I walked over to the side of the bed Trice had been sitting on and picked up the jar he had dropped on the floor.
“Ye know, I would be happy tae help ye wi' that again.” I froze the second I was back to being upright and thankful that my back was to the door, even though once again it was bare.
“Wow, so people really don’t like knocking in Hell then,” I commented dryly, gripping my towel tight before turning to face him, making him scoff,
“Tis why locks were invented, ye should have a go at them sometime...I know I will be in th’ future,” he said, adding this part at the end for obvious reasons which included his brothers.
“Okay, I will. In fact, how about you walk back out the door and I will try it right now,” I said making him chuckle,
“Och, yer upset a’bout th’ kiss,” he surmised making me snap back,
“Well, look at that, you do listen after all…funny you didn’t when I told you…”
“Aye, aye, that ye have a boyfriend, I hear’d.” he said coming in now and closing the door and making me shout,
“Don’t you dare lock it this time!” He laughed and raised his hand up in the air before turning around and smirking at me.
“Why… are ye afraid of bein' left alone wi' me, Lass?” I huffed and said,
“Second thoughts, you go ahead and lock it, that way it will give me longer to clean up the evidence of a murder.” At this he threw his head back and laughed and I mean really laughed…making me now question whether or not I was happy that even through my blurred vision, he was now wearing a shirt.
“You will have a job, Lass, especially whilst yer still clutching onto th' towel lik' tis protecting ye,” he said with a nod at me.
“It is protecting me, from you seeing me near naked!” I shouted in my defence.
“Nay tis not, Lass.” I frowned in response, making him say,
“A Cockatrice can see through things.” At this I was horrified and screamed whilst turning back around and giving him my back after screeching in annoyance. But then I jumped when I felt him at my back, knowing now of his stealth skills as I hadn’t even heard a floorboard creak.
“Relax, me bonnie Lass, I'm teasing ye.” Hearing this I let out a relieved breath only to suck it back in again when I felt him taking the jar of salve from my hand, one I had been holding to my chest to help keep my towel there.
“Wh…what are you…”
“What does it look lik', I came up 'ere tae help ye,” he informed me after forcing me to give up the jar.
“That’s fine, I am sure Nero wouldn’t mind helping me,” I pointed out, knowing which of the two I would prefer and which one was definitely safer.
“She's busy wi' customers,” he informed me, making me grit my teeth.
“Then I will just wait for her to finish.” I felt him lean down and after running a fingertip across my shoulder, one I shrugged off he said with humour,
“There be a lot of customers.”
“Fine, then I will just do it myself.” At this he laughed and said,
“Och, now that I would lik’ tae see!” I growled at him, turned and tried to snatch the jar from his hand when he just lifted it up above my head, knowing that I would have no chance of getting it seeing as he was considerably taller than me.
“Well, that’s mature,” I said stopping myself from folding my arms just in time, because that would have been…bye, bye towel.
“Aye, says th’ one wi’ th’ boyfriend,” he said, mocking me with the word and I rolled my eyes at him. Also, if I didn’t have my modesty to keep, then I would have fought him for it. His eyes glistened with mirth, telling me that he knew it too.
“You’re enjoying this aren’t you!?” He grinned big, got closer to my face and answered,
“Aye…Immensely.”
“Fine, then I will just forget about the damn salve, you can have it…eat it for all I care…I am getting dressed!” I snapped, no longer playing his games, ones that admittedly if I had been single, I would have no doubt enjoyed playing. As his loveable rogue act was definitely attractive. Damn him!
I gripped my towel tighter in one hand and swiped my top off the bed with the other, walking now towards the bathroom in the corner behind the screens when suddenly a pair of arms enveloped me from behind, making him say,
“Na, dinnae struggle, just listen...I will behave, just let me tak' care of yer wounds lik' I came up 'ere tae dae.” I stopped like he asked and tested,
“You will behave?”
“Aye, I will be th’ perfect gentleman, ye have my word, Lass,” he said making me release a sigh before nodding and he let me go and took a step back. Then he opened up the jar and I watched him over my shoulder as he dipped his fingers inside to get a scoop of the yellow substance. Then he started rubbing it into my back making the scent of it waft up my nose.
“Eww, what is that, it stinks?”
“Ye dinnae want tae know,” he replied honestly so I took his advice and left it as an unknown.
“So, I never asked you about this Hex,” I said as he continued to rub gentle fingertips over my back.
“Aye, 'n' I never asked ye how ye know of Hexes?” I tensed a second, knowing I was on delicate ground here as I didn’t exactly know what he knew, other than my name.
“Witch with a grudge, remember?” I stated. I looked back at him over my shoulder and when he didn’t look convinced, I added,
“I did my homework.” He nodded as if this was an acceptable reason, before telling me.
“I am na expert bit Nero is, 'n' she said 'twas what looked lik a summoning Hex, a little lik' a calling or way of finding you.” I groaned at this and said,
“Marvellous, just what I need, a damn homing beacon on my body!”
“I have prevented it fur now but will need tae dae th' same every few days fur it tae continue tae work…or nae work, should I say.”
“Yeah, err…thanks for that,” I said, unsure how I felt about him having to blow on my naked back every few days, as one experience of it was quite enough, seeing how intimate it had felt.
“Yer welcome, Lass,” he said after he was done, so he put down the jar and picked up a fresh roll of bandages and said,
“Ye wull have tae lift yer arms lik' before.” I frowned and looked down the front of myself before asking,
“And what about my towel?” I swear I felt him smile behind me before his head came closer to my shoulder. Then he looked down at me for himself, making me shoot him a wry, sideways glance.
“Lose it,” he stated, and I was about to protest when he added,
“Ye have my word, I wullnae look.” I thought about it and
knew that I had to have the bandages, which would be hard to do by myself without tearing my wound, so I said,
“Fine, give me the end and I will hold it across me until you have wrapped it around a few times.”
“Aye, very well,” he replied handing me the end so I could do just that. Then once I felt it was at the very least covering my nipples, I tossed the towel to one side and let him get to work. To give him his due, he didn’t look, from what I could tell anyway. He also made quick work of getting my torso wrapped up, doing so tight at my request. This was so it also held my boobs up as I didn’t have my bra, but naturally, I didn’t tell him this.
Once finished, he tied off the end, after first tearing down the length and knotting it at the side of my waist out of the way. It ended up looking like a tube top and I felt safer now being covered up in front of him. So, I muttered my thanks, making him lean closer and say in a husky tone,
“Again…Yer welcome, Lass.” After this I stepped away and grabbed the top Nero had left me. It was two joined together with a blue grey tank top and a darker navy blue strappy top over it, one that fitted under the bust and came down past my hips like a mini skirt.
“So, what’s the plan now?” I asked, walking over to where the food was and helping myself to the stew looking concoction and tearing off a piece of bread from the loaf. Then I turned around and faced him to find him watching me curiously. Then he ignored my question and asked one of his own,
“How come ye cannae see properly?” Ah, so he must have noticed the way I felt around for things. Of course, after this I couldn’t miss the sight of his blurred figure now coming closer towards me and before I could speak he grasped my chin and raised my face up to his whist I had a mouthful of bread I was then forced to swallow.
“Hey, less of the manhandling,” I said pulling my face from his hold but again he ignored my complaint and said,
“'N' yer eyes are now all red 'n' sore...what happened?” I knew he was only concerned, which I found odd considering I was in fact just a job to him and one he still intended to deliver on, despite not knowing my fate.
Kingdoms Of Hell: Vampire Paranormal Romance (Transfusion Book 7) Page 20
