He waved his hand dismissively in her direction and flicked the television back on, “No deal, Witch.”
That was all Nicholas – bah! Ella was unable to contain the sound of her frustration. She thumped the container down hard on his abdomen and leaned forward to plant a smacking, wet kiss on his lips before he could react. She was withdrawing to her earlier position with a smug look when he moved the cake over to the side table. Before she had finished moving back completely, his lightening fast hands had snagged her and dragged her back down to his chest. He enjoyed the extra length of her hair when he tangled his hands in it to reel her down for something a bit more fulfilling, “I think, Princess, that it is lucky that I found you when I did. You have forgotten how to kiss.”
He kept winding her hair around his hands to pull her closer to his lips. He could see a bit of trepidation in her widened eyes, “Easy Ella, I won’t bite…yet.” That did not seem to help her fear much, so when he had her face just an inch from his, he promised with hushed words, “If you ask me to stop Ella, I will.” He pulled her forward, pressing her lips firmly against his, his palm slipping up to cup the back of her head in an easy hold. Cole kept the kiss light initially. Increasing the pressure, he finally demanded hotly against her lips, “Give me your mouth, Ella.”
Ella hated herself for wanting to give in so badly. Holding on, just barely, her lips clamped more tightly in response to the sweeping touch of his tongue. She might not have parted her mouth for him, but her body betrayed her, going lax against him when his tongue played again at the seam of her lips. He pulled back, pleased with that one small victory, and teased, “That was not difficult, was it?”
When she did not answer, Nicholas rolled her unceremoniously off of his chest before settling back and extending his hand, “Robe, dear.” Ella glared at him, shifted herself to a sitting position and lifted her chin defiantly. Untangling the belt from her waist, she shrugged the wrap from her shoulders and tossed it at him before moving a foot further away.
Cole caught it easily and tossed it over the side of the bed, taking his time to study the way the satin material clung to her. Despite her height and the strength of her build, she looked delicately beautiful sitting there, with eyes shooting fiery rebellion at him. He licked his lips deliberately just to rile her. Ella folded her arms protectively across her chest to which he taunted, “You certainly are not holding up your end of the bargain well, Witch.”
She cocked her head, musing, “I do not recall any obligation to participate in an overly zealous ogling by a blood sucking Neanderthal.”
He flipped open the top on the container. Running his finger over the icing, he popped it into his mouth, never looking over at her, “I cannot really share this with you if you are all the way over there.” When Ella relented and scooted a few inches forward, he patted the spot next to his hip, “Come on, love, my story, my cake…we do this my way or not at all.”
She plopped down hard next to him with an exaggerated sigh, nearly jarring the container off of his stomach. When she opened her mouth to sass him, he stuffed an overly large piece of cake in. Laughing, he fed himself a bite and then reached over to drag those chocolate covered fingertips from her collarbone to the edge of the satin top, “Oops.”
Ella frowned and batted his hand away, “I’ll oops you.”
Nicholas was already up on his knees in front of her, setting the box next to him. His eyes captured hers when he leaned down, “Let me take care of that for you.” His right arm snaked around her back, to pull her closer as much as to hold her still. Dropping his head, he licked a path up the first line of chocolate and then the second.
She had her hands pressed against his shoulders, trying to push away, “Cut it…” The remainder of her words came out muffled as Cole shoved another mouthful of cake in. Ella’s eyes widened and she almost spit crumbs all over him when she laughed. Two swallows later, she laughed again, “You are absolutely horrid, you know.”
With a single nod he plead guilty to the accusation and offered her a much smaller piece. She eyed him suspiciously but opened. After delivering the morsel, he trailed the chocolate down the side of her neck and immediately leaned down and trailed his tongue back up. He basked in the shiver of pleasure that ran over her. When he looked back at her, another piece of chocolate poised near her lips, she raised a hand to his cheek, “You really must stop, I am not ready for this. I don’t know who I am dealing with…Cole? Nicholas? But you know exactly who I am and you know exactly how to seduce me. I am not ready and I cannot resist you…please.”
He grinned at her, appreciating her honesty, “And my cake…you cannot resist my cake.” This was his Ella and her words spoke volumes. She was honest about her weaknesses and she did not even realize how much trust was implicit in that. He continued, “You know me Ella. Anything important about me, you know and you know it because the only thing of any importance to me is you. Everything I am when I am with you, that is me.”
Nicholas could not tell if his words were making any difference with her because her expression was rather stoic, but she looked like a little goddess with her hair spilling riotously over her shoulders, barely clothed in that vivid silken blue. Tugging her closer, he dropped his brow down to rest on hers and sighed, “I love to be with you Ella. I cannot stop touching you, and it is not because I cannot control my lust. You were made for me. I need to touch you because you are you, and because you are mine.” Nicholas witnessed just a touch of sparkle in her eyes and that was enough for now.
Switching back to his cajoling tease, he grinned, “And, this blue number that you’re almost wearing is striking against your hair.” He plucked at the thin strap over her shoulder and eased back just enough to raise the last bite to her lips, “One more Princess, then I’ll stop.” At her nod of agreement, he tucked the morsel into her mouth, before dragging the remnants of icing across her lower lip. His eyes flickered dark, his voice husky as he exhaled slowly and lowered his head, reminding himself as much as her, “I promise, just once more.”
His mouth found hers and he drew the fullness of her lower lip between his. Nibbling and licking there unhurriedly, he finally took her mouth. Slipping his other arm around her, he molded her body to him and his tongue traced the outline of her lips, begging once more for entrance to her mouth. Ella raised her arms to encircle his shoulders, but he sensed she was holding back and would give him no more. Nicholas pulled free and heaved a sigh before dropping a kiss to her brow. Releasing her, he settled back to his former spot.
Ella was still looking at him, confounded by his abrupt end to the kiss. She expected him to push. Instead, he grinned lightheartedly as he patted the spot next to him and gave her a wink, “Come on Ella, story time.”
She lowered next to him, and he draped his arm around her shoulders and hauled her against his side, “Once upon a time…” Nicholas yelped when she elbowed him sharply. He dropped another kiss to the top of her head and began recounting his history.
For Ella, it was actually much like a story. Cole describing personally the way the world was at the time he was born, growing up in Northern France, how he entered knighthood and then later the Crusades. It was true ancient history, but it was his. It was surreal to hear it spoken of as though he were relating a lifetime that had occurred over the past few decades rather than eight centuries ago.
Nicholas tucked her closer, recalling, “It was in my thirty-fourth year, during the Second Crusade, that a group of us from the North allied with the King of Portugal. We retook the city of Lisbon from the Muslims. Another small group of us continued on and claimed the city of Tortosa in the area of what is now Spain.” Nicholas rubbed his fingers absently through her hair, lost in the memory.
Ella rolled to her side, using his chest as a pillow as she tugged the down comforter up over her and snuggled into him. He had paused for an extended period before he went on as though grappling with the memory before being able to relate it, “It was shortly after that time whe
n we were set upon by Rhydach and his Darks.”
Thinking back, he pulled her closer still, needing the warmth of her touch to ward off the cold dread that racked him every time he thought of that night, “He is a demented bastard and he harbors a wicked hatred for anything or anyone that is associated with God. Rhydach must have been spawned from the fire pits in the darkest recesses of Hell.”
Nicholas tapped her on the nose to make certain she had not fallen asleep since her eyes were closed. When they darted open, clear and alert, he tapped her little nose again and gave her a wink, “Good thing for us, he is also lacking much in the brains department.” That earned him a smile before she snuggled back down, her fingers tracing over the scar that ran the length of his abdomen.
He entwined those fingers with his own and then continued, “They attacked our group. It was a vicious slaughter. We had never seen anything of their making, nor did we have any idea how to fight them. The worst part of it was that they took delight in prolonging the death of most of my comrades. I heard their screams echoing long into the night, along with their prayers for salvation.”
His voice hardened then, “I do not believe that God was of the mind to listen that night.” Disengaging his grip from hers, Nicholas traced a finger over the cross on his forearm, “Unfortunately for me, I managed to slay two of his Vampire warriors before I received a fatal wound.” At the probing touch of her fingertip tracing over the long scar down his side, he just nodded absently in confirmation of her unspoken question. “That was enough to gain Rhydach’s interest. He had not expected to find a worthy warrior amongst humans and he was intrigued. He told me it would be a crowning achievement, to turn one of God’s soldiers into the image of evil. So he did, right there on that field.”
Nicholas clenched his fist tightly at the memory, “He scoffed at my prayers and I did pray Ella. I wanted death that night, and through the entire ordeal for the next century while Rhydach alternated between training me for immortal battle and torturing me.”
Her voice was whisper quiet, “So, you walked away from God because you thought he had forsaken you?”
His answering frown was fierce, his eyes burning with anger, “I did not think it, I knew it. I lived it Ella. He discarded me and every man that died screaming in agony that same night. We had been on a mission in His name and He left us to suffer unimaginable deaths.”
She could not possibly understand what he had endured, instead she just pressed a kiss to his scar and then rolled up to sit next to him, “And so you decided then to spend your days destroying everything good…everything of the Light?”
Nicholas eased away from her and stood abruptly, “Was there any other choice?” He grew angrier because he could tell from her expression she clearly thought there was. Before she could voice her beliefs and cause him to lose his temper, he pivoted away. He needed to get control of himself. His words were sharp, his voice harsh, “That’s the story, love. Go to sleep…you need the rest.”
He shadowed away, and it was her turn to frown… over her pain for him and her concern. Ella did not find sleep for many hours to come.
CHAPTER 34
Cole did return sometime after she had drifted off because Ella woke an hour before sunset wrapped tightly in his arms. Each time she tried to ease away, his hold would tighten and draw her back against him. The last time she rolled into him instead, tilting her head first to study the cross on his arm and then that wicked scar. When she had finished her inspection, she raised her head to find his eyes barely opened. What she could see under those heavy lids was blackened.
She drew her hand along his abdomen over his chest and up to his neck. Continuing on to cup his cheek, she questioned softly, “You are not still angry with me?” Rather than answer, Nicholas rolled, pinning her under him. Settling his hips between her legs, his eyes opened fully and locked on hers. Everything she could see there was dark and dangerous. Rocking his hips, he let her feel his need and nuzzled his face against her neck.
Nicholas felt her stiffen in response to his mouth on her, but he raised a hand and drew her hair back from the pale column anyway. He broke her skin slowly. Ella started to object, but he responded by grinding his hips downward, letting her feel the press of his heat at her core. That sensual motion transformed her complaint into a heated little gasp. He loved the taste of her, growling out his pleasure against her throat as he savored her essence. Having suffered the hell of being away from her these past few months, he knew he could not endure it again. It would kill him if he could not convince her to stay with him rather than return to Laverock.
Ella allowed herself these few moments of escape, deliberately forgetting everything but how it felt to be with him once more. It was not hard; she wished she could hate him, but after his pained tale last night, she understood him. She had disowned her Caste because they renounced her mother. The betrayal Nicholas held in his heart was much more personal, much more devastating. He had not simply walked away from God, he had retaliated. She believed that the man himself was not evil, but his expression of his anger was. He could not be truly evil because he loved her and she would challenge him at every opportunity until he realized it himself. Real love and evil could not coexist in one being.
He continued with the pressing rotation of his hips while he took his fill. He felt her tension release and she went soft for him. Nicholas slid his right hand up her side and cupped the swell of flesh against the material of her nightgown. He was rewarded by the answering pebble of flesh against his palm and ceased the movement of his hips because hers had taken over. Slow and languid, she repeatedly rolled up into him. He kept teasing her flesh through the satin until she was whimpering for him. Releasing his bite, his tongue dipped into the hollow of her throat, “I need to love you Princess.”
Ella deliberately misunderstood, “Then you must love everything about me Cole, the Light too.”
Nicholas did not even hesitate, just rolled off her and rose from the bed. His scowl was thunderous and he grumbled, “Time for your medicine, Witch.” He shadowed off without another word.
Ella was torn between calling him back - her body was screaming for him - and continuing to push him. Nicholas was gone long enough that the decision was made for her. Ella had calmed herself, righted her clothes and settled into the pillows and blankets by the time the he brought the medicine already mixed with his blood in the cup.
She eyed it sulkily, refusing to raise the issue of what had transpired before, “Do you not think I am healthy enough that I can forgo that stuff?”
He pushed the glass at her and silently waited for her to take it into her hands. Striding into his closet, he finally answered over his shoulder, “Myrrdyn said six days worth, so you will take it for six days.”
When he exited, Ella had finished the drink but her expression was incredulous and it had nothing to do with his bare-chested approach. His jeans fit perfectly and with the top button yet to be fastened, he oozed hot-sexy. Ella shook herself and found the line of her earlier thought, “Did you say Myrrdyn?”
He waved the question off as insignificant, “Apparently he and Dunkirk have a healthy respect for one another. Dunkirk sought his assistance when you became ill and the crazy old witch provided the medicine.”
That explanation did not appease her, it infuriated her, “So Dunkirk sought the means to save me? Since you do not pray, obviously, what was your grand plan? Let me suffer? Hope for the best? Idiot.” She smacked the bed at the last and moved to leave it.
Nicholas reacted with that amazing quickness of his and had her flat on her back, pinned under him, angrily, “I would have figured it out Ella. Dunkirk merely made the decision before I had time to consider the options.”
The fierce warlord that was legendary in the Dark ranks was back, but she was too pissed to be afraid of him. Her glare told him she was not ready to let it go, “Was it his idea to remove the band or yours?”
His hardened stare told her enough and she gave him a
knee in his gut for it. The blow caught him off guard and she had a moment to smile over his grimace before he laid his body flat against hers. Using his strength and weight, he pinned her completely. Nicholas snatched her wrists at the same time, pushing them down so they were restrained on either side of her head. His voice was brimming with restrained violence, “Do not make the mistake of trying to fight me, Witch. I still have the band and I can put it back on you and chain you to this bed until you learn to be more appreciative that I did save your neck.”
She lifted her head off the bed, an inch from his face, hissing, “I vowed not to use my magic against you, Nicholas, I did not make any promises about my behavior, nor that I wouldn’t knock you on your ass if you deserved it.”
There was a dangerous edge to his challenge, “You want me to believe that you did not just use magic? I know your powers, little Queen. That may not have been Fire or Light, but you used magic in that blow.” Glowering up at him, she did not insult him by denying what she was or that the knee to his gut had an extra bit of wallop behind it.
He lowered his face to hers, “This is the second time you have broken your word to me. Am I going to have to show you that there are consequences to your actions?”
“Oh, like running me through with a sword wasn’t enough?” Her arms were immobilized, but her hands were not. She flipped him off, “Screw you.”
The little spitfire obviously did need a lesson. Nicholas lifted a brow, “I am very certain that was an invitation, Princess.” Ella was already shaking her head at him when he began lowering his mouth to hers. He took his time getting there, murmuring wickedly, “And I think it is time I reminded you what that foul little mouth of yours is actually intended for…”
Forsaken (Ancients of Light #1) Page 24
