He could tell by her expression that she was weighing possible outcomes if she ignored him again. Ella kept her eyes fixed on his as she slid her right arm slowly down, her hand slipped over her collarbone, lightly over her breast, and down her abdomen before veering off to the right and toying with the strings there. When she dragged that arm back up, the strings remained tied. She returned it to its previous position over her head before her left made a similar journey, with the same results before she whispered, “No deal, Warrior.”
Her teasingly little play over her own body had him clenching his jaw. He was nearly out of his mind with need by the time she finished. Nicholas clenched his jaw, the topaz of his eyes was nearly hot enough to spark flames, “Do you forget who you toy with, Ella? If you make me untie those strings, I will use them to tie you to that bed. I will torture you for days before I listen to your pleas for forgiveness.”
His face was harshly set. Ella had no fear of him; she knew that it was his passion, not anger, rousing this level of dominance in him. However, she was also quite certain that if she pushed her Warrior too far, he would most definitely find a wickedly delightful way to punish her. She was too roused to wait too long.
Her hand followed the same trek it had a moment earlier, equally hot and teasing in its lingering caress of her own flesh. She might surrender to his dictate, but she would torment him in the process. This time her hand flicked at the strings to pull them loose. After that hand had found home again over her head, she did the exact same move with the other. Ella started to return her left arm to its position as well, but Nicholas shook his head at her. She paused, her eyes questioning his.
He ground out hotly, “Take it off, Ella, and give it to me.” She shivered, her eyes glowing. Ella watched him watching her and she rubbed her hand back down and over, drifting it lightly over her covered heat. She ran her fingers up and down the swatch of material a few times before she finally grasped it, tugging it free. Her eyes were brazenly seductive when she dangled it off the fingertips of her outstretched hand. His voice was fierce in response, predatory, “You, my wicked little Witch, are a temptress.” Ella leaned up and crooked a finger at him, not bothering to deny his assertion.
It was an hour later when Nicholas collapsed next to her, regaining his breath. He finally pushed himself free and dropped heavily to the bed, grabbing her tightly around the waist and dragging her up against him. Her lids were heavy, but she smiled contentedly up at him when he touched a finger to the end of her nose, “You need a nap now, Princess?” She nodded, eyes closing before she dropped her face to his chest. When she was out completely, he dragged the covers back over them both and decided to enjoy the quiet, studying his irresistible mate.
CHAPTER 41
When Ella rolled over a few hours later, Nicholas’s side of the bed was empty. Her head was throbbing and she cursed Kat and her brew. Donning a pair of leggings and one of her mate’s favorite sweaters, she made her way gingerly down the stairs so as not to increase the pain in her head. Her mood was not helped when she arrived at the bottom and spied the light under the door to the study. In her hangover induced snit, Ella decided she was having none of that anymore. Purposefully marching the few steps across the hall, she shoved the door open. It was forceful enough to cause it to bang loudly, meeting the wall behind it. Ella met Nicholas’s surprised look with a glower.
Mistaking the cause, he laughed, eyes raking her disheveled appearance, “Having a hard time of it, love?”
Ella crossed her arms over her chest, her frown increasing as she looked between Dunkirk and Nicholas with her surly response, “I am having a hard time with the fact that you are not allowing me to participate in your discussions. It is really not acceptable. This involves me every bit as much as you, Nicholas.”
Nicholas leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers beneath his chin while studying her calmly, “The affairs of the Darks do not concern you, Princess. Your place is no longer in the Realm, you need not be bothered.”
Ella raised her voice along with her finger to point at him, “First, I am a Queen, and it would do you well to remember that, Warrior. Second, your place is no longer there either. Let it go, we are safe here!” She stamped her foot and leveled a censorious gaze on each of them, “Are the two of you unable to walk away? If this continues Nicholas, I suppose I will have to start going to the Realm to speak with Kat and Lorcan to stay apprised of the ongoings of the Light. I will probably even feel inclined to join them in a battle or two.”
Spinning, she slammed the door in her wake, feeling certain she had made her point with that and smiling with pleasure over it. Ella thought she had sounded rather fierce. Making her way to the kitchen - she was beyond starved - she came up short in the entryway. Nicholas was leaning casually against the island, causing her to mutter under her breath, “Damn shadowy vamps…”
Nicholas quirked a brow at that before he said evenly, “Why would you need to venture to the Realm, Ella? Kat comes to you, does she not? I assume she was responsible for your…condition…this afternoon.”
Ella nodded, her eyes challenging, “That she does. You have been in such a mood this past week. How am I supposed to know the cause if you will not discuss it with me? So, Rhydach seeks us…does it matter? We are not there, he cannot find us. Let it be done, Nicholas!”
Straightening from his relaxed pose, Nicholas pinned her with his gaze, “You do not need to know because you do not need to be concerned. I will handle this Ella and you will trust that I will.”
Stalking towards him, Ella smacked the flat of her hand against the tile counter, “And because you order me to trust you, that should settle it? You do not need to protect me and you do not need to shelter me. I am a Queen. I am a force of magic more powerful than any you have ever seen Nicholas. Remember that and quit treating me otherwise!”
Nicholas grabbed her arm and jerked her hard against him, his other hand dropping to her side and applying steady pressure at the area of her old wound. The relentless grip of his fingers caused her to wince and he drove his point home with his words, “A force? Not fragile? Your wound may look healed, but you are not entirely recovered Ella. Do not pretend otherwise. You have been sleeping in excess and when you finally drag yourself out of bed you are still pale.”
He released her side only to fold his arms around her. Her eyes were sparking with anger when they jerked upwards to clash with his over his next words, “You are not to go to the Realm, and if Kaitriana brings news that troubles you she will not be coming here either. I only tolerate the Light Witch’s presence because she is dear to you. Are we clear, Princess?”
She mimicked his tone and watched with satisfaction as his eyes darkened, “If Dunkirk continues to bring news that troubles you, I suppose I will have to ban him too.”
Nicholas hugged her tighter and began wrapping long strands of red around his hand until it caused her head to pull back. His lips nudged hers, “You are a sassy little witch. What will it take to teach you to behave, Ella?”
“If you would treat me like an adult, I might behave like…” her words were cut off when he pressed his mouth roughly to hers. His free hand dropped to the curve of her bottom and dragged her hips up hard against his, showing her vivid proof of his desire for her.
He kept the pressure there when he pulled his mouth free, whispering, “You behave like an adult in a lot of ways…” Dragging his lips across her cheek and down the column of her throat, he licked at the skin there before continuing, “…like earlier, when you had your legs wrapped around me so tightly, begging me not to stop.”
Nicholas did not give her time to respond, but bit hard on her exposed pulsepoint, drawing a moan of pleasure from her. He drank for only a minute before he withdrew, murmuring as he dropped soft kisses against the wound, “Are you hungry, Princess?” When he raised his head to look at her, her tongue was playing over her teeth while she eyed his fangs. Nicholas started to press his fingertips to a sharp tip when Ella shoo
k her head at him. His eyes mirrored his surprise when she grasped his arm and pushed his wrist towards his mouth instead.
Nicholas paused, his eyes narrowing on hers in question and she pleadingly whispered his name. He readily complied with the unspoken request, creating a small wound in the flesh at his wrist. Turning her in his arms so that her back was cradled into his chest, he took her weight and leaned against the counter’s edge once more before pressing the wound to her lips. Ella licked eagerly and then began sucking in earnest at the slight tear in his skin. Nicholas kept his arm about her waist, holding her tightly and nuzzling her hair as he pondered her desire to actually drink rather than merely be satisfied with a few tastes at his fingers.
He knew well enough an immortal Witch could not be hurt by the consumption and maybe it was only that she loved this special ritual between them and it fed her desire. If evidenced by the hard and repeated press of her backside to his hips, it did just that. He would wait to see if her desire to drink persisted before raising the issue with Dunkirk, otherwise the meddling giant would be inviting Myrrdyn for Sunday brunch at their new home.
Finally pulling his wrist free, he refused to be swayed by her whine of dismay. Turning her once more, Nicholas pressed a light kiss to her lips, “Ella, I believe you need some real food. Dunkirk and I left you plenty from our meal warming in the oven.” He let her loose and waited until she nodded her agreement and began to move away. Snagging her arm, he pulled her roughly back into him and kissed her hard. When she was squirming hotly in response, he pulled back and swatted her backside with a wink, “Eat and go back to bed. I will join you shortly and you can thank me properly for allowing you to get away unscathed after your sass tonight.” Nicholas set her from him and disappeared.
CHAPTER 42
Nicholas returned to their rooms shortly before dawn only to be greeted by Ella glaring at him from her position in the center of the bed. She hit the power on the remote and tossed it to his side of the bed before exiting swiftly with marked irritation in her steps. Nicholas eyed her curiously until she disappeared into her closet and exited a short time later. Fully dressed, she breezed past him into the bathroom. Silently he followed her there and leaned in the doorway watching as she tugged a brush roughly through her hair before sweeping it up in a high pony. Not sparing him a glance, Ella squeezed past Nicholas in the doorway and disappeared once more into her closet. She returned this time with her running shoes before flopping on the edge of the bed.
Nicholas turned to face her, now quite irritated by her silence and obvious pout, “Ella, why the hell would you go running this time of day?”
She deigned to give him a response, but did not lift her gaze from focusing on the tying of her shoes, “Because I have slept off and on all night and I really do not feel like sleeping at the moment.”
Nicholas sighed, running his hands through his hair a few times before dropping next to her on the bed, “Ella, I realize I was gone for some time…”
The irate look in her eye when she faced him caused him to trail off before she even had the chance to interrupt, “Some time? Really? And here I thought you had said you would join me shortly? Shortly does not equate to being away all night. Obviously you were not paying attention when I said no more of this!”
At the last she rose and moved towards the door, with him following in her wake. His voice was deadly calm, “Ella, do not walk away from me when we are having a discussion.”
She spun on him, her eyes glittered with her furor and her waggling beneath his nose, “We are not having a discussion. What you had last night with Dunkirk was a discussion and by the lateness of your arrival, you had plenty of it. You might see if he wants to sleep with you now, because I do not!” Her finger actually sparked a bit of flame with her last words, “FYI…this is an argument, Nicholas, and one that I refuse to participate in at the moment.”
When she turned to head out the door, Ella was brought up short by his hand on her arm. In the next instant, Nicholas tossed her over his shoulder and then dumped her on the bed. Light sparked at her fingertips and she waved them at him slowly, “Do not cause me to make your ass glow, Nicholas. I am not in the mood.”
His eyes blackened, “Do not raise your magic against me, Ella. I will put that cuff around your arm and bind you for a good week if you need to be reminded why it is a bad idea to threaten me.”
Her fingertips still shimmered, but she sat up and folded them together in her lap, “I need some time, Nicholas. Obviously, you are not ready to leave the Realm. Your interest has been drawn there now for quite some time…you may be here, but you leave me for the Darks nightly.”
Taking a spot on the edge of the mattress, he reached over and rubbed his hand over her knee, “Ella, there are matters that must be settled…I left rather abruptly. Rhydach is insane, vengeful. Every property that I own, both in and outside the Realm, has been torched these past four weeks, Ella. He has taken men, my men… those that are loyal to me, the warriors that I have spent years training. He is interrogating, torturing and executing them.” Her eyes widened on him with that report and her anger left. She dropped her hand to his where it still rested on her knee when he continued, “These men are not merely Darks, Ella. These men are my friends, comrades and because they are loyal to me they now suffer.”
She studied his face and then her own paled with the realization of what was to come, what she could plainly see in his eyes. Ella could barely voice the words, “Rhydach is using this to draw you out…and you are going to let him, aren’t you?”
His face was resigned, his voice harsh, “What would you have me do, Ella? Leave them so that he can murder each one? What Cordelia did to you is nothing compared to what is being done to my men. I will not leave them to suffer the same fate that my men did all those centuries ago when I was turned. I will not forsake them.”
Ella pulled her hand away, tears filling her vision, “So you will leave me instead…again.”
Nicholas rose from the bed angrily, “It is not the same, Ella. It will be for a few days at the most, Dunkirk and I have a solid plan.”
She just shook her head at him, shocked and in disbelief, “And this is your decision…yours alone. There will be no discussion with me, no heed given to my feelings on the matter. Did you mate me so that I could be your widow? Damn it, Nicholas, how dare you!”
Nicholas faced her fully, trading temper for reason, “If it were Kaitriana or Lorcan and you knew you could save them, you cannot tell me that your decision would be any different from mine.”
Hurting, the tears began to stream down her face, “I would discuss it with you first. Your opinion would matter and your agreement would be necessary.”
Nicholas leaned down closer, sighing in weary frustration when he gripped her chin and pulled her face up to his, “If you had the means you would go to save Kaitriana, even if I objected, and we both know it. You are as stubborn as any, Ella.” His eyes judged her as harshly as his words, “These men deserve no less. You see them only as Darks, not worthy of saving. That is on you, Ella. I do this, because it is what is right.”
The accusation stung and Ella pulled loose of his told, turning her tear streaked face from him, “When do you go?”
Nicholas stood and pivoted away from her, “Tomorrow.”
He was two steps away when her voice called out. Ella was kneeling up on the bed, arms outstretched to him. He closed the space in an instant and dragged her up to him while her arms locked in a stranglehold around his neck. Her voice trembled pitifully, “I do not want you to be away from me; you must take me to Laverock to wait for you. I cannot be here alone Nicholas, I have to be near you.” He nodded against her hair, feeling all the more wretched for the dampness from her sobs against his neck, “I love you with my whole heart, Nicholas…don’t you dare break it again.”
He swept her up to cradle in his arms, promisingly solemnly, “Nothing will keep me from you, Princess.”
Ella nodded and rubbed th
e side of her face to the wall of his chest. Her voice was breaking with the tears that still fell freely, “I am tired now, Nicholas…I want to lay with you.”
Nicholas sat her back on the bed and gently undressed her. His clothes joined hers on the floor and then he pulled her down with him onto the pillows. Settling the covers over them both, he attempted to tease her from her worry, “I expect you to not play at swords with those warriors Ella. Find something else to entertain yourself with for the next few days.”
She gave him a wan smile, her eyes still watery, “If you are gone any longer than three days, Nicholas, I promise you that I will first challenge Lorcan and then Broderick and then each and every member of the Elite.”
He cupped her face, giving her a tender look, “Do not worry yourself because I will never leave you again. I love you, Ella.” Closing his eyes, he dropped his lips to hers in a warm, insistent kiss until her tears subsided and heat crept in. Nicholas loved her late into the morning hours until they both found a fitful sleep.
CHAPTER 43
At Nicholas’s repeated nudging, Ella finally rolled her eyes open. Her first reaction to his gorgeous face looming over him was to give him an inviting smile. Then she was reminded of his mission by his warrior’s dress and frowned. Her expression conveyed her anxiety as she whispered, “Can we not wait just one more day?”
Nicholas shook his head, offering his hand to help pull her from the bed, “No, love, the sooner we do this, the sooner I can return and resume practice on making those beastly little children you want.” He wiggled his brows suggestively at her, a grin pulling at his lips, “I hope they are all Vampire…Witch are so high maintenance.”
Ella laughed and delivered a playful slap to his shoulder before her eyes found the bags he had packed. They were an ominous reminder stacked by the door, bringing reality back. Her mood shifted to melancholy and she didn’t attempt to hide it.
Forsaken (Ancients of Light #1) Page 29
