“The pleasure is all mine.” After he released my hand, his gaze drifted over my face and body. The masculine appreciation in his dark orbs would’ve made most girls melt since he was rich and handsome, but it made my skin crawl. I must have masked my reaction to him better than I thought because he smiled at me and suggested, “I’d love to show you our garden while my parents and your aunt enjoy a drink.”
“Go on, dear,” Aunt Judy urged with a pleased grin. “A walk in the garden before dinner sounds like a lovely idea.”
I parted my lips, prepared to argue that it was too dark outside for me to really see anything, but then thought better of it when she glared at me. Pasting a smile on my face, I turned back to Jonathan. “Thank you.”
One of the things I loved about my dress was the pockets hidden in the folds on both sides. I had a tiny clutch with me, only big enough to hold my phone, ID, and a lip balm, so when he held out his hand, I slipped the reticule into one of the hidden slots. Then I slid my palm against his, allowing him to lead me through several long hallways and out a set of French doors. He didn’t release me until we neared a break in the wall of precisely trimmed hedges. “After you,” he murmured with a gallant sweep of his arm.
I stepped through the opening and gaped at the perfectly manicured garden. I loved flowers and couldn’t help but gasp, “It’s beautiful.”
“Not nearly as beautiful as you.” He pulled a small jewelry box from his pocket, plucked something shiny from inside, and reached for my hand. “I’m glad I’m the one who gets to claim you.”
I stared down at the diamond ring as he slid it onto my finger. The cushion-cut solitaire was stunning, but I didn’t understand why he had given me such an expensive gift—let alone putting it where an engagement ring belonged. “I don’t understand.”
“What’s there to understand?” The gleam in his dark eyes—with a hint of red that must’ve been a trick of light from the moon or something—sent an uncomfortable shiver up my spine. “Your aunt came to an agreement with my parents, and we’re to be married next month.”
“Married?” I shook my head, trying to make sense of his announcement.
“Of course.” He swept his thumb over my finger directly beneath the ring, and I tugged my hand away. “That’s the reason for tonight’s dinner—to celebrate our engagement.”
I took a couple of steps backward, wanting some distance between Jonathan and me. “But I didn’t agree to marry you.”
“You will.”
He seemed unbothered by my negative reaction, standing so still that it seemed like he wasn’t even breathing. His unblinking stare and certainty about our relationship were completely freaking me out. I stumbled back again, making Jonathan laugh. “Go ahead and run, Thana. I’ll even give you a head start.”
I glanced over my shoulder at the opening in the hedges, my heart racing so hard that I felt each beat at the base of my throat. “Run?” I echoed, wondering how far I would get and if it would do me any good since my aunt was behind the mess I’d found myself in tonight.
“The chase will be fun, and the outcome is guaranteed—I’ll catch you and claim a prize before we go in and share the happy news with our families.” I looked back at him, my stomach sinking when he licked his lips. “Hunting you down in the dark will turn me on. Now that the engagement is official, we might as well consummate the occasion.”
It no longer mattered that I had nowhere to go and nobody to help me. I wasn’t attracted to Jonathan and refused to allow him to take my virginity against my will. Running was my only choice, and that was exactly what I did. Fisting my skirt in my hands, I kicked off my heels before lifting the hem off the ground. Then I took off, moving as quickly as I could.
I heard Jonathan laughingly start to count behind me, and his confidence spurred me on. Grateful for the years I spent running cross country and track, I raced through the gardens, looking for an opening that would get me off the property. I spotted a small gate ahead to the left just as Jonathan called out, “Ready or not, here I come!” Once I reached the exit, I quietly opened the gate and shut it gently behind me, hoping the hinges wouldn’t squeak and give away my location.
I squeezed through a hedge, and tears of relief filled my eyes when I saw that I was in another garden with paths that led to a large stone house that looked like a castle. Racing toward the imposing home in front of me, I was panting for air as I stumbled up to the door and pounded on the hard surface. I offered up a silent prayer that someone was home, but I was wholly unprepared for the vision before me when the door swung open.
2
Kieran
I was rinsing out my cup from breakfast when I heard a banging that sounded like it was coming from the back door. It led to a vast garden that was surrounded by tall hedges for privacy.
Whoever was knocking was trespassing, and the interruption wholly annoyed me. Especially since I’d sent my staff home for a few days, wanting some privacy. I sighed and rinsed my mouth to make sure there was no red residue from the blood I’d been drinking. Then I popped to the back door. I twisted the lock and swung it open, only to stumble back at the sight before me.
Big blue eyes stared up at me, filled with terror, and I felt an overwhelming need to rip apart the person who’d caused it. Pouty, pink lips trembled as tears slid down her cheeks, stained with color from exertion, made even more prominent by her pale skin. Luminous blond curls surrounded her, hanging all the way down past her bottom. She was of medium height, with a willowy body covered in a filmy blue material that flared out from her tiny waist into a long, full skirt. And if I’d been able to feel any sort of arousal, I imagined that I would’ve been drooling over her full but perky breasts.
She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen in nearly a millennium.
“Help me, please,” she panted as she glanced over her shoulder. I took a deep breath, and that’s when I smelled it. She’d been touched by a nightwalker, and my instinct said that was who she was running from. I opened the door wider and stepped back, allowing her to enter. She hesitated for a beat but looked up into my face and stepped into my lair.
Lair? That was an odd turn of phrase, I thought. I must not have slept well.
I glanced outside, and my enhanced night vision picked up movement in the hedges between my garden and the neighbors’. No nightwalker would dare breach my property unless they had a death wish, but I was furious to have them lurking around. I slammed the door shut and turned to see the girl staring at me with wide eyes and biting her plump bottom lip. “You’re safe here,” I assured her gently.
She nervously brushed her hair over her shoulder and glanced at the door once more. The dim lights from the sconces lining the wall made the large diamond ring on her finger twinkle and momentarily distracted me from the familiar birthmark on her neck. The vampire she was destined for was probably the one who had slid that ring onto her finger while he waited for the right time to sink his fangs into her neck. Disappointment sliced through me at the knowledge that she belonged to someone else. Even though it wasn’t like I could keep her happy if she didn’t. I imagined that a woman wouldn’t want to stay with a man who would never physically desire her. I shook off the ridiculous thoughts and focused my attention on the matter at hand.
“What if he comes for me?” Her voice wavered, and she clasped her hands tightly in front of her.
I looked her in the eyes so she would have no doubt of my sincerity. “No one will get to you while you are under my protection.” She looked slightly relieved, and I felt the need to soothe her completely. “What is your name?”
“Thana,” she whispered. Gorgeous.
“I’m Kieran. How about I make you some tea, and you can tell me what has you so frightened?” She nodded, but her fingers continued to twist together, so I reached out to untangle them.
The second our skin touched, my body came to life with a bolt of electricity as though I’d been struck by lightning. “Fuck,” I mutte
red right before my breath got caught in my lungs. Arousal spread through me like a wildfire in a prairie, causing my cock to swell and harden, the girth threatening to rip through the jeans I’d pulled on when I’d gotten out of bed.
Feelings of joy and utter bliss were also coursing through me. Not only at the knowledge that I’d found my consort, but because it was this woman in front of me. Somehow, my brain had desired Thana even before my body had the ability.
My fingers itched to glide along her silky skin and touch her everywhere, my tongue tingled with the same desire, and my mouth watered at the thought of tasting her. The smell of her blood was so sweet, my fangs ached with the desire to sink into her neck, just as my cock ached to drive into her pussy. It took every shred of my control not to grab her and teleport straight to our bedroom and fuck her until she was tied to me in every way possible.
I needed to approach this carefully. Thana was human, and I didn’t want to send her running, especially since danger was clearly already stalking her.
Taking a deep breath, I tried to ignore these new, intense sensations filling me and tell my body to be patient. I laced our fingers together and smiled tenderly. “Come with me, baby.”
Thana allowed me to guide her down the hall and through the house into the large open kitchen. Gasping, she released my hand to spin in a circle. “Your house is amazing. But this is the most incredible kitchen I’ve ever seen!”
I smiled at her reaction, happy she liked her new home. “Do you cook?” I asked as I went about making her some tea. I glanced at her, and it struck me how young she was. She couldn’t be more than twenty, which made me feel even more ancient. I would eternally look as though I was in my early thirties, but that didn’t take away the years between us. Not that it mattered. She was mine, and I would never let her go.
“I love to cook, but my aunt prefers to use my money to have a chef.”
My brows rose as I turned to face Thana with a steaming mug. “Pardon?”
Her face flushed, the blood rushing to her cheeks and making me hungrier than I’d been before I found her outside my door. “Nothing. I—um. Yes, I love to cook.”
My lips curled down, and I made a mental note to come back to that later. At the moment, there was a more pressing situation. I beckoned her with my hand and started walking toward the door that led to a hallway where my office was located. I stopped and waited as she padded over, wincing once or twice. That’s when I realized she was barefoot. The paths leading to my house were a mixture of dirt and gravel, and I had no idea where from, or how long, she’d been running before ending up at my door. Her feet couldn’t be in very good shape.
I handed her the mug, and she wrapped her hands around it. “Hold that tight,” I warned her before scooping her into my arms. She was as light as a feather, even for someone who didn’t have my vampiric strength. A smile played at the corners of my mouth when she didn’t protest and even snuggled a little into my embrace.
Thana’s delicious scent tickled my nose, and I inhaled deeply, trying to imprint it in my lungs. She tilted her head to the side, and I licked my lips as I stared at the two spots on her neck just begging to feed my soul.
Fuck. I wanted her.
Her sweetness.
Her blood.
Her body.
All of her.
My first instinct was to sit on one of the small couches in the room and settle her on my lap. However, I argued with myself to go slow, and I wanted to take care of her feet, anyway. So I lowered her onto a seat and gave in to the desire to place a chaste kiss on her forehead. When I noticed her little shiver, I had to curl my fingers into fists and bite the inside of my cheek to keep from biting her. “Tell me what’s happened, Thana,” I requested as I knelt in front of her. She watched me curiously as I lifted her skirt to her knees.
The enhanced senses of a vampire could be a blessing and a curse. My eyes drifted to the darkness between her legs. I heard her heartbeat accelerate, and I smelled the tangy scent of her arousal. Squeezing my eyes shut, I thought about the name and species of every flower in my garden. After a minute, I felt a little more in control, but I was careful not to breathe again.
Grasping her foot, I slid one hand up her calf and the other on her heel, lifting it so I could look at the sole. Sure enough, a few cuts and scrapes had tiny bits of rock embedded in them. Rage like I’d never felt before filled me, and I vowed to send the one who’d hurt her straight back to hell.
3
Thana
The last time anyone had taken care of me was so long ago that I almost couldn’t remember how it felt. I couldn’t believe how tender Kieran was being with me. Or how gorgeous he was.
Tall, dark, and handsome wasn’t exactly the right way to describe him since his skin was paler than mine and his eyes were a shade of bright blue that reminded me of the Indian Ocean off the Maldives. One of my favorite memories of my parents was when we’d stayed at a luxurious bungalow on the beach there for an entire month. Maybe that was why I felt as though I could stare into Kieran’s eyes forever.
“We need to get your feet cleaned up. If we don’t get the dirt and pebbles out, you’ll end up with an infection.” He stroked his thumb down the middle of my sole, and goose bumps broke out along my calf.
He gave me an expectant look, and I forced myself to focus on what Kieran had said instead of how it felt to have his hands on me. “Uh-huh.”
His lips curved up just the tiniest bit, and I realized I wasn’t doing a good job of hiding how rattled I was by my attraction to him. I felt my cheeks heat and cursed my penchant for blushing. “Don’t move,” he ordered. “It won’t take me long to grab everything I need to take care of you.”
“Okay.” His smile widened at my one-word response, and I felt my blush deepen. When he brushed a kiss to my forehead after gently setting my foot back down, he foiled my plan to gather my scattered wits. Instead, I stared at his butt as he strode away and pressed my fingertips to the spot he’d kissed once I couldn’t see him anymore.
When he reappeared only a couple of minutes later, I dropped my hand onto my lap and tried not to look like I’d been mentally undressing him while he was gone. I wasn’t sure what was going on with me—I’d never reacted to anyone like this before. My libido picked a heck of a time to roar to life. I should be focused on what I was going to about my aunt promising my hand in marriage to a psychopath; not on the guy who’d rescued me from a bad situation.
“This might hurt a little,” Kieran warned as he placed a folded towel beneath my feet and opened a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. Wrapping his fingers around my ankle, he lifted my foot and cleaned it with a damp washcloth before pouring the peroxide over my skin.
“Ouch.” I must have cut the bottom of my foot while running because I felt the sting of the peroxide.
Kieran’s eyes were full of regret. “I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” I reassured him with a soft smile. “Even with your warning, I was surprised by the sting more than anything else. And you’re not the one responsible for me getting hurt in the first place. All you’ve done tonight is help me. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t let me in your house.”
He gave me a jerky nod and was quiet while giving my other foot the same treatment. It wasn’t until he’d slathered my soles with ointment and slid a pair of socks over them that he asked, “What made you run barefoot in the night? Who is responsible for your pain and fear?”
Something about Kieran made me feel as though I could trust him with anything, even though we’d only met less than an hour ago. Going with my gut, I decided to confide in him. “Remember that aunt I mentioned when you asked me if I liked to cook? The one who uses my money to keep a chef on staff?” He nodded, reaching for my hands as I twisted them in my lap and giving me the courage to continue. “As the executor of my trust, she holds all the purse strings. I haven’t minded how she’s chosen to spend the monthly distribution; my parents lef
t me more money than I’ll ever be able to spend in my lifetime. I’ve bided my time until I turn twenty-one, and she has no more control over me...until tonight.”
Kieran gave my hands a reassuring squeeze before moving to sit next to me. “What happened?”
His gentleness and caring were my undoing. Tears welled in my eyes and streamed down my cheeks as I remembered the betrayal I felt when Jonathan had told me what my aunt had done and the fear that followed. Kieran wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side, and I felt every inch of where our bodies touched each other. Taking strength from his embrace, I pulled myself together and lifted my hand to show him the ring Jonathan had surprised me with. “What I thought was supposed to be a birthday celebration turned out to be a dinner in honor of my engagement to a psychopath I’d never even met before tonight.”
Kieran tugged the diamond solitaire off my finger and tucked it into his pocket. “Consider the engagement broken off. I’ll return the ring for you.”
I shook my head frantically at the thought of how Jonathan would react and what could happen to Kieran during the confrontation. The rest of the story spilled out, and as bizarre as it all sounded, Kieran seemed to have no doubts I was telling the truth. He was such a good guy, and I hated that he was an innocent bystander to the mess my aunt had created. “I shouldn’t have gotten you involved. I’d never be able to forgive myself if something bad happened to you because of me.”
“The last thing you have to worry about is me,” he insisted before brushing his lips over mine.
The Love Bitten Series: Volume 1 Page 2
