“What are you doing?”
She only smiled at his angry tone and leaned down to press a kiss to his thigh.
“I think we need to stop.”
Her eyebrows flew up as if surprised, then she chuckled softly, the sound husky. That was another thing he’d never seen her do. Now he’d seen her angry and seductive. There was more to her than he’d ever thought before. It made sense, she was a person after all, but it still surprised him. This beautiful seductress between his legs was so at odds with quiet, formal Lucinda he’d known. Or thought he knew.
“I’m sorry about your past. It’s never easy living through hard times, but I am sure your past has only led you to being the great warrior you are now.”
“I betrayed my people!”
She jerked back as if struck.
“But you are the man you are today because of that decision. I am proud of you that you left that place. You were not respected and that much you greatly deserve, Draven.”
Draven had had enough of her saccharine words. He shoved the chair back and walked away from her. Anger was good. Anger he could deal with. Not soft touches and sweet conversations.
“Oh please, Lucinda. You can sugar coat the words and twist them around until they’re nice and pretty but it doesn’t change what actually happened. What I actually did. You want to know about my mother?” He whirled on her, his anger seething around his hard words.
“I have no idea what happened to her. She might have died in the war. She might have been executed by my own people for some heinous act she was caught in. Maybe even for my betrayal. Or she might have been killed by an idummi attack. I don’t know.”
Draven glared at her with every ounce of bitterness inside him. Yet she didn’t look away, she didn’t cry. She did something that completely baffled him and stunned him so badly that he was speechless.
Lucinda stood slowly and stepped up to him. She placed her hand over his heart and said, “I am sorry, Draven. If I could change the past for you, I would. But I wouldn’t want that.”
Draven struggled to pull his gaze away from hers but she had a spell wrapped around him. He was frozen in place, unable to move unless she ordered him to.
“I wouldn’t want that because then I might never have met you.” Finally she did look away, she looked down at her feet and wrapped her arms around her stomach. “I’m not supposed to say such selfish things, but I know I can with you. I shouldn’t press you for anything and yet I keep doing it no matter how much I tell myself not to.”
Finally she looked back up at him, and Draven felt like he was punched in the gut with that look. “What I did the other night was wrong on so many levels. I yelled at you. I talked back to my host in the most despicable of ways and yet you didn’t get angry with me. You didn’t punish me as others would have.”
Draven stood there stunned. Who would punish her for such a thing? His hand curled into a fist, the other reached for the invisible dagger at his belt.
He’d make a list and kill them twice.
“Who?” he said coldly. She looked at him, startled.
“Who what?”
“Who hurt you?”
Her eyes widened. “No, no one has. I meant that if I was in the care of others, if you hadn’t asked me to be your frimar then...then I might not be in exciting place that I am now. You have changed my life in so many ways.”
Draven threw up his hands. “I can’t do this. I can’t hear this. You’re wrong. I didn’t do anything. I didn’t even want to be your host. I never should have...” He shook his head and walked away from her to grab his black coat off the dresser. He checked to make sure all his weapons were in place, then headed for the door.
“Please, Draven wait!” Lucinda reached him at the door, her face tight with anxiety.
“I’m sorry. I said too much, too soon. That’s what I was trying to explain to you. I can be myself with you and you don’t judge me.” When he didn’t run out the door she rushed on, “I am happy with you, Draven. Something I’ve never been before. I simply existed before at that castle. Now, with you, I feel as though I’m finally living.”
Draven’s gut was going to be sore with all the shit he’d been feeling tonight. He didn’t know what to say to that; a part of him was too afraid of what he might say if he did. So he reached for the door and opened it.
Lucinda’s arm reached out and slapped against the door, keeping him from opening it. His mouth might have fallen open in shock, but the aggressive action did something else entirely to him—it dropped his fangs and made his skintight. She was fighting for him.
“What are you doing?”
Her voice quavered as she said, “You’re not leaving me this night.” Her strong, beautiful eyes wavered as she looked at him, not as if she were about to cry but as if this single action took all her strength. Draven thought she might be shaking if not for the tight rigidity in which she held herself.
It felt as if minutes passed as they watched each other. Draven’s mind ran through the possibilities and probabilities a dozen times before he finally, slowly, shook his head and pulled open the door. Her arm fell away like the door burned to touch.
Her mouth fell open, eyes pulled in confusion and pain. Draven looked away from her knowing that his decision hurt her, even though it tore his heart inside with a sharp knife. He didn’t close the door behind him, just kept walking away from her.
He heard a soft sound and turned around in time to see the door closing.
Throat tight, he walked away with the feeling that he’d just made a mistake.
Chapter 23
“Idiot,” Jackie muttered as she planted herself against the wall and listened to the oncoming footsteps. Great he was coming straight towards her.
Panicking, Jackie looked around and saw that she only had two options. The janitor’s closet or the men’s shower room. As quietly and as fast as she could, she tiptoed to the closet and turned the knob. Shit, locked.
The footsteps grew louder and Jackie flew into the men’s room and pressed her ear to the door. Maybe he’d continue down the hall and not turn in here. The footsteps stopped for a moment and the only sound Jackie could hear was the thundering of her heart. Then they picked up again, coming straight for her.
Shoot, shoot, shoot. Jackie looked around at the unfamiliar men’s bathroom then ran deeper into it. Lockers stood against the left wall with wooden benches in front of them. Jackie hurried past them and towards the open showers. Her breath caught as she found the bathroom stalls along the right wall. Empty!
The door opened behind her and she moved quickly before he saw her. The showers were closer, but she couldn’t hide in there or bathroom. He’d notice her like a sore thumb, and she didn’t think locking the door and standing on the toilet would help much either. Jackie glanced at the showers that lined the wall in an L shape. Some had a thick brown curtain to hide behind, other were just open showers. But what if he decided to shower and use the one she was hiding behind? She’d be trapped.
Footsteps stopped at the sink and the water turned on. She heard him washing his hands and used the minute to run into the bathroom. It was only the better choice, by an inch. Deciding to test her luck, she locked the door then stood on the toilet.
Her heart racing like a bunch of galloping horses, she had to force herself to concentrate and slow her breathing so he wouldn’t hear her.
The water shut off then the steps came. Jackie balanced her feet on the toilet and her arms on the door so she could peer out from the sliver of space between the stall and the door.