Page 6 (1/2)

No hinges squeaked In fact, not a single sound eed Yet one moment the bedroo open

Grace stood to the left, unseen and hidden by the shadows cast by the thick ivory When Darius stepped past her, his feet tangled in the sheet-aka trip cord

He propelled forith a grunt

Theit as a springboard, and raced into the hall Her head whipped froht direction Neither appeared better than the other, so she ran She didn&039;t get far before strong male hands latched on to her forearms and jerked her to a halt Suddenly she was heaved onto Darius&039;s shoulder, too shocked to protest as she was carried back to his roo the buttery softness of his shirt and the heat of his skin past her clothes Their bodies were so close she even felt the ripple of hisher, he so her only exit She spun, watching, her gaze widening Breath froze in her lungs as failure loomed around her No No ! In a mere two seconds, he&039;d snatched away her best chance for freedo this place," he said without a hint of anger, only deterret? "Why are you not in my bed, woman?"

Overwhelmed by her failure, she whispered, "What do you plan to do with me?"

Silence

"What do you plan to do with me?" she cried

"I knohat I should do," he said, his voice now a lol that vibrated with anger, "but I do not yet knohat I will do"

"I have friends," she said "Fa me will only earn you their wrath"

There was a concentrated hesitation, then, "And what if I do not hurt you?" he asked so softly she barely heard him "What if I only offer you pleasure?"

Had the callused surface of his palhtened by his words Now she was oddly enthralled Every fantasy she&039;d ever created rushed through her mind Her cheeks fused with heat What if I only offer you pleasure ? She didn&039;t answer him Couldn&039;t

He answered for her "Noyou or anyone else can do about it" His voice hardened, losing its sensual edge "You are in my home, in my personal chambers, and I will do whatever I want Noin her ears, she snapped from whatever spell he&039;d woven and called upon her terrorist training froht school SING, she inwardly chanted Solar-plexus, instep, nose, groin Jolting into motion, she elbowed hi around and shoved her fist into his cold, unemotional face Her knuckles collided with his cheek instead of his nose, and she cried out in pain

He didn&039;t flinch He didn&039;t even bother to grab her wrist to prevent her froain

So she did

She drew back her other arm and let it fly On i pain for her, s amusement for him No, not amusement, she realized The blue of his eyes was too cold and hollow to hold any type of e aze slitted, incredulous, clashing with his After everything she&039;d endured these past two days, Grace&039;s temper and frustration erupted full force "What about you?" She jerked her knee up, hard and fast, gaining a direct hit between his legs Groin: the last section of her training

A slight breath whooshed from his lips as he hunched over and squeezed his eyes shut

She raced to the door and began clawing at the seam "Open, damn you," she railed at the exit "Please Just open"

"You do not look capable of such a deed," Darius said, his voice strained "But I will not underestiain"

She never heard him move, but suddenly he was there, his arms braced next to her teht hiood would that do? He&039;d already proved he did not react (o" Her heartbeat thundered in her ears Froth of his body so close to her own

"I cannot"

"Yes, you can" She twisted, facing hiht, caused him to trip once more on the sheet He took her doith him and when he hit, he rolled them over and pinned her

Automatically she reached up to push hi the neckline to gape Both of the ainst her nose She gasped Which one belonged to Alex? The one with the glowing eyes?

What did it ht then She&039;d co with one

Determination thudded like a drum inside her chest To distract his allowed She flailed her legs and wrapped her sore hands around his neck, as if she meant to choke him She hurriedly worked one of the clasps, and when she felt it unlatch, she jerked her hands down and shoved the chain into her pocket She gave another ear-piercing scream to cover her satisfaction

"Calm down," he said, his features pinched

"Bite ain

When she quieted, he said, "I would be ed my ears"

Upset? He would be e Simply mildly upset So than out-of-control fury With a deep, shuddering breath, she relaxed into the floor After all, she had what she wanted, and fighting hiether

His broinged up, and he blinked, broadcasting his shock at her easy compliance

"That easily?" he asked, suspicious

"I knohen I&039;e and allowed ht to settle atop her He braced her wrists above her head-so he obviously liked to do, since it was the third ti her back to arch and her breasts to lift for his view

"You wish for me to bite you?" he asked, dead serious

Briefly she experienced confusion Then she realized what hedark and hot twisted in her sto for thisinto her body and taking a little nibble filled her line of vision Erotic and sexual; except

If he were a vaiven him an open invitation to make her his next ed to squeak out "It&039;s just a figure of speech" With barely a pause, she added, "Please Get off ood, so masculine, like the sun, the earth and the sea, and she was sucking in great gulps of that scent as if it were the key to her survival He was beyond dangerous "Please," she said again

"Too much do I like where I am"

Those words echoed in her mind with such clarity her body offered a reply: I like where you are, tooShe ran her teeth over her bottoely captivated and oddly entranced, yet fearful at the sa vampire He was also so sexy he ht dead froer

Get a hold of yourself, Grace Only an idiot would lust after a ins and even more questionable motives

What did he want from her? She studied his face, but found no hint of his intentions His features were co in the scar that slashed down his cheek, raised and puckered, interrupting the flow of his dark eyebrows This close, she noticed the slant to his nose, as if it had been broken one too erous, her mind repeated

That&039;s it , she realized reproachfully That&039;s why I&039;er junkie

"What did you do to your hands, woer blank, but projected a fierceness that was beyond inti in the face of that severity, "will you let ht one of her palms to his ue flicked out, licking and laving the wounds Electric currents raced through her arht then and there

"Why are you doing that?" she asked on a breathless estive, endearingly sweet, and she gasped at the deliciousness of it "Stop" But even as she spoke, she prayed he didn&039;t heed her coly waruor floated through her, and God help her, she wanted that tongue to delve further, to explore deeper territory

"My saliva will heal you," he said, his voice still fierce But it was a different kind of fierce More strained, ry "What did you do to your hands?" he asked again

"I cli?"

"I was trying to escape"

"Foolish," he ed between the juncture of her thighs The ache in her belly intensified as their legs intertwined

He exchanged one hand for the other, swirling his tongue along the peaks and hollows, s The way his eyes flickered froolden-brown The way his soft, silky hair fell over his shoulders and tickled her skin

If he planned to hurt or kill her, surely he wouldn&039;t concern himself with her comfort like this Surely he would not-

He sucked one of her fingers into his ue around the base This ti her nipples into his chest and creating a delicious friction

"That is better," he said roughly

Her eyelids fluttered open His expression taut, he held her hands up for her view Not a single blemish appeared on the healthy, pink skin

"But-but-" Confusion overshadowed her pleasure Hoas that possible? Hoas any of this possible? "I don&039;t knohat to say"

"Then say nothing"

He could have left her sore and bruised, a punish to escape, but he hadn&039;t She didn&039;t understand this man "Thank you," she said softly

He nodded, the action stiff "You are welco-anticipating?-his response

"No" He placed her left palers continued to caress and trace every line, as if he couldn&039;t stand to break contact "What did your brother plan to do with theto stop the flood of conflicting desires running ra him at all She knew instinctively, however, that he would not tolerate either fro their contact So she found herself saying, "We&039;ve been over this before, and I still don&039;t know Maybe he wanted to sell it on eBay Maybe he wanted to keep it for himself, for his private collection"

Darius&039;s brow furrowed "I don&039;t understand Explain to me this eBay"

As she expounded on the concept of the online auction, he glowered furiously

"Why would he do such a thing?" Darius asked, genuinely perplexed "Selling such an iteer is the epitome of foolishness"

"Where I&039;m from, people need money to survive And one way to make money is to sell our possessions"

"We need money here, too, yet ould never barter our most prized possessions Is your brother too lazy to work for his dinner?"

"I&039;ll have you knoorks very hard And I didn&039;t say he was going to sell it Only that he h and finally released her hand, bracing his palms on either side of her head "If youa fine job Why would your brother give you the medallion if he had any desire to sell it?"

"I don&039;t know," she said "Why do you care?"

In stalwart silence, he watched her, looked past her, then watched her again, his dark thoughts churning behind his eyes Instead of answering her, he said, "You clai, Grace, yet you found theyou haven&039;t told me"

"I know I didn&039;t mean to enter your domain" The faintness of her voice drifted between them "I know I don&039;t want to be hurt And I knoant to go hoerously, she replayed her words through her mind What could she have possibly said to have such an ole word lashing froazed up at hi for you?"

"No" What did that have to do with anything? Unless surely he wasn&039;t jealous The prospect amazed her She was not the kind of wohtning-hot lust and certainly not jealousy "I miss my mom and my aunt, Darius I miss my brother and my apartment My furniture My dad made all of it before he died"

Darius relaxed "You asked me why I care about theto protect it, just as you will do anything to return to yours"

"How canthe medallion hurt your home?" she asked "I don&039;t understand"

"Nor do you need to," he replied "Where is your brother now?"

Her eyes narrowed, and her chin raised in another show of defiance "I wouldn&039;t tell you even if I knew"

"I respect your loyalty, and even admire it, but it is to your benefit to tell h the mist or not"

"I told you this before I don&039;t know"

"This is getting us nowhere," he said "What does he look like?"

Pure stubbornnessa churning sea of turquoise Her lips pursed Darius could tell she had no plans to answer him

"This way I can know if I have already killed hinize any of his victi was second nature to hilanced at theasp "He&039;s a little over six foot Red hair Green eyes"

Since Darius had not seen colors before Grace, the description she&039;d just givenled to form her reply, a tremor raked her spine and vibrated into him Her eyes filled with tears A lone droplet trickled onto her cheek

His arht the need to wipe the lide slowly and fall onto her collarbone Her skin was pale, he noticed, too pale

The woman was deathly afraid

The cla expired-clanged inside his head He&039;d threatened this woround, yet she had retained her fierce spirit The concept of her brother&039;s death was breaking her as nothing else had been able

There was a good chance, a very good chance, he had killed her brother Hoould she react then? Would those sea-eyes of hers regard hieance?

"Does he have any distinguishingher reply

"He wears glasses" Her lips and chin trembled "They&039;re wire-rinified"

"I know not what these glasses are Explain"