Dark Fates (A Paranormal Anthology)(114)

Her acquiescence to his order despite her obvious desire to resist was a gift. He planned to treasure it and her.

“When I am done, and only when I am done, you may ask your questions.” Lifting her off the counter, he set her on her feet and kept his hands on her hips until he was certain she was steady. Releasing her, he fetched the tray he’d prepared and started toward the stairs.

“Come,” he ordered. It was a test, and he needed to assess her reactions. He needed her to obey him, to surrender this one moment of battle.

He made it to the foot of the stairs before he had her answer. The soft whisper of her footsteps followed behind him, and Fox allowed himself a flare of hope.

****

Following Fox up the stairs and down the wooden paneled hallway to his bedroom probably qualified her for a seventy-two-hour psychiatric hold. Still, he’d been around her naked for how long now? Most guys would have jumped her. Hell, she half wanted him to jump her. Those other men sure wouldn’t have treated her tenderly, made her tea, or invited her to listen to a story.

Well, technically he ordered me to listen to a story because my life is in his hands. And that’s not creepy at all.

Except, it didn’t creep her out. She had good instincts about people. She’d known Barry’s friends were trouble from the moment she’d met them, and, if she hadn’t wanted to protect her brother, she’d never have gone within ten feet of Andropov.

She refused to pretend Fox wasn’t dangerous. His actions in the hotel room had been ample proof of his deadly capability. But he doesn’t want to hurt me. Every fiber of her being believed that and more. She felt safe with him. And she’d never felt safe, not even once in her life until now.

Pausing in the doorway, she watched him set the service tray up on a table next to the bed. He turned to face her and raised his eyebrows. Asian, aristocratic, and beautiful. There was something desperately noble about his face, and her stomach bottomed out.

“I know you said you wanted me to be quiet and listen,” she said in a soft voice just barely above a whisper. “But I’m terrified of what you’re about to tell me.”

Call it instinct or feminine intuition or maybe she’d just had enough shocks for one day, but she was trapped with this gorgeous man in the middle of the night in the back ass of nowhere. This after she’d run from drug dealers who’d tried to kill her and she’d rushed into his world, bringing her troubles with her and he’d killed the men who would have murdered her.

Her knees knocked together, and she wasn’t sure her legs would hold her. She stumbled, but she didn’t fall. Fox went from across the room to her side so swiftly her brain didn’t even have time to process his movement. He caught her up in his arms and carried her the rest of the way to the bed.

All the little things she’d heard him say, all the pieces of information she had, suddenly came together. Her world took a dizzying step to the left. “You’re not human, are you?” After the question burst out of her, she winced. “I mean…”

“It’s all right, Jubilee,” he told her solemnly.

She loved how he said her name. Like it was a damn caress. He sat on the bed, still cradling her in his lap. She felt terrifically small next to him.

“No, it’s really not. I think I hit my head when I was fighting those men earlier.” She had a bruise on her face. Maybe she’d clocked her forehead, and that bruise hadn’t had time to come up yet. Hell, her body was a mass of bruises. But at least her shoulder felt better.

“Look, I’m going to shut up now so you can say whatever you were going to say, but, you know, before you get all mobbed up and terrifying with my life in your hands, I just wanted to say thank you.”

Then before her bravery—or foolhardiness—could abandon her, she gave Fox an awkward hug. Her shoulder was a hell of a lot better, but it twinged when she tightened her arms around him. Fox closed the circle of his hands against her lower back and kept her pressed to him. Liquid heat pooled in her middle, and she tucked her uninjured cheek to his chest. The steady thump of his heart soothed her rioting emotions.

“You should eat,” he said in a gentle voice but with a measure of reluctance. “Will you allow me to pour you some tea?”

She’d never been particularly enthusiastic about tea, but disengaging from the man’s lap while sitting on his bed sounded like a banner idea. He must have agreed because he set her against the pillows and then dragged the covers up over her legs. After pouring her tea, he added some sandwiches to a plate. Hell, when had he made sandwiches? He’d even cut off the crusts.

“This isn’t a tea ritual, is it?”

Passing her one of the teacups, he gave her a long, measuring look. “You’re not good at doing what you’re told, are you?”

“No, not really.” She felt she should apologize, but…“I learned a long time ago people tell you what to do to get their way. Not out of a need to do anything for you but because they want something and you’re in the way.”

His eyes narrowed. “Parents or boyfriend?”

“None of your business,” she told him. The damnable thing was she wanted to tell him. She wanted to spill her guts. Her instincts said she could trust him, but her experience tempered that judgment. She lifted the cup but hesitated to sip.

Interest flared in his eyes, and he studied her from behind his hooded gaze. The man’s presence filled the room, and, though he sat on the edge of the bed and didn’t touch her, she could feel the weight of him.