Love Me to Death (Underveil, #1)(18)
Nikolai’s arms banded around her like steel. She needed to get away. Had to get away.
The man with the gold hair put his hands on her shoulders. “Shhh. Be peaceful. You are under no threat.”
Not from outside, but what about the monster inside her? The one with red eyes she saw in the hotel mirror. She struggled to free herself. She had to get away from the smell of blood. “Let me go!” Her voice sounded faint and distant.
Nikolai released her, and she leapt off of his lap and skittered as far away as the blasted cord would allow. “You have to let me go.” She covered her nose and mouth. “The smell.”
The blond man stood. “See? You didn’t take my word for it. You stink, Itzov.”
“Shut up and help her,” Nikolai shouted.
The guy walked to a marble-topped bar and picked up a drink. “Why, Nikolai Itzov, if I didn’t know better, I would think the great Slayer had a weakness after all.”
“My only weakness was in my judgment—to think that coming here was a good idea. Thinking that you could help us.”
The blond man drank the contents of the glass in one shot. “I can.”
“Then do it, dammit.”
He set the glass down gently. “There’s a price.”
“There always is.”
The two men stared at each other. Nikolai with a heated glare. The blond man with amusement. Both were equally beautiful and terrifyingly powerful. Elena held her breath.
“One moment, please,” the blond man said, disappearing into another room. He returned quickly with a covered bowl. “Follow me.”
The bathroom was enormous. Big enough for a party. The man set the bowl on a counter and picked up a remote control. After pushing a few buttons, the lights dimmed and water gushed from a wide spout into a huge, sunken tub in the center of the room.
“I hate to see you roughing it like this, Darvaak. Compensating, perhaps?”
The blond man simply smiled. “Life is good.”
“Where is your mate?”
He picked up the bowl and uncovered it. “I said life it good, not great.”
“Did she ditch you already?”
Elena held her breath as the man Nikolai had called Darvaak approached. He exuded confidence and power but didn’t seem to take offense at Nikolai’s obvious taunt. He reached into the bowl and pulled out a strawberry. “My life-mate hasn’t met me yet.” He held the strawberry in front of Elena’s lips and smiled. She couldn’t help but smile back. “Open please,” he whispered.
She did. It tasted delicious. God, she was hungry. It was all she could do to not grab the bowl from the guy and shove her head in it like an animal at a feed trough. The image made her giggle.
The man’s smile broadened. He selected another strawberry. “Again, please,” he said.
Nikolai’s voice sounded unnecessarily harsh. “How is that possible? I thought your species wilted and died like delicate flowers if separated.”
“Please sit here.” The man gestured to the side of the tub.
Elena, still holding the towel in place by clamping her arms tight to her side, lowered herself to the marble ledge.
He smiled as encouragement. “You appear sufficiently recovered to manage this yourself, now.” He placed the bowl of strawberries in her lap.
She took a bite of another berry as he turned his pale eyes to Nikolai and his smile faded. “Being apart from my life-mate is painful. It would not be my first choice of strategies, but it’s my only option at this time. Revealing myself to her would put her in danger.” He stuck his hand under the running water, testing its temperature. “I’m nothing if not patient.”
Elena looked down to discover she had almost emptied the bowl. Still, she was famished. She took a deep breath, feeling much closer to normal. She needed to relax and let her body process the sugar and stabilize her insulin.
The blond man picked up a bottle of blue liquid and poured some of the contents into the running water. Bubbles frothed over the surface, emitting an intoxicating smell that covered up the lure of the blood coming off Nikolai’s skin.
“You don’t expect me to bathe in that, do you?” he asked.
The blond man smiled. “Will you wilt like a delicate flower?”
Nikolai growled.
The guy shook his head. “It’s for her, Slayer. It’s to cover your stench and…” He looked directly at Nikolai’s crotch. “And spare her from the sight of other undesirable aspects of you.”
Nikolai growled again.
The tub was almost full and covered with iridescent bubbles. Darvaak punched a button on the remote, and the water stopped. “In you go, Itzov,” he said, and then turned to Elena. “You, my dear, might want to look the other way until your stomach is more settled.”
Feeling much better now, she smiled. The man’s teasing was entertaining. Nikolai didn’t seem to think so, based on the dark look he shot the guy.
“I’ll be back with more food in a moment. And I’m going to call my tailor. Your situation calls for some creativity. You can’t run around half-dressed until you’re free of that cord.”
And with that, they were alone.
Nikolai sat on the marble ledge next to her and pulled off a boot. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but clamped his lips shut and pulled off his other boot. He sat for a moment, looking defeated, and her heart pinched.