Page 106 of Chain Me
“You actually stalked him?” Alarm countered pleasure. Mr. Lanic may have been a money-hungry grifter, but mere greed didn’t warrant the wrath of Dublin Helos.
“I nearly killed him. Or just maimed, perhaps.” His mouth withdrew just enough to make it easier to breathe again. “Alas, a sudden intrusion into my private sanctum by a madwoman made me rethink that plan.”
Had I been? A madwoman?
Cool hands brushed my neck before I could decide, seizing the collar of my dress. When my eyes opened, I found Dublin on his feet again. With little care, he tugged on the silk in his grasp, tearing it right down the middle. He was intent on guiding my arms from the sleeves so that the material could fall at my feet. I barely registered then that I was naked in broad daylight. That he was quickly removing my panties as well. That his touch became more possessive by the second.
Hungrier.
But then he entered me in a single thrust and the world fell away. Hate disappeared. All that remained was selfish, desperate, grappling need. I lunged against him, seeking only one thing. He gave it to me. He took it from me—screams, moans, repeated whimpers of his name.
Guided by his corrupting touch, I floated to heaven and crashed to Earth while the sky darkened above me.
Deception
Peace could be more insidious than poison, stealing into a breathless silence with no warning. No escape. I would never be able to erase this moment or deny the emotions sowed with every breath spent lying naked beneath the stars—even if the person holding me in his arms contained a million secrets unwilling to be shared.
I was content.
Though I should have been worried that, any minute, someone might intrude upon our hidden space and find us. Dublin didn’t seem concerned by the prospect, either. His only movement was to rake his fingers through my hair and guide me to face him.
“Drink.” His bleeding wrist found my mouth before I even had the chance to question.
I obeyed, lapping obediently at my “meal” while my stomach churned for more. When I finally came up for air, he was already on his feet, still brazenly naked. His skin gleamed silver in the moonlight, enhancing the muscles rippling in his back as he retrieved our clothing from near the bench.
After observing the ruined state of my dress, he tossed me his shirt instead. “Put it on.”
The soft fabric smelled like him. Like ice. Like winter.
“I still don’t forgive you for lying about Georgie.” I felt the need to tell him that even as he approached me and crouched to slip my shoes on.
Without a word, he took my hand and led the way into the dark until we exited from the door we’d entered through.
The corridors remained empty, though I swore the shadows flickered, betraying unseen figures lurking in our wake. Spectators, I suspected, spying in silence as the powerful Cael paraded his little mortal prize right past their noses. If Dublin sensed them as well, his expression didn’t reveal as much. Serving as my stone-faced guide, he steered me through the hostile elegance. It was only as we entered the chilling interior of the bedroom that he spoke again.
“What would it take, should I be inclined to return to your good graces?” he wondered as I crossed to the bed.
I looked over my shoulder and found him watching me, stroking his chin in serious contemplation. As our gazes met, his tongue flicked between his lips and I choked. Something told me he enjoyed my anger far more than he should have—namely the possibilities that said “redemption” might present tohisbenefit.
It was surprisingly easy to come up with something nonetheless. “You could let me string you up by your toes and heed my every command and even then…I’d only consider it.”
“We can add that as leverage,” he decided. Suddenly serious, he averted his gaze and withdrew something from his pocket. Whatever it was, he kept it concealed between his fingers. “I propose another bargain—Raphael insists that no mortal knows the location of his precious little sanctum, and I do believe we have overstayed our welcome.” He grimaced and opened his hand, revealing the small vial. A dark liquid glinted within as he held it up to the firelight, a deeper scarlet than even his blood. “Getting you out of here without catching his notice will require some drastic measures.”
I smoothed my fingers over the front of his borrowed shirt, drawing it tighter around myself. “Like what?”
“Smuggling,” Dmitri prompted, uninvited.
I spun around and found him near the door, leaning against the gilded frame. Just for how long had he been there, watching? His smug grin revealed no answer. “Raphael will not willingly allow you to leave. Especially not now.” His gaze drifted down to my belly. “Not when you present an untapped well of time belonging to his most favorite of toys. So we must slow your heartbeat, and then act quickly before he and his spies notice the silence.” He pointedly tapped his earlobe as if for emphasis. “The drug will help, but it is not infallible. Luckily,Imentioned how convenient it might be if we could disguise you beneath enchanted fabric designed to suppress the stench of your charming mortality. Not even Raphael would be able to track us in time.”
“Enough games. Is she here?” Dublin demanded, turning to him.
Dmitri shrugged. “I think I heard someone screaming in French near the grand foyer. You must be such a lax master for her to rage so indignantly at being summoned. I, on the other hand, always kept herdisciplined—”
“And you remember your boundary,” Dublin warned in a tone so biting that I flinched. “You so much as look at her. Touch her. Think of her and I swear I will cut you down where you stand.”
“Hmph.” Dmitri pursed his lips, but the bravado was purely for show. The pointed glance he shot Dublin’s fingers revealed just how seriously he took the threat. “I suppose. But we really should be hurrying this mad scheme along. Time is of the essence. Especially if you still plan to hunt down that devious little witch.”
“Eleanor,” Dublin returned his attention to me and captured my chin in his free hand. “I need you to drink this.” He nodded to the vial in his grasp. “It’s a mild sedative, but it will render you unconscious. Just long enough for me to get you somewhere safe. It won’t harm you,” he insisted. “And this way, I can arrange our…escapemay be too dramatic a word. Let’s call it, fashionable departure.”
