Darkest Risings (15 page)

He
intrigued her. He was the poster child of
bad
boy,
yet under his gruff, surly exterior there was a gentleman, a man with
morals. If not, he would have never reacted the way he had at Drake’s. He would
have simply finished what he’d started, taken what he’d sought without thought
for her or her well being. That hadn’t been the case. He’d cared whether he
wanted to admit it or not.

“Are
you still upset with me about the other night?” She turned to him, and barely
held back a gasp. He was so close. His body heat emanated off him and hit her
like a furnace. She could practically feel her pores welcoming the warmth,
basking in it as if he was the sun.

He
grunted.

“I
guess that means yes.” She had an overwhelming urge to touch him.

Her
hand raised of it’s on volition, and her fingers hovered over his marvelous
chest when he abruptly spun and went to sit on the black couch. He leaned back
against the cushions and stretched his long legs out in front of him, crossing
them at the ankles.

She
never thought she could find a man’s feet as incredibly sexy as she did his,
but she did. Everything about Aldin was masculine, hard, predatory. He was sex
on a stick, and she wouldn’t mind taking a few licks. She closed her eyes for a
moment, willing her hormones to behave before making her way to the couch and
taking a seat beside him.

* * * *

Why
had he let her in his room? Wilhemina was too much of a temptation for him. He
wanted her, but he refused to subject her to his dominance. She would be
appalled. Aldin closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose, and rubbed as
if the pressure would somehow magically release her from his thoughts.

“I
don’t want to pry, but it’s obvious something happened earlier with your
family. If you need to talk about it, I’ll listen.”

Her
voice was smooth, low, and husky. It caressed him with invisible fingers that
stirred his cock to more life than he’d prefer. He could not remember the last
time a woman affected him with such ease and speed. Even Alaina, the woman he
thought
he’d fallen in love with, hadn’t
stirred him like Wilhemina did.

Her
scent alone calmed and soothed his inner demons while arousing and awakening
his deep, dark needs. He wanted her, but he wasn’t what she needed. Nothing had
changed. She was still an innocent, and he? He was not.

And
now she’d offered to listen to him. If she’d been anyone else, he’d have
laughed in her face. He wasn’t a whiny bitch, nor did he confide in others
about his problems. He was a man, and he took care of those emotions like any
man should. Fighting, sex, playing video games, or listening to loud music. Perplexing
thing was? A small part of him wanted to talk to her, wanted her to listen and
tell him things would be okay. Because if she told him so, it had to be.

Yeah.
It didn’t make sense to him, but it was the truth. If the world was falling
down around his ears, and Wilhemina assured him everything would be all right,
he’d believe her. He slowly opened his eyes to find her staring at him. She
took his breath away. He wanted to touch her, run his fingers over her velvety
skin, wanted to taste her lips, wanted to hear her breathy sighs as he
pleasured her.

“Thanks.
But no thanks.”

He
didn’t miss the hurt that flashed in her eyes before she looked away from him.
When all else fails, be the asshole you are.

“You’re
not an asshole, Aldin. I think you just have a lot on your mind at the moment.”

Her
whispered words made his heart beat in joy and his brain balk in terror. This
time was not like in the gym when he’d
thought
he hadn’t spoken out loud. This time there was no doubt. She had heard his
thoughts. That was one of the signs that she was his life mate. But how could
she be? While she would be the most extraordinary
viata amant
he could ever hope to have, he doubted she’d thank Fate
for saddling her with the likes of him.

That’s
what you get for inviting her into your room.
The reason why he’d done that still baffled him. He’d been as surprised by his
invitation as the look on her face had indicated she’d been. He should have let
her go back to her room, but the thought of her being mad at him was near unbearable.
He’d been a smart ass jerk to her, and he hadn’t blamed her for getting snippy
with him.

“No
offense, Wilhemina, but at this moment, the last thing I want to do with you is
talk.”

She
sucked in a sharp breath, spun around to face him, and his cock twitched when
it became clear that she knew exactly what he’d meant by that remark. The fact
that she wasn’t running for the door only encouraged his need for her to expand
into a wildfire that burned through his veins.

“You
confuse the hell out of me,” she whispered.

“I
confuse the hell out of myself at times.” Like now. “But I don’t believe I’ve
been confusing one bit about my feelings for you. I think I’ve made it very
obvious that I desire you, Wilhemina. I’ve also made it clear that I am not the
man for you. You are far too innocent for me.”

“How
do you know? Should we test that theory?”

It
was his turn to suck in a sharp breath when she suddenly climbed onto his lap
and straddled him. His cock did more than twitch now. It stood ready at
attention, and begging to come out to play.

“Wilhemina.
This is no good. You and me. I’ll hurt you,” He pleaded with her.

He
should do the right thing. He should peel her off him, escort her to the door,
and close it firmly in her face. But he doubted a better man than he could do
the same in this situation. Her shorts rode high on her thighs, exposing her
curves beautifully. His mouth watered, and it took all his control to keep his
hands bunched at his sides. He ached to tear her clothes from her, to explore
every inch of her with his mouth and hands, and to claim her.

“It
was pretty good last time until you stopped. I’m willing to bet it would be
even better if you didn’t.” She bent and placed a light kiss against his neck.

She
was being abundantly clear about what she wanted, but the slight quiver that
ran through her body told him she was nervous. His dominant side roared to
life, demanded to be freed, demanded to be allowed to take what was so
blatantly offered, but Aldin refused to give in to it. He was not going to
allow his darkness to taint any sexual experience he had with Wilhemina.

“Wilhemina,”
he breathed. “You’re playing a dangerous game. You don’t understand what you
are inviting.” This time, he was fully attuned to her. There were no
distractions as there had been at Drake’s.

“I
understand, Aldin.” She sat up and looked down at him before placing her palms
against his chest. “I may be naive about sex, but I’m not a child. And I’m not
playing games. I wasn’t playing games at Drake’s either. I wanted you from the
moment I laid eyes upon you.” She blushed. “I’m not experienced. True. But you
can teach me.”

“You
don’t get what I’m saying.” He was about to lose what little control he
maintained.

His
mind and body screamed at him to take her, to show her all the ways a man and
woman could pleasure one another, but his heart warned him that if he did this,
he would not be able to walk away from her again. She had no way of
understanding that if they were together, if he claimed her here and now, he
would never let her go.

She
leaned forward, and his eyes feated upon the perfect display of cleavage
between her full breasts. He watched as her lips descended toward his in slow
motion, but at the last second, he stopped her. He gently pushed her off his
lap, stood, and turned on the lamp beside the couch.

He
had to get her out of his room because the maelstrom of shit that was raining
down on his head with his family drama, the prophecy, the fact that his father
was the supposed King of Vampyre, clawed at him for release. He didn’t want to
use Wilhemina for his own personal outlet.

Why
the hell not? She’s offering. He beat the urge to ignore logic down once again.
He couldn’t do it. Not to her.

Wilhemina
tamped down her frustration. She may be naive where sex was concerned, but she
wasn’t a complete idiot. She hadn’t missed the enormous bulge in Aldin’s jeans.
He wanted her. She wanted him. Why was he being so damned stubborn? She
couldn’t deny her disappointment was equally rivaled by pride. Did he not think
she was pretty enough? Did he take her for such a complete nincompoop that he
thought she’d swoon like some gentle Victorian maiden if he unleashed himself
upon her?

Her
body ached for him, but she wouldn’t beg. She straightened her shoulders under his
heated gaze and turned to leave. If he didn’t want her, it was his loss. But a
foot before she got to the door, something caught her eye that she hadn’t
noticed before when the room had still been dim. She looked closer at the floor
and saw droplets of dark liquid. The splotches ended in front of the door she
had assumed led to the bathroom.

His
eyes widened when he realized what she was looking at, but she ignored him and
followed the trail to the doorway, which did, in fact, open into a large
bathroom. In the corner by the shower was a pile of black clothes and a black
leather coat. The stone tile on the bathroom floor was lighter than the dark
hardwood covering in the other room, and her stomach began to churn when it
became apparent what she was looking at.

She
bent in front of the pile of clothes, clothes she remembered Aldin wearing
earlier, and picked up the duster. She gasped at all of the blood underneath
it. A hand wrapped around her arm and tugged her back, She lost her grip on the
duster, and it plopped back onto the floor.

“Are
you hurt?”

“I’m
fine.”

The
hard set of his mouth told her he was not happy with her sleuthing skills. That
was the least of her worries at this point. There was a lot of blood on the
floor, and she needed to know he was okay.

She
jerked her arm from his grasp and faced him.

“Did
you get hurt?” She put her hands on her hips and raised a brow as she waited
for his answer.

“Just
a nose bleed. Nothing to worry about.”

She
stepped closer to him, cocked her head sideways, and took a good look at his
nose. If his nose had bled that much, it had to be due to an injury, yet his
nose looked perfectly straight. No bruising, no blood, not a hint of a scratch.

“I
don’t believe you.”

“I’m
fine.” He sighed.

“What
happened?” she asked again with less patience.

He
shrugged. “I got into a fight earlier. I got tagged one in the ribs with a
blade. It’s no big deal. I’m good. Only a flesh wound.”

“Y-you
got stabbed?” Terror hit her hard. All sorts of horrible images ran through her
head. Most of them with Aldin lying helpless in a pool of blood. “Let me see.”

She
reached for his shirt, tugged it from his jeans, and exposed his ribs before he
could stop her. She frowned when her examination only revealed a small cut
about an inch long between two of his ribs that looked several days old.

“You
did not bleed like that from this.” She ran her finger over the slightly
puckered edges of the injury. “This is nearly healed.”

“I’m
a fast healer.” He pulled the shirt down.

“No
one heals that fast.” She stared at him.

“I
do.”

His
expression remained unreadable, unrelenting. Finally, she sighed. It was
obvious he was not going to give her any more information.

Suddenly,
tiredness etched his features. The look on his face resembled utter defeat, and
once again, her heart ached for him. Why couldn’t he talk to her?

“Do
you ever let anyone in, Aldin?”

“I
don’t need to let anyone
in
,
Wilhemina.”

“Everyone
needs to let someone in at some point in their lives. Why can’t you let me be
that person? I’m here. I can tell something is bothering you. Whatever you tell
me will stay between us.”

He
sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose again. “My family is completely
fucked up at the moment, and I’m not the nicest guy to be around right now.
Hell, to be honest, I’m not the nicest guy to be around most of the time. But I
really don’t see any need to bring you into this mess.”

“I’m
not asking you to
bring
me into the
mess. I’m simply offering to be here for you.” She stepped toward him and
slowly wrapped her arms around him before resting her head against his chest.
The steady beat of his heart thumped under her ear in a soothing rhythm.

His
body stiffened, and she looked up at him. He cupped her face between his hands.
“You need to leave before I lose control. I don’t seem to have much of it
around you.”

“Please,
lose it,” she whispered up into his dark face.