Desired by Shadow (A Shadow Walkers Novel) (19 page)

A jolt ran through her body. She felt safe enough here with Robert to allow herself to relax. When was the last time she’d been secure? Never. Not until he came into her life. There was her answer. The only remaining question—what would she do if he brought other women home? Even in another wing, she’d be bound to run into them. Clenching her jaw so tight she swore her teeth would crack, Maggie knew without a doubt she didn’t want him with anyone else.

Wanted to be his alone. And there it was.

With him she felt safe, secure and cared for. Putting down her spoon, she looked up at him. As always, he was watching her.

“We have an…accord as you call it.”

“Gareth.” His steward appeared. “The lady and I are going for a stroll to the hothouse. Cognac in the library when we return.” He got up and pulled her chair out. “Shall we, milady?”

Sometimes she thought they were in the past, he sounded so old-fashioned. On anyone else it would be silly or pretentious but it suited him and there was something about being called ‘milady’ that made her smile and turned her insides all mushy.

The library was calling to her as they passed. So many books. It boggled the mind. For the rest of her days she could be content there, discovering new worlds, letting the world pass by.

“Maggie, I promise, you may spend as much time in here as you wish. And since you’ll be living with me, if there are certain books or authors you fancy, say the word and I will have them delivered here for milady’s pleasure.”

“Living with me” had a pleasant ring to it. There’d never been a boyfriend she was with long enough to consider living with. Other than Josh and not only was he a roommate but it was only a four months so it didn’t count. Might be nice to have another person around. Someone you could rely on, to be there, no matter what. Someone who wouldn’t get you kidnapped for a lousy three hundred quid.

Maggie turned to him, her hand on his sleeve. “You seem to know all of my weaknesses yet I don’t know any of yours.”

“I would think it quite obvious.” He placed his hand on her back and motioned her forward.

With that cryptic comment, she rolled her eyes and kept walking. As if she was his weakness. Mr. Model could have anyone he wanted, models, actresses, the most beautiful women in the world…why her? Giving up on pondering something she had no answer for, she looked around her new home. A friggin’ huge castle with thick, solid walls and heavy doors. Surely she’d be safe here?

Robert’s home was beautiful. There were really nice furnishings everywhere and he sure liked his comforts if the silk and velvet fabrics were any indication. After walking down numerous hallways and making several turns, she was lost. Should have brought a piece of chalk to mark her way. Then up ahead, her nose twitched. “Do I smell honeysuckle?”

“Good nose, ‘tis indeed honeysuckle.”

“But, it’s winter.” How was it possible to have so many different fruits this time of year? Looked like her answers were straight ahead. Massive wood doors inlaid with carvings of trees, fruit, and bees stood twenty feet high. As she approached to take a closer look at the beautiful woodwork, she could feel the warmth emanating from under the doors. It felt and smelled like summertime…that wondrous summer day you experienced once if you were lucky and then measured all others against it for the rest of your days on earth.

“Costs a bloody fortune to heat. Shall we?” Warm, humid air caressed her face as he pulled one of the doors open. Seagulls? Yep, gulls and other birds were flying around, singing, doing bird stuff. She’d been picturing a small hothouse, the kind you see attached to someone’s house or a smallish freestanding structure. But this.

“I may move in to this room. It’s bigger than most people’s homes.” Stepping insider her version of heaven, she relished the warm moist air tickling her skin.

“Good to know where to look for you when I can’t find you. This is the tropical room. We have bananas, pineapple, mango, papaya, pomegranates, and of course, your favorite citrus fruits.” There were all kinds of butterflies and bees and birds. Huge honeybees, the size of her thumb were darting amongst the honeysuckle she’d smelled when they entered. “We harvest our own honey as well.”

“Honey? Ned loves that stuff. He used to put spoonfuls in his tea. I told him he liked a little tea with his honey.” Did she say the wrong thing? A scary grimace marked his face as he stared off into the distance. What was his problem? Chalking it up to business matters, she shrugged.

“If you can’t find me, I’ll be here sitting in one of those chairs whiling the day away with a good book.” Maybe now, she’d get a chance to be a sloth for an entire day. The very thought made her giddy. The ladies who lunched crowd were on to something. How she’d looked down her nose at those pampered women but now with the opportunity in front of her to enjoy the same comforts? Never again would she make fun of them as they flitted from shop to shop with nary a care in the world. Coming to the next set of doors, she paused. These were heavy leaded glass and through them yet another oasis. Each of the wondrous rooms had decorative flowers growing as well. Scattered around randomly as an afterthought. The entire place was a magical kingdom come to life.

Robert opened the door for her. “I call it the Berry Room. Blueberries, blackberries, and others.” A small bunny jumped across the path in front of her. Had she fallen and hit her head? Maybe it was all a strange dream and she was wandering around some kind of crazy Wonderland? Ahead she could see more rooms. One contained various fruiting trees with apple, pear, plum, and cherries. There were four vegetable buildings, a large structure devoted to flowers and finally a huge storage area. Coming out of the final hothouse, they came to another set of heavy wood doors with the same carvings. They were deposited into a hallway with black and white tile on the floors. It looked unused. “Where are we?”

“We’re in the North Wing. It hasn’t been used in hundreds of years. If you want it for you own, you could even invite Ned to live with you, there’s plenty of space.” Black boots stomped across the floor sending up small clouds of dust. Ned? Why would she want him here?

“No, I don’t want him here. Because I worry for his safety doesn’t mean I’d ask him to live with me.”

The irascible man ignored the comment. “We could go back through the hothouse to the library but it will be faster to step outside and go around.” Leading her to yet another set of doors, he removed the heavy bar and opened them.

“How do you lock them behind you?” It was bracing to say the least and she shivered violently after the warm, humid air. The cold wind blew through her clothing and she wished for a warm coat.

“No need. No one would dare set foot on my property. If it makes you feel better, I’ll have Gareth lock them and have the rooms tidied up for you. Gareth can show you to the storage room. You’ll have your pick of furnishings. If nothing suits, we’ll go into the city and find whatever you desire.”

She could smell the tangy sea air. One minute Robert was nice, the next he treated her like she didn’t matter. Made her want to throw her hands up in frustration. “Thank you. I really don’t need an entire wing, it’s very generous.”

Grateful to be back where it was toasty inside the main wing, she couldn’t wait to get her hands on the books. Yawning, she stood in front of the roaring fire.

Robert brought her a glass with amber liquid in it. “Cognac. ‘Twill warm you.”

“What’s it taste like? I’m mainly a wine drinker.” Mesmerized, she watched him raise the glass to his lips, his neck muscles moving as he swallowed, his eyes never leaving hers. Lost in his gaze, she felt desired for the first time. Desired by a man made of shadow. Deliberately he set the glass on the mantle, still staring at her, his irises almost a blue-black. Rough hands grasped her arms and she let out an involuntary gasp when his mouth captured hers. Maggie couldn’t think, couldn’t move. Moaning deep in her throat, she opened her lips as his tongue conquered her mouth. Out of breath, she reached up, holding onto him, afraid she’d fall into the abyss. That was a kiss she’d never forget.

Fear crept in. Could she truly trust him? Grasping the crystal tumbler as if it were a life preserver, taking small sips, her hand gripped her stomach as the warmth slid down her throat, pooling in her belly.

As he spoke, she held up a hand and croaked, “Wow. I need a moment.”

Wandering around the room, she couldn’t pick
one
book. Wait a minute. You’re going to live here, plenty of time to read them all. Shoulders relaxing, she turned and saw
Gone with the Wind
. Had heard of it but never read it. Taking it down from the shelf, she settled into a comfy chair big enough for two, facing the fire.

Robert refilled his glass and paced the room. Why couldn’t he sit still instead of stalking around? Shaking her head, she went back to her book. The South. The opening page sucked her in, the kiss pushed to the back of her mind to be explored at a later time in the safety of her room, everything around her fell away. The fire crackled, she was immersed in another world.

The hair on the nape of her neck stood up. Was someone watching her? Body rigid, instinct telling her to flee, she breathed in through her mouth, shallow breaths, afraid to look up from the book. In the book’s world, she was safe but here, in the library…

“Well, well, well, what have we here?”

Jumping up from the chair, the book fell to the carpet and she dropped the glass of cognac. It shattered on the floor, narrowly missing the beautiful rug. Legs propelling her, she backed up until the stone fireplace met her back. The intense heat buffeted her but no way was she moving.

Odd. There was some kind of silver shimmer in the air.

Oh god no.

Like when Bruce and his men murdered that Shadow Walker. Had this guy hurt Robert? She tried to shrink into herself, disappear. But it wasn’t working. He was staring at her as if she were a roach crossing the dinner table.

The accent was British, reminding her of Solien. Where the hell was Robert? Why hadn’t she heard him leave the room? Her voice deserted her. Was he related to Solien? Had he come to kill her? How did he find her? Opening her mouth to scream, nothing came out. The man—creature, must have been six foot seven. With long silvery hair, not gray but silver like Christmas icicles she’d seen in store windows as a small child. Hell no, he had to be like Solien. The skin was platinum and on his forearms and neck she could see blue tattoos, changing, slithering across his body. The air smelled of rain and something else…electricity maybe? Was that thunder?

“W…who…who are you?”

The thing arched an eyebrow. “Who am I?” The steel in his voice made her cringe. He stepped forward, his arm outstretched. This was it, he was going to kill her. Had he brought the goblins? In the distance she heard the crunch of glass and before the darkness swallowed her, she thought Robert’s voice rang out but it couldn’t be…wasn’t he dead?

Voices penetrated her consciousness. “Robert?” Something tickled her nose, she reached up to scratch it and grasped hair. Silky hair.

“I’m here, darlin’. Can ye sit up?”

Opening her eyes, she looked into those deep blue eyes. They were full of concern. “You’re not dead? I thought he killed you.” She struggled to sit up. “We have to run. He found me. He’s going to kill me.” Grabbing Robert’s sleeve, she yanked hard.

“Easy, milady. Thorne isn’t going to kill you.”

“How do you know?”

“I work for him. I called him to tell him what’s been happening, thanks to you.”

The sound of thunder swung her attention to the chair across the room.
He
was sitting there, legs casually crossed, holding a drink.

“My apologies for scaring you. Though how on earth you might ever think I was anything like that demon spawn is beyond me. Rather insulting really.” He brushed lint of his black dress slacks, sniffing.

“You’re not going to kill me or have the goblins kill me?” Still not sure if he was telling her the truth, she held on tight to Robert, thankful he was alive.

“Goblins are nasty creatures and I certainly don’t need them to do my dispatching for me. If I wanted you dead, you’d no longer be breathing. Though I must admit you were right, Robert. The lady smells intoxicating. I wonder…” He shook his head. “I do thank you for bringing this matter to my attention. Dayne has rather a few things to answer for.”

“You’re scaring my guest, Thorne.”

“Hmm, am I?” Icy blue eyes regarded her. She wanted to curl up into a ball and whimper. The power coming off him was like standing in the middle of a tornado. Not that she’d ever stood in one but she’d seen them on the telly and it looked like what she was experiencing. “You’re the one who changed Robert’s fate.”

What the hell was he talking about? “His fate? No, I saved his life when he was being hanged.” The scary guy threw back his head and laughed. Maybe he was demented?

“Saved his life. That’s rich. Oh Robert, you’ve not enlightened dear Maggie have you, boy?”

“What is he talking about?”

“Maggie, it’s late. Thorne and I have a few things to discuss. We’ll talk later.”

She arched an eyebrow at him. What was he hiding? No matter, she’d find out once his boss was gone. Not like she wanted to have a conversation with him looking on anyway. He might say he wasn’t going to kill her but she didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him. “Fine.” Grabbing the fallen book, she stomped out of the room, Thorne’s laughter mocking her as she fled to the stairs.