Knight-in-Arms - Trust: (BWWM Interracial Paranormal Shifter Romance Part Two) (3 page)

“Do you like it?” he asked.

“Yes. It’s beautiful…perfect. Thank you”.

“But –” She broke off.

“But?”

But…
Waking up from her reverie, Rochelle’s analytical side launched into action. It was very obvious that the necklace was worth so much more than her annual salary had been. She couldn’t accept such an expensive gift. And it wasn’t just the price; the design was too special. It was the kind of present to be given to a significant other, like a girlfriend or wife – someone loved and treasured, not a mere acquaintance like her.

“I couldn’t accept it”.

“Why not?”

Oh dear. The twinge of hurt in his voice…

“I-It’s far too special”.

“Rochelle” he said, “I got this for someone who
is
special…to
me
”. 

He looked into her eyes. Rochelle stopped breathing. She felt hot. Her heart beat faster. She looked away; she had to, for her own sanity, or she might end up kissing him.

“Would you wear it to dinner?” he asked.

She looked back up at him, just long enough to utter ‘yes’. He took the necklace from its box, gently, gracefully, and undid the clasp.

She turned so her back was facing him. His arms hovered either side of her as he draped the necklace round her.  The metal was cold against her throat. He did up the clasp, allowing his fingers to brush along her bare skin as his hands slid to her shoulders. He leaned forward and placed a kiss over the fine chain of the necklace. And another. And another. She gasped. His lips nuzzled and caressed, sending tiny shivers through her.

This shouldn’t be happening. They were only meant to be friends. She wanted to tell him to stop but his name left her lips as a dreamy sigh.

“Xavier…”

Hearing his name spoken with such longing, he turned her round to face him. For a moment he looked into her eyes, stroking her temples. Looking back at him, her breathing came in irregular little rasps. Then, he kissed her. It was a wild, passionate kiss, that burned with his pent up desire for her.

She threw her arms around his neck to steady herself, pulling him closer. His hands moved from her temples to her neck, over her bare shoulders, down her back to her waist.

She climbed up onto the sofa to reach him better, straddling his hips. He groaned. The full force of it vibrated through her and she melted. She’d heard him growl before as a beast with menacing undertones, but as a man, it was alluring, tantalising, intoxicating.

“Er! Get a room” said a voice.  Rochelle broke away.  Sebastian was leaning casually against the doorframe.

“Have you forgotten how to knock?” asked Xavier.

“I was just coming to ask how to do it, actually” said Sebastian.

Xavier frowned.

“Are you two actually coming to dinner or would you rather dine on each other?” Sebastian continued.

“We’re coming” said Rochelle.

“Don’t be too long”, Sebastian said as he left, “You know how I hate cold potatoes”.

Rochelle turned back to Xavier and smiled. She tried to extricate herself from his grasp but he wouldn’t let go.

“Damn his potatoes” he said and kissed her again.

*              *              *

“I hope you enjoyed your antipasto” said Sebastian when Xavier and Rochelle entered the dining room, “I was beginning to think we had a double missing person case on our hands”.

They weren’t that late; only about five or ten minutes. Xavier helped her to her seat before sitting down himself.

Doctor Astor had also come to join them for the evening.

“Now you’re mostly recovered, we should all go somewhere fun” she said. Rochelle thought that would be a good idea. As much as she liked Roseford and had found many places to explore, she’d been cooped up for a month now and it would be nice to get out.

“I agree”, said Sebastian, “but your idea of fun is hiking up some impossibly steep hill…”

Doctor Astor made some sort of retort but Rochelle wasn’t listening anymore. She was distracted by the butler approaching Xavier. He said something quiet. She tried to read Xavier’s expression but it remained impassive.

He rose from his seat.

“Excuse me” he said and left.

Rochelle wondered where he’d gone.

“What do you think, Rochelle?” asked Doctor Astor.

“Sorry, about what?”

“About putting a nuclear power plant in Alden?”

When had they changed to this topic? Weren’t they talking about a day out a second ago?

“I suppose it’s safe until a disaster”, she said, not really paying much attention to her words, “So it depends on how they maintain it and what the locals think”.

Sebastian and Doctor Astor discussed what she’d said between themselves, both trying to use it in their arguments. Xavier returned. He sat down again. His mood seemed to have taken a turn for the worst.

“Are you all right” she asked.

He sighed.

“I’m fine”.

“You don’t seem fine” she said.

“It was just some idiot outside making a fuss, but hopefully, everything’s been sorted now”.

He patted her hand.

*              *              *

Rochelle woke up to the sound of frantic knocking on her bedroom door.

“Rochelle” called Xavier, bursting in.

She sat up. Oh no. He’d see her with a scarf on her head. She wrenched it off and combed through her hair hurriedly with her fingers before switching on the lamp by the bed. The light glared into her eyes.

“We have to leave. Now”.

“Why?”

“There’s been a gas leak”.

“What?”

He opened the curtain and looked outside.

“A gas leak”, he repeated, “And it’s not an accident”.

Rochelle scrambled from the bed, picking up her phone and the box with her necklace from under her pillow, and throwing on her dressing gown. A gas leak. That meant Roseford could explode at any moment if exposed to a naked flame. There would barely be time to escape…or they could die of carbon monoxide poisoning. Gosh. What if this was how she died?

Xavier threw open the window. Rochelle could hear the commotion of some of the staff in the grounds below.

He removed his dressing gown and walked towards her. The moonlight and lamplight shone on his torso, illuminating the muscles of his abdomen as they rippled with his strides. They illuminated something else too: the curve of his wings as they unfurled.

“Xavier…?”

He was…turning? She took a step back from him.

“It’s okay” he said softly. It didn’t look okay. She flinched as he placed his dressing gown round her. He took her hand and led her over to the window.

Realising the plan, she pulled away from him.

“No”, she said, “No way”.

“Rochelle, we have to go now”.

She…she knew that but this was…she wasn’t sure if…She needed five minutes – no, ten – to get her head round things, to prepare. But she had only seconds. Her breathing became fast and shaky. She trembled, unable to focus on anything but fear.

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

She trusted him but… She looked out the window, at the grounds, at the night sky. She couldn’t. She just couldn’t.

“Rochelle”.

He rested a hand on his shoulder. With his other, he guided her chin upwards, forcing her to look at him.

“If you trust me, I promise I’ll keep you safe”.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and nodded. He kissed her forehead. Her hands clenched into fists as he scooped her up in his arms. Her eyes were still closed. Tightly.

She felt him climb onto the window sill.

And jump.

Suddenly, they were plummeting. She cried out and threw her arms round him. Her stomach lurched. She could feel the wind rushing past her cheeks.

The next moment, they were soaring. Up. Up. Ever higher.

Rochelle relaxed and opened her eyes. Below, the acres of land that made up the grounds of Roseford rushed past, lit by the ethereal glow of the moon. It was amazing, brilliant, wonderful. Such clarity and definition that she couldn’t see from the likes of a plane.

And then she heard the deafening explosion. It startled her. Roseford was on fire. The heat of the blaze lashed at them.

She looked back, like Lot’s wife at the burning city of Sodom. Part of the house was engulfed in flames. Sebastian. The staff. Mindy. Had they all managed to make it away safely?

She looked at Xavier. She knew it wasn’t his main family home, but she wondered whether he had memories of Roseford that were smouldering right now. If he did, he didn’t display any emotion. He carried on moving forward.

As they got further away, the intensity of the heat of the fire diluted until the air around them was cold once again.

She saw the flashing blue lights of fire engines snaking along the road. A city loomed to the left, the bright lights dulling the light of the moon, blocking out countless clusters of stars.

She rested her head against Xavier’s shoulder. He was warm against the coldness of the night. She could feel his hands holding her securely, feel his heart beating, feel the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest, as it moved in time with her own. It was just the two of them up here. So peaceful. Her eyes closed and she found herself drifting…slowly… off to sleep.

She woke up as they were descending. There was a house below. Not a large country house; more like a cottage with a thatched roof.

They landed.

“Rochelle do you think you could get the key? It’s in my dressing gown pocket”. She fumbled in the pockets and her fingers closed round it. Taking out the key, she opened the door.

He put her down and turned on the light.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“This is Sebastian and I’s hideout. We used to come here a lot as teenagers but we haven’t been here in a few years”. Wow, thought Rochelle. Hideouts were often treehouses, sheds, abandoned or rundown structures in out of the way places, not expensive cottages.

“You must be cold” he said, rubbing her arms before going to the fire place to light a fire. She was. Her phone said they’d been flying for about half an hour. It had been cold so high up. She moved to be close to the fire. It blazed; a warm, orange glow, dancing in the grate. It reminded her of Roseford. Burning.

“I’m going to get some food and supplies. Is there anything you’d like in particular?”

“No thanks” she said.

He picked up his dressing gown from the armchair, where she’d left it when she’d taken it off.

“Sebastian should be coming to drop off some of my medication. I’ll probably be back before then, but don’t open the door to anyone but him”.