Noah (23 page)

Noah nearly jumped out of his skin when she inexplicably reached out and touched his face. Her fingertips went to the corner of his right eye, smoothing over the skin there as she blossomed into a breathtaking smile that went deep into her fair blue eyes. He closed his eyes, unable to help himself as his starved senses raced to memorize the softness of her touch, the sweet scent of her skin as it brushed near his nose and lips. It took all of his willpower not to catch up that beautiful hand and place a kiss or two in the palm. He didn’t want to do anything to possibly upset her when she was being so surprisingly receptive for a change.

“Noah?” His name on her lips instantly opened his eyes. She drew her full bottom lip between her teeth for a moment as she scanned his face. “Why do you do that?”

“Do what?” he asked, unable to weed out the hoarse undertone to his voice.

“You stop. Everything. One minute you’re laughing or upset or talking, then suddenly your eyes close and you go very still.”

He just looked at her for several beats, at first trying to formulate a plausible explanation, but he was a lousy liar and he hated the idea of being dishonest with her in any way.

“I suppose I do it as a defensive or protective gesture because I am experiencing something out of context or inappropriate to a specific situation.”

“My, my, them sure is some fancy words, mister,” she said, affecting a hillbilly accent. She switched instantly to her usual sweet tones. “Would you put that in layman’s terms for those of us who know you’re trying to snow them?”

“I am not trying to snow you.” He sighed when she cocked a brow at him in contradiction. “Damn, you are the most…”

“Infuriatingly observant woman in the world?” she supplied when he was at a loss.

“Yes, something a lot like that,” he conceded with a sigh.

Noah rolled away from her, suddenly getting up out of bed. He ran both hands through the long, wild waves of his hair as he tried to gather his thoughts. Kestra was frowning, feeling the loss of his remarkably soothing touch. She was also sorry that she had obviously said something upsetting to him. He walked away from her and out of the bedroom. She turned over immediately, grasping the bedsheet and twisting it around her body. She sat up and went to stand up, but the entire room took a massive nosedive and she gasped with the shock of it. She fell back across the bed, closed her eyes, covered her face with her hands, and began to lecture her lurching stomach on the joys of antinausea.

“Hey, are you crazy?” came a masculine scolding several minutes later when he found her lying in that very position. It was obvious she had tried to get up. He sat down beside her on the bed, leaned over her, and she could feel his warm breath against her hands. She sighed, feeling the heat of his body and finding it somehow comforting. “Feeling a little dizzy, are we?”

Well, he doesn’t have to sound so smug about it.
She frowned and dropped her hands. She daringly opened an eye and found it was much better with her eyes opened after all.

“I understand you have this whole Wonder Woman thing going on,” he mused, reaching to stroke his thumb under each of her eyes, somehow making her feel more focused as he did so, “but I doubt you will be walking around much tonight.”

“I don’t do invalid,” she grouched, making the face to match. “Just give me a minute and a very big anchor and I’ll be fine.”

He laughed, the energy and sound of it making her smile in spite of her pique at her situation, and she beat on his chest in punishment as he made her laugh with him. “This is not funny!” she insisted irritably.

“No. Your illness is not funny, but you are. It never occurred to me that your acerbic remarks could be used for good.”

“Evil of the world, beware,” she announced halfheartedly with a fisted salute that ended with her arm flung across her eyes. She made a long, growling sound of frustration. “I hate this. I hate it so much.”

“I know, baby,” he said softly, reaching to stroke through her hair in sympathy. “But I promise you, in a few days you will bounce back far better than you were before.”

“You bet your ass I will. Don’t get used to this whole macho man in shining armor thing.”

“I know. I know. You do not do maiden in distress.”

“Exactly!” She lifted her arm to look up into his face. “You catch on pretty quick for a…” She trailed off, biting her lip on the completion of the prejudiced remark.

“For a man? Another promise for you, Kestra. I am not like any man you know. So that insult does not bother me in the least.”

He pushed off from the bed and walked out of her sight again.

Noah leaned on the kitchen counter, having come in under the guise of getting Kestra one of those sports drinks in order to continue her rehydration.

The fact of the matter was, he was running out of time. In so many ways. She was already asking questions that required carefully worded answers so he would not lie to her. When she asked for a light, he was going to have to explain how everything in the house had gotten fried electrically, why phones wouldn’t work, anything like that. He could possibly come up with something clever about that, but he was already growing weary of avoidance. He had to tell her the truth, had to come up with a way to help her accept it and him, and he only had twenty-four hours to do it in. Samhain was gnashing at his heels, he could feel it with every fiber of his being; every muscle and blood cell beat with the rhythm of the full moon hidden behind the thick towels he had hung over the windows and the storm that was gathering outside. But none of this would help him tomorrow. He wasn’t even sure if it would help her. Was she far enough into the change to be affected like he would be?

He didn’t even know if her illness was all heat exhaustion or if some of it had to do with his thoughtless absence those couple of days he’d struggled with indecision. He needed a plan and he didn’t have one. It wasn’t in his nature to work off the cuff. Leaders planned. They got counsel and advice and thought things out meticulously. His last action of impulse had probably destroyed his friendship with Isabella forever.

Nor was he used to so much indecision. Corrine was right, he was paralyzed. Nothing in his life had ever given him such a sense of fear as when he thought of losing Kestra through the mistakes of his own actions or inactions.

He just had to bite the bullet, as the saying went. He couldn’t keep it a secret, and she was definitely smart enough to start figuring things out on her own. He wouldn’t feel right touching her again without explaining what she was getting herself into, and Destiny knew he was dying to touch her again. His entire psyche was screaming for it. It almost had nothing to do with his body at all. It would be a whole lot easier on him if he didn’t remember how she felt, how she tasted…how she
sounded
. Her impassioned cries echoed loudest within him, making him howl out for more from deep within his soul. He was no stranger to his animalistic side, but this possessive craving was entirely out of his realm of experience.

He pushed off from the counter, taking a deep breath or two before moving back toward the bedroom, having affected his own hungry body with his thoughts and memories of the woman who was far too real and close for his sane mind to handle at the moment. He needed to draw from a completely different well of need. The need to know her, to learn her, and most of all, the need to earn her respect and trust.

At least he had used enough sense to put his pants on. Somehow it felt a lot safer than his temporary alternative of the night before. The fabric was damp and chilly, but he figured he didn’t deserve much better and it could help in the long run. Then again…

He entered the bedroom, his keen eyesight picking out her hands-and-knees position on the center of the bed all too easily. The sheet around her body was not so much around it as it was half on and half off it. She was rummaging in the bedside drawer for something. Unfortunately, it was the bedside drawer on the near side of the room, the side facing him. He supposed she’d expected to hear his approach, but out of habit he made no sound when he moved. Demons were night creatures, natural-born hunters, and moving with stealth was as innate to them as breathing.

Kestra’s face was hidden by a curtain of white hair, made almost iridescent in the darkness, at least to his eyesight. He could see every single curve of her body, from breasts to taut belly to the silhouetted space between her thighs. The sheet was draped over her back and buttocks, so it left all the rest exposed as she searched, clearly having little success because she was swaying dizzily and trying to fight it. She looked incredibly tempting, far too delicious, and adorably stubborn. Noah almost turned around and walked back to the kitchen so he could breathe all over again. But, he thought with a sigh, even a King was only so strong.

“Looking for something?”

She didn’t start or react with any kind of shock. She tossed back her hair, and after a dizzy moment of regretting the habitual action, she blew at a stray strand and cocked a brow at him. Noah was ridiculously pleased that she didn’t rush to cover herself up.

Pleased being the least volatile of adjectives at the moment.

“Yes. I am looking for my flashlight. None of the lights seem to be working.”

“Yes. I believe the transformer overloaded last night. Most of the lights blew out, and as for the rest”—he shrugged—“I guess they have not restored the service.”

“Oh.” She sighed. “Well, considering how rural this is, I won’t be surprised if I spend the rest of the week in the dark. Aha!” She pulled out the small metal cylinder she had been looking for, dragged the sheet across herself, and sat down. The strong little light flared to life and she flashed it at him, making his maladjusted eyes smart. He hid a grin and walked over to the bed.

With a violent pop, the bulb in the flashlight blew out.

“Grr! Isn’t that just the luck?”

“Yes. I was so looking forward to running around in the dark with a tiny beam of light to show me the way. Here, drink this.”

She took the bottle absently, shaking the light as if it would make it work again. She sighed.

“You’re right. It’s not as if it can heat bathwater. God, I hate cold showers.”

“Yeah, me, too,” he said softly. She looked at him and he could easily see her eyes narrowing. “Although, if you are feeling better after you drink that, we could always return to my holdings. Plenty of light, plenty of hot water. I believe I even have a tub my sister claims all women will consider divinity on earth.”

“Sold! To the man in the shining armor!” She laughed. “So much for Wonder Woman. She who hates to be without amenities. And a gym.”

“Mmm…the best I can do there is the training yards. A lot of violence and sweaty people. Oddly enough, I can picture you right in the thick of it.”

“Hoo-yah!” She laughed. She clutched her head and slid into a reclining position. “Well, maybe just hoo…the yah can wait a few days.”

“I am inclined to agree.”

“So I guess this means you’re driving.”

Noah went very still.

“You’re stopping again,” she noted immediately.

“No. My eyes are still open.”

“Well, it’s dark.”

“Okay.”

“But something is bothering you. I can feel it. Your energy gets all prickly.”

Now he was definitely stopping, and he couldn’t help it if she noticed it. He closed his eyes as an anxious yet exhilarating wash of emotion flooded over him. It was not very likely that the average human being could detect changes in energy, never mind “prickly” changes in energy. Did she even realize what she was saying? Perhaps she was chalking it up to her extremely impressive instincts and intuition, but it was too uncannily coincidental for it to just be that. Energy. Heat. Power. Those were a part of him. Were they now becoming a part of her? What kind of Druid was she going to be, exactly? They had no way of knowing. He was overwhelmed with the urge to find out, even as he wanted to delay it all just a little while longer.

“Damn it.”

“What?” she asked quickly.

“Nothing.” Then he sighed and rubbed his forehead just over his nose. “No, wait. I apologize. What I mean to say is, it is nothing for you to be concerned with. Just a lot of thoughts running amok and trying their best to give me a headache.”

“I see. Well, don’t expect pity from me. I won’t be impressed until you at least have some nausea or…blood coming out of your eyes or something.”

Noah looked at her with utter disbelief. “Have you seen much of that in your lifetime?”

“You know, some questions are better left unanswered.”

The really frightening part about her response was that he didn’t think she was making a joke. Noah was instantly taken back to the first moment he had seen her in reality, and how it had ended so abruptly seconds later.

“I have a plan,” he said absently, pushing that aside for more pressing concerns. “Let us get you dressed and then you can rest while I prepare for our trip. Considering how you are feeling, I would not be surprised if you sleep the entire trip.” He purposely looked away, turning to find some clothes for her.

“I’d be surprised if I did. I don’t like to sleep while driving.”

“Actually, I was thinking of flying.”

“Flying? Quicker, but on such short notice?”

“I have means of private transportation,” he said, again purposely vague. He withdrew a brief cotton dress out of a series of dresses that didn’t seem to go past midthigh. She was clearly a modern girl who loved to flaunt her femininity and her hard-earned body. Every dress was stylish and light, not conservative but not garish, either. She had a small selection of very sophisticated evening dresses from some pretty exclusive designers as well, confirming his suspicions that she had more than her fair share of resources. He wasn’t certain that the brief dresses were at all appropriate for an English October, but she had worn one that he had seen already and it hadn’t seemed to faze her.

“Actually, I have a red velvet dress in there. I would prefer that one,” she said before he could turn and show her his choice. It seemed such a domestic thing for him to be doing for her, choosing something for her to wear. “If you can see it in the dark.”