Two Knights of Indulgence (9 page)

“This is some story to take in.”

“Of course it is.
 
He warned you.”

Nicolas had indeed, before he’d gone off the deep
end.
 
She watched Matthias and his heady
stare for a few moments.
 
Did this man
have a dark side like his friend?
 
She
didn’t think so, but she had to be careful she didn’t let down her guard.
  
“How did you learn you were Immortal?”
 

“We left once Nicolas was old enough and fought for
our king.
 
Eventually, we rose within the
ranks and found ourselves within the Order of the
Temple
.
 
Knights Templar.
 
One night in
Constantinople
,
we came face to face with the Illuminati and we won, barely.
 
It appeared to have appeased Gaia and she
saved us, or so she calls it.
 
From that
moment on, we’ve never aged another day.
 
Our wounds heal
on their own
.
 
We don’t die.”

“Just because you happened to fight the Illuminati and
won?”

“You must have heard the story behind Friday the 13
^th
?
 
It is claimed that’s the day in 1307 when
King Phillip rounded up
Templars
and murdered them,
which isn’t exactly the whole truth, but you get the gist.
 
If we disappeared, no one would have been
shocked.
 
They probably assumed we were
one of the many who perished.
 
Gaia
repurposed us, to become warriors for her.
 
And since most of us only know killing and death, it was a good match.”

Britt watched Matthias as he
talked,
realizing he wasn’t the brute she thought him to be, no matter how tough he
tried to sound.
 
Yes, there was an aura
of barely leashed power about him, and it made her leery, but she had the
realization that she’d seen him at his worst the night before.
 
He’d been struggling to save his
brother.
 
Would she have gone to such
extremes for her own family, if she had any left?
 
She would have, but she didn’t have the power
within her to make happen what he had.
 
Or did she?

“Do you truly believe I was in danger if I stayed
there?”

Matthias grew very quiet and for a moment, she wasn’t
sure he heard her question.
 
He shuffled
in his chair, and his stare hit her again.
 
It nearly took her breath away with the need she saw there.
 
“Yes.
 
I do.
 
But I think you may be in
just as much danger in this house.”

“W—why is that?”

“Because I’m not sure I can keep my hands off you.”

A tremor ran through Britt’s body.
 
No man had spoken to her with such desire in
his tone and never had she ever expected to be as turned on as she was.
 
Her nipples puckered against the thin cotton
of her lace bra.
 
They ached as the
points brushed against the fabric, which had always felt so soft.
 
It might as well have been sandpaper
bristling across the tips.

She moved her lips, but no words came out.
 
Britt rose from the chair, the proximity of
his body overwhelming her.
 
As soon as
she stood at full height, his hand clasped around her wrist and she felt a zip
of pure electricity run through her.
 
Her
pussy throbbed in time with her escalating heartbeat and if he held her much
longer, she was sure she would orgasm on the spot.

Matthias’ eyes grew wider, and she wondered if he’d felt
it as well.
 
He quickly drew her
down.
 
Before she could determine what
happened, she was astride him, the thick brand of his cock etched along her
inner thigh.
 
She swallowed, her throat
tight, as she watched his lips, needing his kiss like she needed her next
breath.

“Don’t run from me.
 
It’ll only make me want to chase.”

“I—I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves
here.”
 
Her mind screamed at her to make
him stop.
 
Her body told her another
thing.
 
Her eyes had never left his firm
lips.
 

Fingers speared into her hair and wrapped around the
nape of her neck.
 
Matthias drew her
close, the heat of his breath mingling with her own.
 
A hint of cinnamon and vanilla hit her, the sweet,
spiciness
of it making her want to close in for a
taste.

“You never told me your name,” Matthias whispered to
her.

It might as well have been a bucket of cold water he’d
thrown on her.
 
She was sitting on a
man’s lap, one who may or may not be insane, and who definitely had abducted
her.
 
And he didn’t even know her name.

She pulled away from him, a deep sigh leaving her
lips.
 
“Britt.
 
My name is Britt.”

As she’d pulled away, his hand had slid along her neck
and now rested on her shoulder.
 
The heat
coming from his body warmed her and made her want to snuggle deeper into his embrace.
 
She wanted to forget like she had a moment
ago and embroil herself in the cocoon of sexual haze he’d dragged her
into.
 

Instead, she slowly stood.
 
His eyes were hooded and didn’t give away
anything.
 
She wasn’t sure how he was
responding to her withdrawal.
 
Not that
it mattered.
 
She had the right to say
no.
 
Britt should be happy the big brute
had let her go.

He sighed and stood, towering over her.
 
“Are you hungry?”

Hungry for him.
 
“No.”

“You haven’t eaten in days, you really should eat.”

“Days?
 
How long was I out?”

“You slept all through yesterday.”

All the long hours of overtime had apparently caught
up to her.
 
No wonder she’d felt so
refreshed when she’d awoke.
 
“I’ll
rummage for something later.
 
I’m not
hungry now.”

He nodded his head.
 
“There are books in the study as well as a
television.
 
We don’t get cable this far
north, but there are movies on the shelves, too.
 
They can keep you occupied as we settle
in.
 
I left a pair of Nicolas’ sweat
pants and a sweater in there for you, as well.
 
We can rummage you up some other clothes later.”

“How long do you plan on making me stay here?”

“As long as it takes.”

As long as it takes for what, she wanted to ask.
 
The question died on her lips as he strode
out the front door, following in Nicolas’ path.
 

Chapter Four

Matthias grasped the bow in his hands, stalking
through the cold.
 
They had no idea how
long they would be stuck out there, so it was best to start stocking up on
supplies.
 
He began checking the ground
and soon found a set of deer tracks.
 
Moving stealthily through the woods, he felt in his element once
more.
 
While he’d become assimilated to
the contemporary age, it was all too much sometimes.
 
He’d bought this cabin high in the mountains
as his escape from the modern world.

Yet the modern world had brought Britt into his
life.
 
He still vibrated with the energy
he’d sensed upon touching her.
 
He felt
stronger.
 
It was like a drug.
 
He wanted more, wanted to touch every inch of
her and feel her power flowing through him.

The death mask of the man in the hospital came back to
him.
 
Her power had a dark side, and he
needed to remember that.
 
She was still
an unknown part of the equation.
 
What
had she done to him?
 
Nicolas’ answer
seemed to fit, but Matthias feared it was more deadly than his simple
explanation.

Until they knew the truth, he shouldn’t give in to the
screaming in his head.
 
He’d always held
on to his control easily.
 
Years of abuse
through the ages had numbed him.
 
She had
brought sensation and emotion into his gray existence.
 
Quite literally, she was a light in his
darkness.

As he rounded a copse of trees, a pair of deer came
into sight.
 
A doe stood beside her buck,
and they nibbled on a patch of grasses below the trees.
 
Spring had come to most, but up here in the mountains,
the season was much slower to change.
 
Finding a patch of green grass was a treat to these two and lucky for
him.

He lifted his bow and trained the tip at the chest of
the buck.
 
He was a magnificent creature,
at least ten points, if not more.
 
The
deer lifted his head and scented the air but didn’t jolt.
 
Matthias froze in his spot and did his best
to slow his breathing.
 
The animal had a
regal air about him Matthias could see in his stance.
 
This male had been around for many
springs.
 

Matthias drew his arm back and tensed in preparation
to release the arrow.
 
The doe moved
closer and nuzzled against his head before dropping her head back to the
grasses. Slowly, the buck bent his head to eat once more.
 
Matthias released a breath and tightened the
bow.

****

Nicolas dropped the axe into the log, splinters flying
out as it shattered into smaller pieces.
 
Sweat cooled on his neck and back, the cold air swirling around him as
he worked off some of his anger.
 
His
anger was irrational, and he knew it.
 
It
was off-putting to feel so out of control when he was around the woman, but it
was starting to occur even when she wasn’t in the vicinity.
 
Britt had every right to be wary of
them.
 
They were strangers to her,
strangers who had taken her out of her world and dragged her into theirs
without truly taking the time to determine if it were the best course of
action.
 

Yet, her reticence wasn’t what had angered him.
 
He’d seen the way the woman’s gaze had often
gone to Matthias.
 
She was enamored with
his friend.
 

Nicolas felt the jealousy rage through him.
 
He wasn’t an envious man, especially when it
came to Matthias.
 
The man had laid down
his life for Nicolas more times than he could count.
 
Matthias had lived a near celibate life,
refraining from using women as Nicolas had over the years.
 
In all rights, she was Matthias’ due.
 

So, why had he been imagining planting the axe in his
hands deep into Matthias’ skull with each and every plunge?
 
It made him sick to his stomach that the
sight had come to him, but it had come.
 
There had to be something wrong with him for him to even consider the
errant thoughts in his mind.
 
Matthias
was his closest friend, his brother.
 
They rarely argued and never, ever fought over a woman.

Yet, Nicolas wanted her with a need he could barely
contain and that wouldn’t be ignored.
 
He
had sensed her slight interest when they’d been in her bedroom.
 
He’d seen her shiver as he’d touched her ear,
knew she felt it, too.
 
Even then, he’d
felt the surge of her power rush into his fingertips, and he needed more.
 

He propped another round on the chopping block and
adjusted it before splitting it evenly into three pieces.
 
Each drop of the axe took a little of his
anger away and half an hour later, he had nearly gone through a whole cord of
wood.
 
They had plenty to get them
through for a week or more.
 
The spring
thaw could be smelled in the air even now, so there was no threat to make him
chop more.

Yet he couldn’t stop.
 
He needed to exhaust himself so he could think more rationally.
 
He had no right to feel the way he did.
 
Matthias was his friend, his brother.
 
Hell, the man was almost a father to him.
 
Matthias had been there to show him the way
when Eustache had come in and forced him into fostering.
 
Without Matthias, Nicolas was sure he’d be a
much harder man than he already was.