Dark Dreams: HarperImpulse Paranormal Romance. Dawn Treadway

anywhere.”

      “On the contrary, I think it already has.” He arched his brow.

      “Stop it.” Now she was grinning and thinking about that co-ed shower. Stop it yourself, Jade!

      “How about I show you where you can get cleaned up and then I’ll answer all the questions you have?”

      “Alone.”

      “If you insist.”

      “I insist.” Shut up brain, I do not want to hear it.

      “I’ll call down to have someone bring up fresh things for you to wear. I imagine you are hungry as well?”

      God, there are others here? She flushed again, wondering if her cries might have been heard. “Yes, I am a little, thank you. I know you said you would answer all my questions later, but, where are we? Why are there people who have things for me? This doesn’t look or seem to be the place we were earlier. I thought that was maybe where you lived.”

      “This is my brother’s home; he has several people who work for him here, and they will bring you clothes and food. You were in my home earlier.”

      He picked up a phone on a side table next to the bed and told whoever it was on the other end of the phone what he would need, “jeans size 6, tank top medium, jacket black, and something comforting for a human to eat, and breakfast for me as well.” The last part struck her; she realized this meant he must eat something different. Scary. What the hell would that be? Did she even want to know?

      He got up to show her to a large, beautiful bathroom. She pulled a sheet off the bed and flipped it toga-style around her bloody, naked body and did the walk of shame to the bathroom. It had dark granite countertops and bronze fixtures. The tub and sinks were black, and the floors a natural deep-brown travertine. She loved fixtures and granite and flooring; she took a lot of time decorating her book store and small flat. But this place obviously had a bigger budget than had been available to her, which was barely enough to scour flea markets and resale shops.

      The bathroom fit nicely with the bedroom; they were both, lovely, dark, large and cozy at the same time. Um, that sounds just like Nias – lovely, dark, large and cozy. She cursed herself for thinking crazy. She didn’t know where she was, who was after her, who the hell the man she’d just had sexual relations (for the first time ever!) with was, or what exactly he was. Now she was going to shower and eat dinner with him like they’d known each other for ages. Yep, Jade and the Daemon having a little food together, I feel like I’ve seen this movie. This whole damn day was surreal and it wasn’t going to be getting any closer to any reality she had ever known anytime in her foreseeable future. And, for God’s sake, Jade, she scolded herself, stop touching him, purring at him, staring at him and lusting after him. First of all, it is wildly inappropriate for the danger of the situation, and second the cocky bastard is loving it! But so am I, she snickered to herself.

      As she removed the sheet she noticed herself while passing in front of one of the mirrors. Oh my God! Dried blood was smeared all the way down the front of her body. She moved closer. The blood on her body covered what remained of the long cuts that thing had sliced into her. There was a gap in the scars and she remembered it had scratched over the chains that had bound her. She felt a wave of terror run through her as she remembered being there. Nias HAD calmed her down. In fact, he had taken those gruesome memories completely away for a while. It was truly insane how comfortable she felt with him. He had kidnapped her, but it was like it had never happened when she was with him. She enjoyed him that much? That quickly? As Sherlock would say “something is afoot”. She could conjure no explanations for the moment, so she looked back at herself. Blood had seeped into her hair when it spread around her neck from his application, and mortification struck her again as she noticed the remnants of bloody handprints on the backs of her knees and between her legs. Shower, Jade, get in the shower. She was feeling dirty for several reasons now. Another walk of shame commenced as she moved to the shower, waited for the water to warm, and got in.

      After soaping every part of her body twice, she washed her long hair, rinsed, and exited the shower. When she got out there were fresh towels and clothing laid out on the countertop. She hadn’t even heard anyone come in, which bothered her a little. Being deep in an escapist dreamland would do that. Her mind had checked out, like it often did in moments of stress. Except this time it wasn’t visions of some random creation. This time her mind hovered on Nias and herself. New possibilities had come to mind. Never in her romantic visions had she imagined dark, gothic scenes, complete with blood and tearing flesh. Her knight errant had always rescued her from some historical complication, Jane Austen-style. Someone wasn’t acting a gentleman or she had been humiliated in front of a room filled with The Ton, so he married her and they lived happily ever after. Not monsters, never Daemons in jeans and boots with long, shiny, dark hair.

      She combed through her hair, left it to dry on its own, and got dressed. Clean and fresh-faced, she re-entered the bedroom. While she had been in the bathroom with her endlessly rambling thoughts, it seemed Nias had cleaned up as well and finished eating. Whatever it had been, he’d eaten it extremely rare and used a knife to cut through it. The plate and silverware looked almost as bloody as her skin was before she had cleansed it. What did he eat? God! Hopefully not humans!

      But she dismissed that thought and joined him on a cozy sofa to get some far more important answers. The minute she sat down on the end of the couch he moved toward her.

      Nias had eaten, but simply being around the girl made him ravenous.

      “You look lovely clean and wet.” He did enjoy her covered in his blood and couldn’t wait to dirty her up again. He could think of several ways of accomplishing this goal, and, contemplating it, his arousal started to thicken. There would be plenty of time for that. He wasn’t letting her leave any time soon, if ever. There was a long, nasty road in front of them; he still needed to prepare her if they had any chance of staying alive. But if they did survive, he just might keep her permanently.

      He mentally shook his head to center himself again; she had him off-kilter. He needed to focus on the task at hand. Their journey would begin soon enough.

      “Okay, I’m listening. I know you have questions.”

      “What the fuck were those things that abducted and hurt me? Why did they do it? What happened with your blood? I can tell it made my cuts feel better, but why? And is it my imagination or are they almost healed? Where exactly are we? What are you exactly? Although I’m not sure I want to know because I really don’t want to get any more involved? When you keep saying I have to train, what could that possibly mean? When I leave, will they come after me again? And why the hell do you keep calling me Kitten?”

      “Hum, where to begin, let’s start with Kitten. I call you,” he leaned forward without thinking and placed his mouth to her full, pink lips, his tongue slowly licking the seam between them, “… Kitten, because you are soft and beautiful.” He leaned in again to taste her opening slightly during the connection and giving her mouth the brilliant idea to do the same, allowing him to slide through and drink her in a bit. She let out a tiny raspy moan, which caused an immediate pulsing at his groin. He connected to her eyes and continued, “And when I touch you, you purr.” This time when he kissed her his mouth opened fully and his tongue found its way back in. He allowed his hair to fall forward over his shoulder enfold her into him. She closed her eyes, beginning to enjoy the feel of him again, and then he heard the sound that made him lose control, purrrr.

       Chapter 6

      “Hey,” she protested in more of a whisper rather than the shout she had intended. “Hey.” The same whisper forming only slightly louder this time. Fighting her own seemingly unstoppable need, she unclasped herself from his warm, full lips. His eyes caught hers again and those amazing lips formed a quirk, shooting a flame of desire through her. Push though this Jade, she said to herself, you need to get some answers