Cursed: Brides of the Kindred 13 (27 page)

“Charlotte,” the voice said. “I’m so sorry—please come back to me. Please, Charlotte…”

Charlotte? Nobody calls me that,
she wanted to tell him.
Everybody calls me Charlie except…

Except Stavros—the big Kindred who was her partner on this mission.

Charlie’s eyes flew open and she saw him kneeling over her, a look of concern and remorse on his face.

“Stavros? What’s going on?”

She struggled to rise but she was being weighted down by something wet and heavy. Looking down the length of her own body, she realized it was the furry nightgown which was now both completely waterlogged and totally see-through.

“Oh, my God!” Feeling incredibly vulnerable, she tried to cover herself with her hands. “Why do you have me naked in the bath?”

“It was the only way to raise your core temperature,” he said quickly. “And you are not naked—you still have your sleeping gown on.”

“Which is now completely see-through,” she pointed out. “I might as
well
be naked.”

“Well, you’re going to
have
to be in a minute,” he rumbled grimly. “At least until we can get you something else to wear. You can’t keep that damn thing on with the temperature so low in here—you’ll freeze to death. And you’ve already attempted that once tonight.”

“I…nearly froze?” His words sent a shiver down her back.

Stavros nodded. “If you hadn’t had a nightmare and started screaming, I never would have checked on you until morning. By then…” He swallowed hard, his voice coming out low and rough. “By then it would’ve been too late.”

“Well, I feel much better now.” She tried to sit up again and this time she actually managed it. The minute she did, she started to shiver. Even with the hot water running, the air in the bathroom was incredibly cold.

“Wait, you can’t do that until I get a towel ready. And you’d better get out of that wet gown too.”

“A-all r-r-right.” Her teeth were chattering which made it hard to talk.

“I’ll help you.” He made a move towards her but she drew back.

“I’m f-fine—I can d-do it myself. D-don’t look.”

Charlie knew it was a ridiculous request—he’d already seen everything there was to see through the damn gown. But she couldn’t help it—she felt vulnerable when she was naked and she was well aware that she probably wasn’t looking her best right now.

Without comment, Stavros considerately turned away while she stood shakily, stepped out of the tub, and began to pull off with the wet gown. But the heavy, soaked material clung to her stubbornly and refused to be peeled off, no matter how hard she tried. Every time she got part of it up, it slithered back down again—it was almost like the damn thing was alive and didn’t want to leave her alone!

At last Charlie stood there, trembling with fatigue, the icy, wet gown still clinging to her. Her heart was pounding and her legs were shaking and she was so cold she was miserable.

“Charlotte?” He was still turned away from her but the big Kindred’s voice carried just fine in the small bathroom. “Do you need some help?”

“I…” She didn’t want to admit it but she didn’t know what else to do. “It’s l-like this d-damn thing is a-alive,” she said, her teeth still chattering. “D-doesn’t want to let g-go of me.”

“Possibly it’s some kind of a
tharp.”
Stavros sounded thoughtful.

“What’s a—”

“I can feel your fatigue and weariness and you must be getting cold again. Will you please let me help you?”

Charlie sighed, defeated. “A-all right,” she whispered. “But hurry, ok-kay? I’m really
c-cold.”

“I know. We’ll get this done quickly,” he promised, turning around. Reaching down, he grasped the sopping hem of the gown and pulled upward, trying to pull it up and over her head.

The gown fought him. It tightened around her body until Charlie gasped for breath and pounded him frantically on the shoulder.

“C-can’t…squeezing…me,” she managed to gasp out.

“Seven Hells,” he growled and dropped the hem. At once it loosened its grip on her—but not by much.

“Th-this is r-ridiculous.” Charlie looked down at the waterlogged gown. It was so cold she was certain ice crystals would start forming in the wet fur at any moment. “F-freaking furry boa constrictor,” she muttered resentfully. “C-crazy.” It reminded her of the strange, shrinking panties she’d had on in the weird dream she’d had aboard the Mother Ship. Not that she wanted to remember that—especially not right now.

Stavros was standing back, his hands on his hips and his eyes narrowed as though considering the problem. At last he looked at Charlie.

“Do you trust me?”

“Um…w-why?” She wasn’t certain she liked the look in his eyes.

“I think I can get this thing off you but I don’t want to startle you. And I don’t want to say too much out loud as I am not certain if it is sentient or not.”

“Oh, you don’t want to spill the beans in c-case my f-furry friend can understand w-what we s-say?”

He nodded. “So I need you to trust me.”

Charlie looked down at herself. What choice did she have? She was stuck in the icy , soaking wet gown and she was getting colder by the minute. She had to get it off before it either froze or squeezed her to death. Reluctantly, she nodded.

“Ok-kay. Do it,”

“Thank you.” Without giving any further explanation, Stavros stepped close to her and lowered his face to the neckline of the dress, which happened to be right between her breasts.

Charlie felt his hot breath against her sensitive flesh and was about to protest when she saw a flash of his fangs.
What the hell—is he biting through the damn thing?
Apparently so because the dress began to squeeze her again, as if protesting the rough treatment.

“Stavros,” she gasped. “Stav! It’s—”

“Don’t worry.” He gripped the top of the dress, curing his long fingers in the constricting material and gave a violent yank.

There was a low ripping sound and the fur dress parted right down the middle, gaping open to show her breasts and thighs and pussy. Charlie barely had time to gasp before he was behind her, grasping the back of the fur gown and pulling it sharply off her shoulders, like an overenthusiastic butler.

She gave a little cry when the thing was finally off and sank to her knees on the cold metal floor.

“Here.” Stav threw the ruined gown into the corner where it landed in a sodden heap. He gripped Charlie’s shoulders and propelled her upward, getting her back into the bathtub. Then he turned on the shower and pushed her into the hot water that came gushing out.

“Ahh…” Charlie lifted her face to the warmth. Finally her teeth stopped chattering as she began to thaw. It felt so
good
to be warm again!

Then the water turned to ice.

“Oh—aigh!” she gasped, backing away quickly. “Cut it off! It’s freezing!”

Stavros stuck in a hand to see and frowned.

“What in the Seven Hells?” he muttered, fiddling with the temperature gauge. But they had apparently used up their supply of hot water—and long before Charlie had gotten warm through again.

The big Kindred shut off the water and held out a towel to her instead.

“Come out,” he ordered. “We can’t let you stay wet—not now that there’s no more hot water.”

Charlie hopped out of the tub and allowed him to wrap her in the large white towel. But though it dried her off, it didn’t warm her a bit. Soon her teeth were chattering again.

Stavros was frowning at her, a worried expression on his face.

“Come on,” he said at last, taking her by the hand.

“W-where are we g-going?” Charlie demanded, hanging back.

“To the bed. To warm you up.”

“What? N-no!” she protested, dragging her feet.

He threw her a swift glance over his shoulder.

“If you’re concerned that I will try and take advantage of you in your unclothed state, please don’t worry. “I swear by the Goddess that I have only your health and safety in mind.”

“N-no, it’s not that,” Charlie protested. “It’s the f-fact that the d-damn bed’s a bl-block of ice!”

It was true. As cold as she already was, she didn’t think she could face getting between those icy sheets and lying on that morgue slab of a mattress. It was
too
much.

“Don’t worry,” Stavros rumbled, pulling her onward. “You won’t be lying on the bed—you’ll be lying on me.”

Before she could protest, he had spread up the bed with a rapid jerk of the sheets and blankets. Then he climbed between the sheets and lay on his back. “Come on.” He beckoned to her. “And leave the wet towels—they’ll just make you colder.

“I—” Charlie didn’t know what to say. Should she crawl naked into bed with a man she barely knew, a man who was her partner in a serious sting operation?
No, you sure as hell shouldn’t!
whispered a little voice in her head. “I d-don’t want t-to,” she said at last.

He raised an eyebrow at her. “You’d rather freeze to death?”

“N-no but—”

“Then this is the only option.” He raised himself on one elbow. “Unless you’d like to drink some of my blood?”

“
What?”
Charlie wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly. “D-drink your what?”

He sighed impatiently. “I’ll explain it if you’ll come here.” His voice dropped to a low, pleading tone. “Please, Charlotte—I promise not to do anything improper. But I do not wish to see you freeze to death and this is the only way I can warm you up.”

“I just…don’t kn-now.”

“If you’re worried about me seeing you unclothed, we can fix that. Lights dim,” he rumbled. Immediately the room, which had been at least minimally lit before, was plunged into semi-darkness.

Charlie still hesitated. But the damp towels around her body were rapidly becoming as icy and clinging as the gown had been and her skin was covered in goose bumps. Did she want to do this? No. Did she
need
to?
Unfortunately, yes,
she told herself.
Don’t think about it—just do it. As fast as you can.

Stavros was still holding the covers open for her invitingly, a waiting expression on his face. Taking a deep breath, Charlie dropped the towels and scrambled into bed with him as fast as she could.

“Good,” Stavros rumbled. “Now come here.”

Before she could squeak out a protest, he lifted her up as though she weighed no more than a rag doll and deposed her face down on top of him so that they were chest to chest.

“Um…” Charlie squirmed uncomfortably, aware that her bare breasts were pressed against his broad chest.

“Please don’t do that.” Stavros’s deep voice sounded strained. “This is difficult enough as it is.”

“You think it’s difficult for
you—”
Charlie began and then she became aware of a long, hard ridge pressing against her lower belly.
Oh…
Abruptly she stopped squirming around and tried to lay still.

“That’s better,” he rumbled and put his arms around her. “Now try to relax. You should warm up soon.”

Charlie tried to do as he said but she was tense with embarrassment and cold.
Oh my God, this is
so
awkward!
Are we supposed to just pretend this is normal—lying here naked—well, I’m naked anyway, at least he has on sleep trousers—with him getting all hot and bothered because I’m on top of him?

“Relax,” he murmured again. “Or at least try—I can feel how tense you are. It’s like holding a piece of wood against my body.”

Charlie thought about saying she wasn’t the only one sporting a piece of wood but she really didn’t want to open
that
discussion.

“How am I supposed to relax?” she demanded instead. “This is so weird. I mean, I’ve been on plenty of police stings but I’ve never had to cuddle naked with my partner before as part of one.”

“Don’t think of it as ‘cuddling’ then, if that bothers you,” he murmured. “Think of it as survival. I can’t let you freeze, Charlotte, and since you don’t want to drink my blood, this is the only way to warm you up.
Are
you feeling warmer? You’ve stopped shivering so much.”

“Some,” she admitted, realizing it was true. “Do you want me to move? Am I crushing you?”

He gave a low laugh. “Hardly. You’re not that heavy, you know.”

“My hips and ass would beg to differ,” Charlie muttered. “But I thought I might be making you…uncomfortable in, uh, other ways.”

He cleared his throat. “If you mean my…arousal, I apologize for that. But you have a very beautiful body and I cannot control my body’s involuntary reaction to you.”