Authors: Celeste Anwar
Wondering how that could’ve angered him, she
turned it over and over in her mind until abruptly it made sense. He’d felt
distanced by the way she’d said it, as if she was thanking a stranger for a
favor.
She hadn’t meant it that way, but maybe, since
she’d been so wrapped up in the baby that she’d been reluctant to spare the
time to patch him up, he wasn’t being overly sensitive to have taken it that
way.
The certainty grew in her that she’d royally
screwed up, and that that was exactly why Jesse had grown so distant, but she
couldn’t think of any way to retrieve her mistake. Trying to explain at this
late date would only be awkward for both of them and not at all convincing.
She put it from her mind. She couldn’t deal with
more than Joshua at the moment. When she’d learned how to cope with tending an
infant, she would find some way to smooth things over between her and Jesse.
Chapter Fifteen
Within a week, Erin found herself ensconced in a
penthouse apartment at the top of one of the tallest buildings in the city. It
took several more weeks, though, before Erin and Joshua had acclimated to each
other and Erin was actually able to think of life beyond diaper changes,
feeding time, baths and bed.
Joshua, to her delight, blossomed under her
attention, rounding out very nicely in the ensuing weeks until he merely looked
thin, not emaciated, and his head ceased to look abnormally large compared to
the rest of him. He was, in fact, beautiful--just like his father.
She was certain every parent lied to themselves
and thought their baby was beautiful, but she was certain she was being
completely unbiased.
By the time he’d settled into a routine that
included a full night’s sleep for Erin, she had come to the conclusion that a
full frontal assault was the only way to deal with the situation between her
and Jesse.
Tavian had told her Jesse loved her. Carlos had
said that the ‘marks’ Jesse had given her meant that he had chosen her as his
‘mate.’ And Jesse had not denied any of it. He’d risked his life for her over
and over again. If he didn’t love her, he was just a lunatic.
She didn’t think he was a lunatic, except maybe
in the sense that he’d fallen in love with her, but if that was true, then she
was a lunatic, too, because she loved him.
The plan was easier conceived than implemented,
she discovered. Every time she thought she might have the opportunity to speak
with Jesse and began rehearsing how to launch the assault, either the baby woke
up and demanded attention, the phone rang, or the door bell … or she discovered
that Jesse had locked himself into the room he called his office and only
snarled at her when she knocked.
She was just going to have to be brazen, she
decided one night after she’d finally settled the baby in his crib. Jesse was
hurt and he wasn’t going to let down his guard.
Slipping from the baby’s room, she searched the
apartment for Jesse.
He was locked in his office again.
She knocked anyway.
“What?” he barked through the door.
Erin fumed. He hadn’t even bothered to get up
and answer the door. “I’m standing in the hall naked.”
Silence greeted that announcement. She’d just
begun to wonder if even that lure was going to work when she heard him push his
desk chair back and stride across the room. He looked down at her blankly when
he’d jerked the door open. Slowly, a frown formed between his eyes. “What did
you say?”
Erin smiled up at him. “I said, come to bed.”
He blinked several times, rapidly. She could see
the wheels turning in his head. They hadn’t shared a bed since they’d rescued
Joshua.
“I … uh … I should finish that software program
I’ve been workin’ on.”
Erin sighed. Moving closer, she slipped her arms
around his waist. “I know I deserve it, but you don’t have to make this so
hard for me,” she murmured against his chest.
Almost tentatively, he looped his arms around
her. “Make what hard?”
She smiled against his chest, tempted to say
something outrageously dirty. She tamped the urge. “If you’ll come to bed
with me, I’ll show you something else I learned from that little book I once
read.”
He drew back to look down at her. A slow grin
curled his lips. “I’m no’ sure my heart could take it.”
Erin smiled at the teasing tone of his voice, but
there was something in his eyes that made her ache. She swallowed against the
knot that formed in her throat. “I love you, Jesse. I’m so sorry for
everything. Don’t … push me away. I’m trying.”
He swallowed audibly. Lifting a hand, he brushed
the backs of his fingers along her cheek and then pulled her tightly against
him. “The first time I saw you I thought you were the most beautiful thing I
had ever seen. I could see the fear in your eyes when you looked at me and I
knew you thought I was an animal, jus’ like the others did, but I never saw
disgust in your eyes … or hate. You were the only thing I had to look forward
to. You were what kept me sane.
“I think I knew all along that that cold bitch had
lied about you. The thing was, it was easier to hate you for that than to
accept that they’d had to drug you to make you come to me.”
Tears burned Erin’s eyes and despair filled her.
It was useless to try to deny or to explain. She’d tried already and it had
only made things worse. There was no way the truth could make them better, or
that a lie would be believed. He knew exactly how she’d felt then and unless
he could accept it and put it behind them, it was always going to lie between
them, ugly and hurtful. “I can’t change what happened, or undo it, and all the
wishing in the world won’t give me another chance. Isn’t it enough that I love
you now?”
“In spite of what I am?”
Erin pulled away from him. “
Because
of
what and who you are!”
He looked unconvinced. “You just think you love
me because I saved Joshua.”
Erin stamped her foot. “I knew it was that
stupid
remark! Because I said thank you for rescuing me and the baby? For taking
three bullets and going through pure hell to bring us out safely, you think I
don’t love you? You think it’s just … gratitude? For a smart man you can be
really
stupid
, Jesse!
“I
am
grateful. How could I not be after
all you’ve done? What kind of person wouldn’t be grateful?
“But I sure as hell wasn’t drugged when we made
love on the ship. And I wasn’t drugged when you tied me up and drove me crazy
in that little cabin. That was good, old fashioned lust, damn it! And I
wouldn’t feel that way if I didn’t love you!
“Fine! Have it your way. I hate you you
stubborn, pig headed thing! Go! Play with your damned software. I’m going to
bed.”
Giving him a shove, Erin turned and stalked down
the hallway. She very nearly slammed the bedroom door before it dawned on her
that doing so would almost certainly wake the baby.
Not that it mattered, really, Erin thought,
flopping down angrily on the edge of the bed. She was going to be awake half
the night anyway because she was boiling mad.
The door opened. When Erin turned to glare at
him, she saw that he’d propped his shoulders against the door frame. His arms
were crossed over his chest, a faint smile playing about his lips. “Do you
really?”
“What?” Erin demanded crossly.
“Hate me because I’m pig headed.”
“Yes!” she snapped sulkily. “No! Sometimes,
damn it!”
“And the rest of the time?”
“I am NOT going to say it again,” Erin snapped,
snatching a pillow off the bed and throwing it at him.
He caught it, flipped it in his hands a couple of
times and pushed away from the doorframe, moving slowly toward her. “You
offered to show me what else you’d learned from that book,” he said
tentatively.
“I’m not going to do that either.”
Before she’d realized his intentions, he pounced,
grabbing her and then carrying her down in the center of the bed. She looked
up at him in surprise.
“I love you. I love the way your eyes shoot fire
at me whenever you’re mad as hell. I love the freckles all over your cute
little nose, but most of all I love your mouth.”
Erin couldn’t help but smile back at him. “My
mouth, huh?”
He leaned toward her, nipping at her lips.
“Absolutely. Do you think you could show me that little trick you learned
now?”
Erin burst out laughing. “I believe I’ll let you
show me your tricks first,” she said haughtily.
The End
Other titles from Celeste Anwar:
Carnal Appetite
Carnal Knowledge
Carnal Thirst
Born of Night
The Color of Twilight
Your Every Desire
Resurrection
Dark Thrall
Beauty Ravished
A peek at Dark Thrall, now available.
DARK THRALL
By
Celeste Anwar
Chapter One
Once upon a time, Raphael had been the greatest
seducer in all the land of Pearthen. His sexual prowess was renowned, and his
skills in the bedroom highly sought by the voracious and timid alike.
Raphael loved women. He loved their skin and
smell, tasting their curves and breasts, listening to their lilting voices. He
enjoyed wooing them almost as much as he enjoyed making love to them. He’d had
the pleasure of many courtships--far more than he cared to admit, especially in
light of the fact that it was because of a woman that he’d been permanently
banished to Earth. He had no hope of regaining entry into Pearthen, and since
he’d become one of the fallen, he’d been unable to settle down into the comfort
of his old ways.
Even before he had been banished, Raphael had
always preferred to make love, not war, as the Earth saying went. There was
certainly no incentive for him to hunt down his enemies after he had been
expelled from Pearthen, when doing so would not regain the favor he had lost or
free him from his banishment, and yet he had been forced into fight and/or
flight too many times to count.
Raphael was tired. He was miserable, and he was
lonelier than he had ever believed possible.
He had endured the misery of having no company
but his own for quite some time before it dawned upon him that, just as he had
no reason to fight his enemies, he also had no reason or incentive to abide by
the laws of Pearthen which forbade him to interact with humans.
He lived on Earth now--forever. He was an Earth
person, if not a human. There was no reason at all why he should not settle
among them and look about for a companion and produce a child.
All he needed to do was to find the right woman,
but to do so he realized he must first learn to blend in with the native
population. As little as he cared what the laws of his former land were, he
had learned a lesson from his banishment. He could not flaunt his conduct. If
the humans realized that he walked among them it might create a disturbance
that the Elumi would notice and then banishment would not be his punishment.
He would be beheaded instead.
After observing the mating habits of humans for
quite a while, he finally decided that he had mastered the technique and
decided that it was time to test his knowledge. Since the majority of the
mating appeared to take place in specific buildings in the city that he’d
chosen to live in, he shifted into his purely human form and procured himself
clothing that he thought would be suitable for the ritual.
When he was satisfied that he was dressed
properly to pass, and enticingly enough to attract the female of the species,
he made his way to the gathering place he had chosen and hit his first road
block. The man at the door demanded ID and ten bucks. As far as he knew,
bucks were deer, a species of cattle known to roam the forests of Earth. And
not only was he not certain how he would catch these animals, but he also
wasn’t sure how he was to get them to the man.