“We can go now,” I said. “Angela, what do I owe you for the drinks?”
She glanced at Knight. “Nothing, on the house.”
I just shook my head.
THIRTEEN
Two hours later, Trey was passed out on the couch, and Knight was trying to find something on TV. He surfed the channels, stopping periodically to watch something seemingly intriguing, only to change the station yet again. I’d been working on the intro to my new Bram book, and the background noise was becoming an issue. With a sigh, I focused on my first page and read the opening paragraph again:
Raven was a vampire, and like most vampires, he was tall, dark and handsome with curly locks and caramel eyes. But he was one man you didn’t want to rub the wrong way. With his superhuman strength and bewitching eyes, his wish was my command. And now, as I realized the vampire was about to sink his fangs into my carotid artery, deep inside, I was scared.
Okay, so I was using myself as the narrator and, yes, the love interest—so what? It wasn’t like I had the hots for Bram.
I didn’t realize I’d been softly reading out loud until Knight glanced up. He scrutinized me like an old woman squinting at an eye chart. “What are you working on?” he called from the couch.
“Just a…book, that’s all,” I grumbled, not pulling my eyes from the monitor.
“About what?”
Goddamit. I’d brought this on myself—working on it when he was here in the room with me. But even with privacy at a premium, I had to get my writing in somehow.
“I, uh, I’m working on a paranormal book.”
He sat up and dropped the volume of the television to a gentle drone. “I didn’t know you were a writer.”
“I’m really not much of one,” I said, shaking my head.
As I refocused on the page, I glimpsed Knight still watching me. Okay, so he found me more interesting than the TV—that was a compliment. I swiveled around in my chair, so I could face him, and thought maybe a break was just what I needed.
“Is this your first book?” he asked.
“No, I wrote another book and tried to get an agent but no one was interested.”
“Sorry to hear that.” He nodded toward the computer. “What’s this one about?”
I blushed, not entirely sure why I was so embarrassed. A writer shouldn’t be self conscious about her own work, right? “It’s a paranormal.”
His brows drew together in what appeared to be confusion.
I sighed. “My first book was historical, but I was advised that historicals are out and paranormals are in.”
“You still haven’t said what it’s about.”
I dropped my gaze. “It’s about a vampire.”
Knight’s eyebrows arched in surprise. “Was that the business you had with Bram, then?”
Well, if nothing else, he was astute. I bobbed my head, and Knight’s eyes narrowed in what appeared to be resentment. “He hardly warrants a book,” he said. “He’s…unimpressive.”
“Well, that’s your opinion.”
Knight chuckled. “Why write about vampires? Why not something more…unusual?”
“What, like a Loki?” I laughed as Knight shrugged. “One agent told me everyone likes vampire stories.”
“Can’t say I’m a fan, myself.”
I picked up a pen and tapped the tip against my lips. “I can’t say I am either.”
We both fell silent as I debated whether or not to continue working on the book. It was already getting late and I’d lost my inspiration, what little I had anyway. Besides, I had all the time in the world to get it done.
“So, if you’re from the Netherworld, why do you sound like you’re American?”
Knight laughed a deep and rumbling sound. A nice sound if I had to judge. “You’ve never been to the Netherworld, I take it?” He leaned back against the tiny section of couch Trey wasn’t occupying and folded his hands behind his head, revealing the great width of his chest. I gulped and feigned interest in the sleeping Trey. Holy Hades, Trey was unsightly, but it was damned easier looking at him than Knight.
Then I remembered Knight had asked me a question. “No. I was born here.”
“Are your parents still here, then?”
I shook my head and dropped my attention to the floor as I thought about my parents, something I hadn’t done in the last six months, at least. “No, my father’s still in the Netherworld…as far as I know.”
“But you’ve never been?”
I picked at a loose thread in my shorts, only managing to weaken the seam. “No. My mother came to California from the Netherworld when she was pregnant with me. I was born in Southern California. I moved to Splendor after Mom died and… some other things happened.”
“Other things?”
I cleared my throat. “A bad relationship.”
“I’m sorry to bring up a painful subject,” Knight said and finally dropped his arms. “And your mother?”
“My mom died a long time ago.” Even now, eight years after my mother's death, the words still rang through me empty and hollow.
“Dulcie, you don’t have to talk about if you don’t want to.”
He leaned forward, his elbows on his thighs and glanced up at me, a lock of black hair obscuring his left eye. He pushed it aside, but I couldn’t tear my focus away from it. It was as if that little wavy lock of jet black hair would help me get through the memory of my mother’s untimely demise.
“I haven’t talked about it in a very long time,” I said, amazed by the upwelling of emotions within me. “She was killed by a goblin. That’s why I became a Regulator.”
He nodded. “I’m sorry to hear that. Your mother would be proud of you. You’re smart and very perceptive.”
I smiled and thought he sounded like Quillan. And thoughts of Quillan led to thoughts of that one kiss. Suddenly I wondered what kissing Knight would be like. Yeah, we’d kissed in Dagan’s club, but it wasn’t like a real kiss. I glanced at Knight again, at his full, pouting lips which looked like they'd been made for kissing. I sighed, trying to force the thoughts from my mind, as I expelled the air from my lungs.
“So, tell me about the Netherworld.”
Knight shrugged. “What would you like to know?”
I felt the stitch in my gut relax. I'd learned long ago when memories became too painful, you just had to shelve them and move on. “First, what’s with the American accent? Last I checked, the Netherworld wasn’t part of the U.S.”
He chuckled. “Actually, it is.”
“What?” I felt my eyebrows furrow. “I did pretty well in geography, Knight.”
Knight laughed again, and I wondered if he found me attractive, and if he was at all aware of how attractive I found him.
“The Netherworld isn’t a single place, Dulcie. It parallels Earth. It’s just another level to what you already know here.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, my voice sounding a little too caustic.
“Just as there’s a Splendor in California, there’s a Splendor in the Netherworld. Think of it like this—it’s like a cake—you have your cake layer and then a frosting layer. The cake layer is the earth you know—the frosting is the Netherworld. It exists in the same place but on a different level.”
“So, you really are from the States?”
“Yes, from the region where your Montana is. In the Netherworld, we don’t call it Montana, though. We call it Crannag.”
I nodded although I found it hard to fathom, the image of Knight as a cowboy from Montana flashing through my head. “Interesting. So, is Crannag like Montana, looks wise?”
Knight stood up and lumbered toward me, making my heart palpitate as I felt a rush of adrenaline. What was it about this man that always had me on edge? And, better yet, why in hell was he coming so close? I automatically leaned back in my chair to put some space between us.
He extended his hand. “See for yourself.”
I grasped his hand and closed my eyes.
> It was like a movie screen dropped before my eyes. I wasn’t in my apartment any longer. Sort of like the same thing that had happened when Knight channeled Trey’s vision of the creature. Only now I wasn’t witnessing the creature eating Fabian…I think I was in Montana.
“That’s Crannag,” Knight said, his voice gentle.
His breath wafted across my cheek like a thousand pixie kisses. I couldn’t help my gasp as a blush feathered over my neck and continued to rise until it stained my face.
“It’s incredible,” I whispered, half remarking on the feel of his breath. Then I refocused my attention to the virtual reality of Crannag. Verdant hills tumbled carelessly around a cornflower blue lake that reflected the azure of the sky. The lake was so clear, the reflection of the hills and sky in the pristine water looked like a mirror.
“Yes,” Knight said.
He squeezed my hand and his hand felt large and overpowering, just like the man. Granted, I considered myself petite, but Knight felt enormous. He must've been at least six-feet-four, if I had to guess. The feel of his hand caressing mine pulled my attention from his height as I swallowed.
This was so not good.
Dropping my defenses was something I'd always hoped to avoid—to avoid the uncontrolled feelings of helplessness; now I felt as if every last one of my defenses was burning up in an incendiary of lust. And Knight was planning on living with me until all this creature business was settled? Holy Hades, I didn’t know if I could make it.
I yanked myself from my longings and reinspected the landscape of Crannag. There weren’t any structures—just a row of large boulders jutting from the top of a hill. The boulders looked like a sculpture but didn’t appear to be man-made. Nothing looked as if it were touched by man, just wild and untainted. My attention shifted to the sky as it was invaded by something black soaring through a cloud, like an arrow piercing the billowy white sails.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“You call them dragons.”
I caught my breath and watched the dragon as it soared, its long neck as graceful as a swan’s. But, unlike my fairy tale image of a dragon, this one looked more like a giant lizard with bat-like wings. The body didn’t look intimidating by any accounts. Not unless you’re intimidated by a flying newt.
“What do you call them?” I asked.
“Dorneags.”
I nodded, thinking this one of the strangest moments of my life. To think I’d never set foot in the Netherworld, and yet I could see it as clearly as if I were there.
“Do all of them look like that?”
“Yes, and in a variety of colors.”
“Am I seeing this in real time?” I asked, sounding like an Internet nerd.
Knight chuckled. “Yes, you are.”
I shook my head, completely amazed. Okay, so Knight wasn’t magic, but he did have some pretty cool tricks up his sleeve.
“They don’t look like what humans seem to think dragons are.”
“You'll find that most creatures aren’t quite what humans make them out to be.”
The dragon swooped down to the lake and opening its mouth wide, lapped up a gulp of water and then started back up toward the sky, disappearing over the horizon.
“Wow,” I said, incredulously.
Knight dropped my hand, and the vision faded. When I reopened my eyes, all I could see was Trey snoring on my couch. My hand felt cold, and I put it in my pocket, hoping to warm it up again. I brought my attention back to Knight, who was watching me with a curious expression—one I couldn’t read.
“That was amazing,” I said, feeling slightly uncomfortable under his rigid stare.
He pulled up a chair and sat next to me. “You’d like the Netherworld.”
I nodded. “Maybe. How were you able to show me that and Trey’s vision?”
Knight shrugged. “One of my Loki abilities.”
My eyes narrowed. “You never told me you could do that.”
He laughed, and his knee bumped against mine, the touch bolting up my leg and into my angst-filled gut.
“You never asked.”
I shook my head, feeling so out of sorts, I couldn’t even think of a retort. All I knew was that I most definitely had asked him what his abilities were. He’d just chosen not to tell me.
“So, about living in Crannag...”
“What would you like to know?”
“Are you married?” I blurted and snapped my mouth shut as quickly as an angler fish. I’m not sure why Knight’s marital status was the first mystery I needed to solve, but as soon as the words left my mouth, I was mortified. “I mean, if they have that sort of thing in the Netherworld…”
Knight chuckled. “Yes, we have similar unions.” He held up his hand as if to point to the fact that he didn’t wear a ring. “No, I’m not married.”
Knock knock; where the hell had the strong, determined and unromantic Dulcie gone?
“And before you ask, no, I don’t have a…girlfriend either.”
Holy Hades, this was getting more embarrassing by the second. And, yes, Knight having a girlfriend had definitely crossed my mind. “I wasn’t thinking that,” I said, trying to save any sort of face. Well, at this point, I’d be happy just to save an eye, a nose or a mouth.
“I’m getting a little tired,” Knight said and stretched his arms above his head with a yawn, as if to prove it.
“You really don’t need to stay here. Trey and I will be fine,” I said, forcing my attention away from Knight to the top of my cluttered desk. I started rattling papers and sorting through them as if I were a cleaning lady on an impatience potion.
“Not up for argument.”
I stood up and tried to shake the annoyance that took hold of me even though, secretly, I was thrilled to have it back...I knew the old Dulcie couldn’t have been far. Ha, take that Knight and your perfect chest!
And as for an argument? Well, there was no use in debating—he was basically the boss of my boss. And that meant he was sleeping in my apartment. I stood up and shuffled to the linen closet in my dog slippers. Pulling out a sleeping bag, I tossed it to Knight. He caught it with a smile and headed for my bedroom.
“Where do you think you’re going?” I asked, hands on my hips.
Knight jerked his thumb at Trey. “I can’t sleep out here with him making that racket.”
The hobgoblin was now flat on his back, his face aimed at the ceiling with his mouth gaping wide. What sounded like a lawnmower thundered from his throat as a clear line of drool coursed down his cheek and pooled onto the cushion. Maybe it was time for a new couch.
Knight took a few more steps toward my bedroom and then faced me. “Are you coming?”
“No, I want to get more writing done. I’ll be in later. There’s an extra pillow on my bed.”
“Great,” Knight said and, with a wink, disappeared into my bedroom.
I stifled a yawn and returned to my desk, turning up the volume of the TV to drown out Trey’s incessant snoring which sounded like a train derailing in my living room.
Rereading my opening paragraph for the nth time, I reached the conclusion I couldn’t write anymore tonight. I yawned again, accepting the fact that I was tired. Not wanting to find Knight awake, I sat Indian style on the floor and flipped through the channels, hoping I could find something to occupy my thoughts for the next half hour or so. How long did it normally take someone to fall asleep? Well, since Knight was on the floor, it might take him a while.
I sighed and settled in for a cooking show where some cheery woman was making brownies covered in frosting and chocolate chips. I’ve never had a sweet tooth, but I could handle it for another half hour or so.
A choking followed by spluttering sounded from Trey, and that’s when I decided I was going to bed. I turned the TV off and started for my bedroom. Turning the light off in the living room, I was surrounded by darkness, and it took my eyes a second to go into night mode. When they did, I opened my bedroom door and had to quash my temper a
s I realized Knight was underneath my covers, in my bed. And the sleeping bag? It was laid out on the floor with one of my pillows above it.
The bastard!
There was no way in hell I was sleeping on the floor. I closed the door behind me and stormed up to Knight, hurling the covers off him. I was greeted with a long expanse of tan back and equally naked rear end! Shocked and mortified again, I threw the covers back over him.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
No response. I poked him in his incredibly tight bicep and still, no response.
“Wake up, damn you.”
I shook him. Nothing.
Well, I wasn’t going to sleep on the floor. I leaned against him and tried to push him out of the bed, but I might as well have been pushing a bus. He wasn’t going anywhere. So, now I had to decide—the floor or I could sleep next to Knight. I had a Queen sized bed, and I was small enough that I could curl up on my side and avoid his nudity…
I wasn’t sleeping on the floor.
My mind made up, I grabbed my pajamas and changed in the bathroom, brushing my teeth and hair before marching back out. I was careful to keep the covers tucked around Knight so I wouldn’t get another flash of his tight ass.
“You’re getting an earful tomorrow, you smug jerk.”
I climbed in beside him and stayed as close to the edge of the bed as I could and shut my eyes. No sooner did my eyelashes touch my cheeks, then Knight rolled over with a soft snore and wrapped his arm around me, pulling me against him.
I thought my heart would stop. I pushed him away furiously and catapulted myself from the bed. Then I crawled into the sleeping bag on the floor.
I tossed and turned a few times, then closed my eyes and hoped Morpheus would take me to the land of slumber soon enough.
###
Jack was in my bedroom.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded, my voice sounding just as raw as it had when he’d dumped me a year ago.
He sat on the corner of the bed and gave me a licentious smile, making my stomach clench. I glanced down at myself and realized I was naked under my bed covers. Pulling the sheet up to my chin, I continued glaring at him.