“The pain will hit once your adrenaline has all been spent. Trust me on this Keira, it is that or I could drive you to the hospital, it is your choice,” Draven said after knocking out two more pills onto his hand. I swallowed hard and knew that even though this was blackmail, I would do anything if it meant I got out of going to hospital. So, I took the pills and the water and knocked them back in one gulp. He took the bottle and said,
“Good girl.” Hearing this nearly made it all worth it and my blush told him so.
“Oh, and here is the Steri-Strips our friend brought us,” Sofia said handing Draven a small package and once more conveying a look I couldn’t decipher.
“Thank you. You may go back to the table now, we will be out shortly,” Draven said dismissing her and she smirked when asking,
“The both of you?”
“Yes, Keira has kindly accepted my offer to buy her a drink,” Draven said in return making Sophia’s smug smile beam.
“I am sure she did,” she replied making me turn crimson with embarrassment. She winked at me once and then left with a laugh she didn’t even try to hide. I looked back to Draven and laughed nervously trying in vain to react as though her teasing about how I felt about him wasn’t as obvious as she just made it.
“Now let’s see what we can do with this hand of yours, shall we?” I nodded deciding it was best not to speak, this way there was less chance of further embarrassment on my part. So instead I watched as he opened a sterile package with strips of tape and find a vial of sterilizing fluid that was no doubt for cleaning my hand. He snapped the lid and poured half onto a piece of gauze, taking my hand back in his.
“This may sting,” he warned before pouring the rest of the liquid onto my cut, making me hiss with pain. He ignored my reaction and instead went about wiping it clean with the gauze. For such large hands, I was once again amazed at how gentle he could be, which was made more so with the small comforting circles he was drawing on the back of my hand.
“There, all clean. Now let’s get this stitched,” he said giving me a look, no doubt trying to gauge how I was doing. I nodded for him to go ahead, torn between wanting to get this over with and never wanting it to end. Being here with Draven was like finally living out one of my many fantasies, minus the blood that was. But I had to admit that having Draven taking care of me this way was certainly worth the pain and I knew that the scar would be deeper on the inside that it was on the flesh.
So, I watched as he went to work in getting the stitches in the right place and for a moment I half expected him to say that it was no good and I did need to go to hospital for stitches as they were right, it did look quite deep. I was just about to ask if it was ok, when something started to happen.
“Keira, are you alright?” Draven asked me obviously noticing it for himself.
“Yeah…I think so, just…I’m starting to feel a bit funny,” I told him trying to concentrate enough to get my words out in the right order. My vision started to blur slightly as I tried to focus on the man in front of me. I felt him lift my face up with a hand under my chin. Then I felt him open one eye as if trying to judge my pupil’s responsiveness like a doctor would.
“Don’t worry, you will be fine, sweetheart,” he told me softly and I sucked in a startled breath when I could have sworn I just heard him call me ‘sweetheart’. Then I felt myself falling forward into him without being able to help it.
“I’m sorry, I…I…” I tried to say as I lifted my other hand as though it was filled with lead. He took it in his and whispered down into my ear,
“Ssshh now and trust me,” he said gently before moving his arms around me. It took me a good long moment to realise he was lifting me into his arms and the thought had me near panting. This time I didn’t know if this was really happening or I had just passed out and was now dreaming. Well whether it was a dream or not, I felt myself being held against a strong chest with arms that secured me to him like he was protecting me against the world. I didn’t know what was happening, but to me it seemed like for the longest time he didn’t move but just remained still, holding me to him as if basking in the moment.
This is how I knew it had to be a dream.
“Now I can heal you the way I want to,” he said cryptically and my fuzzy mind must have heard it wrong…that or it had been made up completely. I felt him place me down on what I could only assume was the sofa and he took my hand in his, sitting next to me.
“Heat,” he said first and the second he said it the heat started to warm my hand as he drew a fingertip across the few stitches he had placed there. I couldn’t help my reaction as my body bowed slightly as I released a moan. The heat he spoke of might have started in my hand but it quickly travelled down the rest of my body, warming my insides as if his hands were caressing my skin.
“Deep breaths for me, Keira,” he told me, leaning down and whispering the command over my neck. It sent shivers down my spine and at the same time he added the next stage,
“Let’s cool down that heat, shall we?” he said running another fingertip across the damaged skin on my palm. And he was right, the heat that warmed my blood soon cooled enough to send shivers down my spine for a different reason this time.
“That’s enough I think.” I don’t know what he meant but the second he said it the cold chill that wracked my body started to subside and once more my body’s core started to regulate itself.
“Wha…what’s happening… to me?” I forced the words from my lips.
“A reaction to the drugs we gave you, but don’t worry, nothing a little rest won’t cure. Now it’s time to sleep, my beauty,” he told me and once again I found myself second guessing what I had just heard him call me.
“But I…can’t,” I told him.
“Why not?” he asked me curiously.
“Because you can’t fall asleep in a dream and I am already dreaming,” I told him honestly, the drugs making me say whatever came to my mind.
“Why do you think you are dreaming?” he asked and I opened my eyes and saw his purple eyes looking intensely back at me.
“Because in my dreams you are always nice to me, because in them you have purple eyes that look at me like you want to kiss me and because… I always see you in my dreams,” I told him and I tried to bite my lip but it slipped from my grasp as my head fell back and I fell quickly into a deep slumber. The last thing I heard before giving into the pull that I felt tugging at me, dragging me down to a place I was ready to go was Draven’s voice,
Draven’s confession…
“You are always in my dreams, Keira.”
Chapter 23
Broken Offers
Book 1
NEW
I woke up to find myself in a place I least expected. Now what I had expected to see was my foggy view of the national park in all its dark and moody glory. But this wasn’t what I faced. No, what I faced now was the silky dark night in between the arched pillars of Draven’s private office.
I sat up gingerly feeling my head as if I had some kind of hangover. What had happened? Had I really passed out and if so, what had happened to Draven? I looked down at my hand and saw that it was now bandaged up tightly and I definitely didn’t remember him doing that.
I tried to swallow but it felt like the back of my throat had been replaced with sandpaper. I looked around to see if the bottle of water had any left which was when I found a fresh bottle on a small table next to the sofa. I could have sworn that it hadn’t been there before when I had sat down, so had Draven put it there so I would find the water. Either way I was more than grateful for it as my hands shook trying to get the lid off quickly.
This was when I noticed the note…
Keira,
You fell asleep so I left you to get some rest but when you wake I would be pleased if you would be so kind and join me for a drink at my table.
D. Draven.
I read it again and again and then couldn’t help finishing by lifting it to my nose, to see if I could get even a h
int of his scent that he might have left on the simple page. There was something but it wasn’t enough…it would never be enough.
I decided to get up and do as he had asked, joining him for a drink but then I stopped.
“What are you doing Keira?” I asked myself aloud as fear quickly seeped in. It was strange, as in here alone with Draven I had found it easier being around him. Being close to him. But out there…? Well that’s wasn’t a world I belonged in and I knew it. I didn’t want to admit it, but out there he was someone different and that part of him terrified me. In fact, it could quite possibly crush the most perfect experience I had ever encountered with him and I didn’t want to ruin it.
I think it would have been different if I had been walking back in there with him, as just having his presence around me was enough to get me to agree to anything he asked. But now my doubts had taken root and were quickly growing into full out panic. I couldn’t go out there and sit with him at his table, pretending that I belonged, if only for a short time.
Because the simple matter was the most heart-breaking one. I wasn’t a part of his world and nor would I ever be. I wasn’t beautiful like those other women who sat beside him. I wasn’t rich where I could afford $200,000 bottles of whiskey. And let’s face it, I was always going to be the hired help who was never born to drink that whiskey but only ever serve it. Ha, and I could barely even manage that I might add.
So really, what would drinking at his table accomplish? Where would it get me other than cruelly giving me a taste of what it would be like to live in his world if only for an evening.
I just didn’t know how Cinderella had done it. To want something like that, if only for one night, knowing what she would have to go back to and face for the rest of her life. Alright, so I had a pretty good life, with friends and family who loved me and Hell, it wasn’t like I was planning on serving drinks for the rest of it but still, it was a hard decision to make. Because the soul of the matter remained…giving me a taste of Draven was a dangerous thing, one I knew I would never get over, the way I knew I would have to.
No, I would walk out there, go up to his table, thank him for helping me and the offer of a drink and then finish my shift the way I could only hope to accomplish…with a shred of dignity left. Yes, that was what I was going to do. I sucked in a deep breath, pulled down my top and took a last swig of water before walking out the door, looking back one last time as I doubted I would ever see it again.
The second I made it to the hallway I couldn’t help but look down the other way that was opposite to the doors that led to the club. I don’t know why or what was compelling me to seek out that door but it was as if something was calling me towards it. I looked back quickly at the main doors just to check and bit my lip, not knowing what choice to make. I knew I could possibly get into trouble by snooping around, which let’s face it, there was no other way to put it. So, calling a spade a spade, or in this case a nosey cow a nosey cow, I decided to risk it.
So, keeping a close eye back on the door I knew I should be walking through, I was walking towards the one I knew I shouldn’t. I quickly made it and paused a second before making that last step needed in satisfying my curiosity. What if someone was in there? What if there was something private inside? Oh God, what was I doing?!
“You’re going inside, that’s what you’re doing Kazzy,” I told myself as I took a deep breath and pushed down on the handle. I then opened the door and stepped inside.
“Oh, this is a bad idea,” I said as I took in the splendour of the room around me. It was like stepping back in time to the private chamber of some Lord of the manor. It was definitely a man’s room, the battle covered tapestry said as much. I looked at it more closely and saw that it depicted a war between Heaven and Hell displayed by hours of needlework in a vast array of colours.
I turned around and took in the rest of the room, eyes focusing on everything there was to see. Everything from the antique, carved furniture to the luxurious and elegant soft furnishings and all of it seemed so much bigger. Just like where I was headed now, towards the biggest bed I had ever seen! It was huge and I wasn’t surprised to see that it stood alone on its own dais. It was covered in black silk that looked more expensive and opulent than cheesy. And this matched the heavy material that hung down the trunk like posts that held up an elaborately carved roof. In fact, the whole room and everything in it was as though it had been built for someone not only important but also someone large in stature…
“Oh god…could it be…?” I asked myself the question looking down at the bed and running my fingertips dangerously across the silk. That was when a voice behind me answered my question.
“My room, yes… yes, it is.” In my utter shock at being caught I turned too quickly and tripped on the steps that surrounded the bed. I put my hands out behind me to try and steady myself, looking down for only a second and quickly found myself being saved not by my quick reactions but by someone else’s…
Draven’s.
I ended up half bent over the bed with Draven holding me to him, bracing his free hand on the closest wooden post. Neither of us spoke but seemed to be caught up in the moment and I swallowed hard. His eyes looked over me, following the motion along my neck with narrowed eyes. He reminded me of some jungle cat watching and waiting for the moment his prey made chase and the game really began. I bit my lip at the sight of those hungry eyes drinking me in and his eyes quickly snapped to my mouth.
Then as if something in him clicked he raised us both up off the bed slowly as if any sudden movements would frighten me. Then once straightened he raised his free hand to my lip, gently pulling it from my teeth, rubbing a thumb along it for a moment.
“You shouldn’t bite your lip that way.” I cleared my throat enough to whisper a single word,
“Why?” His first answer was a dark grin before he leant down towards my neck, first breathing deep as if taking advantage of the opportunity. Then he told me why,
“It’s very distracting,” he whispered seductively and I sucked in a startled breath.
“Now shouldn’t you be elsewhere?” he said pulling back and granting me with a questioning look.
“I uh…oh I am so sorry. I wasn’t snooping, I promise,” I rambled on and he stood back, crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow at me. Jesus but the man nearly had me panting at how hot he looked!
“No?”
“No, I was…well I was…” Damn it, think Keira, think! I bit my lip out of habit again, trying to think of a believable excuse and his eyes moved to them and my second mistake. I think he was trying not to grin when I let go of my lip with a pop.
“You were saying?” he prompted.
“I uh…bathroom!” I suddenly shouted thinking it as good an excuse as any.
“And you thought to find it by my bed?” he challenged with a slight teasing glint in his eyes.
“Oh, well no…but I saw it and kinda got side tracked,” I told him without thinking.
“Side tracked by my bed?” he asked making me go nuclear on the blushing front. Damn but it felt like my cheeks were close to sliding down my chin!
“Well…erm, when you say it like that it does sound a bit…” I stalled for the right word and without taking his eyes off me he lifted my injured hand and rubbed gently over the bandage.
“A bit?” he said, repeating the broken part of my sentence back to me in a question. Then he lowered his eyes to my hand, examining it this time more closely and all the while I was still trying to form words, finding this difficult with him touching me this way.
“Intrusive,” I said making him burst into laughter. I don’t know what he found so funny but I can’t say that I hated the outcome. In fact, just hearing the evidence for myself that he found me funny, made me grin as he laughed. Then what he said next had me serious in a second, terrified that he could possibly know what I dreamed of most nights.
“Maybe I should turn up in your bedroom unannounced…tell me Keira, w
ould you find that intrusive?” he asked almost purring the question, his eyes burning into mine and what did I do…cough, half choking when I tried to swallow the hard lump of sexual tension he had placed there.
He laughed again, dropped my hand and patted my back gently.
“Relax, I am teasing you, sweetheart. Come on, let get that drink,” he said nodding towards the door and I could barely believe that not only had I seemed to have gotten away with sneaking in his room but also finding this easy-going side of Draven because of it. Talk about confused, this was a whole new word for it.
“After you,” he said like a perfect gentleman and I couldn’t help but grant him a smile back before making for the door. But just before I could get there I felt him hold me back, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder.
“Wait, I thought you needed to use the restroom?” His question completely caught me off guard and I found myself stumbling verbally once more for an answer.
“I uh…well yes but, well I guess it must have passed,” I said lamely. However, no matter how crap of an excuse it sounded, it did make him lean closer into me from behind, pulling me back into his chest slightly. I must have tensed in his hold as he gave me a squeeze when he whispered in my ear once more,
“It’s a sin to lie you know.”
He must have heard me swallow hard as he then let me go with amusement lacing his words,
“I think you’re ready for that drink now, let’s go beautiful,” he said and I was suddenly astounded. To the point I couldn’t move, even when he walked past me and even stopped to see why I wasn’t following him as he had probably expected.
I know it was silly but just hearing him call me that, I found I could think of nothing else. Did he really think me beautiful or was he just being nice? But then if it was just all for his sister’s sake, then what was with all the flirting? All the touching? All the whispered words spoken like secret promises and delivered in such a way the hairs on the back of my neck still stood to attention.