CHAPTER 11 “An Unexpected Tenderness”
“An Unexpected Tenderness”
The heavy drops of water fall across the window, hitting it with relentless determination. I lift a heavy lid, my face planted into the plush cushion in my temporary massive bed, groaning with desperation.
“Does it ever stop raining here?”
The morning has only just begun and I’m already feeling miserable. I need to return to civilization. I can’t stay in this place any longer.
My thoughts flood, yet again, with Nikolas. With his fervid touches and the sounds that he pulled from me not too long ago, how he masterfully played me like a fiddle, had known every one of the spots that would make me sing with ecstasy.
Goosebumps rise across my skin as I recall his skillful hands.
“Focus, for Christ’s sake.”
Opening my eyes wide and exhaling a lungful of pent up air, I roll over in bed, my gaze still locked on the rain splattering across the glass window. I observe as a single miniscule droplet makes its way down the panel, hurrying to catch up with the rest of its fellow comrades.
I despise the rain with a passion; can’t stand the depressing atmosphere that it brings with it, nor how quickly a few drops could turn into a devastating flood that swarms everything in its path, leveling entire cities and wiping all life from existence in the blink of an eye.
It always astounded me how everything in nature is balanced out, how everything has its polar opposite, completely different in every visible way to the human eye yet deep down in perfect unison and harmony.
Every rose has its sharp thorns, the soft flower appearing only feeble and delicate but when it pricks you by its razor-like points, all such illusions evaporate into mist. Do I too, have a darker half to my soul, one that is lethal, hidden away deep inside until something provokes it, leaving a path of utter destruction behind?
Snorting, I sit up, rubbing my face with the palms of my hands.
“You can barely squash a bug, Elena. Hardly a dangerous force of nature.”
Finally getting out of bed, I walk out of my room and climb to the top floor, my mind already buzzing with excitement at the impending hot shower.
“Why are you up this early?”
I jump, hand flying to my chest. “Jesus! You scared me!”
Hunter frowns, clearly annoyed. “As long as you don’t confuse me with a forest wraith again, we’re good.” He goes around me, strolling down the long hallway.
“Wait!” I hurry after him, trying to catch up to his long strides. “Do you know when the weather will be letting up? I need to return to the Institute.”
“Sorry, stranger, it looks like you’re stuck here for another day.” He winks, a smirk playing at the corner of his lips. “But I’m sure you’ll find something to occupy your time with.”
Cheeks flushing from embarrassment, I muster up the courage to ask the one thing that’s been bothering me since last night.
“Why were you in the woods earlier?” He ignores me.
“How did you know I was there?” I grab his arm, stopping him midstride.
“You saw it too, didn’t you? The dark form.
Is that why you went into the forest, to investigate? ”
“Do not—” He removes my fingers, peeling them off of his arm. “–ask stupid questions. This is my home, I can go wherever I please, whenever I please. A piece of advice.” He leans in, his brown eyes piercing me. “Do not stick your nose into things that do not concern you.”
Without another word, he hurries down the lavish steps, leaving me standing dumbfounded on the landing.
“I can’t wait to finally leave,” muttering under my breath, I return to the bathroom to wash up and make myself look somewhat presentable.
After what seems like hours of pampering and cleaning my body, I make my way down to the kitchen, ready to start my interrogation anew only to find Rein standing behind the counter, yet again, cutting up a freshly baked loaf of bread.
The smell of garlic and roasted almonds invades my nostrils as I go over to him, the addictive aroma of fried bacon with a side of scrambled eggs and fresh cucumber attacking my senses until saliva pools in my mouth.
“Did you make all of this?” He nods without stopping. “This is incredible! How do you know how to make all this food?”
“I was a chef, long ago,” he rumbles, not bothering to look up at me as he piles the slices of warm bread onto an ivory porcelain plate embellished with the gold outlines of rabbits and butterflies. “It was my business to know. Now, make yourself useful and set the table.”
“Touchy,” I mutter under my breath as I reach for the plates and utensils before getting to work, enjoying the task at hand.
I’ve always found peace in doing small everyday chores, in their repetitiveness and the mindless state that is required for accomplishing them.
My brain always rests while doing such simple jobs, taking the time to reset itself from the hours of research and reading that I’m subjected to on a daily basis as a result of my chosen profession.
“About yesterday—”
The door bangs open, cutting my words off.
My head whips around as the scent of cedar and pine envelopes me. I suck in a strained breath, my gaze colliding with Niko’s.
He’s cloaked in a hickory colored raincoat, the shiny material drenched while water drips down his towering form onto the tiles, forming a puddle beneath his mud caked army boots. He stands stone still, not blinking, as if not breathing at all as he holds my gaze.
There’s nothing kind in the man’s eyes, nothing warm in the way he’s looking at me, yet warmth spreads through me, nevertheless, warming my insides like a furnace and making my heart beat wildly against my chest.
We stare at each other from across the room, the air crackling with electricity, our surroundings completely forgotten about, as if non-existent, neither one of us saying a word. The plates are frozen in midair, my fingers clutching the porcelain until my knuckles turn white.
Rein clears his throat, breaking the spell. “Brother, you might want to get cleaned up, breakfast is almost ready.”
The massive bear of a man blinks, kicking off his boots and soaked clothing, completely ignoring his younger brother’s remark.
“What happened to you!?” I run to him, alarm shooting through me when I see the substantial crimson stain across Niko’s shirt. “You’re bleeding!”
He steps back before I can reach him, not giving me the chance to touch him, as if afraid that I might be infectious. Not a moment later, he’s already climbing up to the second floor and out of sight.
Perplexed at what just transpired while feeling very dejected, I stare at the space where the man was standing, the puddle and dirty shoes the only indications that someone was, in fact, occupying the space mere seconds ago.
“Don’t take it personally, Elena,” Rein says flatly, seating himself at the long rectangular dining table overflowing with food. “He’s always been like that. Ever since that tragic day when he lost his entire family,” he trails off, lost in thought.
Sudden anger shoots through me. I don’t care for his reasons. No one has ever treated me with such a blatant display of disrespect before.
I run up the stairs, taking two at a time, my blood boiling. How dare he make me feel so small and inconsequential.
Storming into the only room visible in the long hallway, ready to give him a piece of my mind, I come to a screeching halt at the sight before me. My words lodge in my throat, my anger replaced with concern.
Niko is sitting on the side of a heavy four poster bed bigger than I’ve ever seen in my life, his shirt unbuttoned, revealing an ugly three inch deep gash across his chiseled chest. Dark red blood oozes out of it, streaming down his front, staining his skin.
He’s dabbing it with a wet gauze, hopelessly trying but failing miserably to stop the flow.
Marching over, I yank the material out of his hand. “You’re doing it all wrong. Here.” Kneeling between his spread legs, I set to work, keeping my eyes averted to the wound.
He grabs my wrist, halting my hand’s movements. “You shouldn’t do that.”
I jerk, unable to free myself, still not daring to meet his burning gaze. “And yet, I am doing it.”
“Little Miss Proper is a stubborn one—” I press the fabric into his wound, furious that he keeps calling me that. He hisses, pulling me close, only a hairsbreadth separating us. “You need to leave.”
“And you need to stop telling me what to do.”
Fuming, I finally look up. Eyes the color of roasted coffee beans pierce me, freezing me in place. I suck in a breath as something tugs at my heart.
“You will do as you’re told,” he growls, his features turning grave. His hold turning punishing.
I jump up, all sense of self-restraint forgotten about. “I’m not a child.”
He pulls me back down, his strong arms going around me as he plants me on his one knee. “And yet you keep behaving like one. You will learn to obey me, Elena. Or you will be punished. It’s not an empty threat.”
The words hang heavy in the air. Too sharp. Too true.
A long silence passes between us.
I lift my chin. “I already told you, you don’t scare me.”
That makes him smile—slow and dangerous. “Good,” he says. “Then this is going to be interesting.”
Niko searches my features as I glare at him. His fingers glide across my cheek, following the delicate lines of my face, caressing the soft skin of my lips as he rubs them with his thumb.
I gasp, shivers erupting across my flesh, my mouth parting ever so slightly.
I don’t understand it. My body’s reaction to him.
He stands too still, as if listening to something I can’t hear. And yet, my breath catches every time he’s in my vicinity. Every time he looks at me.
The air around him is different. Thick. Magnetic. My skin prickles whenever he enters a room, like my body recognizes something my mind cannot name. And his voice—God, his voice. It carries the weight of old things—promises unkept, graves unmarked.