Chapter 22 #4
“What the fu—let me go!” I pulled against him, but it was useless.
He dragged me through the boat until we got to the small restroom and shoved open the pocket door.
I protested, but he ignored me until he pushed my body into the small room.
I had to brace both hands on the sink and catch myself.
When I glanced up at the mirror, he was caging us in the bathroom.
Drustan had to duck for his head to be visible in the doorway, and his large arms held either side of the frame.
“Do you see yourself?” Drustan asked me through the mirror. I had to force myself to respond; I could feel his body heat behind me. I still wore my thong bikini; my ass was exposed to him. But he held eye contact with me in the mirror.
“What?”
“I know human senses aren’t as strong as ours,” Drustan continued with a nod of his head toward me. “But you can see yourself clearly, yes?”
I frowned, “Yeah. What—”
“Then is it really so unbelievable,” Drustan interrupted. “For a male like me to show even the slightest bit of interest in a woman like you?”
I froze. My cheeks heated. My heart thumped erratically, almost stopping, before picking up a steady rhythm again. Maybe it was his use of the word woman in lieu of female, but I couldn’t be sure. I parted my lips in confusion at his reflection.
Drustan’s lips were in a firm line, his gold irises bounced around my face in the mirror, before making eye contact again.
“Don’t misunderstand,” his voice was lower, that silk honey coating my nerves.
“I have happily killed, and I will most likely kill again. I expect everyone to be fully aware of that truth.” Shivers raced down my spine as he slowly, slowly stepped toward me.
Both of his arms bracketed each of mine, his chest pressed against my back, my bare ass against the fabric of his swim trunks that hung low on his hips.
His large hands gripped either side of the sink, just like mine. Caging me in.
My breath was coming to me in shorter, frantic puffs.
Drustan lowered his head as he continued to murmur, “Imagine, if you will…” He slowly shifted one of his hands to tease the top of mine with the pads of his fingers.
“Growing up in that wretched estate. Watching my father throw together failed Bandthral rituals year after year, snuffing out any hope for such a rare gift…only to find you.”
I had to force myself to breathe. Memories from our first meeting at Fergus’s castle filled my mind.
Memories that I knew he was seeing, too.
My face was hot, and my chest was too tight.
Sand was rushing in my ears, and as soon as I caught myself leaning into his body more, I bit my lip to stop myself.
“To discover a creature perfectly designed to seduce me, hiding in the drapes…” Drustan continued, lifting his gaze to lock on mine in the mirror.
I was hypnotized. Not by him, but by the moment. By his proximity. The heat of him caging me in against the tiny sink. The tease of his fingers on my hand, traveling up my arm, until one of his hands grazed my shoulder.
“Lulling me in with her delicious scent.” Drustan turned his nose toward my hair and inhaled, expanding his chest enough to emphasize the contact between us.
“Hopelessly tangled in your trance. Enchanting me with your beauty. Your eyes…” His hand on my shoulder slowly dragged over my collar bones, then flattened over my chest. His pinky finger pressed against the swell of my breast, his thumb brushed against the sensitive pulse point at the base of my neck.
“Even the deadliest monster would crumble to his knees for a chance with a stunning creature like you, my song.”
I exhaled a ragged breath, leaning back, exposing more of my neck for him.
Drustan took the silent invitation. His lips first teased the shell of my ear before gently nipping it.
I pressed my lips together to keep my whimper at bay, but it was difficult as his palm on my chest pulled me entirely flush against him.
My hips were pinned against the sink. No part of my back or ass was untouched by his massive body.
His masculine scent was making me lightheaded.
The soothing heat of his skin on mine made muscles in my body slowly relax into his hold. A low sound rumbled in his chest as he nipped at my neck. I could hear the intake of breath through his nostrils, as if he was inhaling as much of me as he could.
I pressed my ass against him, desperate to confirm this physical attraction between us.
He responded by pressing his hips into me. Letting me feel the rigid evidence of his arousal on my lower back, teasing against my cheeks.
My thighs pressed together at the size of what I was feeling.
“Oh.” I moaned as his hand slowly slid down my chest, not quite grabbing my breasts, but teasing the tops of them as his golden eyes flashed to mine in the mirror.
His lips traveled up my neck to pull at my earlobe, and both of our gazes dropped when we saw hard peaks on full display underneath my bikini top. His pupils widened, wider than normal.
Suddenly, his golden irises were black.
“Your eyes,” I managed to gasp as I lifted my hand to cover his. I tried to pull his hand down, to palm where my chest was visibly begging him to touch, but he held his hand firm as he continued to ravish my neck and ear.
My other hand was pinned underneath his, holding onto the sink.
“I can’t help it,” he murmured against my skin. “You awaken the monster in me, Vanessa.”
I pressed my lips together to hold in a pathetic, submissive sound.
Why did my body like the sound of that so much?
I gasped when he finally slid his hand over my bathing suit. His palm and fingers were flush against my body, but instead of staying at my chest, his hand continued down my abdomen. Toward my pelvis.
My core pulsed in awareness, and I found myself pushing my ass against him again.
Drustan groaned, and the sound practically made my mind go numb.
I shifted, and his heavy erection was firmly between my ass cheeks as I pressed against him some more. My hand pushed on his, silently pleading with him to tease me underneath my swim bottoms, but he held his hand firm on my pelvis.
“Do you want it now?” Drustan growled against my neck.
I was getting ready to say yes, when I froze.
Drustan didn’t hesitate to react, stiffening as soon as he felt me tense.
“Wait…” I dropped my head, bracing both hands on the sink again. “Wait…”
I turned, and he stepped back enough to allow me room to do so in the small bathroom.
I stared at him, and something like concern filled his expression as his eyes slowly faded from black to gold again.
Was he—did he—
“Were you—”
But I didn’t get to finish my question. Before I could confirm my suspicion, Drustan was gone.
He was gone.
Drustan lyskifted off my fucking boat.
I searched the entire vessel for him but found nothing.
He probably hightailed it back to Hyvenmere as soon as he saw where my train of thought was going in my head. With my swimsuit uncomfortably wet and my mind spinning with how this day turned out, I finally started the engine and sailed my way back to the harbor.
What would I tell Audrey?
What did this mean?
Was that really Drustan that night Audrey drugged me?