Chapter Nine
Sienna was in pure heaven. Sunk in the hot bath before a crackling fire, steam rising from the surface, the rain pattering softly outside, she couldn’t imagine anything more divine.
Actually, she could. But she tried not to let her mind wander to the tall and deliciously handsome vampire who filled her every thought as of late. Taking a bar of soap in hand on the stand beside the tub, she started at her shoulders and arms.
There was a bed dressed in a white coverlet, a rough-hewn vanity whose mirror was tarnished, and a side table with a pitcher and ewer. It was sparse but clean. A pleasant room for a break in their journey. A pretty bed for other things.
Nikolai was kind to offer this respite. The cold had seeped through her clothes and skin, straight down to her bones. She hadn’t been able to stop the shivering. But he saw to her needs. Even this morning, he’d brought her breakfast, had it waiting for her when she awoke. For a fierce former lieutenant of the Royal Guard, he was quite kind and thoughtful.
She soaped one leg and lowered it back in the water. Then the second.
That man. And those blue eyes. They weren’t sky-blue, but more like the sea before a storm. And the way they changed with his mood. Deep and fathomless when he was pensive or brooding, which was most of the time. Brighter with a spark when he was laughing. Flaring with an unnatural glow when his vampire senses heightened. Dark and utterly hypnotizing when he looked on her with desire.
She soaped her breasts and stomach under the water, imagining what it would be like to have his hands touch her so. She set the bar aside. Picturing the way he looked at her last night the moment before he fed from her, she eased back against the tub, sank deeper into the water, and let one hand drift between her legs. She remembered his lips burning on her skin, his teeth sinking into her flesh, his hard body crushing her. She stroked her cleft, letting her fingers slide through the silky folds, bringing Nikolai to mind. Cupping one aching breast and closing her eyes, she let her fantasy unfold.
She imagined what he would have done with his mouth had she been completely naked last night. A soft moan escaped her lips as she worked her fingers faster, thinking of him doing this to her. Thinking of him doing much more to her.
A sharp knock on the door jolted her out of her fantasy to a sitting position. Water sloshed over the sides.
“Sienna?” came Nikolai’s voice from the other side. “Are you all right?”
Stars above! She caught her breath, then bit her lip. He was a vampire. He could hear her heavy breathing even from the other side of that door.
“Sienna?” he asked, concern in his voice.
“Yes,” she answered softly, then cleared her throat and called out louder, “I must’ve fallen asleep.”
What a liar she was. Far from asleep.
“I have something for you. I’ll leave it at the door.” She heard what sounded like the crinkle of paper.
“I’ll be down shortly,” she called out, a little breathless. “Thank you.”
There was a pause, then he added with humor in his voice, “I’ll meet you in the parlor below when you’re done.”
Thank you? What was she thanking him for? For the parcel at the door or for providing her with the vision so she could pleasure herself? Almost pleasure herself, that is. She’d been alone for a long time in Silvane Forest, growing from girl to woman.
“Too long,” she muttered before she dipped her head back and washed her hair with a bottle of perfumed oils left on the washing stand. Afterward, she toweled off quickly and wrapped herself in a homespun robe the innkeeper had set out for her. Unable to stand the suspense any longer, she opened the door a few inches, finding a package wrapped in brown paper and tied with a red ribbon. Curious, she took the package inside and sat on the bed.
Untying and pulling the ribbon free, she opened the paper to find a perfectly folded dress. A lovely dress of deep crimson with white stitching in a floral-and-vine design. The fabric was wonderfully soft to the touch. The scoop-necked bodice was trimmed in white lace, as well as the cuffs of the long sleeves. A crisscrossing pattern of gold stitching decorated the bodice down to the waist. When she lifted it up in both hands, she felt corset boning within the lining, but not as stiff as the one she usually wore. Exquisite craftsmanship.
Sienna had learned to fashion her own clothes while living in the woods, but she had not the skill of this dressmaker. Eager to try it on, she unfolded the dress completely from the wrapping and another gown fell to the floor.
No, not a gown. A new chemise. Lifting the fine fabric, she couldn’t help but rove her fingertips over the iridescent white muslin. It was sheer like her own shift, but the detailing of tiny buttons from the naval to the bosom and the white sheen of the fabric told her it was worth far more than her own.
A heated blush crawled up her cheeks when she realized Nikolai had not only bought these for her but had most probably imagined her in them.
“Well, then,” she whispered to herself.
She slipped into the clean, dry shift, the material feeling like silk against her skin. Padding over to the drying rack next to the fire, she found her stockings were dry enough. Pulling open her pack sitting by the fire, she pulled out her change of clothes and undergarments, all damp from the rainwater seeping through the canvas satchel. She stretched them on the drying rack as well.
Pulling on her new gown, she strained to fasten the buttons up the back. This was a dress for a lady who would have a servant to help her, but she managed all the same. The fit was perfect and snug to her frame. She was happy to forego her regular corset since the inlaid boning and stitching in her new dress hugged her waist and hips perfectly before flaring out in thick folds. It was remarkably more comfortable. And warm. The fabric had considerable more weight than her own.
Standing before the mirror, she took some time running a comb through her hair, the waves kinking up as they dried. Her stomach rumbled. She plaited her hair into a loose braid over one shoulder and examined herself. The dress fit her to perfection, and Sienna wondered how Nikolai could’ve sized her so well.
Feeling fresh and clean, she took herself downstairs, finding the lobby empty. Soft voices from the parlor filtered out to the foyer. Sienna stepped through the door, finding the innkeeper amiably talking with Nikolai, a teapot in one hand. He sat at a small table next to the window overlooking a small square of garden, which was little more than a patch of green with an elm tree at its center, having lost nearly all of its leaves this late in the season.
When the innkeeper caught sight of Sienna, she startled and stepped a little away from Nikolai, a somewhat guilty look on her face.
“There you are, my lady. Please come and have a warm cup of tea.”
She upended the teacup that was facedown across from Nikolai and poured a steaming cup as Sienna made her way to them. He rose from his seat and watched her. She thought she was accustomed to the way Nikolai tracked her movements by now, but the heat in his gaze as he followed her from the door to his table nearly buckled her knees.
She sat across from him, her eyes on the tea. He took his seat again.
“I will bring a few refreshments in a moment,” said the innkeeper with a smile before leaving them alone, for there was no one else in the parlor.
Sienna unfolded the napkin in her lap, self-conscious at the way Nikolai was staring.
“Thank you for the dress,” she said before adding more quietly, “and the other garments.”
She didn’t miss the flare of heat in his gaze, nor did she look away, holding him a moment in electric silence before finally clearing her throat and brushing a hand over her skirt. “It is unique. I’ve never seen its like.”
“Precisely why it suits you.”
“It is quite vibrant, though,” she barreled ahead, unable to respond to his compliment.
“You belong in red,” he said with finality.
She brushed a hand over one sleeve, admiring the hue. She couldn’t help but point out the one flaw to his choice of dress. “But there is one problem with such a dress. It will draw too much attention, don’t you think?”
He scoffed, which finally drew her eyes up off the table to him.
“Sweetheart, you couldn’t be inconspicuous if you tried.”
“What does that mean?” She thought herself rather good at blending in.
His sea-blue gaze roved her face and bodice, his eyes reflecting a state of utter contentment at the moment. “You are by far the most stunning creature I have ever laid eyes on. And I have been alive quite some time in order to make such an observation.”
She froze, never expecting such words from him. He continued.
“Do you know why people address you as ‘my lady’ even though your attire isn’t always the top fashion a lady should wear?”
She shook her head. He leaned forward, forearms crossed on the table. “Because you could be wearing a rag, and you could not hide the beauty beneath. Noble and pure.”
“There are plenty of pretty peasant girls. Look at Arabelle. I could be—”
“None of them hold a candle to you,” he said abruptly. “Your alabaster skin glows and looks so soft, it begs to be touched. Your auburn hair, even coiffed in a simple braid, is fine as silk. Your carriage when you walk, when you sit so still as you are now, denotes a genteel lady of the highest ranking. And your eyes”—he shook his head, a smile quirking one side of his mouth—“you could slay many a man with one come-hither look.”
Catching her breath after such a speech, she said, “I would never tempt a man unwittingly.”
“Sweetheart, you could tempt the devil to his death if you so chose. I thought you would do so to me last night.”
Her teacup froze halfway to her lips. “I’d rather not talk of last night,” she whispered, sipping her tea.
“Why not? Was it that distasteful?”
She cleared her throat. “No. It isn’t that.”
“Having regrets feeding a monster such as me, I suppose.”
“Of course not.”
“Then what is it?”
Tucking her hands in her lap and glancing to be sure the innkeeper wasn’t within earshot, she said in a low voice, “It wasn’t proper for a lady to…lose control as I did.”
“Proper or not, last night was perfect, in my humble opinion. Well, almost.”
His rain-soaked hair was beginning to dry, a lock of blond falling forward over one eye. The smoldering look he fixed upon her and the intimacy of the parlor beckoned her to be bold. She knew that saying the words she held on the tip of her tongue would be equivalent to laying down a gauntlet before a man who thrived on challenges. But she did so anyway, banishing her grandmother’s many warnings to the far corner of her mind. “Tell me how it was perfect.”
His pupils dilated on the request. His mouth opened to speak, but he paused, giving her a glimpse of sharpened canines. Lord help her, but arousal coiled low in her belly. As if he sensed it, his pupils dilated further, till there was more black than blue in his ardent gaze. A predatory sharpness warned her he was ready to swallow her whole. Sienna often forgot she was dealing with a man who was not a man. A palpable energy filled the small space between them, a heady mixture of seduction and danger drawing her to him.
He leaned even closer, not a hint of a smile. “Feeling your body beneath me was the closest to heaven that I shall ever come.” He spoke not in a whisper but on an intimate level, his voice rolling like the caress of dark velvet. “Your skin, your mouth, your body, your sweet, sweet moans, and your blood…I want them all. I want quite a bit more, actually. So you best prepare yourself, my lady. Since I’m already damned, I aim to have all of you. I want to see that look of ecstasy on your face over and over again when I’m buried deep inside you and you’re screaming my name.”
“Here we are!” said the innkeeper, bustling in from the kitchen.
Sienna couldn’t even move, shaken to the core, her focus completely on Nikolai as he sat back, wiping the most sensual, dark look she’d ever seen from his face to turn an amiable expression up to the innkeeper who set a double-tiered tray of sandwiches and pastries on the table.
“I hope this will be to your liking. We will have a heartier meal prepared tonight.”
“This is wonderful, Ms. Ascot,” he said, unfolding his napkin and placing it in his lap like a proper gentleman. Right after he’d just said the most ungentlemanly speech she’d ever heard. “Thank you.”
Sienna shook herself from her stupor and managed a tight smile. “Yes.” She smoothed her napkin in her lap. “Thank you.”
“Well, then. Let me know if I can get you anything else, Mr. and Mrs. Woods.” The innkeeper left them alone once more.
Sienna coughed softly to hide her surprise at the name he’d given and fiddled with the napkin in her lap. She tried to gather her wits, but it was like catching the wisps of a dandelion scattered to the wind.
Nikolai took a bite-sized pastry with a dollop of cream from the tray and popped it into his mouth. How he could appear so casual after such a declaration, she had no idea. Her mind, and if she confessed truly, her body were still reeling. Changing the subject was the only option to move forward.
“She knows you’re a vampire. You don’t need to pretend you’re not by eating.”
His tilted smile heated the coiling warmth in her belly. “Yes, she knows I’m a vampire. But I’d put her at ease by pretending to not be the monster I am. You, on the other hand, know otherwise.”
“I don’t believe you are a monster.”
His smile slipped. “You should be more wary, sweetheart.”
“I am. But I know you.” Her voice softened. “I trust you.”
“Mm, but you don’t really know me. You just think you do.”
“And this from a man who has announced he plans to seduce me,” she said flippantly. “You’re not doing much to gain my favor.”
He laughed, holding her gaze. “No seduction will be needed,” he said with staggering confidence. “You are already mine, sweet Sienna. The moment my lips touched your skin, you were mine.”
“I haven’t consented to such a thing.”
He leaned back in his chair, body cocked at an angle, his sexy-as-sin half smile in place. “You will.”
“I believe you’re a bit too assured, lieutenant.” Good thing he hadn’t been witness to her escapades in the bath or the naughty thoughts of him that had spurred her on.
“Not at all. Just honest.” He tipped his teacup in her direction with a wink and gulped the rest down. “I have something more for you.”
He pulled from within his pocket a pair of well-made white leather gloves, lined for warmth.
She took them in hand and trailed her fingers over the fine stitching, softer than silk. “You needn’t buy me these. I had mittens I could’ve worn.”
“Those fingerless things I saw you wear on the first day?” He shook his head. “No, sweetheart. After watching you shiver till your lips turned blue and your teeth nearly rattled out of your head from the cold, I’d say you definitely need them. It’ll be snowing soon.”
She said nothing more, sliding one hand inside the sleek glove, smiling at his thoughtfulness. The care he took to get her dry and warm, well clothed, and fed, all of the small kindnesses he gave her since their arrival lured her even closer to him. He had tended to her needs as a good guardian would since their departure from her cottage. But he doted on her now like…well, like a lover. Or perhaps it was payment for what he thought was due.
Clearing her throat, she said, “You don’t have to give me anything for last night, you know. I offered my blood freely.”
With a glance out the window, his mood shifted from jovial to the dark mask he so often wore. “You think the dress and gloves are payment, I presume.”
She shrugged one shoulder. “What else?”
With a shake of his head, he drummed his fingers on the table, seeming about to snap a retort. Instead, he stood on a sigh.
“The sun has finally come out. Shall we take a walk through the town?” He offered his arm politely, but Sienna noted the shift in the atmosphere. From sultry to glacial in a heartbeat.
This man was an enigma. One moment he was making wicked promises and showering her in gifts with wit and charm, and the next he was all brooding scowls and clipped words. She couldn’t riddle out his abrupt change of mood, but it had happened in a blink. It was certainly her fault in something she said. He kept his posture stiff and his mind a million miles away. Though she was afraid to admit it even to herself, she yearned for him to come back.