“I came to see if you wanted to go on that tour of the house you’ve been angling after,” he replied. “But then I stopped to admire some much more striking scenery.”
“Close the door!”
He did, but with himself on this side of it, and there was a feral edge to his smile that scared her.
She gripped her shirt tighter. “N-no!Cal,” she protested, a note of fear entering her voice when he stalked deliberately closer. “Get out or I’ll—”
“What, scream?” One of his hands shackled around her wrist with the same careless elegance he’d employed while dancing as he jostled her up against the solid contours of his frame. “I don’t think you want to do that,” he whispered, trailing a finger down her cheek before hooking it into her necklace and tugging with enough force that her face turned up towards his. “Not with me in here with you.”
He let the pendant fall against her ribs with a muted thumb that was echoed by her heart. Her blouse had fallen open again, and with that same sense of deliberateness, he traced the swell of her breast. “Of course that’s speculation. And as lawyers, we have rules about speculation. But my self-restraint only goes so far.” He paused, glancing at her again, and let his hand drift closer to where her nipple rose stiffly beneath the lace. “Do you want to test it?”
Nadine pushed at him, letting out a strangled sound as her flesh burned from the feel of him, the nearness of him, the seductive threat of his very presence. While in his arms it was impossible to think of anything else, and it was all too fucking much. “Let me go,” she cried. “Please.”
She felt his chest rise and fall as he sighed, and his iron grip relaxed as he sank down on the edge of her bed. It had seemed like a large enough bed, but looked less so with him on it, looking up at her with those reddish hazel eyes that reminded her, at this moment, of blood on stone.
“Get out,” she said, holding her shirt closed again over her prickling skin.
“It’s fitting that they put you in here,” he said, smoothing his hands over the comforter as he looked around the room. His eyes lingered, for a beat, on the sweater on the floor that she had used to cover the painting and she saw his mouth twitch. “This is where they put all the Cullraven brides. They call it the unicorn room—for obvious reasons. When they came here, most of them were virgins.”
“I’mnota bride.” The words were torn from her with vehemence. She wasn’t sure why the idea bothered her so much, but it did.
“Is it only a bride that you’re not?” She felt the warm puff of his breath against her stomach when he laughed as she backed from him frantically. “Either way, the intent is still the same. To guard the virtue of innocent maidens from their wicked, rapacious husbands.”
Nadine turned her back on him angrily and started doing up the buttons as quickly as she could, but her hands were clumsy and there was a deep ache in her lower belly that felt like molten lead. Cal seemed to find this amusing because she heard him laugh again, as her heart pounded against her fists.
She stared at that woven unicorn putting its head in the maiden’s lap. “That sounds like something out of the dark ages.”
“I told you we were old-fashioned. It’s been a while since I was in this room, though. Apart from the obvious lack of maidens, this house is so big you can go weeks without seeing parts of it—until something in one catches your interest, and reminds you while it’s worth coming inside.”
“You’re such a—a jerk!” she said, spinning around. “Why did you even come in here?”
“You left the door open, little sparrow. Some might see that as an invitation.”
“I definitely closed it.”
“Are you sure?” His eyes darkened. “It was standing open earlier. I only happened to notice when I went by this morning—when you were putting on your little show.”
She wanted to strangle him.I bet he’d enjoy that, a dark corner of her mind whispered, and images popped into her mind unbidden that had her blinking rapidly to dislodge them. She could still feel the faint impressions of his touch, like tracks of hot fire in her skin.
“You noticed,” she repeated, struggling to keep her voice steady.
“I notice a lot of things. It’s why I’m so good at what I do.”
Hadshe closed the door last night? She was pretty sure she had, but no longer quite as sure as she had been. If it hadn’t closed properly—or if someone had opened it—wouldn’t she have heard the creak of the hinges as it swung open?
There had been a creak when she was at the window, now that she thought about it. She’d assumed it was the floorboards, but possibly it had also been the door.
Which meant Cal had opened it.
“I hope you don’t alsonoticepeople while they’re sleeping,” she said coldly.
“Nadine,” he said, gently chiding, “if you really don’t feel safe around me, perhaps you should lock your door—unless you enjoy putting yourself at my mercy.”
While she glowered at him, he rose smoothly to his feet.
“I had the staff save you some breakfast. It goes quickly in this house, as I’m sure you can imagine, but everything I got for you is all perfectly safe.”
“Is it,” she said flatly.
