Chapter Nine
She sawSaxon’s reflection in the window before she heard him approach. Something about his powerful frame gliding toward her made her heart leap. The almost predatory gleam in his eyes didn’t make her think he was contemplating eating her, but it did bring back the erotic images of him standing in the shower.
Her throat went dry as he stopped a few feet behind her. His eyes ran over her before he rested a palm beside her on the counter. Elyse’s gaze flew to his hand with its long fingers and large knuckles. Faint bruises marred his knuckles, but the cuts she’d seen on his hands earlier were gone, as was the cut along his hairline.
His damp hair was pushed back from his face to emphasize the intriguing contours of his face. Free of blood, he was more striking than she’d realized, and her fingers itched to touch him. The fresh scent of shampoo and soap wafted from him, but beneath it, she detected what must be his natural aroma of cedar as she hadn’t smelled cedar until he walked into her life.
Taking a deep breath, she turned to face him. The black sweatpants he wore were a couple of inches too short on him, but thick wool socks covered the gap. Stretched across his shoulders and chest, she expected the stitches of the black sweatshirt to give out at any second.
Her gaze returned to his socks.Socks! It had been months since she had a pair. She’d worn the pair she arrived here in so often they were threadbare by August and useless by September. They’d defrosted now, but she would give anything to have something warm and soft on her feet.
But if her guards were gone and Saxon had discovered socks, then she could have some too.
Saxon wasn’t used to women going from looking like they wanted to jump him to eyeing hissocksin the same way. When he slid a finger under her chin, Elyse didn’t recoil or scream at him again. Instead, she continued to stare at his feet before lifting her head to him.
Elyse blinked at him when Saxon smiled in amusement.
“Do you have a thing for socks?” he inquired.
“They look so warm.”
Stepping back, he gazed at her bare and battered feet. “Don’t you have any socks and shoes?”
“No. They took my sneakers from me when I got here.”
He should have realized that when she admitted to running out into the storm barefoot, but he’d assumed she’d decided not to waste time by putting on socks and shoes. Unreasonable and unexpected anger surged through him.
“Did they let you outside?” he asked.
Elyse glanced away from him; in the beginning, she would go out more often, but after a while, she stopped. “Sometimes, I would roam the yard, but after a while, I stopped.”
“You’ve just stayed in this cabin,” he growled.
Elyse gulped as red filtered into his eyes again. She leaned back, and his finger fell away from her chin. “How are your injuries?” she asked to change the subject.
Saxon’s gaze ran over her slender figure as she tugged the sleeve of her sweater up on her shoulder. “Fine.”
“Are your wounds all healed?” she pressed.
“Some bruises remain, but the rest have healed.”
Elyse breathed a sigh of relief.
Stalking over to the fridge, Saxon pulled open the door and bent to examine the contents. He shouldn’t have bothered as he discovered nothing more than a box of baking soda. Trying to control a rage he’d never known he could possess, he walked over and threw open some of the cabinets. The doors crashed against each other and bounced back, but he slammed a hand against them to keep them open.
When Elyse jumped, he gritted his teeth and made himself calm down. He wasn’t used to having a temper or being irritated. He’d always been the easygoing Defender, the ladies’ man, the one who never turned down a party. He didn’t get annoyed by things; he shrugged them off and went about his day, but for some reason, what they’d done to Elyse pissed him off.
But why? He started to contemplate the answer, but the cans stacked neatly within the cabinet distracted him. Each of the labels faced him, and as he gazed over them, he realized they were separated into vegetables, soups, and pasta before being arranged alphabetically.
Her captors hadn’t organized things this way.Elysehad and probably out of sheer boredom. Closing the doors, he moved onto the other cabinets but discovered only a pot, plate, bowl, fork, spoon, and can opener.
“Is this all they gave you to eat?” he demanded as he returned to the cans.
Elyse edged away from his unexpected wrath. She didn’t know what made him so mad, but she’d prefer not to be in the presence of an irate vampire.
“Yes,” she said.
“Thosefuckers!”
