by Elisa Paige
“If you’re finished in here, dinner is waiting.”
Noting that he’d refused to answer my question, I schooled my expression and gestured for him to precede me out the door.
His eyes glinted stubbornly. “Lady first.”
My breath caught. Lady? Me?
Seeing this, the corner of his mouth twitched as he waited for me to go out the bathroom door ahead of him. Putting up my chin and with a little frisson of feminine triumph, I cinched my belt tighter and sailed out to the dining area with Koda by my elbow. He pulled a chair out from under the table as I reached for another, freezing when he cleared his throat. I looked at him holding his chair and he looked at me holding mine. Unsure why we were at an impasse, I started to sit down, freezing once more when he shook his head.
“This is your chair,” he murmured.
“But you’re holding it.”
“For you.”
“What?” I asked, perplexed.
“I’m holding it for you.”
“But why?” I cocked my head at him. “There’s no one else here to take it.”
“Manners, Sephti,” he said gently. “A gentleman holds a chair for a lady.”
I tipped my head the other way, considering his words. “You’re not teasing?”
He kept his expression serene. “No.”
“Well…okay.” Still dubious, I sat.
Taking the seat beside me, Koda asked, “I should have checked before I ordered dinner, but what kinds of food do you like?”
Inhaling the delicious meaty aromas made me almost delirious with hunger. “Double cheeseburgers.”
He waited a tick as if expecting more. “That’s it?”
“I’ve also discovered bacon. It’s wonderful, especially when it’s crisp.” I beamed at him. He glowered back, but his irritation seemed to not be focused on me so I didn’t pay him any mind.
“No burgers or bacon on the menu, sorry.” Koda reached for a serving dish. “You’ve a choice of filet, venison and pheasant.”
I tried not to look disappointed, since I sensed he’d gone to some effort to figure out what to order. Anyway, whatever the things were, they smelled heavenly, so maybe I’d discover new foods that I liked as much.
Not wasting time, I half-stood and reached for a plate. Koda got to it first and I had to quell the urge to knock him aside. While logic told me there was plenty of food, my instincts insisted that I grab what I could, while I could.
I sank back onto my chair as Koda, at what seemed a snail’s pace, put a startling variety of meat on my plate. With the intoxicating fragrance making me giddy from hunger, my instincts and empty stomach conspired to undo my self-restraint.
When he set the food in front of me, the easiest item to eat was an oval-shaped, one-inch thick darkish slab. Despite Koda’s concern and my lengthy shower, the thing was still warm. Delectable juices dripped onto the plate as I lifted the hunk of meaty goodness to my lips. My sharp teeth were more than adequate to the task as I bit into the thing, moaning with pleasure. Chewing happily and swallowing, I glanced at Koda and froze midbite. “What?”
Rather than answer, he lifted a knife and a pointy utensil. Burying the latter in his food, he sliced off a piece and used the utensil to raise it to his mouth. Chewing slowly, his dark eyes were on me all the while as he watched me watching him.
I bared my wicked teeth at him. “Not all of us need knives or those pointy things. Your way of eating takes too long.”
“This is a—” He reached a hand toward my plate. Reflexively, a warning growl rumbled in my chest and I leaned forward, aggression clear in my posture and my hands fisted on the table’s edge. Lifting a brow, he touched the utensil with his index finger. “Fork.”
Words failed me at what I’d just done.
His expression softened. He sat back in his chair and the way he looked at me told me he saw too much—an impression his next words confirmed. “You don’t have to compete for food anymore, Sephti. You can eat your fill and at your leisure.”
Images of the bloody fights at feeding time filled my mind. We were given only enough to sustain us, never enough to satisfy—the lord’s goal was to keep us hungry and edgy, making our susceptibility to the uncontrollable rages that much greater. It made our stable-mates competitors for survival and ensured that only the most ruthless, the most determined and the fittest would survive. Those who didn’t fight for every last bite of food didn’t make it to the next mealtime. Their bodies went into the bittern coma and they literally starved to death in a matter of hours. Making us slaves to food, knowing we had no chance to find it on our own, I always figured was a fail-safe to ensure we didn’t run away. Or, if we managed it, that escapees wouldn’t survive.
A vicious smile twisted my lips to have proven them wrong.
Hard on the heels of that thought was the realization that I was free and still behaving no better than a ravenous beast. I refused to give myself the excuse that this was the first time I’d eaten with anyone since escaping. More importantly, it was the first time I’d eaten at a table, in mannered company.
Bad enough Koda hated fae. It was humiliating that I’d confirmed his negative impression of all creatures related to them.
That I’d confirmed his initial reaction to me.
Dropping the meat to my plate, I wiped my hands on a square of cloth at my elbow. Bowing my head, I lifted my fists to chin level and pressed the knuckles together in a warrior’s salute. “Nish’ttalos, yeamu d’olai. Weítae mec—”
Koda’s warm hand on mine stopped me. “I don’t understand.”
I drew a shaky breath. Still a newcomer to the mortal plane, I wasn’t sure of the proper gesture to make, the correct way to express awareness of my transgression. “I was apologizing for having gave…given grave offense. English is too informal to do it properly.”
The hiss crack of a descending whip echoed through my mind and I flinched at the remembered agony of split-open flesh. It wasn’t the first time I’d violated etiquette and the steel-tipped punishment had left scars on more than my back.
Blinking the memory away, I withdrew my hand from Koda’s. Thinking that I had no place at such a fine table, I tried to push the chair back, but he reached to hold it in place.
“Sephti, look at me.”
I didn’t want to, but it was the least I could do for having disgraced myself. Lifting my head, I looked doggedly at his chin—I couldn’t bear to see the loathing I was sure must be in his eyes.
“I owe you an apology,” he reflected. His jaw tightened when I shook my head. “The last thing I wanted to do was…well, what I wound up doing.”
Incredulous, I raised my gaze to meet his and was dumbfounded by the shadows there.
His voice was a deep rumble. “Can we try this again?”
“I don’t belong here,” I whispered, pinned by his continued regard.
He barked a laugh. “Neither do I.” At my disbelieving expression, he shifted in his chair to look at me more fully. “I am a creature of nature. I’m far more comfortable in the wild than seated at a mahogany dining table in a fine hotel.”
“Then why…?”
Faint color tinted his cheeks, but he held my gaze. “This damned suicidal path you’re on, Sephti. I hate that you’re so easily giving up on life when you’ve only just begun to live. I thought if I showed you that the world is full of many fine things, things you’ve never even imagined, you might reconsider your enthusiasm for dying.” He gave an embarrassed chuckle and rubbed his jaw. “But it seems I’ve only made things worse.”
“You did this thing? For me?” I whispered, stunned. Blushing at his continued regard, I cast a look over the loaded table. My stomach chose that moment to reassert itself by grumbling loudly, making me laugh despite my embarrassment.
Reaching shyly for the knife and pointy utensil—fork, I corrected myself, grumbling inwardly that the History Channel had taught me all about the past but not so much about making my way today—I took the
m awkwardly in my hands and sawed off a bite before transferring it to my mouth, mimicking Koda’s earlier actions. Risking a glance, I nearly choked to see him lift a hunk of meat from his plate and bite into it.
Watching me while he chewed, his eyes danced merrily. After he swallowed, he said, “You’re right. This is a much more efficient way to eat.”
Smiling, I touched a fingertip to his fork where it lay on the table, even now careful not to reach toward his plate. As he took the utensil, his knuckles grazed the side of my hand, shooting sparks up my arm. The air filled with possibility as our gazes met and held.
He blinked a few times and inhaled sharply, as if he was trying to clear his head. The moment passed, and flustered, I busied myself with slicing off another piece of…“What is this, anyway?” I asked, blushing at the roughness of my voice. My poor capillaries were getting a helluva Koda-inspired workout.
“Filet,” he answered and I hid a smile that his voice was even rougher.
I went to work on my dinner, a strange and entirely pleasant thrill warming me as I watched him from the corner of my eye. It seemed to me that he was doing the same and our awareness of one another escalated in the comfortable silence between us.
Koda poured a deep red liquid into a tall glass and set it beside me before doing the same for himself. “Red wine.” His lips twisted sardonically. “From California, not France.”
“Mmm,” I answered, like I had a clue what he was talking about.
He gave me a fleeting smile, telling me he wasn’t fooled. “How long have you been on the mortal plane?”
The personal question surprised me. “The moon has cycled three times.” I thought furiously. “So three…months.” I shot him a quick look to make sure I’d gotten the word right. For some damn reason, the longer I was in his company, the worse my mental functions were becoming.
He nodded, taking a sip from his glass. “How did you learn English?”
I laughed. “By spying on Round Ears. Once I figured out how motels work, I watched TV.” Hiding my embarrassment and hoping he wouldn’t ask me how I’d gotten the money to pay for the motels, I tried the wine. It stung my tongue and I hurriedly swallowed, then drank half a glass of water trying to get my throat to stop burning.
Koda took a bite of his filet, chewed and swallowed. “You speak the language well. You’re a fast learner.”
I’d never known praise. Never even considered receiving it. But my cheeks heated with startling pleasure, leading me to wonder uneasily at my reaction. Trying to deflect Koda and myself, I shrugged. “I’m just motivated. I doubted Jack spoke Fae and I had to be able to talk with him.”
“Ah yes. Your plan.” Koda’s brow creased. He ate half the food on his plate before he spoke again, his expression suddenly intent, like a thought had just occurred to him. “Anger doesn’t affect your command of English. But when you are—”
“When did you learn the language?” I interrupted, uncomfortable that he saw so much.
He gave me an amused look for redirecting the conversation. “I learned Old Norse first, since the Vikings invaded our home long before the European swarm.” He put his fork down and his expression hardened. “As each new wave of explorers arrived, I learned their tongue. Spanish, French, English.”
“How many languages do you speak?” I asked softly.
His tone was grim. “Too many.”
I ate in silence for a few minutes, watching him in my peripheral vision as he sighed and lifted his fork to poke at the food on his plate.
Without looking up, he asked, “How did you get onto the mortal plane?”
I flashed a grin, remembering. “I grabbed an aughisky’s tail and held on when he shifted here.” At Koda’s quizzical glance, I clarified, “Aughisky are púcas in horse-form.”
He looked blank.
“Time for a quick primer.” I tucked a leg up underneath myself so I could turn toward him. “There are two opposing courts, both made up of High Fae. The Light and their Seelie Court and the Dark with the Unseelie. Then there’s the Lesser Fae, which is everybody else who’s born, not genetically created—selkie, púca, tomte, redcaps, shuck, domovoi, pixies, kelpies, cait sidhe, cu sith, brownies—”
“Fae are the worst enemies we have ever known, yet we clearly have less knowledge of them than we realized,” Koda interrupted, going pale. “How many species are there?”
I gave him a sympathetic smile. “Your people don’t have to worry about them all. Only the Dark Fae are land-and power-hungry. The Light have been in exile for centuries and the Lessers are too busy dodging the Dark to bother anybody else.” I thought for a second. “Well, mostly.”
Koda studied me, his expression unreadable. “So you grabbed something’s tail?”
I nodded. “An aughisky, enslaved to the Dark king and his warriors as mounts. I overheard the rider talking about doing a reconnaissance and decided to go along. I was shaded, so he never knew I was there.”
“Clever.” Koda’s lips curved as I blushed.
“Expedient,” I demurred.
He lifted the silver cover from the last dish. “I think you’re going to enjoy this. It’s a chocolate caramel tart.”
I reached my fork toward the dark and golden wedge he revealed, wondering how anything could possibly taste as good as what we’d already eaten. Koda made a noise in his throat and I hesitated.
“Allow me,” he murmured, his voice deeper than usual. Using his own fork—something that struck me as strangely intimate—he held up a small bite. His gaze was challenging as he waited to see what I would do.
I breathed through my instincts’ snarling insistence that this was a trick, that I should snatch the food away before it could be pulled back. When the urge passed, I opened my mouth. Careful to keep my sharp teeth hidden behind my lips, I accepted the proffered bite. Then a sweet, rich, creamy explosion filled my tastebuds and I moaned aloud, closing my eyes to better savor the incredible flavors.
“Good?” Koda asked and I could hear the humor in his voice.
Swallowing, I nodded and opened my eyes to gaze longingly at the tart. “More, please.”
He made a noise in his throat, his attention riveted to my lips. “You’ve got some chocolate…there…”
I lifted a hand, but he caught it before I could wipe my mouth clean.
“Allow me,” he whispered, leaning closer.
I watched, spell-bound, while he bent and brushed his lips across mine almost hesitantly, like he was giving me time to pull back. A different kind of hunger stirred, and without thinking, I leaned into him. He grinned against my mouth before slowly, at decadent leisure, deepening the kiss. Such perfect pressure on my lips, such skill and passion, sent shivers racing through me. Koda’s tongue traced the contours of my mouth, gently. When I parted my lips, he groaned deep in his throat.
His hand found my nape and tilted my head to a better angle, allowing him greater access as he twined his tongue with mine. I shifted hungrily, my own hands rising to fist in his luxurious midnight hair. The feel of his warm, broad palm cupping my butt sent heat spiraling through my belly and I gasped into his mouth. An answering groan rumbled in his chest and he pressed me closer.
Then an awful thought slammed into me—so brutal, I actually flinched. Shoving clear of him, I put the room’s width between us.
“Why do you pull away?” he asked softly.
“Why do you kiss me?” I watched him through narrowed eyes as he rose from his chair. “Is this like dinner?”
Koda went still, watchful. “What do you mean?”
I just looked at him.
His face flushed with anger when he got it. “You think I’d…I’d whore myself out? You think I’d go that far to get you off your suicidal path?”
“You said you were trying to show me the finer things,” I accused.
He smirked. “You think I’m fine?”
Damn, he was arrogant! That he was also right only pissed me off more. “Luxury hotel, expensive m
eal…” I drifted off, looking at him pointedly.
“Excuse me all to hell,” he snarled. “But I’m not on the menu.”
Wondering if I’d gotten it wrong, I looked at him, uncertain. “Then why—”
“Did I kiss you? I’m beginning to wonder that myself.”
Stung, I got my chin up. “You didn’t seem so conflic…conflic…confused with your hand on my ass.”
He crossed the room, freezing a few feet away when I stiffened. “Your English is slipping. Why?”
“You kissed me,” I shot back. “Why?”
He bristled with anger. Then he went still and his eyes gleamed, like he’d suddenly solved a puzzle. “Just what are you running from, Coyote?”
Alarmed by the new awareness in his gaze, I stammered, “I am not knowing what you meaned.”
“You know exactly what I mean.” A languid smile lifted one corner of his inviting lips. “Speak straight.”
“Now you mock my words!” I snarled.
His jaw muscles flexed. “I meant I want you to tell me the truth.”
“Truth,” I echoed, my mind working furiously as I delayed answering him.
“Yes, dammit.” Koda’s eyes flashed and he took a step toward me, baring his teeth with angry triumph when I moved to keep distance between us. “Answer me.”
“I run from nothing!”
“Just me.” He gave me a hard look.
“I am sure I do not knowing what you mean,” I sniffed as my heart kicked into triple-time.
A long, appalling silence stretched between us—one I refused to break. Yeah, right. As if I had a clue what to say.
Koda nodded to himself and leaned away from me. In a low voice, he said, “It has been a long day and we both need to rest.”
As startled by his abruptly backing off as I was relieved by it, I edged around him, refusing to acknowledge the perception in his gaze. Arbitrarily going into the closer bedroom, my breath stuck in my throat as I stared at the bed. Sensing Koda’s presence, I turned to see that he’d come no further than the open doorway.