“How am I supposed to know where he went?” Lucian exhaled heavily, pacing back and forth in front of the desk. He stopped.
Reed stared at Lucian’s boot; it was on top of one of the bills. For once, he hoped his brother didn’t bother to pick it up, else he would be spotted, and he wanted to know who his brother was talking to.
“Yes, yes I understand, but I need more time.” Lucian began pacing again, his boot leaving a darkened smudge across the paper.
Well he hadn’t changed much, he was still oblivious to his surroundings, or else he just didn’t care. Reed was sure it was the latter.
“I told you it is here and I will find it,” he said. “What about Reed? He has nothing to do with this.”
A long silence followed. Reed strained to hear what he was saying. What didn’t he have anything to do with?
“Yes, I will. I told you I would. Just give me a little more time.” He sighed heavily, lifting his hand to his head. “I know. I know. Don’t make me beg. Fine,” he gritted out. “Consider this my begging voice. I am begging.” He ran his hand down through his hair. “And no, he doesn’t know about it. I will find it.” There was a long pause and then he laughed, it sounded bitter, hollow, full of defeat. “Why you ask?” his voice changed, it was now coming out strained and tight. “Because I have to,” he said, threading his fingers through his hair in frustration. “No, I do not have a choice,” he barely whispered.
Reed almost missed that part.
“Hell no, I won’t tell him. I will not live to see my next birthday let alone yours.” He shoved his hand in his pocket. “Yeah, I miss you too. Yes, she is here. No. She doesn’t have a clue either. I don’t know.”
Reed didn’t dare move a muscle. Lucian’s shoes were directly in front of his desk once again; they were filthy. Damn, did his brother ever hear of a doormat?
Lucian rifled through the papers on the desk. “I gotta go, someone is coming.” The phone snapped shut.
Reed heard the unmistakable clomping footfalls drawing nearer, followed by a loud banging as the doors to the library swung open.
“Crap!” Raven mumbled, looking over her shoulder at the doors as she walked further into the room. Her feet hit the carpet putting an end to the torturous clomping noise her shoes made when she walked. She had showered and changed for her meeting with Reed. She had to admit she was even looking forward to it, obviously. She even dressed up a bit for it, but when she entered, Reed was not the one looking at her, with a peculiar look on his face. It was Lucian and he did not look happy.
“Sorry, I didn’t know anyone was in here. I mean, I thought Reed would be here,” she stumbled over her words, feeling stupid. Lucian stood there gaping at her. Raven nervously twisted her bracelet. “So, what are you doing in here?”
“Besides the obvious,” he said, his eyes moving past her towards the foyer.
Raven glanced over her shoulder no one was there. What was obvious? She turned back around and shifted awkwardly. “Did I interrupt you?” she asked, her voice coming out too high, apologetic, and glanced at the phone he held in his hand. Did his phone work? She would have asked but he followed her gaze and quickly shoved it into the front pocket of his jeans. Raven got the hint. It wasn’t hard to miss.
“I was looking for Reed,” she tried to explain, feeling her face grow hot under his inquisitive stare. “I mean um, he wanted me to meet him here.”
“Have you heard of knocking?”
“Of course, I am sorry, I didn’t think,” she tried to explain, but it wasn’t working.
“That’s obvious,” he mumbled, running his hands through his hair once more.
Raven stood there gaping at him in shock, words eluded her. Even though he mumbled she could still hear what he said, she wasn’t deaf.
Lucian caught her look. “Kidding, I was kidding,” he laughed out tightly.
Raven watched him for a moment more, trying to decide if he was being an ass on purpose or not. “Oh. Ha. Funny.” She added a pinch of sarcasm, wondering if he caught it or not. By the look on his face, he missed it completely. Oh well. She puffed up her cheeks and let out a stream of air, making wispy pieces of hair flutter around her face. Actually, Raven didn’t think it was funny at all. Reed was looking better and better compared to his brother. At least he didn’t pretend to be nice, and then pull a Jekyll switch to Hyde thing or was it Hyde to Jekyll, hell she couldn’t remember. She narrowed her eyes at him, watching how he toyed with his hair, again. He didn’t even look as cute anymore. No, she decided, he hadn’t been kidding at all; he was a jerk—plain and simple.
“Have you seen Reed?” she asked casually, trying to fill the dead air, which was closing in on her rather quickly.
“Why, you two going out somewhere,” he asked, raking his gaze over the length of her body, then back to her eyes. He smiled slightly.
Raven swallowed hard. His smile didn’t reach his eyes. Actually, she felt a distinct chill sweep over her instead. “Wh-why would you say that?” the question stumbled from her mouth as she nervously toyed with her bracelet on her wrist.
“You are dressed to go somewhere, aren’t you? Or did you dress that way merely for my brother’s benefit?” he asked, lifting his brow.
“What?” she laughed stupidly. “Oh lord no, I mean of course not. These old things?” she said, plucking at her skirt. “I just threw them on.”
Lucian crossed his arms and stroked his chin. “Hmm, just threw them on ehh? Right…” he mumbled, the last under his breath, uncrossing his arms and stuffing his hands in the fronts of his pockets.
Asshole. Raven pressed her shoulders back. “Yes, I did,” she reiterated, standing taller, taking a defensive stance by crossing her arms across her chest. “Why, is there a problem with what I am wearing?” she asked, tapping the toe of her shoe on the carpet.
“No. Not at all. Just wondering, that’s all.” He turned and looked out the window.
She rolled her eyes. Oh, that was believable—wrong. It had turned into a waiting game. Who was going to leave first? Well she wasn’t. No way. She smoothed her hand over her skirt. She was wearing one of her clothing suits of armor; apparently it was a faulty suit. It wasn’t working. She felt completely exposed. Suddenly she wished she were wearing something less clingy. Then she berated herself. She did look good. It was a nice skirt—of course it was nice, it was Anne Klein. Granted it was tight, but tight in a flattering way. She even wore her cut-offs underneath, to make sure every bump and bulge was perfectly smoothed.
Besides, it wasn’t as if he looked any better. Actually, he looked filthy. Her gaze drifted down the length of his body, taking in his shredded jeans, dingy t-shirt, and filthy boots. Who was he to judge her? She cut him a look of derision. He was the one that shifted awkwardly now.
They both stood in silence, staring one another down in a battle of wills.
“What I meant to say was…”
Raven arched her brow at him, daring him to say something snide.
“I mean you look nice.”
Right. “Thank you.” Raven sincerely doubted he meant what he said. She didn’t know why, but while his words sounded nice, his eyes said something completely different than his lips. He did have nice lips though, but not nearly as nice as Reed’s had looked this morning, smiling at her, teasing her. Reed’s naked body came crashing into focus in her mind, making her uncomfortably warm. God, what was she thinking?
Lucian looked around the room, and then settled his gaze in her direction once more. “Well, if you happen to see my brother, let him know I too, am looking for him as well. Would you?”
“Yes, of course I will.” She didn’t move a muscle as he moved past her quickly, making his way out of the room. Once he was gone, she let out a tense breath.
Reed stayed hidden. He could hear the strain in her voice, the awkwardness. He felt bad for her, but she did seem to hold her own rather well. Lucian was the one that fled, not her, which was a bit of a surprise.
L
ucian had made such a big deal about her when he met her, but now he was acting as if she was nothing more than a speck of dirt in his path. And who in the hell had he been speaking to? I miss you. It was obviously a woman unless his brother had decided to hit balls for the other team. Granted he hadn’t spoken with Lucian in years. Obviously, he had had relationships, but it was more than that. He was up to something and all paths seemed to lead to no good.
Raven idly toyed with her ring, spinning it around on her finger as she looked about the room. She noticed some papers on the floor and bent down to pick them up.
She had several bills stacked on one another before she noticed the red bold letters across the top.
PAYMENT DUE NOW
She scanned the pages, even though she knew she shouldn’t.
Reed glared at her in anger. She was reading his private papers. “You really shouldn’t read…”
Raven screamed. The papers flew in the air as she fell backward. She lifted her hand over her chest. “Reed?” she asked.
“Yes, Reed,” he snapped, crawling out from under the desk.
Raven sat up, or tried. “What are you doing under the desk?”
“I was picking up my private papers.”
She glanced up at him. Her face flamed. She turned her head and tried to get up. It wasn’t working out too well.
Reed ran his hand through his hair, irritated. He lowered his hand, his eyes widened as he watched her roll back and forth trying to stand, but between her tight skirt and her high-heels, she couldn’t gain enough ground to stand fully. He would have laughed, but he wasn’t in a laughing mood. No, he wanted to know who in the hell his brother had been talking to. He walked around the desk, sighing heavily. “Take my hand,” he said and held his hand out to her.
Raven eyed it warily since every time they seemed to touch one another it slingshot them to la la land.
Reed pulled his hand back. “Right,” he acknowledged, seemingly reading her mind. “Well we don’t have much choice. It is either that or I think you may be stuck like that all night,” he said, finally finding the humor in the situation and smiled down at her.
Raven shoved her hair out of her eyes and smiled back at him. “I think you may be right.”
“On three… Okay?” His brow rose expectantly as his dark hair fell forward giving him a boyish appeal.
Raven nodded, fighting the urge to sigh audibly. He was so good-looking, too good-looking.
“One…Two…Three,” he said reaching forward and grabbing her hands as he pulled her up off the floor. Her body flew forward from the force, smashing against him.
Reed did not expect the reaction he felt the moment they touched one another. At least he wasn’t tossed into another romp session, but this may have been worse. He breathed in her scent; it was sweet, warm… tempting. He could feel the softness of her full breasts pressing against him. He didn’t know what happened. The situation was funny moments before but had turned rather quickly into something else, something he wanted to test further. He held her closely, his hands lightly placed on her hips. If he moved his hands, just a fraction he could slide them down over the sweet curve of her ass, then further still, to where he really wanted to explore, between her thighs. He could just turn her around on his desk and stay behind her. Flashes of her swishing her delectable backside while dancing the day before flitted through his mind, as well as the lyrics she had sang out “Give me everything tonight…Reed.” He would like to turn her around and give her everything and a bit more. He knew he should release her, but his gaze kept getting drawn to her lips as she chewed on them, distracting him. She had such full lips; he wondered if they were as soft as they looked. He wanted to kiss her suddenly. No, not merely kiss, but devour.
Oh, he knew he shouldn’t even be thinking these thoughts but at the moment he really didn’t give a damn. He pulled her closer and dipped his head down; he didn’t wait to ask, he merely took. She opened her mouth in shock, he supposed, but he deepened the kiss and she followed.
The room spun, everything began to fade away as they kissed one another. His hands roamed freely over her body, kneading her ass through the tight fabric of her skirt. He moved one hand and slid it up to caress her breast.
She moaned arching back. Damn. He wanted to taste her lips again. He cupped her face in his hands as she clung to him, she was so eager, responsive, as if she knew exactly what he wanted… what he needed.
He lifted her up, his lips never leaving hers and pressed in as much as her tight skirt would allow.
She moaned in pleasure, leaning back. Shivers of delight raced across her skin.
“You are so fucking sweet,” he groaned out, nipping her neck, sliding his hand up her leg.
Oh my God, she clenched. She was on fire. He was so hot, this…what he was doing to her body was so hot, she wanted to…
Reed moved his hand higher up her leg, under the edge of her tight skirt, until his fingers grazed something other than her leg.
Raven freaked. His fingers just touched her cut offs, that were rolling up her leg. Oh shit! Reflexively she shoved away from him, embarrassed. The momentum combined with the slick surface sent her sailing right off the back of the desk. She hit the floor with a bone-jarring thud.
Raven lay there, staring up at the ceiling, completely and utterly mortified. Well, hell.
Calm before the Storm
RAVENHURST * THE AGE OF CHIVALRY
DARIAS walked behind Marguerite, wrapping his arms around her waist as she leaned back against him. She closed her hands over his, pulling them around her more snugly. “Tis beautiful, is it not?” she said, indicating the rolling hills and blue skies that surrounded them up on the battlements.
He grunted, placing his chin on the top of her head.
She laughed. “That is all you have to say?” She turned toward him and looked up at his rugged profile before turning back.
Darias sighed, there was a lot more he wanted to say, but he wanted to do it far away from the keep and the prying eyes of his people. “Yes, tis beautiful”…except he wasn’t looking at the view, he was looking at her profile, his heart fluttering as he gathered her tighter in his arms. “I am sorry we did not get to go to the Glen.”
“Me too,” she sighed. Her fantasy of a bath in the crystal waters had vanished quickly. They had almost made it too— Damn Jayce. He really turned a heavy dose of guilt on Darias about him needing to train with the men. So reluctantly, Darias had agreed.
She couldn’t help but wonder at his timing, and what was the pressing matter he needed to attend to suddenly?
So instead of a lovely bath and a day spent away from the keep she had to make due with a bucket of water brought up from the kitchens. At least it was clean. The water in the room had days of filth in it. This was something she would need to remedy if she were going to be residing here.
Darias’ lips brushed against her temple and he lowered them to her ear. “We need to talk,” he said, his voice suddenly serious.
Marguerite stood perfectly still.
“I have spoken at length with my brother…” he paused and sighed wearily.
She felt sick. It was not going to be good. She could feel it. “Yes…”
“Well, he is not in favor of me marrying you.”
Marriage, he was thinking about marrying her. All her dreams were coming true…finally. She wanted to shout with glee, dance around, really make a spectacle; at least she wanted to, until the rest of the sentence caught up, resonating with her. That dirty, miserable wretch, she thought, as her face flamed with color.
“Jayce thinks I need to ask the King for your hand.”
She was fuming and then she froze. “Wait, what?” The same King that took the woman from Gaitland that he loved, along with his land and monies he had gathered, that King?” She knew this because it was one of the many topics they spoke of when they weren’t lying with one another. Which was not often but they did have a few conversations. Darias, once he opene
d up had many stories to relay to her.
Marguerite waited…waited…and waited. Nothing. He said nothing else. She had to ask, she had to know. “Are you going to ask the King?”
His body stiffened. “I do not need anyone’s permission to do anything. Marriage is a silly trifle anyway, why do people even bother,” he said with disgust.
Wait … he wasn’t in favor of getting married. Marguerite felt her stomach drop to the ground. What did that mean for her? Oh no, this was not turning out how she envisioned it. Not at all.
He kept speaking, heedless of the way her body tensed in his arms. “Yes, I think on the morrow we should ride away from the keep, spend some time with only the two of us.” He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on top of her head. “Would you like that?”
Of course she wanted to be alone with him; she wanted many things. But at the end of it all she had thought they were headed in the same direction, at least. Now hearing his thoughts on the subject of marriage, calling it nothing of importance, obviously he had other ideas, ones that did not include her. She bit back a sob and turned in his arms. “I would love that,” she quietly replied and pressed her face into his chest so he couldn’t see that she was upset. She really wanted to say she loved him as well but did not. It was not the right moment; she wondered if it would ever be. Maybe she should throw caution to the wind, tell him of her feelings, and tell him everything, even about the amulet. What did she have to lose at this point? Yes, she would tell him when they were truly alone. At least she thought she might… well maybe. She would wait and see how everything turned out on the morrow, no need to be too hasty.
***
Young Milford trudged up the stone stairs, huffing and puffing all the while. The exertion was wearing on him, this was now the third time in a row he had made this same trek. He was checking to see if she was still up on the battlements. He let out a heavy sigh and ducked back around the corner when he saw she was still there. He squeezed his eyes shut. “Why won’t she leave?”
DREAMS OF TOMORROW: A NEW ADULT TIME TRAVELING ROMANCE (Ravenhurst Series) Page 9