“No pressure, then?” he said dryly.
“None.”
“And if it isn’t as good?”
Lena didn’t want to think about how she would feel if her memory of their lovemaking wasn’t as earth-shattering as she remembered.
Everything with Caleb that night had felt intensified. Touch. Pleasure. Her ultimate release. Twice. If it turned out those heightened senses really were only as a result of the months of being isolated, removed from human warmth and kindness, then she needed to know. She couldn’t go on like this anymore. Feeling half-alive. Aching. Wanting. She needed to know before she could move forward with her life.
She had felt as if she was looking at life through a mist the past six weeks. Physically present, but her thoughts far away. People, family and friends, all close enough to touch, and yet there was this barrier that prevented her from feeling a part of whatever was going on around her.
For instance, the Lena she had been five months ago, before any of this had happened, would never have suggested going to bed with a man. Suggested? She had asked, almost demanded, it be a part of their evening together.
She tilted her head. “Aren’t you the least little bit curious to know too, Caleb?”
Caleb was so curious, his cock was fully rampant and ready to go.
He already knew exactly what that night with Lena had meant to him. As for the men she’d dated in Spain… Just thinking about other men being anywhere near Lena made him feel violent. His head might not always be as clear as he wanted it to be, and there was going to be serious fallout, but he wasn’t stupid enough to turn down spending another night with her.
And if it turned out he couldn’t make it as good for her as she remembered?
That was a risk he had to take.
“Fine. Do you want to tell Gabriel and Angel you’ll be out tomorrow evening, possibly all night, or shall I?”
Her cheeks flushed. “I’ll talk to Angela tomorrow.”
Caleb continued looking down at her, unsure whether or not to kiss her good night. His sole reason for coming here tonight had been to see Lena again, but officially, it had been to have dinner with his brother and future sister-in-law. He wasn’t sure what the protocol was for kissing his nephew’s nanny good night.
Oh, fuck it! He wanted to kiss Lena. It was all he had imagined doing every time he looked at her this evening. And he had looked at her a lot.
His arms moved about her waist, his gaze holding hers as he lowered his head and claimed her slightly parted lips.
The jolt of electricity through his body was exactly the same as he remembered it. Followed by a hot wave of total lust that caused Caleb to groan and crush her against him as he deepened the kiss hungrily.
It was pure fucking ecstasy to be kissing and holding her again.
Lena felt that terrible veil lifting, the rest of the world fading away, so there was only Caleb and this moment in time as her arms lifted to encircle his neck. Her fingers became entangled in his thick, silky hair as the pleasure leapt and coursed through her whole body. Every part of her felt totally, vividly alive. Her nipples tightened. Her core heated. The sweet juices flooded her channel.
They were both breathless by the time Caleb broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers. “We can’t do this here.”
“No.”
“Tomorrow.” It was a promise, not a question.
Chapter 11
“Are you a regular customer?” Lena prompted. She and Caleb sat in a corner booth in what was one of the nicest restaurants she had ever been in.
The décor was pure Regency, with overhead chandeliers and wall sconces on the walnut panels, the floor a patchwork of black and white marble, with black tables to match. The cutlery was silver, along with different size cut-glass wine goblets. The napkin the efficient waiter had placed across her thighs, after handing them the menus, was a pure snowy white.
Unsure of exactly where they would be eating, Lena had chosen to wear a simple black knee-length dress she felt would be suitable for any restaurant. She had draped a dark gray pashmina about her shoulders for the same reason. Her hair was freshly washed and loose down her spine, her makeup light, with a peach gloss to moisten her lips.
The moment she saw Caleb, looking gorgeous in his black evening suit and snowy white shirt, and his hair loose about his shoulders, as she preferred it, she knew she had chosen wisely with her own appearance.
Caleb shrugged. “I’ve never been here before.”
Was it wrong of Lena to feel pleased Caleb had never brought another woman here?
“Asher recommended it. It’s where he brought Lissa when he officially apologized to her for being a dickhead the first time they met,” he added dryly.
“Sounds intriguing.”
Caleb told her the version of the story that he knew. “The Knight brothers have never been known to do things the easy way when there’s a difficult way for us to go instead,” he concluded with a chuckle.
The story of Asher and Lissa’s first meeting, and their subsequent love story, was almost as complicated as their own relationship. Was it a relationship? Lena still had no idea what to call whatever this was between her and Caleb. But whatever it was, it was still there. Their kiss last night had proven that. To her, at least.
Lena had literally felt as if every nerve in her body had suddenly been jolted back into life, every part of her sensitized after weeks of numbness. It had been almost impossible for her to fall asleep after Caleb left last night, lying alone in her bed with her nipples aching and her pussy hot and swollen. Getting through today, wishing the hours away until this evening when she could be with Caleb again, had been almost as torturous.
Angela hadn’t asked any questions when Lena told her she was going out with Caleb this evening. For which she was very grateful. She didn’t want to talk about how alive Caleb made her feel, she wanted to experience it. Live it. Revel in it. Gorge herself on it. On him.
“Lena?”
She blinked back to an awareness of their surroundings and the realization the waiter was standing beside their table, waiting to take their drinks order. She avoided Caleb’s searching gaze as the two of them consulted on the choice of white wine before giving their order.
“Are you okay?”
Lena took a sip of her water before answering. “Why shouldn’t I be?”
“You seem…distracted.”
“I’m nervous, not distracted.”
“Nervous of what?”
She laughed softly. “You, mainly.”
“Me?” He looked taken aback by her answer. “You have no reason to be nervous of me, Lena. I’d never do or say anything to hurt you.”
“I know that.”
“You do?”
“Of course.” She gazed at him curiously. “Why on earth would you imagine I could ever think otherwise?”
Caleb sighed. “I was a bastard on Petros.”
“You were amazing on Petros,” Lena insisted. “From the moment you told me who you really were, I felt completely safe.”
“And before that?”
“You were a complete bastard,” she agreed ruefully. “But that was the whole point. Spiro had to believe you were who you said you were.”
“So you forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ve been curious to know who Nikolai is, though. Spiro mentioned he was your cousin.”
“Ah.” He winced. “Nikolai Volkov isn’t my cousin. He was my role model for Dmitri.”
“Role model…”
“Yes.”
“He’s Russian?”
“And Bratva. Sort of. Well…no, he’s completely Bratva, but he’s one of the good guys.”
Her brows rose. “There are good guys in the Bratva?”
“Some are better than others, yes. He’s married to an old army buddy of mine and— A female army buddy,” he explained dryly as her brows rose even higher. �
��We go way back.”
“Romantically?”
“Absolutely not.” He chuckled. “Nikolai wouldn’t allow me anywhere near her if that was the case. He’s a possessive bastard,” he explained. “But he loves Daisy, and she loves him.”
“Then that’s all that matters.”
Caleb’s hand moved to cover hers on top of the table. “Lena, nothing has to happen between the two of us tonight if you don’t want it to.” He returned to their original conversation.
Lena’s skin once again felt electrified by his lightest touch. “It’s because I want you so much that I’m so nervous.”
“Whoa.” He leaned back in the seat. “That’s honest, anyway.”
Lena could see no point in the two of them playing the usual flirtatious game of people going out together for the first time. The teasing. The banter. The uncertainty of whether or not their attraction would lead to more. They had agreed last night this was going to lead to the two of them going to bed together at the end of the evening. Unless Caleb’d had second thoughts…?
She looked at him searchingly. “Too honest?”
“No.” He squeezed her hand. “But I would like for us to get to know each other this evening too. What foods we like. Movies. Books. All the stuff we missed the first time around.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s what people normally do.”
Her smile was rueful. “I told you last night, I seem to have lost the ability for normal.”
“You’ll get it back again.”
“Will I?”
“Maybe,” Caleb acknowledged; he had certainly never regained that ability. “Let’s order our food and then see how we get on with the movies and books, etc., hmm?”
They actually got on very well with those subjects, the two of them chatting as they ate the delicious food. They discovered they liked a lot of the same movies and books, and argued good-naturedly about the ones they disagreed on. Caleb was relieved to see Lena become more and more relaxed in his company as the evening progressed.
He was the one who felt nervous as they left the restaurant together.
“Hey, there really is no pressure, you know.” Lena rested her hand in the crook of Caleb’s arm as they strolled round the back of the building to the dimly lit car park. “Maybe I was a little too…forthright last night.” She gave a self-conscious grimace at just how pushy she had been the previous evening. Pushy? She had positively thrown herself at the poor man. She hadn’t been exactly backward in coming forward tonight either!
Caleb came to a halt beside his car. “Does that mean you aren’t coming back to my apartment with me, after all? After I tidied up and put clean sheets on the bed!”
She laughed. “Do men really do that?”
“Tidy up or put clean sheets on the bed?”
“Both. Either.”
“Well, I did.” Caleb pressed the key fob to unlock the car. “Can’t have you thinking I’m a slob from the get-go.”
“And are you a slob?” she teased.
“No more than any other— What the fuck!” He swore as the side window of his car suddenly exploded inward in a shower of glass.
“Caleb!” Lena had no idea what was happening as he grabbed her arm and pulled her round to the other side of the car. He pushed her roughly down onto the tarmac and threw himself on top of her. All the air whooshed from her lungs. “Caleb—”
“Keep down,” he instructed harshly.
“But what—”
“Someone is shooting at us.”
“What?”
“Someone is shooting at us,” Caleb repeated evenly, his mind racing to a dozen different scenarios of what to do next. His prime concern was to keep Lena safe.
“I didn’t hear anything…”
“Silencer.” There was no evidence of a second shot, encouraging Caleb to lift his head and look over the hood of the car in the direction the bullet had to have come from. He kept his hand on Lena’s back to keep her down and listened intently for the popping sound of another bullet being fired or someone actually approaching them.
All was silent. Eerily so considering they were in the middle of London on a busy Friday evening. Even the distant noise of traffic sounded muffled. Caleb didn’t trust that silence.
He also inwardly cursed his lack of anything to protect Lena with other than his body. Carrying a gun was forbidden by law in England, and it had never entered his thoughts that he would have need of one while out on a dinner date with Lena.
He moved back to spread his body protectively over Lena as he took out his cell phone and pressed speed dial. “Restaurant you recommended,” he spoke softly when the call was answered. “Car park. Shooter.” He ended the call and slipped the cell phone back into the breast pocket of his jacket. “Ash will be here in ten,” he told Lena.
Ten minutes?
Lena’s heart was beating too fast and too loudly, and she couldn’t breathe. Not just because she had Caleb’s weight pressing down on top of her, but also the shock was making her hyperventilate. The two of them could both be dead before that ten minutes was up!
No, they couldn’t. They wouldn’t be. Caleb was here. Nothing bad would happen when Caleb was here. Lena truly believed that.
Her heart instantly steadied, her breathing too. “You’re squashing me.” She spoke as calmly as she now felt.
“Sorry.” He shifted slightly to one side. “Better?”
“Much.” She rolled onto her side so she faced him. “Do you think he’s still out there?”
“Probably not, but we’re staying put until we’re sure.” His expression was grim.
She nodded. “Is this a normal date for you?”
He smiled ruefully. “I haven’t really been on that many dates. But no, this is definitely a first for me.”
“Me too.” She nodded. “Why do you think that is?”
“That this is the first time something like this has happened while I was out on a date? Or that someone is shooting at us at all?”
“The latter.”
Caleb eyed her warily. “I’m more interested to know why you aren’t screaming hysterically.”
“Would it help?”
“No,” he acknowledged slowly. “But it would be more—”
“Normal?” she finished dryly.
He tensed his jaw. “Yes.”
Lena’s shrug gave her new opinion of normal. “Why haven’t you been out on many dates?” she prompted curiously. Were all the other women in the world blind? No, she knew that wasn’t true, because half the women in the restaurant tonight hadn’t been able to take their eyes off Caleb all evening.
“They were more hookups when I was in the army,” he admitted uncomfortably. “Meet in a bar, that sort of thing. And since then…” He shrugged. “I’m not exactly—”
“Normal?”
“Yes.”
“Normal is so overrated,” Lena teased.
“What the hell are the two of you doing lying down there flirting with each other while someone is shooting at you?”
Lena glanced up. “Hi, Asher. Did we get you out of bed?” She frowned at his appearance. He was scowling fiercely, there was dark stubble on his chin, his hair was disheveled, T-shirt crumpled, the top button of his jeans unfastened.
His scowl remained in place as he glared at his brother. “What the hell, man?”
Caleb winced. “I didn’t hear you arrive.”
“Obviously.” Asher sighed. “I parked out in the street so as not to alert the shooter.”
“Has he gone?” Lena ventured hopefully. She was starting to feel a little self-conscious now. Her hair was all over the place, and she was sure she must have several ladders in her stockings from where her knees had made contact with the tarmac earlier.
Asher nodded. “I took a look around and couldn’t see anyone.”
The words were barely out of his mouth before two cars screeched into the car park. Ethan emerged from one, Gabriel the other, and the two me
n ran over to stand next to Ash.
“Are either of you hurt?” Gabriel demanded.
“Er—no.” Caleb was starting to look as uncomfortable as Lena felt.
Ethan grinned. “Couldn’t the two of you have waited until you got into the back of the car, at least?”
“That’s Asher’s idea of a first date, not Caleb’s,” Gabriel drawled, the tension leaving his shoulders after he was assured neither of them was hurt.
Okay, so this was getting a little freaky now, Lena decided. The other three Knight brothers seemed to be enjoying themselves a little too much at their expense. “Caleb’s quick reflexes are the only thing that prevented one of us from being shot,” she defended. Caleb stood and held out a hand to her to help her back up onto her feet. A glance down showed she had been right about the ruined stockings.
“Made a mess of your car, man.” Ethan whistled through his teeth as he saw the shattered window.
Caleb shrugged. “Better the car than Lena.”
Ethan looked at her with wide eyes. “You have no idea what a compliment that is. This car is his pride and joy.”
“It’s just a car.” Caleb glared at his twin, totally dismissing the classic car he had spent years renovating and tweaking to perfection. “Did you have to alert the whole bloody family?” he grumbled to Ash as he brushed bits of dried leaves and dirt off his suit.
Ash was looking a little less tense. “You know how it works, bro. One of us in trouble, we all answer the call. Literally, in this case.”
Caleb gave a weary shake of his head. “Is Jonas going to arrive next?”
“Nah, I thought I’d give him a pass on this one,” Ash dismissed. “He would never have got here in time, anyway.”
“So who did you piss off in the restaurant, Caleb?” Gabriel leaned back against the damaged car, arms folded across his chest.
Caleb grinned. “I did give the wine waiter a few glares when he seemed to be ogling Lena ti—”
“Are you all insane?” Lena glared at them. “Someone shot at us, and it wasn’t anyone from the restaurant. Whoever it was, they just missed hitting Caleb as he was about to open the car door. They did shatter the window.” Reaction was starting to set in as she realized what could have happened. “And aren’t we all targets right now just standing here?” she added in exasperation.
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