by Kathy Love
Her heart pounded in her chest, and she fought the panic pooling in her belly and rising in her throat. This couldn’t be real. It had to be a dream-a nightmare. But the sensation felt very real.
She peered into the darkness, trying to make out a shape or even a billowing mist, but she couldn’t see anything. The room was absolutely black-the door shut, the curtains drawn.
Then the thickness began to settle on her, heavy and menacing.
She knew she couldn’t wait any longer-she had to run. Had to get out of that room.
She had to get to Rhys.
She leapt from the bed and ran toward where she thought the door was. A terrified and frustrated sob strangled her as she fumbled for the doorknob.
The fog was intensifying around her again, clinging to her, suffocating her. Or was that her own blind fear?
She forced herself to calm her movements, to concentrate. With trembling fingers, she made steady sweeps along the wall. She cried out again, only this time because she located the knob, the metal rattling under her fingers.
She turned the handle and yanked the door open, half afraid whatever was surrounding her would slam it shut again. But thankfully, the «thing» didn’t, and she raced down the hallway to Rhys’s room.
This time she didn’t bother with the bathroom light, or even trying to wake Rhys first. She slammed his door shut, twisted the lock on the doorknob and scrambled into the bed beside him.
Rhys didn’t wake fully-he simply rolled over and pulled her against him.
She closed her eyes with relief, all the terror, all the panic, slowly evaporating until she was left limp and exhausted in his arms.
Christian materialized in the shadows of the deserted bedroom. He grinned as he heard the sound of a door slamming and the jiggle of a doorknob as the lock was worked into place.
A locked door would hardly be a deterrent if he really wanted to get to her. Of course, the fact that his brother was also in that room was definitely a discouragement.
He knew his brother would protect her. Rhys had coupled with the mortal-Christian had smelled the fervor of sex as soon as he entered the room. Although the stupid fool probably would protect her without the incentive of sex. Not that mortal sex was appealing after his union with Lilah. Mere mortal sex was base and unpleasant comparatively.
But let Rhys continue his lowly affair. Christian even hoped he developed real emotions for her. He wanted Rhys to understand the pain he’d left when Rhys had taken Lilah. Of course, Rhys’s pain would be even more horrendous, because after Christian took the little mortal, he was going to kill her.
*
When Jane woke again, she nearly groaned. She’d done it again. She was back in Rhys’s bed. Even though he wasn’t touching her, she could feel him beside her.
Reluctantly she lifted her head. Rhys leaned on an elbow, watching her. The covers had slipped down, revealing his muscled chest, flat stomach, and the jut and sinew of his hip. He was utterly magnificent.
And she had decided to stop touching all that magnificence? She was such a fool.
She quickly dragged her gaze back to his face. His slight, arrogant smile told her he knew exactly what she was thinking.
“I am not sure why we go to sleep in separate beds,” he stated. “We always seem to end up in the same one by morning.”
“Or by evening,” Jane pointed out, opting to be nitpicky versus actually addressing his point.
He frowned at the radio alarm clock with its glowing red numbers. “So it is. Our schedules certainly are confused.”
Everything was confused, she thought wryly. But now that he was sufficiently off the topic of why she was in his bed, she started to slip away from him, before she did something stupid. Something delightfully and so, so pleasurably stupid.
But his hand shot out to stop her, his fingers stroking the curve of her waist.
“Did something frighten you again?” he asked, his eyes serious and concerned.
She paused, loving the feel of his hand on her. Funny how just a touch from him could blot out all the fear she had felt the night before. As soon as she’d crawled into bed with him and he’d held her, a sense of safety had encompassed her. But now it wasn’t safety that skipped over her nerve endings and made her skin tingle. Although this touch was equally as distracting.
“I think-I do think it must have been a nightmare.” Now, lying here with Rhys, the sensations of the night before seemed distant and surreal.
“I really think you should consider just sleeping in here from now on.” Even though he sported a teasing grin, Jane didn’t think he’d complain if she said okay. She wouldn’t complain either.
But she determinedly shook her head. “Not until everything is-settled.”
“Believe me, I’ll be questioning Sebastian about that special marriage license later. First, however, I am going to steal a kiss.”
He leaned forward and pressed a sweet, gentle kiss to her mouth. “And then I am going to take my betrothed out to see some of the sights.”
It took a moment for the lovely warmth of his kiss to diminish and for his words to sink in. But once they did, she immediately sat upright. “No! We can’t do that.”
He frowned, although the amusement sparkled in his eyes. “Of course we can. I realize it is rather gauche to walk, since I have no coachmen available. But I could hire a hack. Perhaps we can see a play, if you like. There is an opera that I’ve been wanting to see, if you like opera.”
“I think we should stay right here,” she insisted.
His amused frown disappeared, replaced by a rather lascivious grin. “Right here? Did you have anything in particular planned?”
She would have laughed at the almost hopeful quality to his voice if she wasn’t so concerned with how she was going to keep him in the apartment. And so determined to do the right thing.
“We could play a game.”
He raised an intrigued eyebrow.
She nearly groaned. She was definitely giving him the wrong idea.
“Or-” She tried to think of something else, something with no connotations. “We could-we could find Sebastian.” She needed him to handle this.
“As I said, I intend to talk with him before we leave.”
“I’ll find him,” she said, slipping out of his hold, and dashing to the door.
“Jane?”
She paused at the door, looking back at him.
His eyes roamed over her. “I must request you dress before approaching my brother. He is only mortal, after all.”
Jane glanced down at her pajamas, a T-shirt and shorts set. It wasn’t exactly skimpy-not by today’s standards-but she was dealing with Regency standards, wasn’t she?
She nodded, then started to open the door again.
“Jane?”
She stopped again.
“Dress warmly. London can be very cold this time of year.”
She nodded and left the room. She needed to find Sebastian. Now.
Unfortunately, after much searching, she didn’t have any luck. The apartment was Sebastian-free.
She headed back to her room to dress and to decide how to stop Rhys from leaving the apartment on her own. All she needed was to have Rhys lose his memory forever.
As she reached her room, her mind shifted to the happenings of last night. She stood in the doorway, trying to sense anything strange. Could she feel something oppressive in the air? Was there something lurking in the shadows?
She took a hesitant step into the dark room, ready to run if she sensed anything-but she didn’t. Chills didn’t run down her spine. She didn’t even feel nervous to cross the shadowed room and turn on the bedside lamp. The white and blue room felt like any other room. No evidence of anything eerie.
Although there was evidence of her rushed escape. The covers hung half off the bed from her mad dash out of the room and straight to Rhys.
As she made the bed, she half wondered if it was her subconscious coming up with excuses to be c
lose to him. But as she fluffed a pillow and threw it beside its mate at the head of the bed, she rejected the idea. She must have had a nightmare-that was the only feasible explanation.
Maybe because of her lifestyle, living in a funeral home, or maybe because of her father’s illness, she’d always discredited the supernatural. She’d decided at a young age there was nothing that went bump in the night. But the past two nights had seemed so real.
No, she told herself firmly. It was a nightmare-nothing more.
Sighing, she left the bed to search for something to wear. Warm, Rhys had said-but she didn’t know if she should humor him. After all, the goal was to keep him in the apartment.
“Something to keep him here,” she muttered as she sorted through her clothes. “Something to keep him here.”
“I can think of several things that would keep me here,” Rhys said from the doorway, causing her to drop the shirt she was holding up for inspection.
She spun toward him.
He crossed his arms and leaned a shoulder on the door frame. “But since we did agree to wait until after the wedding, I think we had better go explore London. Otherwise I will definitely break my promise.”
His eyes wandered over that tiny outfit she wore, which hugged the lovely curves of her breasts and waist and revealed the enticing length of her legs.
He recalled those legs wrapped around him. His cock stirred.
He straightened and said more harshly than he intended, “Get dressed.” Then he tempered his voice, since it was hardly her fault he could barely control his desire for her. “We have much to see.”
He started to leave the room, when she said, “You know, I’m actually feeling a little sick.”
He turned back to her, studying her coloring. She certainly looked fine. Much, much better than fine. Although unease did shadow her eyes.
He knew he should just give in to her wish to stay home, but he couldn’t. He could not be here alone with her and keep his promise to wait until after they were wed to make love again. He wanted to spend time with her, but he also needed distraction.
“Well, perhaps you should just go back to bed, then.”
She immediately looked relieved.
“In fact, I’ll join you.”
He knew that was low-and made him look like a man who didn’t keep his word. So he was absolutely shocked when she said, “Okay.”
She glanced at her bed and then at him. But he didn’t see desire in her eyes, rather worry. Not the look he wanted from her when he took her back to his bed-or her bed.
Why would she change her mind about waiting? Just to get him to stay here? Something was not right.
“No,” he stated, even though his body was calling him a thousand different kinds of fool. “Tonight we are going to have a proper outing.”
She dipped her chin, the minute nod he knew meant she was agreeing, but she wasn’t really sure she should.
He nodded, too, and then closed the door.
He headed to the living room to look for Sebastian. He’d originally stopped by Jane’s room to see if she had located him. But then her sleepwear had distracted him-and then her proposition.
The living room was empty when he entered. He opened his mouth to yell for Sebastian, then snapped it shut. Shouting did get on his brother’s nerves-and Rhys supposed it was a tad rude. He needed to watch himself if he was ever going to succeed in making Jane believe she wasn’t marrying a total brute.
Tonight, he intended to make a good impression. Court her properly as she deserved. That was, of course, if he could get her to leave the house.
He walked to the library. The room was empty as well.
Where the hell was Sebastian? He paused and listened for a moment. He couldn’t sense Sebastian in the house.
He frowned, wondering how he could be so sure he wasn’t there just by listening. He didn’t know how, but he was positive his brother was out.
Sebastian was at his club again, Rhys was sure. He spent most nights there. Sebastian was obsessed with women.
For the first time, Rhys understood that obsession. He’d always enjoyed women, but he’d never been preoccupied with them-until Jane. He’d do anything for her-to have her.
He went back to the living room to wait for her. Settling in one of the chairs, he reached for the book Sebastian had been reading. Salem’s Lot? He flipped the book over and read the back cover.
Vampires.
He grimaced and dropped the novel back on the table.
Rhys glanced at the doorway, wondering if Jane would even appear. She really was adamant that they should stay here. Was she nervous about being in such a large town? He knew London was probably far bigger than any place she’d ever been, but he really believed she would enjoy the bustle once she got used to it.
To his relief, Jane did soon enter into the room-and he was rather surprised to see that she had on warm clothes and carried her coat.
He stood. “Are you ready, then?”
She nodded, another one of those tiny bobs of her head.
“You will see so many fantastic sights that you won’t help but have a good time.” He smiled reassuringly. “I promise.”
Another slight nod, but when he turned to lead her into the kitchen, he heard her mutter, “They probably won’t be as fantastic to me as they will be to you.”
“Excuse me?” he asked, frowning. Why would she say that?
“I didn’t say anything,” she promptly replied, but he could see distinct discomfit in her eyes.
He decided to let the comment go for the time being. After all, she was going out with him, and he didn’t want to ruin that success.
CHAPTER 13
Jane watched as Rhys grabbed a coat from the rack by the door. The same black coat he’d worn the night he’d saved her.
Guilt ripped through her-she didn’t seem to be able to save him. But she’d done everything she could think of-including offer to go to bed with him. She probably would have been offended by his refusal if she wasn’t so worried about him.
He shrugged on the coat and then opened a door off the kitchen, which led into a long, almost industrial looking hallway. Metal ducts and bare wallboard ran the length of it. At the end was a freight elevator, nothing more than a huge cage with a gate that manually pulled down once the individuals were inside.
How strange that the hall would be so different than the luxurious apartment. But what was even stranger was that she had no idea that this part of the building existed. It really was as if she’d been dropped into a fantasy world, unaware of anything outside of the apartment.
Not for the first time, it hit her how weird this situation was-and it was about to get weirder yet again. And potentially damaging to Rhys.
She just couldn’t think of anything to get him to stay-outside of finding Sebastian. He was probably in the nightclub, but she didn’t think bringing Rhys into a club with flashing lights and loud music would be good for his mental state. And she couldn’t figure out how to get away from him. He was determined to take this outing.
They reached the elevator, and he easily lifted the grate, holding it for her to enter. Once she was inside, he got in and pulled down the metal grid. Without a moment’s hesitation, he pressed the black button marked G for ground level.
Jane stared at the button, then looked up at Rhys’s profile. His face was composed, serene.
He wasn’t confused by the elevator. He understood exactly how it worked.
She frowned. Now that she thought about it, he wasn’t confused by anything modern. Lights, plumbing, the digital clock this morning. Why hadn’t she noticed that before?
“Do most buildings in London have elevators?” she suddenly asked him.
He considered the question, then shrugged. “I would think the bigger ones do.”
“And do all the buildings have lights?”
He nodded. “Of course. We are hardly primitives here.” He smiled at her as though he thought she must be daft.
Why hadn’t Sebastian noticed this? Had he? Had he asked the doctor why Rhys’s amnesia appeared to be selective?
“Here we are.” Rhys threw up the metal gate as if it was little more than a rolling blind.
They stepped out into another hall that matched the one upstairs.
He led her to a heavy steel door with several deadbolts. He unlocked them, then said loudly, “Mick, lock these behind us.”
Jane glanced around until she realized there was a small room, back up the hallway.
The huge Mick stood in the doorway; the faint bluish light of electronics flickered behind him. He nodded in greeting as she stared at him.
She nodded back, then quickly glanced away.
Rhys stepped outside and waited for her, his hand extended to help her down the step. She accepted it and joined him outside. The heavy door slammed, and they were in a dim alley.
Back where they’d begun, she thought ironically.
Rhys must have caught her wry expression. “Not the best view to start your adventure with, but come this way.”
Still holding her fingers, he tugged her toward the brighter lights of the street.
The faint rumble of bass sounded from inside the building, and Jane realized the noise must be coming from the nightclub.
They reached the street, and for the first time, Jane got to see the outside of the building where she’d been living.
It was a large, brick warehouse, although a gothic façade had been added to the front. Gargoyles and spires decorated the roof. The windows were stained glass, colorful patterns that glowed with each flash of the lights inside. Two more large gargoyles, crouched and poised to leap, guarded the front entrance. Over the double doors in scrawling blood red neon was the name Carfax Abbey.
She stopped, which forced Rhys to stop, too.
Again, she was struck by the surrealism of her situation, that she’d been living in a building that held three distinct worlds.
Two very odd looking characters, with ashen complexions, heavy eye makeup and black leather clothes, came up the sidewalk toward them. They gave Jane and Rhys curious looks before going up the few steps and into the club.