Soul Snatcher (10 page)

The bed was
just as large as Eli’s and the furniture was quite similar to the
theme of the house.
Settees
sat in front of the fire, day beds lined each window and an ottoman
sat at the end of the bed. There was definitely no shortage of
sitting space. A small but stylish writing desk sat off in the
corner near the fireplace, two bedside tables accompanied the bed
and Carcel burners sat on each. And lastly there was an extravagant
closet with adjoining draws that held her clothes.

There was a
large
, white gift box with a
red ribbon tied around it sitting on her bed. She ran and jumped on
the bed in excitement. When she had settled down she carefully
opened it. There was a note resting on top of the tissue paper. It
read:

Annie,

These may be
more appropriate for sleeping in,

compliments
of Antoinette.

Eli.

She placed
the letter down and lifted the tissu
e paper to find an array of women’s sleepwear. He really
did think of everything. She dressed by the warm fire in a white,
lacy nightgown. It was a rather revealing number and Annie thought
that maybe Antoinette had also misconstrued her relationship with
Eli. Brushing off the thought she went to bed in the thoughtful
gift from her rescuer.

In the early
hours of the morning there was a tapping at Annie’s window. She
woke in a daze then crept over through the dark to investigate. She
peeked over the window sill and could scarcely make out a
silhouette but it could have just been the shadow of the trees
below her room. After a moment of inspection a person stepped into
the moonlight and it caught her breath. Baden had been throwing
small stones against her window. She stood and opened the window,
leaning over just enough to see a little better.

“
What are you doing, Baden?” She whispered as clearly
as she could through the cold night.

“
I was simply playing a game of throws which you now
have interrupted!” He whispered back. She rolled her eyes at his
joke and he smiled innocently.

“
Then I shall leave you to your game,” she bluffed, her
breath coming out as frost. She reached out her arm to grab the
windows and pretended to close them, pausing when he stepped
forward.

“
Do you not want to join me?” He asked sheepishly. She
looked daftly at him, unsure of what he meant.

“
I will freeze. How are you not frozen cold, Baden?”
Everything in her wanted to go with him but how was she meant to
get down stairs without being heard? She didn’t know the layout of
the manor well enough.

“
Then I shall join you,” he proclaimed through a
whisper.

He started to
climb the vine inhabited lattice, making it look as easy as walking
up a flight of steps. She stepped back into the room and he
silently jumped into it, landing close to her. He then turned and
closed the windows. The room was dark, lit only by the moon and the
dying embers of the fire. He looked beautiful in the shadows, like
a dream that you can’t quite remember but try so desperately never
to forget.

“
How did you manage that?” She asked keeping her voice
hushed.

“
I have had practice.” He mimicked her soft tone which
made his warm breath wash over her face.

He
brushed his black suit pants and
formal navy blue coat clean, which looked all buttoned up and neat
even though he had just climbed in it. Again he looked irresistible
and it made her worry that maybe he had just come from an outing
with a woman. She hated these new emotions she had just discovered,
jealousy, nerves, obsessing. She felt like she didn’t even know
herself anymore.

“
You climb many a window lattice, do you?” She folded
her arms unimpressed.

“
No, Annie. I climb in general.” He looked around the
room for a brief moment. “Expedient,” he summarised the room into
one word.

He looked
down to her nightgown and she realised she was rather under
dressed. It buttoned loosely around her breasts and the material
was thin and white. Part of her wanted to cover herself in case he
didn’t like something he saw and the other part hoped he found her
appealing in every way.

“
Tell me, Baden…why were you in the cemetery that night
you saved me?” She had to keep in mind that this person could be
dangerous.

“I might ask
you the same thing?” He countered.

“
I was taking a shorter route home,” she answered
without hesitation, throwing her arms down by her side in an
attempt to demand his answer.

“
I do not wish to tell you,” he said flatly and stepped
closer to her seemingly without cause. Annie had to take a moment
to catch her breath.

“
What happened to my attacker?” The words were barely
audible. She was practically asking him if he had murdered someone,
all alone in her room with no way to defend herself. Though she
wasn’t afraid of him…well, maybe just a little.

“
He received his due course.” Baden stared straight
into her eyes and she held his gaze, refusing to look away. Her
heart was beating erratically against her chest. She could only be
guessing what his words might mean but knowing full well within
herself the truth of them. But somehow she still wanted him to
stay. He started to lift his hand and she froze for a moment which
caused him to hesitate. When she could see he wasn’t going to do
her any harm she relaxed a little and he continued with what he was
going to do.

He gently
placed the back of his fingers against her cheek and slowly slid
them across her soft skin. It was the single most amazing sensation
she had ever felt. Her body tingled all over and she had to hold
back a shiver, which she didn’t quite manage.

“
Baden,” she whispered his name softly. Her warm breath
created a dissipating mist, which was strange because she felt
anything but cold with him so close. He opened his mouth to speak
but there was a sudden knock at the door.

She turned
around brusquely and looked towards the door but by the time she
turned back to Baden he was gone. The windows were now open and all
that was left was the cold night air, her nightgown undulating in
the breeze. There was another sudden knock. She snapped out of her
dazed state, shut the windows silently and quickly went to the
door. On her way she grabbed a bed throw and pulled it around
herself. She opened the door to find Garrick standing there, pale
with fright.

“
Garrick, whatever is the matter?” She asked
panicked.

“
Mr. Brighton, he has been hurt,” he squeezed the words
out by what seemed a miracle.

“
What are you waiting for?” Annie said when he just
stood there. “Lead the way,” she insisted. She followed as he
turned and started walking. She was usually calm and collected when
in intense situations but on her way to Eli’s room she couldn’t
help the fear that crept over her at the condition she might find
him in. As they approached the door it seemed she was about to find
out.

CHAPTER
8

Annie walked
into the room after Garrick and all she could see was blood.
Eli was sprawled across the bed with
the sheets thrown back, resting in a pool of his own blood. He
woozily looked over to her as she approached.

“
It looks much worse than it is,” his voice was covered
in husky pain.

“
Do not waste energy in speaking,” she scolded.
“Garrick, please get some cloths and hot water. Also, some pain
relief if you have it,” she ordered. Here came the Annie she knew;
strong, composed and taking control. Garrick rushed off to do as
she asked. Dropping the bed throw she had wrapped around herself,
she straightened out Eli’s pillows and removed his
shoes.

“
Eli, we must take your coat off and lay you on the bed
appropriately,” she instructed. He found it hard to concentrate on
anything but the pain. He simply nodded and tried to move. He let
out painful moans through his efforts and gave up almost
instantly.

“
It hurts too much,” he gasped. Annie saw no use for it
and took charge. She stepped up onto the bed and kneeled next to
him on the mattress for the best position to manage her efforts.
Her nightgown was getting stained with blood but she didn’t have
much choice.

“
I am going to undress you. If you have any
reservations speak now.” She paused a moment and he just shook his
head.

She carefully
pulled his arms out of his jacket as best she could. Now she had to
pull it out from under him. She leaned down and slipped her hand
under his back to pull at the material of his jacket to try and
slide it out that way. His weight was implausible, it was as
difficult as if she was trying to tug it from under a dead horse.
Her face was close to his in her attempts to regain the jacket but
she didn’t feel uncomfortable with the closeness. She actually
wondered how someone so drained could look so handsome. He started
to become delirious from the pain.

“
Annie, you should stay here forever,” Eli said, his
eyes closed and head resting against the bed. She laughed at his
silliness in such a serious situation.

“
Eli, there are more pressing matters to attend to,”
she said through a strained voice.

She
decided just to grab one side of the
jacket with two hands and pull as hard as she could. She managed to
get the coat out but the quick release made her stumble back and
fall off the bed. Leaving the jacket on the floor she jumped up
again to get back to work.

“Why did you
have to wear every piece of clothing known to man?” She whispered
her complaint as she measured the r
est of her task. Her hair fell onto her face and she wiped
it away with the back of her hand where it wasn’t stained with
blood.

“
There does not seem to be a pressing matter as
prominent as you anymore,” he slurred his words a little. She
ignored him as she unbuttoned his shirt. She pulled it open easily
and carefully dragged his arms out of the sleeves once again. She
managed to pull his shirt out from under him much easier than his
jacket, this time only falling back onto the mattress not
completely off the bed. She threw his blood-drenched shirt on the
ground and inspected her next mission. Blood covered his bare chest
and she wasn’t sure where the injury was located. Garrick ran in
with the cloths and hot water.

“
Here.” He passed them to her.

“
Do you have the pain relief?” She asked as she took
the items from him.

“
Uh…no.” He quickly ran out the door to collect some,
closing it behind him. Eli began to laugh.

“
What are you laughing at?” Annie asked as she wet one
of the cloths and started to wipe away the blood.

“
He never has been good at dealing with this.” Eli kept
his eyes closed.

“
You have been this way before?” She asked as she
continued her task.

“
Many times sweet Annie.” He was starting to sound
drunk.

“
And how did you come to be in this predicament?” The
blood was wiping clear and she found where the wound was, just
below his left shoulder. It had already stopped bleeding and didn’t
look as bad as she thought it would. In fact, it looked as if he
had been stabbed by something but the skin was already closing
up.

“
Did you know your last name means ‘beautiful’ in
French?” He prattled nonsensically. “Which is an understatement!”
Annie laughed at his words. She had seen her father drunk and heard
the ridiculous things he had said and Eli’s demeanour reminded her
of that. Not that Eli was drunk but his pain seemed to be eliciting
a similar response.

As she
finished wiping the blood away he was left bare-chested. His body
was flawless and had defined muscle that covered every inch of it.
His arms looked ridiculously strong even as they lay limp beside
him. She had not seen a man shirtless before but she was sure this
was not a common occurrence. Most of the men she saw had fat
bellies that could not be hidden with any amount of clothing. She
couldn’t help but reach out and touch his skin with her fingertips.
It was beyond spectacular. Even in a weakened state he was solid
and tempting.

Annie looked
up to find Eli’s eyes on her. She was glad the light was dim in his
room because she was blushing from head to foot. She went to move
her hand away but he grabbed it before she could get too far. Her
hand was pinned between his chest and hand. Suddenly it had turned
from a situation where she had the control to one where she had
lost all of it. Somehow he managed to pull himself up and he pulled
her closer to him. He drew her in so close that he pulled her onto
his lap and it made her feel nervous, in a good way.