Stealing Kathryn (14 page)

Kathryn dropped her hands instantly, her face coloring so deeply at his suggestion that he was tempted to smile. She truly was as innocent as she had appeared. Not just in the physical state of her body, but in all things sexual. He thought about how he had touched her in the dream and immediately grew aroused and hard for her. It was a state that he could keep concealed behind the height of the footboard, so he let it rush through him as he looked his fill of her. She was still clothed from the waist down, but he was more than happy to spend his time roaming the creamy skin he could see. Her full, womanly breasts were tipped the fairest pink he’d ever seen, and he imagined they would darken considerably at a lover’s touch or bite.

“Take off the rest,” he ordered throatily. Oh, Adrian knew this was a bad idea, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. Maybe he wanted to torture himself, or maybe he just needed to see her, but whatever the motivation, he wanted her naked in his bed as soon as possible.

“Forget it,” she snapped at him. “I’m not here to give you a free peep show! In fact, I don’t know what the hell I am here for—except to be one of your precious treasures!”

“And I like to look at my treasures. I like to admire their beauty. Sometimes for hours. You are breathtaking, Kat. Let me admire you.”

“I…I’m not breathtaking,” she protested, reaching to rub her fingers over one blushing cheek. “I’m overweight and…and dumpy.”

Was it possible she didn’t realize just how stunning she was? Adrian could hardly conceive of it. How could something so beautiful have made it so long without learning of the admiration of others?

“There is nothing the slightest bit dumpy about you,” he huffed, irritated by the people of the Earth plane who would let such a treasure go so unappreciated. “You are a round and curvaceous woman, proportioned perfectly to fit in a man’s hands. Your lush little body would tremble and shimmy with every thrust your lover made inside you.”

God, how he wanted to be that lover. He knew it was impossible, but that didn’t keep him from craving it wildly. He wanted more than anything to come around the bed and reach to touch her, but he knew she would be braver if she felt there was an obstacle between them. As it was, if she blushed any deeper her cheeks were going to catch fire.

“Let me admire you, Kathryn,” he repeated huskily, his forest green eyes almost imploring her to give in to his wishes.

Kathryn had never stripped in front of a man before. There simply had been nothing for her except her family and the ranch. There had been no time or opportunity for things like boys and boyfriends. Certainly nothing as intimate as a lover. Adrian and her dreams had been the only erotic experiences in her life. This one was fast entering her top three. She could see the hunger in his eyes, the tightening of his whole body as he struggled to hold himself in check. She would have to be out of her mind to give in to his wishes. It would be like dangling Brie in front of a rat. A very dangerous rat.

“Do it, Kat, or I’ll come around and do it for you.”

Alarm raced through every nerve ending. Allowing him that close under these circumstances—while she was naked—would be asking for all kinds of trouble. And she knew she wouldn’t have a chance against him because she was so insignificant compared to his power and brute strength.

With shaking fingers she reached for the button at the waistband of her pants. Then, suddenly, she realized she was wearing something different than she had been before. It wasn’t the diamond-dusted creation she’d first woken up in. These were her clothes. Clothes she’d been wearing when he’d kidnapped her.

“You’ve already seen everything,” she realized irritably. “Why do you have to see it again?”

“Because I want to. Because it’s worth seeing over and over again. I’ll never grow tired of your beauty, sweet Kathryn. And I will gladly dress you up in beautiful things and drape you with beautiful jewels and trinkets, but always there will be nothing to compare to you, naked, perfect just as you are.”

Kathryn felt liquid heat swirling through the center of her body, his compliments warming her in ways she’d never felt before. How could a creature so harsh and so innately malevolent say such beautiful things? Unless…maybe it was because his malevolence was not innate at all. He had once been a normal man. A man who had done what he must in order to feed his starving people. He’d sacrificed all that he had once been for their sake. Now he was this warped creature who clung to unique and beautiful things in a bid to…to keep himself sane. To keep grounded. Perhaps to keep from going over into darkness completely in a way that would unleash an unstoppable monster on some unsuspecting population.

Realizing this had the power to change the dynamic between them almost instantly. It wasn’t pity she was feeling now, but she wasn’t ready to understand what it was. She couldn’t put a finger on it. So, instead, she bolstered her courage and reminded herself that he’d already seen everything there was to see, and whatever his saving graces, he was still a volatile entity that could be unpredictable when provoked. She knew she had to do this or risk his temper, and she simply wasn’t brave enough to take that risk.

It took less courage to strip for him.

With shaking fingers she unzipped her pants. Then, hooking her thumbs around the waistband, she slowly eased them down over her hips. She refused to look at him as she did this, but she could feel the intensity of his gaze on her. It touched her like wild caresses and she felt her nipples tightening in response. She wished she could blame it on the chill of the room, but it was warm and comfortable and the only thing giving her chills was the unrelenting regard of the beast at the foot of the bed.

She slowly stepped out of her pants, dropping them over the side of the bed as she stayed crouched by her ankles. Then she reached for the gown.

“Not yet. Stand up first.”

She had been afraid he would say that. Her temper flared and she straightened up sharply, her hands going to her hips. “Fine! There you go. Get your jollies and see if I care!”

“You do care or you would not be so angry,” he mused as he looked her over. “You forgot something.”

She followed his gaze to the simple pair of cotton panties she wore.

“No way. Forget it!” she snapped, stomping her foot for emphasis.

“Take them off, Kathryn. I want to see every part of you. You’ll hide none of your beauty from me.”

“Why?” she demanded to know. “Because you own me? Just like all your other little treasures?”

“Yes. Exactly for that reason. And because I find myself drawn to your beauty like nothing else has ever drawn me before. I must have all of you, Kat. Every bit of you I can safely take.”

That sounded almost ominous, and Kathryn swallowed against a new wash of fear. What did he mean by that? Maybe she should just shut up and be grateful that he wasn’t asking her to touch him or to let him touch her. At least not yet, anyway. She didn’t want to strip down and tempt him into taking it further and further. But then again, she didn’t see that she had much of a choice in the matter. She was helpless. She supposed she could scream for Aerlyn, but what good would that do her? It would only piss him off and make things worse all around.

So she pressed her lips together and snared her panties with her thumbs. Trying not to think about what she was doing, she shucked them free of her body and then stood up, trying to resist all the urges she had to cover herself with her hands and arms. She looked up to see him watching her, could see the tight grip he had on the footboard of the bed, and saw that his thick claws were gouging into the stone. There was something so primal about his reactions, something so purely male, that it called to the innate female inside her. Hadn’t she always wished a man would look at her in that way? As though she was the only woman in the universe that mattered? There was no mistaking the devout zeal in his dark eyes. She felt, for the first time in her life, as though it wouldn’t matter to him if there were a hundred supermodels stripped naked before him just then, he would still only have eyes for her.

Why, oh why, did he have to be this thing that he was?

Adrian took several deep breaths in through his nose, but instead of calming him, it brought the jasmine-sweet scent of her into his senses, and something else as well. He could smell her distinct arousal. She might protest and deny all she wanted to, but his keen senses had found her out.

Unable to stand still any longer, he rounded the foot of the bed and walked up to face her from the side. She was nearly in the center of the bed, always trying to put as much distance between them as possible. Well, that was going to stop. As of right now.

He reached forward and snagged the silken gown, drawing it over to him, and then he reached out a single clawed finger and beckoned to her. She hesitated, and just the thought of coming closer to him made her cross a protective arm over her chest. He let her get away with it. He could still see every sweet slope of her shoulders, the warm curve of her lower spine, the gentle rounding of her belly, and the wide flare of her juicy hips. Her ass was a thing of beauty and the dark brown curls protecting her womanhood were like a mysterious lock waiting to be breached. Oh, what he wouldn’t give right then to be the man he once was. He would trade away every single treasure he’d ever acquired just to be man enough to be her lover.

She came over to him in slow, careful steps, not realizing that it put sensuality in her movements, making her body curve and sway as if in seduction. When she was finally standing before him, her ripe breasts level with his mouth, he forced himself to clear his throat of its sudden tightness and said, “Kneel.”

She obeyed him, kneeling like a supplicant, making his entire body scream with savage need. But he kept tight rein on it.

“Raise your arms above your head,” he said gruffly.

She did so slowly, her eyes always wary as she watched him. He gathered up the silky peach creation and then reached to drop it over her arms and head. He hated to cover her up, but he appeased himself by remembering that she would have to change again and again in the days to come, and he would see to it he was there every time. It might be a form of self-torture, but he really didn’t give a damn.

The silk settled over her, sliding over her breasts the way he wanted his mouth to slide over her. But he knew she didn’t want him to touch her. Not sexually, anyway. The thought pissed him off and he reached for her, his big hands encircling her waist as he drew her up against his chest. He found her ear beneath her hair and growled, “Tonight and every night you sleep with me. I will fall asleep with the smell of you in my nostrils and the feel of you alongside my body.”

“B-but you said you wouldn’t—”

“There are other ways I can have your affections, Kathryn,” he said ominously. “But do not be afraid. I will never hurt you.”

“You have before,” she argued on a whisper, her hands going to his shoulders and knotting into the fabric there.

She had a point and he couldn’t possibly deny it. And he really shouldn’t make the promise since he was just as volatile to himself as he was to her and everyone else, but it was important to him that she trust him, and he would fight himself into the ground to keep his promise. He never wanted to harm his precious treasure.

“It will be different now,” he swore to her, almost believing it himself with his newfound control lacing through him. “I will make you a bargain. If I ever hurt you again, you will be free to go from me.”

“F-free? You really mean that?”

“In return,” he continued, “you give me everything I ask for.”

“I can’t do that,” she protested. “If you ask me to kill someone or…or something like that, I can’t make that kind of blanket promise!”

“I wouldn’t ask you to do that. All my requests will be reasonable, things you are capable of.”

“But not necessarily things I will like,” she quantified for him. “Like stripping down in front of you.”

He nodded for his reply. He watched her lips thin as she suppressed her anger with him. Those gorgeous gray eyes were snapping with irritation and aggravation and her fists were clutching his shirt so tightly he thought she might rip the fabric. He wanted to smile at her, a feeling he wasn’t used to having anymore, and he wondered over it. Was it possible that this lovely little creature was making him…happy?

He shook the query off. That didn’t matter right now. What mattered was the feel of her against his body, the weight of her breasts against his chest, and the warmth of her that bled into him everywhere. This he wanted to feel. This was safe to feel. For now, anyway.

He reached for the first button on his shirt.

Kathryn gasped when she realized he intended to strip off his clothes as well. She backed off away from him but he grabbed her arm and made her stay where she was, only a few inches away from him as he pulled off his shirt. He knew he was exposing her to his ugliness and he could tell by the widening of her eyes what she was thinking of him, but that didn’t stop him.

“Are you going to get n-n-n—”

“Naked?” he supplied when she couldn’t seem to force the word out. “Yes, I am. I am sorry to expose you to the sight of me, but that is how I sleep, and that is how I want to feel you beside me. Of course, if you wish to level the playing field, feel free to remove the gown at any time.”

The suggestion so flustered her that this time he did smile, from his fangs all the way to his eyes.

She caught him in the act.

“You’re just saying and doing these things to upset me! You take perverse pleasure in my embarrassment.”

“On the contrary. I find it charming and delightful. Your innocence is one of the most precious things about you.”

“And testing that innocence delights you! You said it yourself, you would take great joy in corrupting me!”

Adrian frowned at that. “I was angry when I said that. I did not mean it. I was just lashing out at you for the pain you had caused me.”

She tilted her head, regarding him through narrowed, thoughtful eyes. “Does it still?” she asked even as she reached to touch his bare skin with warm, open palms and slightly trembling fingers. “Does it still hurt you when I touch you?”