Authors: Kate Evangelista
scrambled across the living area, cursing the distance of the bathroom from the bedroom.
Heading straight for the sink, I pushed the tap up and slashed cold water on my face. I didn’t see myself sleeping for the rest of the night. I made the mistake of looking at my reflection in the mirror. My stomach twisted violently.
Face still dripping, I fell to my knees over the toilet and heaved. The seven course dinner I
was beginning to get used to at Lunar Manor came up the way it went down. Bitter acid
burned its way up my throat into my mouth. I coughed, unable to breathe. Tears streamed
from my good eye. A couple more wretched heaves followed, bowing my torso.
Feeling spent, and twice as exhausted, I flushed then rinsed out the sourness in my
mouth. For good measure, I avoided the mirror and grabbed a towel. After patting my face
dry, I returned the patch to its rightful place. Only then did I face the mirror. Feeling a
hundred times better, I grabbed my toothbrush.
Minty fresh breath later, I padded out of the bathroom, prepared to get back to work.
When I got to my desk, my gaze wandered to the terrace. My heart constricted before it
doubled its beats. A figure sat with his back to my room on the banister. If he decided to push off, it would be a one story fall. The best he could do was break a leg or an arm.
I chuckled. In what universe would Luka ever contemplate killing himself? As far as I was
concerned, he had
the
life. Famous. Rich. Gorgeous. What more could he ask for?
Leaving my laptop, I opened my terrace doors and leaned against the doorframe the way
he did the first time he escorted me to dinner. I crossed my arms, not minding my bare feet
on the cold stone.
“Don’t you ever sleep?” I asked as a joke.
He shrugged, his long fingers curling around the banister behind him. “Don’t you?”
“When Deidra said we’d be sharing the east wing, I didn’t think you’d be harassing me the
whole time.”
“I don’t mean to be a bother.”
The sadness in his statement confused me. I meant to tease, not to hurt. Unable to help
myself, I pushed away from the doorframe and joined him.
Luka looked up at the sky, his flaxen curls gleaming gray in the darkness. Our only light
came from inside my quarters. When I reached him, my heartbeat sped up for a different
reason. Had he seen me run to the bathroom?
“Are you sick?”
His question crushed my insides. “No.”
He twisted toward me slightly and touched my forehead. I didn’t back away even if I
wanted too. Maybe the shock of how good his calluses felt against my skin kept me from
moving. His blue eyes scanned my face as if searching for something. For a second, I
wondered how that hand would feel squeezing my breast, his thumb teasing my nipple to life.
Thank goodness he dropped his hand before my thoughts scrambled and I completely forgot
myself.
“You don’t seem sick to me,” he finally said, returning his attention to the sky.
“It’s because I’m not. What are you looking at anyway?” I looked up with him. This far
away from the city, the stars shined brightly above us. A blanket of diamonds in the sky.
“It’s not what I’m looking at.” He sighed. It must have been the saddest sound I’d ever
heard from the way my heart jerked inside my chest. I would have teared up if I hadn’t
already wasted my quota for the day in the bathroom. “It’s what I’m looking for.”
I swallowed. “What are you looking for?”
“Answers,” he whispered. “They say, if you look up at the stars long enough, you will find
answers.”
“To what?”
“All of life’s questions.”
How did we get philosophical all of a sudden? For the first time, no matter how beautiful
Luka looked, I didn’t want to take his picture. I was afraid that if I went inside to grab my
camera he wouldn’t be here when I got back.
I couldn’t be sure what drove me to ask, “Any specific questions you’re looking for answers
too?”
He turned to face me again. His hand brushed over the banister until his fingers touched
mine. My lips parted slightly when he took my hand and placed a soft kiss over my knuckles.
Not once did he remove his gaze from mine. I willed myself not to blink, not wanting to miss
a moment of what Luka was doing. My breath hitched when he turned my hand over and
kissed the center of my palm. The tip of his tongue darted out and traced my love and life
lines. My own tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth, the inside having gone dry. Then Luka
spoke into my palm, his hot breath drying the wetness he’d left behind.
“Like if I wanted to kiss you, will you let me?”
The muscles in my abdomen quivered. I heard no hint of teasing in his question. I cleared
my throat before swallowing.
“But you’re already kissing me,” I said, admonishing myself for the tremor in my voice.
As if to prove my point, he kissed my palm again, open-mouthed this time. “That I am. But
this isn’t the only place I want to kiss you.”
Squaring my shoulders, I took the dare in his tone. “Where else?”
He moved his lips to the sensitive skin on the inside of my wrist. “Here.” He licked the
cluster of veins there. I couldn’t stop the shiver ravaging my body even if I wanted to.
“Cold?”
I shook my head. “Go on. Where else.”
Keeping his eyes on mine, Luka trailed kisses until he reached the inside of my elbow and
nipped the skin there. I twitched from the pleasure pain of the contact. He licked the spot
before running his hand up my arm until he closed it behind my neck. He pulled me closer
and I stopped thinking. My tongue darted across my lower lip, waiting, wanting what happens
next.
“Can I kiss you here, Dakota?” He ran his thumb along the exact same path the tip of my
tongue took earlier.
I dipped my chin once, unable to really nod because of the brace his hand behind my neck
created.
“Say it,” he whispered. “Tell me what you want.”
“Yes.” It came out more breath than word. “I want you to kiss me.”
Excruciatingly slow, Luka leaned in, never adjusting his seat on the banister. One mistake
and he would fall. But the consequences were the furthest from my mind. In fact, I barely had
any coherent thoughts. Luka took my bottom lip between his teeth and pulled me toward
him. I didn’t resist. I was beyond resisting.
I took his face into my hands and crushed myself against him, plunging my tongue into his
mouth. With a groan, he moved his hand from my neck to the small of my back. He pressed
me against him. My nipples pebbled almost immediately inside my bra upon contact with his
chest. His heat enveloped me, banishing the cold of night.
As I ravaged his mouth like it was my first drink of water after a yearlong draught, I
noticed Luka only held me with one hand. He kept the other holding onto the banister. It
struck me as odd at first because I wanted both his hands on my body, but I stopped caring
when my tongue slammed against the metal stud in his mouth. God Almighty! A tongue ring.
I whimpered, shaking. I couldn’t get enough. His spicy sweet scent extended into his taste. I
didn’t care that I lapped at him. This kiss was sloppy, messy, and all kinds of sexy. At some
point I forgot to breathe and got light-headed. I needed air, but not even the Jaws of Life
could rip me away from Luka’s delicious mouth.
Vaguely, I felt Luka’s hand climb back up my spine to my hair. He closed it around the
strands and pulled. At first, I thought he was trying to keep my mouth against his. Seconds
later he tugged harder than what was considered sexual. I had to detach myself from him to
keep from having my scalp ripped off.
“What are you doing?” I stared into his hooded eyes. I barely caught the blue in them. His
long eyelashes created shadows against the tops of his cheekbones.
He breathed just as hard as I did when he finally met me stare for stare. Untamed desire
colored his irises black. I noticed then how hard he was shaking. His knuckles knocked
against the base of my skull. I whispered his name, my own desire morphing into fear. My
heart hammered in my ears.
He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath. “You better go.”
“Huh?”
One by one he opened his fingers, his knuckles popping from the effort. They were so tight
against my hair that the pain pulsed from the roots. I actually hissed.
“Just go!” he growled.
“Not until you tell me why,” I demanded. I had to be angry because the alternative was far
more frightening.
Luka looked away from me and rubbed his hand over his face. “Because if you don’t go, I
don’t think I’ll be able to stop myself.”
I shifted, trying my best not to massage the spot where his hand last touched my body.
“What if I don’t want you to stop?”
He shook his head and sighed. “Wrong fucking question, Dakota. Just leave before this
goes to a place you will surely regret.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but my gaze dropped to his hand back on the banister. His
knuckles were so white I didn’t think any blood circulated there anymore. Unable to
understand what had gotten into him, I backed away slowly. I knew when to cut my losses.
Eventually, I would get to the bottom of this. I promised myself that.
Chapter Eighteen
Kilts
By the end of my first week at Lunar Manor, it snowed. I woke up to a fresh blanket of
white over Gregory’s meticulously kept grounds. Everything the snow touched looked so
pure. The sun glistened over the white, brightening up the place.
Not bothering to put on a jacket, I stepped out into the terrace, camera in my hands. I
breathed in the crisp air and snapped a couple of shots. The fountains lay dormant in the
frozen wonderland. It wasn’t officially winter yet in Crescent City so the icy white could melt by late afternoon, which pushed me to capture it. Thank goodness I got the splatter
drumming shots when I did. The paint would have looked good on the snow, but it wouldn’t
have been the effect I’d intended.
My gaze landed on the banister. I was a long way from figuring out why Luka wanted to
stop that night. It seemed like he had pushed me away but not because of anything I did.
When I’d asked him about it before dinner the next night, he waved me away. It seemed Luka
answered questions only when good and ready. If he wasn’t, good luck getting anything out of
him. Frustrated, I immersed myself in my work. I still needed eight photos for the project and I was determined to capture at least one of them today.
A knock on the doorframe brought my attention back to my room. Deidra waved me in,
pointing at a cup of steaming coffee on my desk. I shivered and hurried back inside. I cradled the cup in both hands and took a grateful sip, ignoring the burn on my tongue and throat.
Totally worth the sacrifice. The Lunar Manor kitchen made the best coffee. The robust brew
coated my tongue like a warm hug.
I stared at the black liquid as Deidra closed the terrace doors behind me. “Why do I get the
feeling I will never find coffee this good out in the real world?”
Deidra treated me to an unladylike snort-laugh. “The real world?”
“It’s true.” I eyed her. “This place feels like a whole different dimension.”
“Do you have laundry you want washed?” Deidra asked.
I rolled my eye and pointed at the bathroom, and beyond the door, the hamper. “I want
them washed and pressed please.”
“Certainly, Miss Dakota.” The maid with gray hair emphasized the “miss,” and I laughed.
“Now, why don’t you eat your breakfast? I have a feeling you have a long day ahead of you.”
Yana didn’t mention anything last night about something significant happening today, so I
didn’t know what Deidra hinted at. She slipped inside the bathroom before I could ask. My
stomach growled when my gaze landed on the fruit bowl and fresh yogurt.
“Care to enlighten me?” I asked when she reentered the living area with my bundled
clothes. A blush burned across my face when I caught sight of one of my bras dangling from
her grip. Having someone else do my laundry freaked me out, but I didn’t want to find out the
consequence of doing my own load. Plus, I didn’t know the location of the laundry room, so I
grinned and bore having my underwear washed by someone else by focusing on mixing a
dollop of yogurt with raspberries. The sweetness of the berries popping in my mouth mixed
well with the tartness of the yogurt.
Deidra lifted her eyebrows at me. “How many photos have you taken for your project?”
I wasn’t surprised. If Gregory knew then surely everyone else did. I thought it only
happened on Downtown Abbey, but apparently servants really did gossip in real life.
“One,” I grumbled into my bowl.
“And you have three weeks left to get nine more?”
“Eight,” I said into my coffee cup.
“Eight.” She sighed like I was a child caught procrastinating on my homework. I didn’t
have to see the eye roll to know it happened. “Then you should get working then.”
“Alright, alright.” My shoulders came up to my ears and stayed there. “I’ll get to work.”
Deidra sniffed her satisfaction before padding out of my room.
***
snooped or anything like that—I ventured out of my room, camera at the ready. My mantra
for the day became:
I’m getting that second shot
. I repeated it several times until I reached the first floor landing.