Strictly Forbidden (31 page)

“Be-behind—
”

Kira struck the armed thug on the head with a satisfying
thwack
.
He tumbled to his knees, groaning and clutching his crown. The knife clattered across
the hardwood floor.

The other man’s gaze darted between her poker and the knife glinting in the subdued
moonlight. He continued to hold Gavin tight, but he had a nervous look about him.

“Put the poker down,” he demanded.

“No.”

She eased toward the knife, a silver symbol of malice, halfway between the two intruders.
Gavin shook his head at her in silent warning. She ignored him.

Kira came within mere inches of the loose blade when Gavin’s captor threw him aside
and lunged at her. She scrambled to the floor to retrieve the knife, doing her best
to hang on
to the poker as well.

Then she felt a hand at her ankle. The assailant she had earlier struck
had revived himself enough to grab her. She yelped.

But she found the hilt of the knife with her hand and latched on tight.

As if in the distance, she heard the sound of a solid punch and a coarse curse. She
stood, blade in hand, and realized that Gavin had struck his attacker and kept the
ruffian from reaching her. She wanted to thank him, but her own foe was slowly rising
to his feet.

He wasn’t a large man, but his fingers clutching her calf told her that he was strong.
He released her leg, stood, and charged at her in one motion. In a defensive gesture,
Kira turned her back to him, clutching the knife and the poker to her chest to keep
it as far away from him as she could. He grabbed her from behind, his fingers like
cold steel about her wrists as he tried to pry the knife from her grasp. She gripped
the hilt so hard, her entire arm trembled.

Beside her, Gavin and his enemy continued their scuffle, but she could not see who
was winning. Please let it be Gavin!

“Give me the knife.” The brute’s low whisper burned her with fear. “If ye do, I’ll
make yer death painless.”

Death?
Had the fiends come here to kill them?

A grunt and another oath from across the room punctuated the air. Kira’s mind raced,
her blood pumping, pumping. They could not succeed. Darius had taught her many things
after she returned from her debacle with Lord Vance. Best to use them now.

Kira dropped the poker near her feet, then stepped on it, preventing her aggressor
from grabbing it for himself. The cold metal bit into her bare feet, but she jammed
it into the crevice between the ball of her foot and her toes and gripped with all
her might.

Then she rammed her elbow into her attacker’s stomach.

He released her instantly and backed away, clutching his lean middle. “Ye bitch!”

Kira found she wasn’t fond of him either. She whirled around and poked him in the
eyes. Her adversary howled with pain.

Feeling braver, she ventured closer, intending to introduce her knee to his most sensitive
area.

But he dove at her, ripped the knife from her hand, and threw her to the ground.

“Yer an uppity wench for a duke’s whore,” he said, panting with exertion. “I’ll enjoy
killing ye.”

Kira screamed.

A glance to her right proved Gavin and his opponent still locked in battle. Fists
flew. They were evenly matched in size and strength. Kira only knew one man from the
other this deep in shadow because Gavin wore nothing more than his drawers.

“Look at me when I slit yer throat,” growled her adversary.

She didn’t want to die! Kira squeezed her eyes shut and refused the fiend his wish.
As he settled himself more firmly over her by standing on his knees and straddling
her hips, she was glad she hadn’t complied.

A loud grunt across the room veered the narrow-faced thug’s gaze to Gavin and his
adversary. During his distraction
,
Kira wedged her knee between them and, using every bit of her strength, arched her
hips off the cold wooden floor. Her knee met his scrotum in a solid blow.

He heaved a long, nearly silent grunt as he rolled off of her and onto his back, clutching
his genitals. Kira didn’t waste time trying to pry the knife from his hands
. H
e was still the stronger by far
,
and she was out of tricks he would not likely fall for twice.

Instead, she fell to her hands and knees and scrambled in the dark to find the poker.
Finally, she came upon the thin weapon as her enemy staggered to his feet. She quickly
hit him again, this time in the temple. He crashed to the ground once more with a
groan.

Cautiously, she dropped down beside him, weapon at the ready just in case. She peered
very closely and realized he was barely conscious.

Jubilation rushing through her, she grabbed the knife from his grip and approached
Gavin and his foe. They were on the floor now, rolling around like a pair of fighting
cats. Gavin threw out a leg and prevented the other man from continuing onto his back.
He wrapped his hands around the intruder’s neck.

“Here!” She thrust the knife at him, hilt first.

His gaze snapped to her, and after a moment’s surprise, he took the knife and whipped
it up to the invader’s throat.

“Who the hell sent you?”

“Ye won’t kill me, ye milksop nobleman. None of yer kind have it in ye,” he sneered.

“Oh, you are quite wrong.” Gavin’s voice was like low thunder, and Kira knew he meant
it. “If I didn’t want information more, you would have already drawn your last breath.”

“Wot slop. Piss off!”

Gavin pressed the knife closer, sinking the edge in just enough to draw a drop
of
blood. The ruffian’s eyes grew wide as his skin grew waxy.

Suddenly, his companion rose and crashed on top of Gavin, knocking him to his side.
All but scratching at his throat, the thug Gavin had nearly stabbed raced for the
window and leapt out. The other intruder watched his partner’s departure and quickly
followed suit.

Gavin raced to the window, but the duo knocked away the ladder and ran out into the
night before he could chase them.

“Damnation!” he cursed, exhaling deeply. Then he turned to her. “Did they hurt you?”

“N—no.”

But somehow they had. Worry assailed her, bruising her to vulnerability. Had Darius
and James encountered the ruffians too? Had they lived? Fear of the unknown shook
Kira even more.

“They—they simply… scared me,” she confessed, even though there was nothing simple
about the thick sting of fear curling in her belly.

Without another word, he crossed the room and wrapped his arms around her. “I know.”

Despite the chilly night, Gavin’s large body gave off heat that seeped through her
thin nightrail. She melted into him, the edge of fear giving way to security when
he held her. But still she felt shaken.

“Were— Do you think they were Lord Vance’s—
”

“Yes,” he whispered. “The swine who attacked me looked very much like the guard with
the scarred lip at Fentlet Manor.”

His words wrung her stomach tight with worry, not only for she and Gavin, but for
her fiancé and her brother. Were they still alive? Or had they met the wrong end of
a knife?

“Oh, my… They wanted to kill us.” Kira heard her own voice tremble and couldn’t stop
it.

Gavin nodded. His chin bobbed against her cheek, the soft abrasion of his whiskers
sliding against her skin. The palm he splayed across her back seemed to engulf her.
And for his nearness, she felt so much better. She nestled closer.

“I know,” he murmured, then kissed her temple. “But they did not. How did you manage
to subdue the other ruffian?”

She shrugged, trying her best to appear composed. Inside, however, she realized how
terribly close she’d come to death
,
and she began to shake. Emotions rose until they nearly closed her throat.

“Darius taught me some—some…”

She burst into tears.

Gavin held her even more tightly. “Shh. You did a superb job defending yourself. You’re
safe now.”

“I’m not,” she protested. “We’re not. Darius and James are still missing, and—and
now someone is trying to kill us—
”

“We will solve this. Everything will be all right.”

He kissed her jaw, her cheek, so tenderly she melted. Kira pressed against him, conscious
of her pounding heart, her trembling limbs,
and
the knot of fear in her stomach that seemed unrelenting—until Gavin touched her. He
made her believe all would end well, so she held him closer.

He smoothed his palms across her back, up to her neck, massaging, soothing her. His
lips found her other cheek.

“No one can harm you tonight.”

“Do you promise?”

As soon as she asked the question, she realized it was irrational, but the soft assurance
he uttered made her feel better anyway.

“I promise.”

She clung to him still, hearing nothing more than their breathing, the beat of her
own
heart thudding in her ears. He stroked a soft hand down the length of her braid, his
lips making a soft sweep up her neck.

“I promise,” he repeated.

And she believed him.

When he lifted his head to gaze at her again, Kira felt overwhelmed by the pull of
too many feelings, fear, love, and a handful of other emotions she could not name.
But Gavin was solid and unbreakable
,
someone she trusted in the thick of danger. The tender concern in his gaze sank deep
into her heart. It was so stark and honest, she knew he cared. Hope and elation surged
within her.

Before she could stop herself, she closed the last few inches between them and laid
her mouth over his.

He met her with a soft brush that roused her senses, a sweet, lingering connection
of their lips. Then for a long moment, he simply held her, his large palms smoothing
her back, soothing her erratic heartbeat to something near normal.

“Gavin,” she whispered, holding him tight.

She scarcely finished the whisper before he brushed her lips with a kiss that felt
reassuring and urgent at once. She responded with abandon, needing his assurance,
his touch.
H
e took her mouth in a bold sampling that
tripled
her heart rate.
Then h
e possessed her, inviting himself between her lips and tasting her with a subtle stroke
of his tongue until she nearly melted. A slow fervor of passion dominated the kiss,
as if he found her a rare indulgence to savor.

She felt safe, cherished even, and gave herself over to his comfort.

Gavin cupped her jaw in his hands as if he would never have enough of her. Kira leaned
in again, feeling sweet desire rise up inside her to chip away at her fear. She eased
her hands from his shoulders to his back, then tangled her fingers in the silky dark
hair at his nape.

The kiss went on, endless, perfect, a timeless testament to the power of their connection.
In her heart, they merged to become
like one body.
It
felt as if they were meant to be this way always, he protective yet gentle, she responsive
and giving.

When Gavin caressed her cheek with
his
fingers, she became pliable in his hands. She wanted so desperately for this feeling
of belonging and safety to go on forever.

“Touch me,” she whispered.

He paused, met her gaze. The dark probe of his stare searched her, reading her face.
Whatever he read there must have convinced him that she meant her soft words, for
he claimed her mouth again so softly it was like a dream. He caressed her from shoulder
to waist with a gossamer touch.

Kira responded with a soft moan, arching closer. Everything about him felt so good,
so right, as if she was meant to be with him always.

She stroked the length of his bare back, marveling at the silken steel skin rippling
beneath her hands. In return, he nibbled at her mouth, awakening her to his touch.

With warm fingers, he slid her nightdress from her shoulder, exposing her to the night
air. He kissed a heated path from her mouth, to her jaw, down her neck, until he claimed
the sensitive skin of her bare shoulder.

Her breathing came harder then, and she arched toward him, assailed by a wish that
this could go on forever.

He plucked at the buttons fronting her nightdress, undoing them one after the other.
A moment of protest filtered through her mind.

“I can’t tell you how much I’ve wanted to touch you,” he muttered. “Or how worried
I was when that bounder attacked you. My heart nearly stopped when I realized how
badly he could have hurt you.”

Before she could reply to his raspy confession, he kissed her again. Kira tasted the
passion in this kiss—and something she had not discerned when they made love on the
library floor: yearning. Whatever he wanted seemed to come from his heart.