“I
am perfectly capable of looking after myself. I assume they can only come
out at night. So I’ll just go about my usual routine but make sure I’m
home before the sun sets.”
“And
when she lures you out dangling a puppy by its throat… or your next door
neighbour, what then?”
“I’ll
sleep at Hadleigh’s place then. I’ve no doubt she’d love to introduce
Vamperella to the edge of her favourite sword.”
“You
think between her enforcement duties for the Sanctuary and knocking boots
together with Vaughn, every chance she gets, Hadleigh’s going to have time to
babysit you?”
Charisse
glared green daggers his way. “Fine… so I’ll stay out on the rock until this
all blows over. Can vampires swim?”
“I
have no idea but they’re perfectly capable of steering a boat or most likely
they’d just fly.”
Charisse
swallowed hard. “Vampires can fly?”
“Fly…
glide… whatever, it means your rock isn’t going to be safe. Until I’ve
dealt with Vampire Assassin Queen Barbie you’ll be spending your nights here.”
The
nerve of the man! If Bettina hadn’t depleted all her strength thanks to
her earlier stunt of throwing Nate off the rock Charisse would have been very
tempted to stop fighting the bond and just let Bettina zap her back to the
rock. That would show the macho over-bearing jerk.
Deep
breaths Charisse, calm down. Stop letting Nate push all your
buttons. Giving up even an inch of her tenacious hold on the bond she
shared with the bitch-rock, just to prove a point to the elite warrior would
not be prudent. Give Bettina any leeway and she might find herself stuck
out on that rock for all eternity. No, be rational, be cool, be an adult.
“So
when you say house arrest, you mean that I just need to spend my nights
here?” She could work with that, paint on the rock, come here, avoid
Nate, sleep and repeat. It was doable.
“No,
I mean twenty-four seven here, where I can keep an eye on you. Vampires
can’t go out during the day but it doesn’t mean Destiny doesn’t have daytime
people doing her bidding. Also, we know from raiding her lair that she
likes to set up surveillance, do you really want her knowing who your friends
and family are? Where they live?”
“When
you put it like that… your request that I stay here almost sounds like a
reasonable solution, but I’m sorry, I can’t spend my days here, I have to
paint.”
“No
one’s stopping you from painting. Pick a room, there are enough of them.”
Charisse
shook her head, instinctively wrapping her arms around herself. “The only
place I can paint is out on that rock.”
“Well
I’m afraid you’re going to have to make an exception this time.”
Charisse
wandered over to the window, staring out at the dark sea. The bond
between her and Bettina might be muted at the moment, but eventually the
bitch-rock would be back to full strength and pulling like crazy on that damn
choke chain bond of theirs. Goddess, this was going to prove
painful. “So this is the thanks I get for saving your ass tonight?
House arrest and attitude?”
“Attitude?”
Nate gave her a long slow perusal from her scarlet tipped toenails to her
loose long wavy dark auburn hair. “Pot… kettle. You sauntered up
from the beach tonight wearing that bikini like it was your armour, batting
your eyelashes and pouting up a storm. You’re just upset that I don’t
bend over backwards like all those other sad sacks and let you get your
way. Unless…” His whiskey coloured eyes flared with speculation.
“Unless
what?” She really didn’t like that look in his eyes or the full on sexy
grin he was suddenly casting her way.
“Unless
the reason you arrived here tonight had absolutely nothing to do with the
vamps.”
“What
are you talking about?” Charisse frowned, the man was making no sense and
why, for Goddess sake, wouldn’t he put on a shirt?
“Maybe
it was me you came looking for, with your – excuse the expression –
vamp mode
on.”
“You?”
“It
was an undeniably hot kiss we shared earlier and it did end a little
abruptly…”
“You…”
Charisse was completely speechless. “You… think I followed you here
tonight, to pick up where we left off?”
He
let his eyes travel once more slowly down her frame.
Charisse
had never felt more exposed… or more embarrassed. “You’re insane. I
saw you were in trouble tonight and I came to help… you’re right, I am an
idiot. Get out.” She pointed to the bedroom door.
“Cyd…”
“Out.”
She insisted, waving her arms, making shooing gestures.
Nate
let her herd him out of the room and slam the door. Leaning back against
it he considered for a moment what he’d just learnt. Whatever Cyd was,
she’d been expecting to face multiple opponents when she’d turned up tonight
and she’d whole heartedly believed that she would walk out the victor.
Maat, what the hell was she?
She’d
had those minions under her control. Shit, she’d even convinced one of
them to take a step over the threshold of the house even though it would mean
ending its own existence. Was it her eyes? Mind control?
Something to do with that hellish noise that kept coming and going? She’d
been singing at one point hadn’t she? But it had been a Maat awful sound.
More of a defensive, Harpy-like sound, to his ears at least. What could she
be?
Despite
all Destiny’s bluster tonight, he was pretty sure for a minute or two she had
been under Cyd’s spell just as much as her henchmen. So what in the hell was
Cyd? And what did it have to do with whatever was all but engulfing her
soul?
Well,
he supposed since they were now trapped at Kaleidoscope Folly until the vampire
threat was dealt with, he’d have plenty of opportunities to uncover all her
secrets.
He
was smiling as he made his way downstairs to check on his other house
guest. It took him a few seconds to work out why. If Cyd really
hadn’t been thinking about the kiss… then why else had she still been out on
that damn rock after midnight staring up at his place?
Chapter
Ten
Charisse
stomped into the kitchen just after eight o’clock the next morning. Even
though according to her normal routine she’d overslept, she was still
tired. She glared at Nate’s back as he stood at the kitchen counter chopping
up fruit with a ridiculously large knife. “I need clothes.”
Nate
turned, his eyes shut. “Please be naked. Please be naked.” He
opened his eyes and blinked. Okay, how could her wearing one of his
t-shirts and a pair of his boxer shorts that all but swam on her much tinier
frame be sexier than seeing her naked? He was so in a world of trouble
when it came to this girl. “I’ve already done a clothes and supply run
for you.” He waved the knife he was holding over to the left.
Charisse
blinked, a little disconcerted to find a familiar silver suitcase sitting
there, next to it was her spare paintbox, an easel and several canvases.
“You went to my house?
You went through
my things?”
“Yes
and yes.” Nate turned his attention back to the chopping board, dividing
up the last of the mango between two bowls.
“You
have some nerve, you know that right?” At least he was almost wearing a
shirt this morning, even if he’d failed to do up a single button.
“Cyd…”
He turned, carrying two bowls over to a rather rickety small oval table.
“Don’t
you
Cyd
me.” She folded her
arms continuing to glare at him. “Why would you think it okay to break
into my house, go through my things… invade my privacy? Go on, tell me
what could have possessed you?”
Nate
laid cutlery at each place setting before grabbing a jug of fruit juice and two
glasses. “I’m sensing you’re a little angry… but honestly, there was a
very good reason for why I went to get your things by myself this
morning.” He gestured to the empty seat across from him.
Stomping
over, Charisse sat down. “Okay, lay whatever half-assed excuse you’ve
come up with for sneaking into my home and pawing through my belongings on me.”
“Juice?”
Nate held up the jug.
“Nate.”
She growled his name.
“Fine,
you want to know what I was thinking? I was thinking I was protecting
you. Destiny and her crew had a lot of moonlit hours left to burn last
night after our little encounter. Plenty of time in which to discover
your identity and place of residence.”
“Oh…”
Charisse hadn’t thought of that. “And did you find anything?”
“How
attached were you to your car?”
“My
car? What did that bitch do to my car?”
“I
believe they decided to test whether it was sea-worthy or not… Not, being the
answer by the way.”
“Oh
Goddess.”
“Don’t
worry; I’ve already put a call into the Sanctuary enforcement team.
They’ll organise getting your car towed and speak to the insurance
company. They’re a little strapped on manpower at the moment but they’ve
promised to swing by your place and check up on it occasionally.”
“Oh
Goddess.” Absently she accepted the glass of juice from Nate and drained
half its contents. “Thanks… what about my house?”
“It
looked secure… nice place… small, but nice. I’d forgotten I’d been there
before, a few weeks ago when Nell and Drum got married.”
“I’m
glad it met with your approval.” She couldn’t help but comment dryly.
“Eat,
you look pale.” Nate encouraged, digging into his own large bowl of fruit
salad.
“Vampires
know where I live and have trashed my car. I’m allowed to be pale.”
“True,
but you’re not living there right now. You’re safe… here with me.”
“The
same me, who not five minutes ago said, and I quote, ‘please be naked, please
be naked’?”
“Ah
Cyd, you take everything way too seriously, you need to lighten up.”
“Lighten
up he says. A vampire bitch Queen is now out for my blood. My car,
according to you, is a write off and I’m stuck here in this disaster
zone.” She gave the small table a slight nudge and it wobbled precariously.
“How can this be considered house arrest when the house is a construction
crews’ nightmare and a demolition crews’ wet dream?”
“Maat,
you’re grumpy in the morning. I thought with you being the artistic type
you’d be able to envisage all the possibilities this place has. Like you
did in your painting.”
“I’m
allowed to be grumpy, I didn’t sleep very well.”
“Nightmares?”
“No,
there are huge gaps around the window frames, the wind kept me up most of the
night. Which just further proves my point, from a distance I was naïve
enough to think this place had potential, but up close… there probably isn’t a
nail in this place that doesn’t need to be replaced. What possessed you
to buy it?”
“Well
first and foremost I needed a threshold to call my very own. They tend to
come in pretty handy when vamps are stalking you.”
“I
get that. But there must have been other properties in the area with a
lot less work required to make them habitable… let alone wind and rain proof.”
Nate
shrugged. “Yeah, there were a few. But I’d go stir crazy if I had
nothing to do but water some plants and sand back a door that sticks
occasionally.”
“Okay,
but the sheer size of this project… you’ve been here over a week already and
barely made a dent. And I’m assuming that you don’t intend for the
vampire threat to drag on much longer… where does that leave the Folly when you
resume your normal life?”
Nate
chewed on a large square of ripe pineapple. Absently he looked around the
kitchen, not seeing the out-dated dusty room and ancient appliances but the
light filled, modern kitchen he intended to install. Knock out a couple
of walls, large double doors opening out to a covered veranda, install all the
high tech mod-cons and add a solid family table. This place was going to
be great, he just knew it. “What can I say? I saw a photo of this
place and it just felt… right.”
“I
hope you’re still saying that in two years’ time when you’re still slogging
away at it nights and weekends.”
“Speaking
of which, nothing is getting achieved me just sitting around like this.”
He carried his empty bowl and glass over to the sink. Once he’d
done that, he slipped off his unbuttoned shirt.
Charisse
swallowed hard, why was the man undressing in the kitchen? No not
undressing she realised, getting ready to work, as he pulled out a dark red
bandanna from the back pocket of his jeans and proceeded to tie it over his
nose and mouth, scooping up some heavy duty gloves, he headed out of the
room.
“Hey
wait, what am I supposed to do all day?”
He
didn’t even pause, kept right on walking away from her. “Paint, read, do
your nails… think of it as a holiday.”
Charisse
glared at the now empty doorway… a holiday? Thanks to her bond with
Bettina she’d never been able to indulge in a holiday before. Oh she’d
travelled. She’d shopped in Florence, lunched in New York and partied in
Brazil. But they were usually brief jaunts via the family transport
portals. The longest she’d ever managed to be away from Bettina was four
years ago when she’d had the flu. Even then the constant pull on the bond
had forced her to rise from her sick bed on the third day and paddle out to the
rock just to get the bitch off her aching back.
In
Bettina’s current weakened condition she wondered just how much time she’d have
before she’d be doubled over in pain. Well, there was no use borrowing
trouble. So what did one do when one was forced to have a holiday
effectively at a bomb site? She had no idea. First things first,
she needed to get dressed for the day. She eyed her suitcase dubiously.
Just what did an elite warrior know about packing a woman’s suitcase?
Well there was no time like the present to find out.
*
*
*
“You
will not beat me.” Charisse muttered through clenched teeth as she
brushed away a stray bit of hair from her eyes with the back of her hand.
“I...” She took a deep breath and heaved. “…Will emerge victorious…
over you.” She heaved upwards again, putting her shoulder behind it and
pushing from her knees. “And when I do… I will dance… a happy dance…
there will be cheering.” She strained upwards again. “Maybe a
parade… at the very least a twenty-one gun salute.”
“You
okay there Cyd?”
Charisse
whirled, flattening herself against the wall, hand clenched to her chest in
surprise. “Goddess, will you quit sneaking up on me like that!”
“Whatcha
doing?” He eyed the section of wall she’d been attacking.
Charisse
rolled her eyes. “What does it look like I’m doing?” She waved the
metal scraper at him before turning to survey her achievements.
Nate
found himself eyeing her pert bottom instead of the wall. How could he
not, the woman was still wearing his t-shirt and boxer shorts, the only change
she’d made in her appearance since he’d seen her at breakfast was to pull her
hair back into a pony-tail with the aid of what looked like one of his
bootlaces.
“Well
you’re either removing wallpaper or you’re papering yourself… it’s a little
hard to tell.” He reached over and plucked off a large torn piece of
paper that had settled on the top of her head.
Charisse
grimaced as she glanced down at the flecks of paper and splotches of old dried
glue clinging to her clothes and bare skin. “What can I say?
It’s been a long and dirty battle.” She eyed the last remaining strip of
wallpaper with a determined look. “I’m almost done.”
“I
think maybe you need a rest Cyd. How long have you been at this?”
He surveyed the bedroom, the bed had been made and her suitcase sat on top of
it, not yet opened.
“No
idea, I came up here after breakfast to shower and change and there was a piece
of wallpaper flapping that was really annoying me. So I pulled on it… and
well.” She waved a hand at the end result.
“That
was almost eleven hours ago.”
“Really,
no wonder I feel like I’ve gone ten rounds.”
“I’m
surprised you’re not painting.”
Charisse
was still frowning at the last section of wallpaper that remained… taunting
her. “Did you want something?” She was eager to get back up the
ladder she’d appropriated much earlier in her battle.
“Sunset
is forty minutes away. I just wanted to let you know to stay away from
the windows.”
“Okay.”
She re-positioned the ladder to where she needed it.
“Cyd,
you don’t have to do this you know.”
“I
refuse to let this crappy flowery nightmare, masquerading as wallpaper,
win.”
“Okay…”
Nate took a cautious step back from the woman waving around the sharp edged
tool. “Well, when you’re done, come downstairs, I’ll fix us something to
eat.”
“Sure.”
She was already half way up the ladder and squaring her shoulders for the last
battle round.
Nate
took one last lingering look at her tempting rear end, now at eye level, before
exiting fast. How could a woman, covered with dust, dirt and globs of dried
glue, be about the Maat-damned sexiest thing he’d ever seen? Perhaps
spending all that time under the hot sun was finally starting to fry his
brain. Maat, he needed a drink.