Annie Nicholas - Catch

No destination, no plan or goal, I just needed to flee the sound of the cracking whip.

Rounding a corner, I rebounded off someone heading in the other direction. With unnatural speed, they pinned my arms to my sides and dragged me down the hall.

I bit, screamed and tried to head-butt my assailant. We came to a pair of familiar wooden doors where Tane stood waiting.

I knew him. He felt safe.

Released from the man’s grip, I raced to Tane’s open arms. He’d saved me twice, I could trust him to do it again.

With a slight grunt when I flung myself against his chest, he encircled me in a strong hug, and kicked the door shut. “What the hell is wrong with you?” He glared at me, bewildered.

“I-I. The whip…and Luckard.” Looking around, I realized I stood in Tane’s foyer. “I don’t know.”

He guided me to a couch in the sitting area. The creepy masks on the wall all stared at me as if laughing. “Sounds as if you had a nightmare.”

I flopped onto the cushion. “Yeah, a pretty vivid one.”

Tane sat next to me. “We should check your mental shield.”

“Let’s not and say we did. I’ve had enough of you in my head lately.”

“A human is more susceptible in their sleep, Rabbit. This might not be a nightmare.”

I swallowed with a dry throat and stared at him. “Then what the hell is it?”

“Luckard trying to get into your head. He probably thinks he can slip into my head from yours through our bond, but I’m too strong for that and he’s too stupid.”

“Okay.” The thought of Luckard trying to get inside my head turned my stomach. It quelled my anxiety enough to allow Tane access to my mind. This was all I needed, two Nosferatu taking a field trip in my brain.

Tane stared at me, I didn’t sense anything around my shield though. Not a good sign.

He nodded. “All done. Have you had similar dreams?”

I retold the one I’d had yesterday afternoon before asking Gwen to take me outside for some fresh air.

“Sleep the rest of the day here. My presence will shield you.” He stood and retrieved a blanket from a trunk then spread it over me as I lay across the soft couch, too tired to argue.

Something struck me as wrong at that moment. The fog cleared. “What are you doing awake? Is it later than I thought?” I sat up and scanned the room for a clock.

“I don’t need to rest during the day like the others.” With one finger on my shoulder, he pushed me back into the plush cushions. “This is usually my quiet time, though.”

“When dawn arrives you don’t shut down?” The incredulity in my voice was apparent, even to myself.

He sighed as if trying to grasp at some patience. “I’m old enough to resist it.

Sometimes I sleep because I’m bored.” He tucked the blanket under my chin. “Rest.”

“Can all Nosferatu stay awake?”

A low growl rumbled in his chest “You’re driving me nuts. Sleep.” His last word snapped like a command.

I pulled the blanket up to my nose. Tane’s reassurance that Luckard couldn’t reach me didn’t ease my fears. What if they were just nightmares from my sick and twisted mind?

He knelt next to the couch so we could be eye to eye. “Sometimes I forget how young you are. What are you, twenty-five?”

“Twenty-nine.”

The color of his eyes was such a dark brown they almost seemed black. They softened at my response. “I can’t remember being twenty-nine.” He chuckled. “I’ll tell you something a wise man passed on to me once. You’re going to live longer than you expected, and bad things are bound to happen. Let them bounce off you. Grieve, cry, fight whatever you need to survive, but don’t cling to it. Move on.”

“I tend to cling.” When my husband had died, I clung to a bottle of rum for a year.

“What’s bothering you?”

All I could do was sputter. His question struck me speechless. “Where do you want me to start?” I flung my hands out.

He frowned. “Patience has never been one of my virtues, Connie.”

“Luckard, the bond and having to stay here.” I took Tane’s hand. The expression of confusion on his face as he stared at our melded fingers made me want to smile except I couldn’t. “I feel trapped and helpless.”

“Is this the same woman who refused to choose sides in Budapest, and once told me she’d build her own damn boat to brave the political storms?”

“I’m not feeling very brave this morning. Luckard broke something inside me, and I don’t think you can lick and make it better.”

Tane gazed at me as if not sure what manner of creature sat on his sofa. “I wish I could. The best I can offer you is revenge.”

I nodded as he slipped his hand out of my grip. His red silk robe hung open and the wound on his chest peeked out. I reached to touch the edges. “It’s not healed?”

He flinched as if it stung. “Wounds caused by wooden weapons heal slower. It will be gone by tonight.”

Tracing my fingers across his chest, I examined the injury, the one he took for me.

“Did you catch the person who tried to kill us?”

“No.” A simple word, but the angry tone told me of his frustration. “I have it under control, though.”

“Really? You planned getting a cross bolt through your chest?” Sometimes I wish I could pull back the things I’ve said. I couldn't have alienated Tane more if I tried.

He stood and his robe closed. “If you need me, I’ll be in my bedroom reading.”

“Wait.” I sat up and offered a rare act on my part. “I’m sorry.” Apologies grated on my nerves, especially when the person deserved one.

“Control over your words will be essential if you wish to survive in this court. You need to practice restraint.”

“Rurik’s told me this already and it probably won’t happen anytime soon. I’d rather not be alone right now. Can you read here?”

Tane turned slightly, his gaze traveled along my body. He then retrieved a thin, brown leather bound book from a drawer in the side table. “Scoot forward.” He sat behind me and straddled his legs on each side of my hips. “Lean back.”

When I didn’t move he sighed. “The least you can do is keep me warm.”

I leaned into his chest and pressed my back to the soft silk of his robe.

He tucked the blanket around us, leaving his arms free with the book resting on his thigh. Without a heartbeat to compete with, his deep voice resonated in his body.

Reciting a poem about a frosty lake, Tane droned on and on, until I lost the meaning of the words and heard only the rhythm.

My eyelids grew heavy as my warmth encompassed us.

Someone wrapped a curl of my hair around their finger then unwound it with a gentle pull, only to start the process again. I pressed my cheek into the soft silk of my pillow, but it didn’t budge and it didn’t feel stuffed.

Rubbing my face on the surface, I sensed a nipple under the material. I must be sleeping on Rurik again. When did he start wearing silk? The man would go around naked twenty-four seven if I let him.

In a languid stretch, I raised my arms over my head and rubbed my body against him.

He stiffened.

Not the response I expected. I opened my eyes to meet his clear blue ones except they stared at me from across the room.

My heart stopped.

I twisted to find Tane still in his red robe with a little drool stain on his chest where I had slept.

He gave me a crooked smile. “Sleep well?”

I wiped the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand. Some women awoke looking beautiful. I’m not one of those. As I checked my surroundings, I found Archios sitting in a chair next to Rurik. “Good morn—evening.” I cleared my throat. My curls moved on my head as if they had a life of their own. I’d gone to sleep after the bath without drying them. No makeup, drool on my face and a ball of blonde fuzz on my head—a picture of elegance.