Her revengeful Bastard

A stubborn wench

*Anna*

Dear God in heaven ! What have I done ? What did I allow him to do ? Allow ? I wanted, encouraged, taunted and teased him into doing it.

I dash down the stairs. So many blasted stairs. Why did he have to build a hotel with five floors ? Are there really that many people in need of lodging for a single night ?

I hate that I enjoyed the kiss so much, that it has stirred things within me that Kyle’s hadn’t. I can barely remember Kyle’s. It had been nothing while Kai’s had been everything. My body responded as though he held the key to unlocking my soul.

Never before have I been so terrified, confused … and ashamed, because every inch of me demands I return to him and let him finish what he has begun. To lay me out for his pleasure, to touch me in ways I yearn for even though I don’t know precisely what they are. But he knows. He knows how to lure, entice, deliver.

So many sins from which to choose.

I find myself wanting to experience the gravest of all: giving myself to a man without the benefit of marriage.

Love is supposed to center a person. No, this isn’t love. Far from it. It is passion and desire; it is animalistic instincts. Wolves mate. Men have barbaric cravings that women are charged with keeping in check. It is the reason men sow wild oats while women do embroidery samplers. They have different needs, different purposes. Men are weak when it comes to the flesh, women strong.

So why had I nearly melted into a puddle at his feet?

Finally, I reach the lobby.

“Is everything all right, miss ?” The gent behind the desk asks, but I ignore him, drawing up the hood on my jacket.

The porter who stands beyond the glass doors must have heard me coming, because he looks back and opens the door for me. I rush through, hurry down the steps and stop short. The car is gone. Of course it is. The driver stayed longer than twenty minutes, but he can’t wait here all night. He is surely needed elsewhere. Especially as a light mist is engulfing the streets.

Wandering beyond sight of the door, I lean against the front of the building past the steps, below the eaves. I wonder how long before a car might pass by. Ages, I suspect. There is no theater to draw crowds. It is late. Who would think to come here to look for a woman in need of rescue ?

Moving away from the wall and peering around the corner, I call up to the porter. “Where might I find a car ?”

“I don’t really know, miss”. The door opens, and he hops aside as Kai charges through it … properly done up with a knotted tie, waistcoat and jacket … and starts down the steps. “Would you like me to go search for one for you ?”

“No need, Jones”. Kai calls back to the servant. “I’ll see the lady home”.

I retreat three steps as he nears. “That’s not necessary. I can see myself home. I just need to locate a car”.

“My car will be here in a second. I’ve already sent for it”. He says.

“I don’t think that’s wise, considering …”. The thought of being in a cramped space with him where I can smell his marvelously masculine scent is unnerving.

Seemingly oblivious to the mist drifting down from the heavens, he leans a shoulder against the wall. “I’m fairly certain you wish me to apologize, but an apology would imply I was sorry. I’m not. I’ve wanted to kiss you from the moment I met you”.

I feel as though he has slammed his mouth back against mine. Warmth is infusing me, my lungs desert me, and my ability to respond has gone on holiday.

“It’s the reason I made the wager with Kyle in order to have you attend my affair”. He continues.

The words are a jolt, knocking me out of my stunned state even as they carried me further into it. “What wager ?”

“He didn’t tell you ?” He asks.

He did not. My anger with Kyle continues to grow. I am going to smack him the next time I see him … for so many reasons. “He said you invited us to your affair”.

His shoulder lifts, then drops. “I suppose those words contain some truth”.

But not the entire truth. I hear it in his tone. “What is the whole truth, Mr. Tempest ?”

“I do wish you would call me Kai, especially after the intimacy we shared, the scorching kiss you delivered”. He says in a cheeky tone.

I gasp. “I delivered ?”

“I can still taste you”. His grin makes me want to slap him.

Is it because of his lowborn status that he speaks of things that shouldn’t be voiced aloud ? “You shouldn’t say such things”.

“They embarrass you”. He says matter of factly

“Of course they do. They’re improper”. I point out.

He shakes his head slightly. “Not between two people with feelings for each other”.

Jerking my head to the side, I gaze down the dark street. Lamps have yet to be installed. There is naught but construction, and I can’t make out any of the details. I want to deny I have feelings for him, but I can’t when I feel something, yet I can’t identify exactly what it is I’m experiencing. The kiss made me aware of things I have never before felt, has made me want to follow wherever it might have led … even as I have a very strong understanding that it may have led to a bedchamber. I have never felt that way with Kyle, have never envisioned tangled bodies among tangled sheets, but then he has never kissed me as though his life depended on tasting every aspect of me.

My thoughts are brought back to the problem at hand as a car comes around the corner and draws to a halt in front of the hotel. Kai shoves himself away from the wall. “Let me take you home”.

“No, I’ll find another car”. I huff.

He sighs. “I won’t touch you. I give you my word”.

As though that is my worry. My concern is that I may not be able to resist touching him. He is sin and danger and desire, liberating urges within me that have never known freedom, urges I fear won’t be content to be locked away without experiencing fully what he has offered. “You shouldn’t have to go to all that bother”.

“It’s no bother. I have some appointments I need to keep”. A corner of his mouth hitches up. “Dark pleasures and all that. They’re best handled at night.”

Is he headed to a brothel or a mistress after delivering that blistering kiss to me ? What does it matter ? He is not for me, nor am I for him. Not when all is said and done. “No, thank you. I’ll find another car. There has to be one around here somewhere”.

Another sigh, this one riffs with impatience, maybe a bit of disappointment. “Take the car, then. I won’t go with you”.

“No, I won’t inconvenience you and keep you from your appointments”. Even as I loathe the thought that they very likely do involve another woman. “Worst case I can change into my wolf”.

“And leave your things behind”. He raises an eyebrow.

I glare at him. “You could offer to send them”.

“You’re a stubborn wench”. He half growls.

I have never considered myself as such. It is odd, the various previously hidden aspects he brings out in me. “I suppose I can be when the situation warrants”.

Another deep sigh, this one fraught with defeat. I have thought of him as a man who will never surrender. “I’ll send my man to find another car. It may take a while. At least come inside while you wait, where it’s dry and warm. There’s a parlor off the lobby. Imagine a fire blazing”.

Although the rain isn’t hitting me directly, I have grown chilled standing there with the mist swirling about. “Yes, all right. Thank you”.

He raises a hand and with two fingers, signalling someone over. The porter, carrying an umbrella. I suppose he keeps one handy to assist those who arrive at the hotel in the rain. “He’ll escort you inside. I’ll join you in a minute”.

Holding the umbrella over my head, not bothering to shield himself, the porter offers his arm. Gripping it to ensure I remain steady as we traverse the slick brick path that leads to the steps, I glance over to see Kai talking to his coachman. I didn’t mean to be such an inconvenience, I should probably have accepted his offer of the car, but it seems wrong in light of what happened in his office.

The porter guides me along the path, up the steps, the rain pattering the umbrella, a bit harder than I expected. Its strength is increasing. I would have been drenched if I had tried to make it back inside on my own. So many things I didn’t consider because they are automatically done for me. I don’t like realizing I am so incredibly pampered, protected, shielded.