Her revengeful Bastard

Taxis are hard to find

*Anna*

We have barely gotten inside when Kai joins us. “Go on into the parlor and make yourself comfortable”.

I leave them there, with him giving instructions to the porter … Jones, he had called him earlier. For some reason it seems important to remember that. I didn’t view the parlor the other night; it hadn’t been part of my private tour. Dark wood paneling and dark red velvet chairs with fringe dangling from the seats make the room seem at once both masculine and feminine. I choose a chair near the fireplace where no fire burns. A chill sweeps through me. I have been silly to insist on another car when a perfectly good one is waiting outside. But I am not going to delay his seeing to his business, isn’t going to be any more in debt to him than I already am.

The tread of heavy footsteps has me glancing over to watch Kai stride into the room, so gracefully, with such strength and such command. This is his domain, his lair. He is lord here, the Alpha and I have the sudden thought I may have been better off walking home, even as I find myself mesmerized by his movements.

Without a word, he crouches before the hearth and begins the task of lighting the fire. Those strong, capable hands adjust the placement of the logs, then do other things, the purpose of which I don’t have a clue.

“Don’t you have servants to do that ?” I ask. The Alpha, bless him, always calls in a male servant if the fire is in need of stirring.

“I’m not going to wake them for this. I’ve been building fires since I was seven, Miss Anna”. He keeps his focus on his work.

I don’t like that he has added the title back to my name, wanting the earlier intimacy when I shouldn’t. The fire catches, the wood crackles, the warmth begins to spread beyond him.

He unfolds that tall, marvelously sculpted body of his, turns, steps forward and takes a blanket draped over the desk clerk’s arm. I didn’t hear the man arrive. Not unusual. Staff learn to walk on silent feet. Still, I am surprised by his presence. Holding two snifters, he sets one on the small table beside my chair, the other on a table beside a chair opposite mine, then quickly makes his exit.

“I thought you had appointments”. I say to Kai.

He shakes out the blanket, bend at the waist, drapes the covering over my lap, tucks it in against my sides. He leans in nearer, his eyes holding mine. “They can wait. They’re not nearly as important as you”.

It isn’t fair when he speaks words I have longed for Kyle to say. “I was being considerate, trying to save you some bother.” My voice comes out low, raspy. Nothing about me seems to stay as it is whenever this man is near.

“No bother. I enjoy seeing after you”. Words a suitor may utter, but Kyle never has. But then he didn’t have to court me; our eventual arrangement has always been understood. I should have made him work for it. Maybe then he would have appreciated what he has .. or had once had. From my viewpoint, our understanding is no longer what it has been.

Kai moves away, drops into the vacant chair and lifts the snifter. “This will warm you better than a blanket or a fire”.

“Brandy ?” I ask.

“Cognac to be precise”. He waits until I have retrieved my glass, raises his slightly higher, and bends his head just a tad in a very inviting manner. “Cheers”.

I sip. The liquid is velvet on the tongue, smooth as it sears its way along my throat. I can’t recall tasting anything as rich or flavourful. I imagine it has cost him a pretty penny. “It’s delicious.”

“I’m glad you enjoy it”. He says with a small knowing smile.

Taking another sip, allowing the warmth to seep through me, to give me a sense of lethargy, I am half tempted to curl up and go to sleep. “So tell me the details of the bet”.

“Hmm”. He shifts his gaze to the fire, which is blazing now, creating a comforting atmosphere, one that requires a book or a dog in the lap. “We were at my brother Aaron’s gaming establishment. The game was poker. I’d only just sat down to play. Kyle had been at it a while. Our first hand, I knew I couldn’t outbid him so I offered him an exchange”. His eyes return to my level, honest, bold. I always feel he studies me with every fiber of his being, that he marks my breaths, the beat of my heart. That not even a blink escapes his scrutiny. “If I won, he’d bring you to the ball. If he won, he’d not only gain the pot but all the chips that remained to me. With what I’d wagered and what remained, he’d have taken in more than a thousand pounds”.

I am immediately struck with two realizations: that Kai would risk so much to have me here and Kyle would risk me for monetary gain. Flattery and disgust battle within me. “And you won”.

He gives a long, slow nod.

“You both used me as an object”. My voice is tart, reflecting my anger.

“I wanted your company, your presence here that night. I didn’t care what anyone else I invited thought of the place, but I valued your opinion. I was willing to engage in a questionable tactic. I’d already asked him to bring you and he had refused, fearing for your reputation”. He gives a small shrug.

I hold his gaze. “And you didn’t care about my reputation”.

He gives me a pointed look. “It was a ball. I didn’t see that your reputation would be in any danger. You hadn’t struck me as someone who felt her position in society was above others”.

A spark of shame skips through me. “I didn’t mean to imply that associating with your guests was beneath me”.

“Nor did I mean to imply I saw you as an object to be bartered. I see you as anything but. You intrigue me, Miss Anna, but I can’t call on you for two reasons … you are already betrothed, and I sincerely doubt your guardians would welcome me into their home”. He says slowly.

They wouldn’t. The Luna has made her opinion clear. But to look at him, no one would know. I see him as a businessman, a success, a man who went after what he wanted. And he wanted my company. Kyle abandoned me for cards, and Kai only left my side when I insisted. He may not be courting me, but he certainly has a way of making me feel treasured.

“Besides, I hoped you might enjoy the evening”. He says warmly.

“I did”. I admit softly. “Until the end”.

He scrunches up his nose. “Rather unfortunate what happened”.

With a nod, I sip the cognac and turn my attention to the fire. “Shouldn’t your man have returned with a car by now ?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I watch as he stretches out his legs as though settling in for a long wait. “Not a lot of need for taxied at this time of night in this section of the city. Someday there will be. Just not yet”.

I peer over at him. With his elbow resting on the arm of the chair, he holds the stem of his snifter nestled between two fingers, his palm cradling the bowl, no doubt warming its contents. The pose shouldn’t make him look so enticingly masculine, but I suspect he could be decked out in a summer dress and still give the impression that nothing about him ever has been or ever will be feminine. “I suppose I should have taken you up on the offer of your car”.

“It’s not too late, although now that we are further into the night, if you’re in my car, I’d have a responsibility to accompany you”. He simply says.

To sit in the dark confines next to me, our legs possibly in danger of touching. His mouth not so far from mine. I feel as though he has branded me, in ways Kyle never has, have never even tried. Better to wait for the car than to risk discovering I am weak where Kai is concerned.

“Regarding Kyle, as you’ve admitted to spending time with him, answer me this. Was last night how it normally goes ?” I ask.

He sighs. “You should ask him”.

“You don’t gossip or tell tales out of turn”. It’s not a question, more a statement of fact.

“When you grow up as the object of gossip, you learn to loathe it”. He answers.

I can’t imagine a child being gossiped about, but my experience with children is limited. I was tutored at the country pack house. Growing up, I didn’t run around with anyone other than Kyle, and then only when he made time for me. He had gone off to school. I always expected I would, as well. I had a short stint at a finishing school for future Luna’s, but other than that, until my first season in town, my life had been rather confining. “Was it the circumstances of your birth that caused the gossip ?”

A corner of his mouth quirks up. “Some questioned the absence of a father. Some knew Mae Tempest took in bastards. People tended to avoid us as though we might infect them with our illegitimacy. I grew up angry, quick to lash out”.

“You’re still angry”. I can see it in the tautness of his jaw.

“I am, but now my anger is directed at only one … the man who spilled his seed into a woman and created me”. His voice is indeed angry.

His words surprise me. “Do you know who your father is ?”

“I do”. He says with a short nod.

“Does he acknowledge you ?” I inquire.

He shakes his head. “Not yet, but he will. Eventually”.

I don’t understand people not acknowledging their children, regardless of the circumstances of their birth. “How can you be so certain ?”

A muscle in his jaw tightens, jumping. At the audacity of my question, or the means he intends to employ to ensure his father complies with his wishes ? I don’t believe he will use physical force, but he is a man with wealth, power and friends who flourish in the shadows. He studies me, and I suddenly wish a more concrete trust existed between us. “I apologize. How you deal with your family is not my business”.

“He’s not family. He’s blood. Family has nothing to do with blood”. The words sound forced out.

I understand that sentiment. “Very true. I’ve been with the Alpha and Luna for so long that they are more parents than guardians. They’ve always treated me as though I were their true daughter”.

“You love them”. It is a statement, but one edged with surprise.

“Of course. They’ve been very good to me, but it’s more than that. They’re the ones who comforted me when I was melancholic, who made me feel safe when I awoke frightened in the dark of night. The Luna taught me how to be a lady, to walk throughout the manor with a book balanced on top of my head. The Alpha taught me how to waltz”. I laugh lightly. “I would stand on his feet, and he would circle the room until I grew dizzy”.

He looks surprised. “He’s a man of patience, then”.

I don’t know why he sounds so disgruntled by the notion. “And one prone to indulging the ladies in his life. I’ve never heard him have a harsh or unkind word for his Luna. Whatever she wishes, he accommodates”.

“Is that what you want ? A man who never challenges you ?” He asks.

With my mouth open and no words pouring forth, I stare at him like I am a carp tossed onto shore.

“I believe you would grow bored with him after a time”. He continues.

Goodness gracious, it hits me as though I have been struck by lightning: I do find Kyle boring … at least when compared against Kai Tempest. I shouldn’t be comparing them, and I realize I have been doing exactly that from the moment I spied Kai sauntering toward us in the gardens as though he owned the night and everything within it.

“Where is the damned car ?” I croak.

A corner of his mouth pulls up. “Miss Anna uses profanity. I’d have not thought”.

“It’s late and I am tired”. I retord.

“I can let you have a room for the night”. A room to which he no doubt has a key. “There should be more cars about in the morning. At the very least it’ll be safer to walk about searching for one”.

I shake my head. “I’ll wait. It can’t be much longer, and I’d hate for your man to go to all that bother and then have to send the car on its way”.

I try to take another sip of the cognac, discovering my glass empty. How has that happened ?

“Would you care for more ?” He asks softly.

“No”. I shake my head.

Apparently he doesn’t believe me as he takes my glass, replacing it with his. I don’t want to consider that it tastes richer because his mouth has been against the rim.

“You’ve never been kissed before”. He suddenly says.

Indignation races through me. “I most certainly have”.

“He didn’t do a very good job of it, then”. A small chuckle follows.

He didn’t. I hate that Kai knows it, that he probably guessed correctly who had kissed me. “You didn’t seem repulsed by my efforts”.

“On the contrary, you’re remarkable. Yet in the beginning you hesitated to part your lips, seemed

surprised by my … urgings”. He explains.

“I will admit to being taken off guard by your unusual method of kissing”. I half huff.

He chuckles darkly. “Unusual ? Sweetheart, any man who is kissing you properly is going to want his tongue in your mouth and your tongue in his”.

The sensations slam into me as though his mouth is once again claiming mine with a ferocity that bordered on barbaric. “Must we analyze what transpired in your office ?”

I have no idea what he may have said because Jones chooses the moment to hurry into the room. Thank goodness. I start to rise …

“I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t find a cab anywhere”. The words are slightly breathless.

I sink back down. Blast it all. How have I come to be in this awkward position ?

“Thank you, Jones. I know you did your best”. Kai says.

“Aye, sir”. The man strides out as though he can’t leave fast enough.

“A room or my car then ?” Kai asks.