Immortal Unchained(24)

 

 

"I don't need help," Sarita said stubbornly and continued to poke and dig, causing herself unnecessary pain.

Losing patience with her, Domitian snatched the tweezers from her hand and knelt in front of her again. "Give me your foot."

"No," she growled. "Give me back the tweezers."

"No," he responded at once, and then took a breath before saying in a more reasonable tone, "I have better eyesight. I can remove it quickly. Let me help you."

For a moment he thought she'd refuse, but then Sarita released a pent-up sigh, and snapped, "Fine," as if she were doing him a favor and stuck out her foot. She then crossed her arms and glared at him.

Domitian found a smile creeping across his face at her attitude and quickly ducked his head to examine her foot so she wouldn't see it.

Apparently he hadn't been quick enough, however, because she growled, "Go ahead and snicker, fang boy, but you walked right through a floor full of that broken china on your way up here and I get to dig at your feet next."

"Why do I get the feeling you would enjoy causing me pain?" Domitian asked wryly, leaning in to remove the first small piece of glass from her foot. She hadn't responded by the time he removed the glass, so after tapping the tweezers on the edge of the sink to remove the fragment, he asked mildly, "What have I done to make you so angry?"

A glance up showed her looking dissatisfied and as mulish as a twelve-year-old boy. When he simply held on to her foot firmly, and waited for her answer, Sarita finally shrugged unhappily. "I don't like the idea that someone has been following me around for fifteen years."

"Ah." Domitian turned his attention back to her foot. "I apologize for that. But I did not wish to disrupt your life by insinuating myself into it while you were so young. I wanted you to have a normal childhood and experience everything other girls do-school, friends, even boyfriends," he added, his mouth tightening around the word. "However, I didn't wish to lose track of you either. I wanted to be able to approach you once you were old enough and woo you in the normal fashion. But I needed to know where you were when the time came, so I hired a private detective."

"That's all?" she asked suspiciously.

Domitian shrugged as he worked on the last sliver. "Pretty much. I got monthly reports letting me know that you were alive and well. Sometimes they included little details like the school you attended, or that you had friends and were attending parties and dances or whatnot. But I told him not to give me names or to be too intrusive in gaining his information."

"Why?" Sarita asked, sounding a little more curious and less angry. 

"Because I did not wish to know who you were dating," he admitted gruffly.

"Why?" she repeated with real interest now.

Domitian raised his head and peered at her briefly, but then admitted, "Because you have been mine since the moment you entered my restaurant with your father at thirteen and I realized I could not read you," he admitted solemnly.



Sarita's eyes widened slightly at this announcement and the possessive way he said it and she was suddenly aware of both his hands curved around her heel, and his breath blowing softly over her foot. Swallowing, she closed her eyes and struggled not to curl her toes as Domitian returned to his efforts, adding, "I did not want to know another male might be kissing you."

Sarita bit her lower lip and dug her fingernails into her hands as she not only felt his words breathed across her toes, but suddenly had an image in her mind of this man kissing her, his arms tight around her, his fingers pulling her head back, his hips grinding against her as his tongue swept through her mouth. Frightened by the wave of need that rolled over her, Sarita forced her eyes open, banishing the image.

"Or caressing your luscious breasts," Domitian continued. His fingers shifted, brushing over the sensitive skin of her instep, but it was Sarita's breasts that tingled in response. Her nipples even hardened as if he was doing what he was speaking about and she closed her eyes briefly again, only to be assailed by a sudden vision of Domitian peeling her nightgown down away from her breasts and covering them with his hands.

"Or stripping your clothes away and exploring your hidden depths with his lips and tongue and body."

Sarita shook her head and forced her eyes open to see that his gaze was sliding along her leg, following an invisible path to her core. It was just a look, but she could almost feel his touch there, and she foolishly closed her eyes again as a shudder ran through her. This time the vision that filled her mind was of his kneeling between her legs, tugging her forward until she perched on the edge of the counter and then kissing a trail up one thigh to the strip of white cloth between her legs.