He seemed sad for some reason, a terrible sorrow that shone in his eyes, fathomless and painful. Mixed in with that sadness was a sense of lethalness though, the danger she had originally felt in his presence, a feeling he exuded like an aura. It should have warned her away from him. Instead, she found herself moving away from the wall and towards him, lured by an inexplicable need to comfort him and ease the pain she swore she could feel in him.
“Are you okay?”
He stopped dead and looked across at her, his expression open and blank, as though her question had caught him off guard. His look hardened again a second later and he pivoted on his heel and crossed the room to her. He halted inches from her, towering over her, making her feel nervous and unsure of herself. The longer he stood there studying her with those intense purple eyes without saying anything, the more on edge she felt, until her insides had twisted into tight knots and she couldn’t bear it anymore.
“Have you finished questioning me now?” she blurted out.
He nodded.
“I can go home?”
“I am sorry but I cannot allow that to happen.” He looked beyond her left shoulder, towards the blue curtains and the doors. “My enemy has made you a target, a well played move on his part and one I did not predict or even consider.”
Her anger came back to a rolling boil and she opened her mouth to give him hell, but he stole her voice. His eyes came back to meet hers and he lifted his hand, slowly reached towards her and brushed aside the collar of her white coat. He caressed the marks on the left side of her throat, sending a hot achy shiver through her.
“I have made you a target.” Those words sent a different sort of shiver through her. This one not at all pleasant.
She raised her hand to touch her throat and ended up covering his hand instead. His skin was cool beneath hers. His nostrils flared, his eyes brightened and the pointed tips of his ears extended and sharpened. He bared his fangs at her and shifted back, pulling his hand away from her touch.
Olivia’s heart leaped into overdrive, thundering against her ribs, and her hand shook, fear freezing her feet in place.
The prince looked ill but, at the same time, there was an unmistakable spark of desire in his eyes.
It might have flattered her if she hadn’t been clinging to what he had said, repeating it in her head and growing increasingly angry with each cycle. She was a target for a maniac who had beaten this immortal male close to death?
“What the hell is going on here?” she snapped and advanced on him, surprised when he actually retreated, as if he feared her. No way a powerful male like him would fear a little woman like her. He hadn’t liked it when she had touched him. He had reacted strongly to it. Maybe he feared she would touch him again if he let her get close enough. She wanted to touch him alright. She wanted to crack his nose with her fist. “I want to know what’s happening because I have the feeling my life is on the line and I didn’t sign up for this shit. You bit me... I damned well didn’t ask you to violate me... and I want to know how your abuse of my body and my rights has made me a target.”
The prince held his hands up and she halted, breathing hard to settle her volatile feelings. Getting angry with him probably wouldn’t solve anything. If she was in danger, she was probably going to need his help. He had dragged her into this. He could damn well get her out of it unscathed.
“The reason your comrades found me so close to your facility is because my enemy left me there... it is a twisted game... he could have killed me but I would not have suffered.” He sounded too damn calm and he looked it too.
Olivia couldn’t see how he could be so relaxed about all of this. Some psychopath had beaten him close to death and dropped him on her doorstep, and it was all a game? That wasn’t a game. That was sick.
“And he wants you to suffer... why?” She couldn’t hold the angry note from her voice. He had wanted answers and had brought her here. Well, now she wanted some damn answers of her own.
“It is not for you to know,” he said quietly.
It damned well was. “Why did he dump you with us? Did he think Archangel would torture you?”
He shook his head, the solemn look returning to his eyes. “No. He knew you would torture me.”
Olivia frowned. “I don’t get it. What do you mean? I said did he think we would torture you and you said no, and then you said he knew we would... that doesn’t make sense. I warn you, I am liable to relocate your testicles if I don’t start getting some straight answers.”
He took a step back. “It was a straight answer. Not we... you... he knew you would torture me.”