Pursued(41)

“I thought we could try this again,” he’d said, with that disarming British charm which had first attracted her to him. “I’m James. Would you care for a cup of coffee?”

That time Elise had accepted and then somehow they had begun dating regularly. After she found out who James was, she was surprised he didn’t already have a girlfriend. But he explained that he was very picky—which was flattering, of course, since he had evidently decided to pick her.

Finally, after a year of dating, during which he was remarkably patient when she refused to have sex, James had asked her to marry him. Elise was reasonably sure he’d run a pretty thorough background check on her before he asked, but apparently he hadn’t found anything he didn’t like. And so the ring had come out after a late dinner at Three Tables and he’d even gotten down on one knee.

The ring, Elise thought with a start. She realized she hadn’t even thought of it once since she’d woken up on the Kindred Mother Ship with Merrick bending over her. Where was it? Oh, right—she’d left it at home on that fateful day she’d decided to take a quick trip to Sarasota, where the AllFather had captured her. Elise supposed that it was a good thing it was safe. It was a seven carat, pink oval-cut diamond which had been in James’ family for generations. If she’d lost it, her future mother-in-law would have had a fit. But strangely, she didn’t miss its heavy weight on her finger. It had always seemed too large to her somehow, as though it was weighing her down. Which, she supposed, was why she’d decided to slip it off and leave it at home that day.

Stop thinking about the damn ring, she told herself, trying to get back on point. Think of James. Remember how much you love him…

But for some reason, even though she’d seen him recently, her fiancé’s face was blurred in her vision. Instead of his smooth, handsome face she saw Merrick’s scarred, scowling visage. Instead of his cultured accent she heard Merrick’s low, growling tones, making the sound of rocks rubbing together at the bottom of a riverbed. Suddenly she realized she was hearing his voice because he was talking to her.

“We’re through the fold. You’re awfully quiet over there,” he murmured and she looked up to see he was watching her from the corner of his eye. “Feeling okay?”

“Fine,” she said stiffly, though to be honest, her stomach was a bit queasy, and she was beginning to regret the chocolate cupcake she’d had with Olivia and her friends. “I’m…just fine.” She tried not to look at him while she talked, tried not to notice his warm, masculine, fur and musk scent that drifted to her in the small, enclosed area. The urge to reach out and touch him was so strong she had to curl her hands into fists in her lap to keep from doing it. I have to get away from here. From him. I’m too weak to deal with this now, she thought. “We seem to be flying pretty smoothly now,” she said, trying to keep her voice light and even. “May I be excused to go to the back of the ship, please?”

“That’s very fucking polite of you. Just can’t wait to get away, huh?” He frowned.

“I just want to lie down for awhile,” Elise said, which was true. “I…I’m tired.”

“Tired or hungry?” he said and she knew he wasn’t talking about a desire for food.

“Just tired,” she said defensively. “It’s been a very tiring day.”

He sighed and ran a hand over his shaved head. “Yeah. You got that fucking right. Fine, go lie down. I’ll be there in a little while.”

Elise felt her heart jump and had to work to keep her face blank. “Should I lie down on my bed or…or yours, then?” she asked in a slightly choked voice. “I mean, since we’ll be…be sleeping together. Or sleeping next to each other, I guess I should say,” she added quickly. “That would be more accurate.”

“Don’t worry.” Merrick gave her a long, level look. “I knew what you meant the first time. And I’m not going to do anything you don’t want, Elise. Give me some credit.”

“Fine.” She nodded stiffly. “So which bed? Yours or mine?”

“Mine is bigger.” He turned his eyes back to the viewscreen. “Probably be more comfortable.”

“Probably,” Elise agreed faintly. She knew Merrick was just trying to give her what her body needed, but she couldn’t help feeling deeply uncomfortable, just the same. Part of her—a deep part she thought she’d buried for good—longed for his big body against hers, and not just because of the hunger. But there was another part that was scared to death. An unburied body from deep in the vault screaming that she needed to be careful or something terrible might happen. ‘Just lie back,’—that was what he said, it whispered nastily in her ear. ‘It won’t hurt. You might even enjoy it.’ Except it did hurt, didn’t it? It never stopped hurting. Over and over and—