He nodded. “I had thought to bring you food in here, but I have decided to trust you the way I hope you’ll trust me. You must give me your word that you will not fight me.”
“I vow I will not murder you until after our meal. How’s that?”
Grinning, he said, “After we eat, I will simply retie you. How is that?” He approached me, slipped a small, thin blade from his pocket, and gently cut the silk that bound me.
Once freed, I reacted on instinct. Sitting up and jerking back my elbow in one fluid motion, I made a fist and punched him. My knuckles connected with the top portion of his cheekbone. His head whipped to the side.
When I made no other move to attack him, he slowly turned back to face me. He fingered the now reddened skin.
“I said I wouldn’t kill you, and I haven’t. I said nothing about beating the shit out of you.”
“My mistake,” he said.
“Don’t ever tie me up again,” I growled. “Now, let’s eat.”
CHAPTER 15
Guilt wound through me as I sat at Kyrin’s dining table, feasting on rosemary salad and shrimp scampi. Dallas lay in the hospital, fighting for his life. Hunters were probably scouring the city limits for me. Yet here I lounged atop a high-backed gold satin chair, stuffing my face with delicacies.
Worse, I was actually enjoying myself.
Kyrin and I had formed a sort of truce. For now, this moment, we were simply a man and a woman, enjoying a delicious meal. A hand-carved Egyptian tabletop separated us, but our legs were close enough to touch, and touch me he did, caressing his thigh against mine. The softness of his pants and the thinness of my veil created an unignorable friction.
I found myself breathlessly awaiting his next touch.
“Would you care for dessert?” he asked, easing back on the brocade bench.
My mouth watered. “Yes,” I said, the cool air wafting along the walls and tormenting my bare skin. “Thank you.”
One of his servants, who refused to meet my gaze, arranged a porcelain platter of chocolate eclairs and blackberry truffles directly in front of me. I almost purred in sheer joy.
Since the near annihilation of the cocoa plant, chocolate was considered a rare treasure. Only the most wealthy and influential of people were able to acquire it. Before he’d decided he didn’t like me, my father had given me a chocolate treat. I still remembered how wonderful it had been. How I’d begged for more, but he’d had only the one.
With shaky fingers, I placed one gently in my mouth and…my taste buds burst. Oh, my God. My eyes closed of their own accord as pure surrender dissolved in my mouth. That’s what chocolate tasted like. Pure surrender.
Kill me now, I thought, because I’ve finally entered the gates of paradise.
When able, I opened my eyes. Kyrin was watching me, molten fire in his eyes. I held his stare for a protracted minute. “Are all Arcadians as…sexual as you?”
He grinned sheepishly. “We are a highly sexual race, yes.”
I forced my gaze away from him and watched the flickering vanilla- and cinnamon-scented candles. Shadows and light frolicked along the rose-tinted floral-painted walls, dancing with the flames. Those same shadows had danced across Kyrin’s face, giving his cheekbones a stark, almost harsh appearance.
My attention veered to the surrounding furniture. A sea of vivid colors and textures, eclectic all, filled his home. Fresh flowers overflowed from end tables, and the edges of a finely woven rug were fringed with those same flower petals. Elegant ivory chairs offset a silver-flecked wall.
Such wealth amazed me.
“How did you acquire all of this?” I asked.
He lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “Arcadia is rich in the rocks your world holds dear. Diamonds, gold, sapphires, and many more. When I came through the interworld portal, I simply brought those things with me.”
The more he spoke, the more intrigued I was. “Tell me about Arcadia.”
“It’s much smaller than this world and much more crowded, with barely room to breathe. Our people live so long that the population is never evened out.” He fingered the rim of his wineglass. “We enacted a law years ago forbidding women to have more than one child, but many have them in secret.”
“You are obviously more technically advanced than us, which explains your ability to molecularly transport outside.”
“We’ve yet to master indoor transportation without seriously damaging ourselves. Whoever tries ends up with pieces of the wall or furniture inside them, and dies soon after.”
“Since you’re determined to stay here, perhaps you should be working with our scientists to help advance this world.”
“Or perhaps,” he said, meeting my stare dead on, “technological advancement does more harm than good.”
My brow furrowed. “Explain.”
Glancing down at his food, he gave another shrug. He couldn’t hide or mask the haunted pall that settled over his features. “Innocent people die during experimentation. Sometimes they die horrible deaths.”
I leaned back in my seat, keeping my gaze on him. “I’m beginning to figure you out, Kyrin. You’ve done some things you’re ashamed of. Don’t try to deny it,” I said when he opened his mouth to speak. “Figuring people out is part of my job. You performed experiments, didn’t you? Those experiments killed people. At the shootout with Atlanna, you mentioned atoning for past sins.”
He didn’t reply.
“Listen, you can rest easy. If people volunteer for the job, they willingly accept the risk. I don’t see the problem.”
“And if they do not volunteer?”
All right, so he obviously hadn’t had permission for whatever experiments he’d done. I didn’t know what to say to that. Was the scientist a monster for trying to advance society, no matter the cost? Did the ends negate the means? As a paid killer, I’d often thought so.
“Did you work for Atlanna at one time?” I asked him. She’d funded Rianne Hart’s research, so the woman had her fingers in science.
Kyrin scooted his plate away. “Dinner is finished.”
Bingo. “What did you help her do?”
“I did not help her abduct or kill any of the men, I assure you.” His voice was strained. “Now, dinner is finished.”
Fine—I let it go. For now. Because, well, I believed him. He hadn’t killed the men, hadn’t helped.
I blinked at my plate, only just then realizing that I’d eaten every bite and nibbled every crumb of chocolate. I sighed. “Yes, dinner is over.”