Tall Dark & Heartless, Page 21
R. L. Mathewson
Page 21
"If you need anything else, please don't hesitate to ask," the vampire said, sounding more like a concierge than a captor. "You may ask for me if you need anything else. My name is Lucan. "
"Lucan?" he said.
"Yes?" Lucan said, arching a brow.
"You can tell the little ass**le that works for you that the next time he comes near her, he'll be missing more than just an arm. "
With a simple nod in acknowledgement he left as quietly as he came, leaving him to wonder what the hell he was going to do now.
*******
"I just want to go to sleep," she mumbled, weakly shoving his hand away.
With an aggravated sigh, Caine pulled her up into a sitting position and held her there by her arm as he once again held the saltine cracker to her lips.
"Eat," he said in a tone that told her that if she didn't do exactly what he wanted and soon, she'd probably find herself pinned to the bed and force fed.
Glaring, she took the cracker with a shaky hand and stuffed it in her mouth. Her stomach growled viciously in demand for its share when the salt hit her tongue. Before she realized what she was doing she grabbed the sleeve of saltine crackers from Caine and started to devour them.
"Slow down," he said, gently prying the crackers away from her. "Take a small sip," he said, holding a bottle of water in front of her.
Knowing she had no other choice she accepted the water and sipped it slowly. When he took the water away she held her hand out in silent demand. With an arched brow he pulled another small stack of crackers out and placed them in her hand. She wasted no time in shoving one of them in her mouth.
When she tried to put another one in her mouth he sent her a look of warning that she decided not to ignore. With a small groan of aggravation, she slowed down. To help keep her mind off her stomach's demand to shove all the crackers in her mouth, she studied Caine as he searched through the small plastic crate filled with food.
She watched as he studied each item, sniffed it, probably making sure that it wasn't tampered with, before returning the item to the crate and moving onto the next one. While he was occupied she allowed her eyes to run over him, noting the dried blood covering his arms, chest and the side of his face. She wondered if he'd been injured, but knew it was pointless to look since any injuries he had would be healed by now.
"You need to shower," he said, voicing her thoughts.
When she looked up and met his eyes he frowned and looked down at himself. "I guess you're not the only one," he said, not sounding too happy about that fact.
She had a feeling he didn't want to shower in front of her, which was kind of ridiculous given their situation, but he hadn't showered or used the toilet in front of her once since they found themselves in this situation. She assumed that he was taking care of his needs while she was sleeping. Since she doubted that he was shy, she assumed that he still saw her as that little girl that used to wait for him to come home from patrol at four in the morning and demand that he go kick the monster in her closet's ass so she could go back to sleep.
It was probably for the same reason he hadn't allowed her to die. Somewhere inside of him he had a soft spot for the girl that she'd once been and couldn't stand around to watch her die. As much as she appreciated him saving her life and the fact that he was acknowledging her existence at the moment, he needed to realize that she wasn't that little girl anymore if they were going to figure out how to get out of here.
He sighed heavily as he grabbed her by her arms and stood, dragging her up onto her unsteady legs.
"Only one what?" she asked, trying to stuff another cracker in her mouth.
"That needs a shower. "
With a frown he grabbed her crackers and tossed them into the crate, earning a killing glare from her. He simply ignored the glare and her useless attempts to pull away from him so she could go back to her food. He half-dragged/half-carried her to the shower. Without a word he leaned her against the wall as he grabbed the toothbrush that she'd been using and loaded it up with toothpaste and shoved it in her direction.
Knowing when to take a hint and barely fighting back the urge to check her breath, she started brushing her teeth, wondering what the hell they were going to do now. The good news, as far as she could tell, was that Caine was going to work with her to figure out an escape plan, well, that's what she hoped at least.
She doubted the man acknowledged her existence simply because he was bored. He didn't have any friends and didn't bother making idle chit chat during missions when most people did anything to keep their minds off the boredom that came with long waits. Hell, even she couldn't just sit on her ass waiting, but he could.
No matter the situation, Caine was always cool, calm and collected. He never let anything get to him and could wait any situation out patiently. She'd never seen anyone like him. Then again, for a Pyte, time probably didn't mean much in the long run. When she was a child she used to take it as a challenge to see how long it would take her to make him respond. It didn't matter what effect she elicited from him, she just liked to make him react.
She used to spend hours following him around, waiting for the perfect moment to scare him. Each and every time she went to jump out and scare him he turned the tables on her and somehow scared her, making her scream and laugh until he was forced to put her down before she puked. She could never figure it out. Then of course when she was nine, one of the Sentinels let it slip about his enhanced hearing and speed.
After finding out that useful piece of information she marched right up to him while he was sparring with two Sentinels, uncaring that they were practicing with knives and demanded to know if it was true. When he confirmed it, she called him a big cheater and stormed off only to turn around so she could stomp on his foot.
For the next few years she focused her efforts to see if she could make him laugh or angry enough so he'd lose his calm facade and react in some way. Although she did manage to make him laugh countless times she didn't have much luck making him mad. Well, not intentionally anyway. She seemed to have a knack for pissing him off without trying though, she thought with a sad smile as she focused on the here and now.
When she finished brushing her teeth she rinsed her toothbrush off and moved to push away from the wall so that she could put it back, but Caine saved her the trouble. He dropped her toothbrush back in the small tote and turned the shower on. She prepared herself for cold water to shoot past her, but instead felt heat as the water flowed out of the showerhead. Frowning, she looked over and spotted the hot water knob attached at an awkward angle. She threw him a questioning look, which he simply ignored.
"Take your shirt off," he said as he bent over and pushed his boxers down. When they reached his feet he shoved them several feet down his chain, no doubt to keep them dry, she mused as she felt her eyebrows arch clear to her hairline.
Well, it seemed Caine stopped thinking of her as a little girl, she noted as he grabbed a bar of soap. Her eyes dropped down to his bare bottom before she could stop herself and she damn near groaned.
His ass was perfect.
It was round, tight and smooth and she'd bet every cent she had that she could bounce a quarter off that thing. She'd always known that he had a great body. Like the rest of the men, he often trained without a shirt and of course, she caught sight of him after his night obsession with swimming laps a few times over the years so she'd already known he had a great body. She never imagined he would-
"If you need anything else, please don't hesitate to ask," the vampire said, sounding more like a concierge than a captor. "You may ask for me if you need anything else. My name is Lucan. "
"Lucan?" he said.
"Yes?" Lucan said, arching a brow.
"You can tell the little ass**le that works for you that the next time he comes near her, he'll be missing more than just an arm. "
With a simple nod in acknowledgement he left as quietly as he came, leaving him to wonder what the hell he was going to do now.
*******
"I just want to go to sleep," she mumbled, weakly shoving his hand away.
With an aggravated sigh, Caine pulled her up into a sitting position and held her there by her arm as he once again held the saltine cracker to her lips.
"Eat," he said in a tone that told her that if she didn't do exactly what he wanted and soon, she'd probably find herself pinned to the bed and force fed.
Glaring, she took the cracker with a shaky hand and stuffed it in her mouth. Her stomach growled viciously in demand for its share when the salt hit her tongue. Before she realized what she was doing she grabbed the sleeve of saltine crackers from Caine and started to devour them.
"Slow down," he said, gently prying the crackers away from her. "Take a small sip," he said, holding a bottle of water in front of her.
Knowing she had no other choice she accepted the water and sipped it slowly. When he took the water away she held her hand out in silent demand. With an arched brow he pulled another small stack of crackers out and placed them in her hand. She wasted no time in shoving one of them in her mouth.
When she tried to put another one in her mouth he sent her a look of warning that she decided not to ignore. With a small groan of aggravation, she slowed down. To help keep her mind off her stomach's demand to shove all the crackers in her mouth, she studied Caine as he searched through the small plastic crate filled with food.
She watched as he studied each item, sniffed it, probably making sure that it wasn't tampered with, before returning the item to the crate and moving onto the next one. While he was occupied she allowed her eyes to run over him, noting the dried blood covering his arms, chest and the side of his face. She wondered if he'd been injured, but knew it was pointless to look since any injuries he had would be healed by now.
"You need to shower," he said, voicing her thoughts.
When she looked up and met his eyes he frowned and looked down at himself. "I guess you're not the only one," he said, not sounding too happy about that fact.
She had a feeling he didn't want to shower in front of her, which was kind of ridiculous given their situation, but he hadn't showered or used the toilet in front of her once since they found themselves in this situation. She assumed that he was taking care of his needs while she was sleeping. Since she doubted that he was shy, she assumed that he still saw her as that little girl that used to wait for him to come home from patrol at four in the morning and demand that he go kick the monster in her closet's ass so she could go back to sleep.
It was probably for the same reason he hadn't allowed her to die. Somewhere inside of him he had a soft spot for the girl that she'd once been and couldn't stand around to watch her die. As much as she appreciated him saving her life and the fact that he was acknowledging her existence at the moment, he needed to realize that she wasn't that little girl anymore if they were going to figure out how to get out of here.
He sighed heavily as he grabbed her by her arms and stood, dragging her up onto her unsteady legs.
"Only one what?" she asked, trying to stuff another cracker in her mouth.
"That needs a shower. "
With a frown he grabbed her crackers and tossed them into the crate, earning a killing glare from her. He simply ignored the glare and her useless attempts to pull away from him so she could go back to her food. He half-dragged/half-carried her to the shower. Without a word he leaned her against the wall as he grabbed the toothbrush that she'd been using and loaded it up with toothpaste and shoved it in her direction.
Knowing when to take a hint and barely fighting back the urge to check her breath, she started brushing her teeth, wondering what the hell they were going to do now. The good news, as far as she could tell, was that Caine was going to work with her to figure out an escape plan, well, that's what she hoped at least.
She doubted the man acknowledged her existence simply because he was bored. He didn't have any friends and didn't bother making idle chit chat during missions when most people did anything to keep their minds off the boredom that came with long waits. Hell, even she couldn't just sit on her ass waiting, but he could.
No matter the situation, Caine was always cool, calm and collected. He never let anything get to him and could wait any situation out patiently. She'd never seen anyone like him. Then again, for a Pyte, time probably didn't mean much in the long run. When she was a child she used to take it as a challenge to see how long it would take her to make him respond. It didn't matter what effect she elicited from him, she just liked to make him react.
She used to spend hours following him around, waiting for the perfect moment to scare him. Each and every time she went to jump out and scare him he turned the tables on her and somehow scared her, making her scream and laugh until he was forced to put her down before she puked. She could never figure it out. Then of course when she was nine, one of the Sentinels let it slip about his enhanced hearing and speed.
After finding out that useful piece of information she marched right up to him while he was sparring with two Sentinels, uncaring that they were practicing with knives and demanded to know if it was true. When he confirmed it, she called him a big cheater and stormed off only to turn around so she could stomp on his foot.
For the next few years she focused her efforts to see if she could make him laugh or angry enough so he'd lose his calm facade and react in some way. Although she did manage to make him laugh countless times she didn't have much luck making him mad. Well, not intentionally anyway. She seemed to have a knack for pissing him off without trying though, she thought with a sad smile as she focused on the here and now.
When she finished brushing her teeth she rinsed her toothbrush off and moved to push away from the wall so that she could put it back, but Caine saved her the trouble. He dropped her toothbrush back in the small tote and turned the shower on. She prepared herself for cold water to shoot past her, but instead felt heat as the water flowed out of the showerhead. Frowning, she looked over and spotted the hot water knob attached at an awkward angle. She threw him a questioning look, which he simply ignored.
"Take your shirt off," he said as he bent over and pushed his boxers down. When they reached his feet he shoved them several feet down his chain, no doubt to keep them dry, she mused as she felt her eyebrows arch clear to her hairline.
Well, it seemed Caine stopped thinking of her as a little girl, she noted as he grabbed a bar of soap. Her eyes dropped down to his bare bottom before she could stop herself and she damn near groaned.
His ass was perfect.
It was round, tight and smooth and she'd bet every cent she had that she could bounce a quarter off that thing. She'd always known that he had a great body. Like the rest of the men, he often trained without a shirt and of course, she caught sight of him after his night obsession with swimming laps a few times over the years so she'd already known he had a great body. She never imagined he would-
