Destiny Redeemed (7 page)

Looking
around, she saw a window covered with heavy burgundy and gold draperies.
Curious to see if there was a trellis or anything she could use to help her
escape, she padded across the dark red carpet and then the floor to the window.
When she pulled back the fabric, she was surprised to see daylight. She’d been so
disoriented after being snatched from her home in the dark that she hadn’t been
sure what time it was.

After
realizing with disappointment that there was no safe way down from her second
floor room, she scanned the countryside she could view from her window. She saw
nothing in the nearby distance. Wherever she was, she was far away from anyone
who could help her.

Thea
stood staring into the rolling hills and valleys and thought about how
different her life had been just one day earlier. She’d gotten home from work
at the daycare center and had sat down to a meal alone before Cole had come
over. Panicked, she now wondered if her boss would ever believe some madman had
kidnapped her so she could help his friend—or was he his boss?—who had just
escaped from Nil. Sadly, she concluded she probably wouldn’t.

Turning
back toward the bed, she wondered why fate had chosen her to be the healer for
Amon Kalins. She didn’t feel like anything special, as far as healers went. It
was true she was more advanced in the reincarnation cycle than most, but
healing fellow Aeveren wasn’t something you applied for. When one received the
power, thankfully, one was instructed on how to use it. But as much as she was
loathe to admit it, Thea knew there was something in her that made her special.
She’d been born with her power.

It
hadn’t been easy for her. She’d been born in her first lifetime in Italy during the rule of the ancient Etruscans. When her parents realized the gift she’d
been given, their duty was to provide their daughter to Aeveren authorities so
she could benefit all her kind. Separated from those who loved her, she was
treated almost as a deity, but even being worshipped couldn’t replace the love
of her family.

With
a smile, Thea admitted she’d been in far tougher situations in her forty-five
lifetimes. Being a healer could be a dangerous job as she was relied on for
life and when she was unable to heal another, those closest to the person were
often unable to understand their loved one’s time had come.

She
had to find a way to escape. The longer she stayed at Amon’s house, the more
she wanted to be with him. Even now, she had to remind herself that she must
have been mistaken when she’d thought he was her destined one because thoughts
of him continually crept back into her mind.

If
she couldn’t escape through the window in her room, perhaps she could do so
through a window in the bathroom. She couldn’t just undress and waltz to the
bathroom, though. She’d need Amon’s friend’s assistance. If she made it look
like she simply wanted to refresh herself with a bath, she might have enough
time to devise a way to escape, hopefully to a lower roof or a porch. She was
no acrobat, but she’d do what she must to escape.

Thea
opened the door and peered into the dim hallway. Amon’s door was closed, and
she spied the bathroom at the end of the hall at the front of the house. A
spark of hope ignited in her when she remembered walking onto a covered porch
the night before when she’d arrived. Now if she could get the props she needed
to convince them she was actually going to take a bath, she’d be set.

“Hello?”
she said quietly at first, hoping not to attract the attention of the one who’d
threatened her earlier. When no one came, she repeated it a little louder and
added, “Gethen?” At once, Amon’s door opened and in seconds she stood facing
Amon himself in her doorway.

The
vision of him filled her eyes, and they grew wide in a mixture of fear and
desire. As he stood before her, he was much taller and larger than he’d
appeared in bed as she’d healed him. Eye level with his collarbone, she found
herself letting her eyes roam over his naked torso. Never had she seen another
man with such hardness to his body.

She
remembered the exhilaration she’d felt at the first brush of his kiss and then
when his hands had touched her face. A need she’d never known had slammed her
heart into her chest and made the area between her legs run wet. For the first
time in all her lifetimes, every part of her body had come alive when she was
next to him.

Her
eyes drifted lower, and she noticed scars on his abdomen and hips that showed
just above the waist of his black pants. As she stared at what looked like a
branding, she heard him speak and she looked up to see him looking down at her,
one eyebrow curiously lifted.

“Do
you want something?” he asked in a voice that sounded warm and seductive.

Control
your hormones, Thea.  You have a plan to put into action.

“I
was looking for Gethen. I’d like to take a bath.”

As
she spoke, she forced herself to look up at his face and not focus on his
powerful body that was oh-so-close.

Amon
smiled. “I sent him on an errand. What do you need?”

“I’d
like a towel, please.”

“There
are towels and everything you might need in the bathroom. If anything’s
missing, just let me know and I’ll have Gethen get it.”

Thea
worried that what she planned was written all over her face. She also worried
her desire for him was all too apparent as she stood looking into those
beautiful blue eyes that seemed to swallow her now.

“Okay.
Thanks,” she said awkwardly as she squeezed past him and marched down the
hallway to the room she prayed held the way out and back to her life before
Amon Kalins.

Chapter Six

Amon
watched her walk down the long hall to the bathroom as his body registered his
interest in her, even if his mind had decided something else. Each step she
took caused her long hair to bounce slightly and move side to side. He
absentmindedly put his hand between his legs to adjust his rapidly hardening
cock, and as the bathroom door closed, he stood staring, lost in a fantasy his
vacillating mind was conjuring up.

Shaking
his head, he reminded himself of what he’d decided—to be a decent man for one
of the few times in this life. But as he thought about her pretty ass walking
away from him, he wished he could be the Amon who’d be all over her clean body
five minutes after she finished her bath. Or better yet, in the bath with her.
He’d considered trying to enter her mind to get a sense of what she was
thinking, still not sure all his powers had returned, but he thought it better
not to because the facts were that he couldn’t have her and it wasn’t fair to
simply use her.

 Even
if they’d both enjoy it immensely.

Frustrated,
he walked back to his room, noticing that his leg didn’t hurt much at all
anymore.

*

Thea
wasted no time in her investigation of a potential escape route through the
bathroom. As soon as she’d turned on the water, she quickly explored the area
outside the window. Her heart leaped with excitement when she saw just what
she’d hoped for—the bathroom was close enough to the porch roof that with a
little careful maneuvering, she could lower herself down and then scale a
trellis that enclosed the end of the porch. It was perfect!

Except
for one thing. She’d forgotten her shoes in the bedroom. Cursing her stupidity,
she raced through ways to get to the bedroom, grab her shoes, and get back to
the bathroom without being seen by Amon, or worse, the animal that had dragged
her there.

The
running water might obscure the sound of her returning to her bedroom. It was
worth a chance. She had to get free.

The
water was about halfway up the sides of the marble tub, so she figured she had
only a few minutes to race to the bedroom and back. Carefully, she opened the
door and peaked out. There was no one in sight.

Thea
tiptoed toward the room, making sure to be as quiet as possible. About five
feet from the room, she stepped on a noisy floorboard she hadn’t noticed on her
first trip down the hallway and froze. Her heart felt like it was going to leap
out of her chest, and she feared the sound of it would alert Amon to her
presence it was so loud. Seconds ticked by and no one came out of his room.
Believing herself to be in the clear, she scampered to her room and grabbed her
shoes.

“Do
you wear shoes in the bathtub?”

Thea
spun around, shoes in hand, to see Amon standing in the doorway. Oh, God! He’d
caught her! What could she say? Quickly, she thought of an excuse for why she
was standing fully dressed and with shoes when she’d made such a big deal of
having a bath.

“No,
that would be silly,” she said with a nervous laugh. “I...” she began as she
looked down at the shoes in her hands. “My feet get cold after a bath, so I
like to have something to cover them. I usually wear slippers, but since I
don’t have them, I thought I’d use my shoes.”

Thea
avoided meeting Amon’s gaze, sure she’d see disbelief in it. Her eyes flitted
nervously around the room. Anywhere but on him.

Amon
took two strides and suddenly was standing a foot away from her. Smiling, he
reached down and took the shoes from her hands. As he carefully placed them on the
floor, Thea knew her plan had failed completely.

Straightened
to his full height, Amon picked her up in his arms in one fluid motion. Pressed
to his naked chest, she felt suddenly lightheaded. Staring into her eyes, just
inches away from her face, Amon explained in a voice that nearly made her melt,
“Not to worry. I’ll carry you to the bath and then carry you back so your feet
don’t have to touch the cold floor.”

Carrying
her to the bathroom, he continued, “And I’ll have Gethen get you slippers so
tomorrow you don’t have to worry.”  Then with a sly smile, he said, “Not that I
mind taking you in my arms for this or any other reason.”

Thea
felt like her body was on fire. Cold feet? Not a tiny inch of her felt anything
but scalding hot! He set her on her feet on the bathroom rug next to the tub
and bent down to turn off the water. She watched as his intricately scarred
back faced her, and she cringed at the thought of how much pain he must have
endured to have a back full of what looked like scars from knife wounds. She
wished she could touch him, wished she could heal that part of him.

Amon
turned to her, and she looked up to face him. “Is there anything else I can do
to make you more comfortable?”

She
shook her head and silently wished he would leave her to her misery. She was
stuck there, at least for a little longer until she could find a way to stage
another escape attempt. But that was only half her torment. Her captor was a
gorgeous, incredibly built man who had already rejected her but now seemed to be
teasing her into wanting him more. The idea of being caught between the devil
and the deep blue sea crept into her mind, and she was unsure which Amon would
be.

“I’ll
listen for the sound of the door opening so I can carry you back to your room,”
he said in a voice so sexy she had to avert his stare. 

“You
don’t have to do that,” she said sheepishly as she stood looking down at her
feet.

“Of
course I do, Thea. Your feet get cold after a bath. Remember?”

As
he walked past her, she again saw the painful looking reminder of his time in
Nil and felt sad at the thought that he’d been tortured. No matter what he was
doing to her, he didn’t deserve that.

I’ll
fix that after my bath.

Thea
stripped and got into the tub to sink down in the hot water. It felt so
wonderfully soothing as it eased the tension in her muscles, and she let her
head gently fall back against the edge of the tub. Relaxed, what she’d just
thought occurred to her.

What
am I thinking? I can’t worry about him. I have to find a way out of here.

Feeling
like she was back in her right mind, she relaxed once again and looked around
the room. It had escaped her attention that there was a fireplace on the far
side of the room. She closed her eyes and imagined how amazing it would feel to
relax in a bath near a roaring fire. Once again, she immediately chastised
herself for forgetting what her primary goal should be.

Unable
to enjoy her bath, she climbed out and began to dry off.  A knock at the door
startled her, and she scrambled to knot the towel around her before she
answered it. Opening the door just a crack, she peered out to see Amon standing
there, still shirtless.

“Yes?”
she asked, her words sounding something far closer to, “What do you want?”

In
his lazy, comfortable tone that only made her edgier, he drawled, “I thought
you might need something to wear. I don’t have any pants that would fit you,
but maybe one of my shirts will.”

Thea
looked down to see a white dress shirt in his left hand. Thankful but still startled,
she grabbed the shirt and closed the door. Through it, as she stripped out of
her towel and slipped into her bra and his shirt, she heard him say, “I’ll be
out here waiting to take you back to your room.”

She
opened the door dressed in her jeans and his dress shirt that came to the
middle of her thighs. As he swept her up into his arms, Thea meekly protested
that she could walk. Inside, she loved any touch of his body to hers, but she
fought the desire to mold to him, telling herself that he’d made it very clear
that what she’d thought she felt for him was impossible.

If
only her heart understood.

*

Amon
was sure the shirt had never looked as good on him as it did on her. Long blond
waves tumbled over the stiff collar and fell over her shoulders to her back. He
thanked God she’d decided to put her pants back on, sure that if he’d seen her
just in his shirt he wouldn’t have been able to stop himself from taking her
right then and there on the bathroom floor.