Savor (29 page)

“What happened to my patch?” I covered my dead eye.

Luka dropped his gaze. His hand squeezed the back of his neck when he said, “I removed

it.”

I ran forward and pummeled him in the chest. My fists tingled, I hit him so hard. “You

fucking asshole! Why would you do that?”

Luka didn’t move to defend himself. He took the blows that bounced off his chest in

sickening thumps. “I wanted to see what’s underneath it.”

“You’re some piece of work, aren’t you?” I bared my teeth. “It’s not enough that you tie me

to a bed, you invade my privacy by exposing the one thing I find most disgusting about

myself. My hate for you runs so deep I don’t even think it has a bottom.”

“What happened to your eye?”

I took a step back as if he’d slapped me. “You have some balls if you think I’d tell you.”

“Dakota.”

“Are you going to tell me about your mental breakdown on tour?” I said in a fit of

uncensored thinking.

Luka’s stance stiffed. “No.”

“No you’re not going to tell me?”

He shook his head. “I’m not discussing it.”

“Then we have nothing to talk about.” Fed up by how stupid he looked right now, I whirled

around and trudged back toward the manor. “I’m done!”

“No, you’re not.” He hurried behind me.

“Watch me.” I covered my eye, more concerned someone would see the scar than my

naked breasts. The anger bubbling in me helped me forget the cold air and my numb feet. “I

should have known coming here would lead to this. I’m leaving!” I screamed into the air. My

throat didn’t like it and protested.

“You can’t leave.”

“And why not?” I whirled back at Luka.

“You signed a contract.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Trapped

Right, the stupid contract. In my temporary slip from reality, I’d forgotten what kept me

from leaving the manor. Who ever thought several pieces of paper with your signature at the

end would shackle you to something crazy? I should have known, but how could any sane

person anticipate being tied to a bed while asleep?

Anger and hopelessness still churning in my gut, I marched into my bedroom and scanned

the immediate area. My patch lay on the night stand, including a bowl of melting ice,

strawberries, a can of whipped cream, and a feather. My brow puckered.

“The hell is the feather for?” I blurted out as I picked up the patch.

“You’d be surprised how simulating—”

I raised my hand in front of Luka’s bewildered face, blessedly interrupting the kinky

explanation falling out of his lips. “I didn’t ask you.”

“Dakota.”

“Don’t
Dakota
me!” I snapped, standing in the living room in only my snow-soaked

panties. Shivers crawled up and down my skin. “Pick up all your shit and leave or I will burn

everything of yours in this room.”

Whirling around, I headed for the bathroom and turned on the shower. Gently, like it was

something infinitely breakable, I placed my patch on the counter. I let the steam fill the room before I removed the only article of clothing I had on. I’d heard somewhere that I needed to

increase my body temperature first or my heart would stop. When my toes returned to their

natural color, albeit bitten pink, I allowed the water to embrace my body. My shivers grew in

intensity—my body’s way of regulating its temperature. I could only pray my mostly naked

jaunt through the woods wouldn’t result in a cold. I didn’t need to be sick on top of

everything else.

I’d just tilted my face toward the water’s hot stream when the doors to the bathroom slid

open. I did my best to stifle a groan by biting down on my lower lip, but in the tiled room it still came out too loud.

“Dakota, I’m not leaving until you forgive me,” Luka said.

“Like that’s gonna happen any time soon.” I picked up the bar of soap and rubbed my

horrible morning away until I took off a layer of skin or felt clean. Whichever came first. I

needed to get my head screwed on straight if I wanted to continue living in Lunar Manor

without stabbing Luka in his sleep.

The door to the shower closet slid to the side. I twisted around and gasped.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Luka stepped inside and pulled the door closed, keeping the steam in. He hadn’t removed

his sweats. Thank God for small miracles. Shower sex was very last on my list of things I’d

like to do with Luka right now. I opened my mouth to cuss him out of the bathroom when the

remorse on his face hit me like a physical blow. I shut my mouth with an audible click of my

teeth. My lips disappeared in a grimace.

Without meeting my gaze, Luka sank to his knees on the wet tile. The stream of water my

body couldn’t block soaked him. The water darkened his hair to spun gold. He bent his body

until he bowed like a disgraced samurai. He crawled forward an inch and took my foot in his

hands. He tugged it up. When I didn’t move, he leaned forward further until his lips touched

the arch.

“What are you doing?” I breathed out, the steam heating my lungs. I maintained my

balance by splaying one hand against the wall. My shivers now didn’t come from the cold.

Those were gone.

“Dakota,” Luka said against my foot. “My intention was never to cause you pain. I really

did want to give you pleasure. I guess I shouldn’t have tied you to the bed.”

“You think?” I couldn’t help it. I had the sexiest rock star alive bent over my foot in a

shower closet that suddenly felt so small. His submission gave me much needed strength. I’d

broken apart in the woods today, and I needed to put myself back together.

Like he didn’t hear my quip, he continued. “I didn’t know you were going to react that way

to my plans.”

Hell, I didn’t know I’d react that way.

“I should have thought things through.” Luka kissed my foot again. “Please, please forgive

me. I honestly didn’t know.”

My heart fell into my stomach. I didn’t move, too shocked. Luka released my foot and

looked up at me like a prisoner pleading his case. Dropping the soap, I reached out and curled my fingers into his hair. I gripped the strands hard and pulled. He hissed at the pain but did nothing to stop me.

“You’re still an asshole for what you did.” I liked the power I had over him in this moment.

I should have been ashamed of it. I’d never seen myself as dominant, but the strength

flowing through me said otherwise.

He nodded once. “I really am.”

The sincerity in his words melted some of the ice in my heart. “I’ll think about it.”

Like he’d been given a reprieve from the death sentence, Luka gripped my hips with his

hands and pulled me closer. I came willingly. He rested his forehead against the scars on my

abdomen.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

Swallowing, I forced myself to concentrate. I was so not having sex with him in this

bathroom. “Now, get your crap out of my room before I change my mind.”

Without meeting my gaze, Luka got up and left the bathroom like I’d asked. It took several

minutes before I could pick up the bar of soap again and resume my shower. Then I turned

off the tap and quickly wrapped myself in a thick robe. The return of my patch to its proper

place eased my frayed nerves. I blow-dried my hair and stepped out of the bathroom, steam

curling to the ceiling in my wake.

Listening to me for once, Luka left no evidence he’d been in my room. His guitar and

music sheets were gone. The bedside table with his kinky sex food lay empty. I shivered at

what he could have had planned if I hadn’t freak out. Even the pots of coffee and plates with

leftovers were gone.

Relieved, I sauntered to the phone and ordered chicken soup for breakfast then hurriedly

put my warmest clothes on—a cable-knit sweater and wool-lined jeans. The snow had gotten

heavier since Luka and I made it back to the house. I stepped back into the living room to

find Deidra depositing my breakfast on the coffee table.

“Chicken soup?” She raised an eyebrow at me.

“Just staving off a potential cold.” I sniffed. God, please, please, let me not get sick. Taking pictures with a runny nose was such a hassle. I still had Phoenix’s photo shoot. I’d promised

her we’d get through it soon. Because of this morning’s craziness, my mind drew a blank

when it came to potential concepts. Phoenix continued to remain a mystery to me.

Suddenly exhausted, I slumped into the couch and picked up the bowl, leaving the spoon

on the tray. I lifted the rim to my lips and drank the salty liquid. My stomach thanked me for its warmth while my throat grumbled angrily. The soup eased the soreness there, but I had a

feeling it would be a couple of days before swallowing wouldn’t hurt as much. I was surprised

no one came running at my screams. But considering the snow, no one in their right mind

would be out there that early.

Deidra moved about in my rooms like normal. Nothing about her expression told me she

knew anything about what had happened here. It unnerved me to think the servants knew of

Luka’s actions and the resulting consequences. Then again, what household maid didn’t

know what was going on? I didn’t dare say anything.

About halfway through my chicken soup, the door to my room burst open. In magenta

sweats, Phoenix sauntered in, a bright smile on her lips, the spider bites at the corner

stretching upward. This time I succeeded in stifling my groan. She flopped onto the couch

beside me and took in my soup slurping.

“Soup for breakfast?” she asked in a similar tone to Deidra’s. The maid excused herself

with an armload of my dirty laundry.

I sighed and finished off the last of my defense against an impending cold. I deposited the

bowl on the tray and poured myself a cup of coffee. Gotta stay hydrated.

“Just trying not to get sick.”

“Oh no!” Phoenix gathered me into her arms, pressing my face into the pillow of her

breasts. I almost spilled the coffee in my hands. “Don’t tell me you can’t take my pictures

today.”

Of course it all came back to her shoot. God forbid I’d be too sick to capture her perfection

into a twenty mega pixel digital image.

“I’m fine.” I pushed off her vanilla-scented chest and breathed in normal air.

“You sure?” she crossed her arms and tilted her head, her all-knowing gaze travelling my

body.

“Phoenix.” I pinned her with a stern glance.

She deflated and slapped her thighs. “Okay, okay. If you say your fine…but we can have a

doctor come and check you over just in case.”

“No!” I checked my voice. It had climbed an octave. “No need for a doctor. I’m fine, really.”

She gave me one more skeptical look before switching topics. “What are you thinking for

my shoot?”

Feeling it was safe again, I picked up my coffee mug and sat back, crossing my legs. I let

the caffeine work its way into my system before I ran through the possibilities. Like images

on a screen, I mentally scanned through the photos I’d taken of Phoenix so far. The stage at

Sacrifice. The performance at Crescent City Today. Several candid shots within the manor.

Then my mind went back to the most inappropriate pictures I had of her. I frowned into my

coffee.

“Too black?”

It took me a second to figure out Phoenix meant the coffee. I shook my head and returned

the cup to the saucer with a clatter. “I think I have just the thing for you—”

Phoenix clapped before I could finish. “Whatever it is, I’m game.”

“Why don’t you hear me out first before you agree?”

“Okay.” She resettled herself on the couch.

“What do you say about boudoir photography?”

“Like photos in the bedroom?”

Mischief quirked my eyebrows. “Something along those lines, yes.”

Without hesitation, Phoenix jumped out of the couch and headed for the door. “Give me a

couple of hours to pull out my best lingerie. I assume you want me with make up on?”

Nodding, I said, “Ask Calixta for a red lip and dark liner.”

Phoenix stopped at the door. “Do you want a cat’s eye?”

“Sounds good to me. Oh,” she stopped at my words, “can you bring along as many of the

band’s music sheets as you can?”

“What for?”

“I have an idea I want to try out.”

“You got it.”

With a sexy grin over her shoulder as if already in character for her shoot, Phoenix

disappeared into the hallway, shutting the door as she went. I should have known nothing

would faze anyone in Vicious. They all seemed game for whatever I wanted. Already,

everything that had happened to me that morning was put in the backburner. Work always

calmed me. I counted on it every time.

I finished the last of my coffee and picked up my camera. I had bedrooms to scout.

Chapter Thirty

Headache

By mid-afternoon, I found the perfect boudoir for the shoot. Located on the third floor, it

boasted a massive four-poster with a tasseled canopy. The thing could fit the whole band plus

their entire entourage. It reminded me of the beds royalty slept in.

The gray light outside from the heavy snow cramped my style, so I called down for all the

candles in the world. I thought they’d take my exaggeration as a joke and bring me ten at the

most. I ended up with fifty candles! How the hell did a household accumulate fifty candles?

In different sizes too. And I suspected if I asked for more, they’d find more.

Then again I reminded myself where I currently lived. Lunar Manor was massive enough