Page 83 of Nightshade

“Why?”

At the sound of approaching footsteps, Lustina gasped and snapped her head toward the door.

“It is only a servant.” The baron’s voice carried a hint of annoyance, as he ran his lips over her neck.

“How do you know?”

“I just do.” His other hand reached beneath the already drawn hem of her dress, and at the whisper of touch across her thighs, she drew in a sharp breath. Arms squeezed around her as a quietly tortured sound vibrated against her neck where he gently sank his teeth. “You will meet me in the woods when you are finished assisting the bishop. Do you understand?”

She nodded, unable to take her eyes off the sight of him holding her captive against him. How wrong it should have felt, yet it didn’t. The sight thrilled her. It left her to imagine what depravities he would commit, if not for the risk of being caught.

Releasing her skirt, he tipped her head for one more kiss at her neck, where he hadn’t quite bitten her, then slid the dress back up over her shoulder. And like a shadow moving across the wall, he strode from the room.

* * *

Lustina’s muscles burned as she raced through the woods, every sip of air cut short by the laughter that swelled from her chest. Sticks caught the hem of her dress, crackling as she trampled them beneath her boots. Ahead of her stood a small cave, and she ducked inside its darkness, flattening herself to the stone wall.

She waited.

Somewhere, the baron chased after her, though she hadn’t seen him since minutes before, when she’d challenged him to a race.

When more minutes had passed, she peeked her head out of the cave, noting there was no movement in the surrounding woods. The observation brought a smile to her face. He’d never find her there.

Something black swooped overhead, and she looked up to find a bird passing over the canopy of trees. Odd, the way it seemed to hover, and for one split second, Lustina felt like a mouse in the meadow. She ducked back inside the cave, and the crackle of approaching footsteps had her slapping a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing and giving away her location.

The crackles grew louder.

She backed herself deeper into the cave.

An eerie quiet followed, and the sky through the cave’s entrance seemed to darken.

A chill ran down the back of her neck, and the urge to run from the darkness tugged at her with fierce persuasion.

Something brushed over her skin, and as she opened her mouth to scream, a hand covered her face.

“Shhhh. You’ll wake the vampire bats.” The baron lowered his hand.

“Vampire bats?” Of course she knew there were bats that lived in caves. She’d grown up in the woods, after all. Still, she didn’t particularly care to come in close contact with them, and vampire bats sounded exceptionally awful.

Taking her hand, he led her from the cave into the light.

“You never did tell me how you managed to convince the bishop to let me come this time.” Lustina ducked beneath a low hanging branch as she emerged from her hiding spot.

“My mother. I overheard her saying something to the effect of, ‘With all due respect, Your Excellency, if the girl does not accompany you the next time, consider yourself permanently uninvited to my home.’”

The comment brought a smile to Lustina’s face. She’d never known a woman, besides her own mother, to accept her so unconditionally. “Your mother is an extraordinary woman, you know.”

“And quite fearsome, as well. Heaven help the man who defies her wishes.”

Lustina chuckled at that, still trudging over the bracken, as she followed after the baron. “How did you find me in the cave? Surely, you cheated.”

With his signature devious smile, he glanced over his shoulder. “The birds.”

“The birds.” Lustina snorted a laugh at that. “You have gone mad, Lord Van Croix.”

“You have never spoken to birds before?”

“Only if I have had a bit too much to drink. Maybe a slight bit of poppy’s blood.”