Lover Avenged (Black Dagger Brotherhood 7)

After a final, lingering kiss, they went inside together, her tucked against him, his arm around her waist, her hand up on his back between his shoulder blades. The penthouse was hot, so she took her coat off and draped it over one of the low-slung black leather couches.

"I thought we'd eat in the kitchen," he said.

So much for candlelight, but what did it matter? As long as she was with him, she glowed enough to light up the whole damn penthouse.

Rehvenge took her hand and drew her through the dining room and out the other side of a swinging butler's door. The kitchen was black granite and stainless steel, very urban and sleek, and at one end of the countertop, where there was an overhang, two place settings were arranged in front of a pair of stools. A white candle was lit, the flame lazy on top of its diminishing wax pedestal.

"Oh, this smells fantastic." She slid up onto one of the stools. "Italian. And you said you could only make one thing."

"Yeah, I really slaved over this." He turned toward the oven with a flourish and removed a flat pan with...

Ehlena burst out laughing. "French-bread pizza."

"Only the best for you."

"DiGiorno?"

"Of course. And I splurged on the supreme kind. I figured you could pick off what you don't like." He used a pair of sterling-silver tongs to transfer the pizzas onto the plates and then put the baking sheet back on the top of the stove. "I have red wine, too."

As he came over with the bottle, all she could do was stare up at him and smile.

"You know," he said as he poured some into her glass, "I like the way you're looking at me."

She put her hands over her face. "I can't help it."

"Don't try. It makes me feel taller."

"And you're not small to begin with." She tried to get a grip, but just felt like giggling as he filled his own glass, put the bottle down, and took a seat next to her.

"Shall we?" he said, picking up his knife and fork.

"Oh, my God, I'm glad you do that, too."

"Do what?"

"Eat pizza with a knife and fork. The other nurses at work give me such a hard..." She let the sentence drift. "Well, anyway, I'm glad there's someone like me."

There was the sound of crispy bread splintering under knife blades as they both worked on their dinner.

Rehvenge waited until she took her first bite and then said, "Let me see you through your job search."

He timed it perfectly, because she never talked with her mouth full, so he had plenty of airspace to continue. "Let me carry you and your father until you have another job that earns you as much as you made at the clinic." She started to shake her head, but he held up his hand. "Wait, think about it. Without my being an ass, you wouldn't have done what you did to get fired. So it's only fair that I make amends, and if it helps, think about it from a legal point of view. Under the Old Law I owe you, and I am nothing if not law-abiding."

She wiped her mouth. "It just feels...weird."

"Because someone's helping you for once instead of the other way around?"

Well, damn it, yes. "I don't want to take advantage of you."

"But I've offered, and believe me, I have the means."

True enough, she thought, looking at his coat and the heavy silverware he was eating with and the porcelain plate and the-

"You have lovely table manners," she murmured for no good reason.

He paused. "My mother's doing."

Ehlena put her hand on his huge shoulder. "Can I say I'm sorry again?"

He wiped his mouth with a napkin. "There's something better you can do for me."

"What?"

"Let me take care of you. So that your job search is more about finding something you want to do rather than a mad dash into any old thing just to pay the bills." He lifted his eyes to the ceiling and clasped his chest as if he had a case of the vapors. "That would relieve my suffering so much. You and you alone have the power to save me."

Ehlena laughed a little, but couldn't keep any semblance of joviality up. Beneath the surface of him, she sensed he was hurting, and the pain came out in the shadows under his eyes and the grim set of his jaw. Clearly, he was making an effort to be normal for her benefit, and though she appreciated it, she didn't know how she could get him to stop without putting pressure on him.

They really were strangers to each other still, weren't they? In spite of all the time they had spent together in the last couple of days, how much did she really know about him? His bloodline? When she was around him or they were on the phone, she felt as though she knew all she needed to, but realistically speaking, what did they have together?

He frowned as he dropped his hands and cut into his pizza again. "Don't go there."

"I'm sorry?"

"Wherever you are in your head. It's the wrong place for you and me." He took a drink of his wine. "I'm not going to be rude and read your mind, but I can sense what you're feeling, and it's distance. That's not what I'm after. Not when it comes to you." His amethyst eyes shifted over and stared straight into her. "You can trust me to take care of you, Ehlena. Don't ever doubt that."

Looking at him, she believed him one hundred percent. Absolutely. Positively. "I do. I do trust you."

Something flickered across his face, but he hid it. "Good. Now, finish your dinner and come to the realization that my helping you is the right thing."

Ehlena went back to eating, slowly working her way through her pizza. When she was finished, she put her silverware down on the right-hand edge of her plate, wiped her mouth, and took a sip of wine.

"Okay." She glanced over at him. "I'll let you help."

When he smiled broadly, because he was getting his way, she cut through his robin-breasted satisfaction. "But there are conditions."

He laughed. "You're putting restrictions on a gift given to you?"

"It's not a gift." She stared at him with dead seriousness. "It's only until I find some kind of work, not my dream job. And I want to pay you back."

He lost a little of his satisfaction. "I don't want your money."

"And I feel the same way about yours." She folded her napkin. "I know you're not hurting for cash, but that's the only way I'll be okay with this."

He frowned. "No interest, though. I won't accept even one penny in interest."

"Deal." She put her palm out and waited.

He cursed. And cursed again. "I don't want you to pay it back."

"Tough."

After his mouth performed some intricate f-bomb acrobatics, he put his hand in hers and they shook. "You drive a hard bargain, you know that," he said.

"But you respect me for it, right?"

"Well, yeah. And it makes me want to get you naked."

"Oh..."

Ehlena flushed from head to toe as he slid off his stool and towered over her, cupping her face in his hands. "You going to let me take you to my bed?"

Given the way those purple eyes of his were shining, she was willing to let him take her down on the damn kitchen floor if he asked. "Yes."

A growl rolled up out of his chest as he kissed her. "Guess what?"

"What?" she breathed.

"That was the right answer."

Rehvenge tugged her off her stool and kissed her quick and soft. With his cane in hand, he led her to the other side of the penthouse, through rooms she didn't see and past a twinkling view she didn't appreciate. All she knew was thick, pounding anticipation for what he was going to do to her.

Anticipation and...guilt. What could she give him? Here she was craving him sexually again, but there was no release for him. Even though he said he got something from it, she felt as if she were-

"What are you thinking about?" he said as they came into the bedroom.

She glanced over at him. "I want to be with you, but...I don't know. I feel like I'm using you or-"

"You're not. Trust me, I'm well familiar with being used. What happens between us here is nothing like that." He cut off her question. "No, I can't go into it, because I need...Shit, I need this time with you to be simple. Just you and me. I'm tired of the rest of world, Ehlena. I'm so f**king tired of it."

It was that other female, she thought. And if he didn't want whoever it was with them? Fine with her.