Aeromancist - The Beginning (Seven Forbidden Arts 2)

She bit her lip, contemplating her answer before saying, “When I told you I trusted you, I meant it. There’s just so much about you I don’t know. There’s this thing with the media, and that you said I could be in danger. I can’t help but wonder what you’re really involved in.”

His arms tightened around her. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“The people you’ve killed…” She couldn’t finish her sentence.

“I told you about my past and about how I grew up. Surely you’re not naïve enough to believe I have no blood on my hands?”

She barely contained a shiver. “What about now?”

“Don’t sound so hopeful.” He kissed her nose. “I’m no saint. In my line of work, that’s what’s sometimes required.”

“Are you a secret agent or something?”

“I can’t tell you that,” he said with regret.

She burrowed against his chest. “Are you often in danger?”

“You know the answer to that,” he said softly.

“I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Shh.” He kissed her lips. “Drink the Scotch.”

She took a sip. Warmth filtered down her throat and settled in her stomach. The tenseness of her body thawed a bit.

“Do you want to talk about what happened in the vault?” he asked, his voice tender.

“I guess I panicked.”

“It’s called erotic asphyxiation.”

She froze. She was familiar with the term.

“All we did was some breath play. It wasn’t more than what we did at the lake.” He tugged a strand of hair behind her ear. “You told me you liked it, and I thought you were ready.”

“The lake was different. I had my sight and my hearing, and I wasn’t restrained. Today frightened me.”

“All right. We won’t do it again.”

“I did like what you did at the lake, but I wasn’t helpless. Being blindfolded and handcuffed took it too far on some psychological level. The pleasure was intense, so much so I lost track of time and reality. The shock set in afterward.”

“That’s fine, sweetheart.”

“I do trust you.”

He was quiet for some time.

“Lann?”

“It’s very important to me that you trust me. Your fear is understandable. We’ve only been together for a month. If we had more time…”

She bit her lip. “Do you need it to turn you on?”

Gripping her chin, he turned her face to him. “I do what I do to turn you on, krasavitsa. Whatever I do is more for your benefit than mine.”

“Then what do you need?”

He took the glass and left it on the bedside table. “Seeing your pleasure is all I need.” He removed his glasses and brought his head down slowly until their lips met. He always knew how to steal her breath.

When he finally let her go, he said, “What would you like to do tomorrow? Would you like to go flying?”

They had one week left. He still hadn’t spoken about the following Sunday, about her leaving, or the technicalities thereof, such as how and at what time, but she forced it from her mind.

“What about the media?” she asked.

“Fuck them. I want to make it perfect for you.”

“In that case, let’s go flying.”

“Anything you want.”Even though she had to, Kat couldn’t face working on her thesis the following morning. She’d started thinking of the days in numbers. It was Saturday, day twenty-two. It was as if she had a calendar imprinted in her brain, and every new morning she circled another number closer to thirty with a red marker.

To take her thoughts off the inevitable, she helped Lann evaluate books for a few hours, until he chased her off to work on her thesis after lunch while he continued with the task of inspecting his book collection. Since it was a weekend, they were alone, except for Alfonso, the security guards, and kitchen staff. They worked quietly in the library. From time to time, her gaze slipped to the door upstairs, and she couldn’t help the heat that warmed her cheeks during those moments.

An hour into the afternoon, Alfonso entered the room and cleared his throat. “Excuse me, a word with you please, Sir?”

The way in which the butler glanced at her told her that this wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have in front of her, but Lann said, “Go ahead, Alfonso.”

She continued to type, pretending she wasn’t eavesdropping.

Alfonso cleared his throat again. “Shall I prepare the usual, Sir?”

“Yes.” From over her screen, Kat saw Lann flip down his glasses and stare at her. She averted her eyes, not breaking the speed of her typing, even if she was making plenty of typos. “I’ll need day and evening suits. Pack my coats.” He added, “And snow gear.”

Her heart shrunk painfully.

Alfonso nodded. “I heard it’s snowing in New York, Sir. Any chance the flight might be cancelled?”

“No. The weather will hold.”

“Yes, Sir. You’ve never been wrong about the weather.”

With an apologetic nod of his head in her direction, Alfonso left.