The Kiss (9 page)

Gently he pulled her further against him, silencing the voice,
before nibbling her neck. Eva tried in the fog of her desire to think again
about what she was doing, tried to get a hold of herself.

His hand began to trail down her hips to the bottom of her tiny
skirt and the feel of his fingers were enough to bring sanity back to her over
aroused brain.
Am I seriously going to have sex with a man I don’t even
know? What the fucking hell am I doing, I need to get a grip, this is too fast.
 

“Stop,” she whispered. “You have to stop.”

He drew back immediately and echoed her own thoughts. “Too fast,
Eva?”

“Yes.” Her voice was shaky and she took a step away from him.
“Waayyy too fast.”

He laughed, a delighted sound and reached out to tug a curl. “I’m
sorry, please don’t be scared. I couldn’t help myself, it’s been too long and
you my love are unbelievably gorgeous.”

“What?”

“The attraction was immediate but I’ll wait. I don’t want to rush
you. God knows I’m a man accustomed to waiting.”

“Immediate?”
God I sound like a freaking parrot.
“Waiting?”

“Yes immediate, and yes I’ll wait.”

“I—” Eva was speechless, which was ridiculous, she was no
blushing virgin. But this felt like too much, too soon. Totally surreal. He was
amazingly good looking and though Eva had never dated anyone rough she had an
uneasy feeling that she was punching above her weight.
Out of your league
much?

“Why don’t you go and relax for a while, maybe join me for
dinner?” He eyed her appreciatively; his gaze saying it was not dinner on his
mind.

Eva shook her head. “But I’m supposed to be working. Don’t you
need me to unpack for you or anything?”

“No, like I said all I require is your company, that is, if you
want to give it to me. Otherwise you’re free to say no.”

“But I’m here to work, the other guests—”

“Are all taken care of.”

“I don’t understand.” Because she didn’t. Wasn’t she meant to
waitress and serve drinks and clean things? Hadn’t that been the whole point in
coming here? And now he was telling her that she had nothing to do but spend
time with him. What the hell was going on?

“You’re my personal maid, though I hate that title. Grace,
however insists upon it, and she is always a stickler for doing the right
thing, I’m sure you’ve realized that by now.” He flashed a conspiratorial sort
of smile. “I neither need nor want a maid. I don’t mind a bit of mess, I like things
to look like they’re active if that makes any sort of sense. I don’t like
stillness,” he shrugged. “So all I expect from you is your company, Eva. I’d
like to get to know you better. I like meeting new people, hearing about their
lives, spending time with them.”

Oh and the penny fucking drops.
Eva shivered; hoping her
train of thought was way off. “Just my company? Because I’m here to work,
honest work and if you’re expecting anything else—”

“Didn’t I just say all I expect is some company,” he interrupted.
“Some conversation maybe? I’d like to know more about you. Yes, I’m attracted
to you. It was instant, the way it should be, but that doesn’t mean I expect
you to do anything you don’t want to.”

“I don’t understand why you want my company so much. I mean,
didn’t you come with a bunch of friends?”

He smiled. “This is a sort of… holiday for me I guess you could
call it. A break and I’d like to spend it doing things I enjoy. Spending time
with the other… guests isn’t my idea of a good time.”

“But you all came together.”

“Yes but we’re the sort of friends who have known one another for
so long it’s almost like family. And no one gets on with all their family now
do they? Or wants to spend all their free time with them for that matter?”

“So you want to dally with the maid?” she asked, her heart racing
like a wild thing.

He laughed out loud, clearly delighted with her words. “I
wouldn’t put it quite like that. Let’s talk, have some fun. What do you say?”

“But why?” Eva asked again, still not getting it. “And what will
Grace say?”

“Because I want to, of course,” he chided gently, “and Grace will
do as she is told.”

Eva’s head was spinning, desire, confusion and shock all warring
for prominence.
He’s so hot, bloody hell.
“I don’t even know your name!”

He smiled slowly and Eva shivered. “My name isn’t important,” he
replied, “these things rarely are. Let us just say that you Eva, you can call
me Adonis.”

Chapter
Fourteen

“How hot are they, Eva, what did I tell you, huh? I knew
something special was going on and look at them all, obviously I was not wrong.
I mean, they don’t work for the government that’s clear and I don’t recognize
any of them from my magazines or the TV or anything, but they must be
important.”

Eva peered though the door alongside Lily and looked into the
dining room. “What did you find out then? Who are they?”

Lily shrugged. “I don’t know, like I said I don’t recognize them
but who cares, just look at them. They’re amazing and you, Eva, you bagged the
best looking one.”

“Lily…”

The other girl shook her head, swishing her hair in Eva’s face.
Hopefully
not on purpose.
“I’m not mad, Eva. Yeah, okay he’s bloody hot, but Jake’s
just as fit, and such a gentleman.”

“Jake?”

Lily craned her neck around he door and pointed towards a
shockingly handsome blonde gentleman at one of the tables. “Isn’t he lush?”

He certainly was, but then weren’t they all? Eva looked around
the dining room, everyone was present. Everyone but Eva and Lily and it did not
escape her attention that they were all paired off. Ryan sat with a beautiful
red haired woman in a deep claret dress looking like he’d been sucker punched.
The girl Eva thought was called Fay, sat with a curly haired, green eyed giant,
laughing and smiling with him.

Only Jake sat alone, Adam was talking to Grace, both of them deep
in conversation, heads bent together. Eva would have loved to hear what they
were saying, oh to be a drop of paint on the wall right now.

“What do you think?” Lily prompted with an audible sigh.

Eva nodded. “Yes he’s lovely, but aren’t you worried about what’s
going on, Lily? You’re what? His waitress? You serve him his food and stuff?”
She was desperate to understand what was going on, what experiences everyone
else had. Did every guest get their own personal maid? Twelve staff, twelve
guests—no coincidence there clearly.

“He said he just wants some company. He’s asked me to join him
for dinner.”

 “Don’t you think that’s a bit odd? I mean I thought we were here
to work. Grace made it sound like we’d be worked off our feet, that’s hardly
happening is it?”

Lily shrugged. “Well we are working, we’re keeping them company.
I guess it makes us kinda like hostesses right?”

Eva shuddered. Hostess was not the word she would have used.

“What’s wrong, Eva? You don’t seem happy about this.”

Eva pulled away from the door and leant on the counter. “I’m
fine.”

But she wasn’t. After
his
parting words nothing felt
right.
You Eva, you can call me Adonis.
How had he realized, who had
told him? Someone must have heard her talking to the statue, it was the only
explanation she could think of, and yet… could it be a weird coincidence?

“Are you going to have dinner with your guy then?”

Eva nodded slowly. Not bothering to correct Lily’s ‘your guy’.

“I’m going to go in now are you coming?” Lily asked, smoothing
her hair down.

“Yes in a minute.”

Lily smiled, shimmied her body, and wandered off into the dining
room. Eva did not follow. She turned around and made for the staircase.

You Eva, you can call me Adonis.

She’d been so thunderstruck she hadn’t even thought to ask him
what he meant. He’d gently steered her towards the door and told her to rest,
that he’d see her at dinner.

The feel of his hands on her shoulders, the look in his eyes...
Eva closed her eyes and paused at the foot of the stairs. She’d never felt so
out of control, one look from him and she lost her mind. How she’d managed to
put a stop to their kiss baffled her.
What the hell is going on?

Eva opened her eyes and was slightly surprised to blink back
moisture. She hurried up the stairs, taking them two at a time. The fact she
didn’t get out of breath shocked her, obviously the gym workouts were doing her
some good.

Everything is wrong. Grace, the job, the weird set-up and… him
…
She shivered.
 I can’t do this; I should have listened to my gut the moment
I bloody arrived.

The thoughts running through her mind seemed ridiculous, and yet
there was no doubt that something was off. Eva couldn’t put her finger on it
but the feeling fluttering in her stomach was undeniable.
If I were a cat my
hair would be standing on end.

Grace had lied to them and lured them here under false pretences,
Eva was sure of it.
I have to pack.  I have to get out of here.

It would mean saying goodbye to any wages, it would mean being
penniless all over again but what choice did she have? Eva had no intention of
turning tricks for anyone, desire or not.

Yanking open her bedroom door, and pulling her bag out from under
her bed, Eva decided not to think about how she was going to get home, or what
she was going to do when she got there, not yet at least.

She grabbed her sketchbook from the bottom of the closet and
flipped through the loose pages. Despite her worries she wanted to pause and
look at them again.
Something came of this at least.

She landed on the sketch of Adonis, the very first one she’d ever
done and smiled despite herself.
You Eva, you can call me Adonis.
The
smile slipped.

What the hell am I going to do?
Eva rocked back on her
heels and took a shaky breath. Her sensible side said it would be the height of
absolute madness to leave now. With no money, no lift, no anything. A shiver
passed over her and she looked at the closed drapes. The Estate, whilst
beautiful, could be a little creepy at night. Even her statues took on an eerie
air when the moonlight glinted off them.

And it’s the solstice, this place is probably haunted or
something.

Eva shuddered. She had rarely felt as conflicted as she did now.
Something was wrong, and yet at the same time he intrigued her. The kiss kept
filtering into her mind. He’d boiled her blood in a matter of moments and the
thought of kissing him again was enough to heat every part of her, inside and
out.

 She didn’t know what to do.
Could I be overreacting? Am I
just confused?

Closing the sketchbook, Eva took it with her as she sat on the
edge of the bed, the deliciously comfortable bed. The amazing room, the lack of
work, the remarkable surroundings…

Tears pricked her eyes again, she was unsure what she was going
to do. The door opened, making the decision for her. She jumped, almost
guiltily and scattered sketches around her. “What are you doing here?”

He smiled slowly. “Looking for my dinner date. She seems to have
gone missing. There I was in the dining room all alone, watching everyone else
settling down to eat and enjoy.”

Eva swallowed and tried to calm her racing heart. Once again his
voice was doing strange things to her. “I’m not sure it’s such a good idea for
me to have dinner with you.”

“Why?”

“You know why.”

“Because of the kiss? Or because of my speedy response to you?
Admittedly it was slightly faster than I’m used to.”

Eva scowled. He went around doing this a lot did he? “That is not
what I’m talking about.”

“No?”

Was he being obtuse on purpose? “Does every woman you meet act
dumb for you?”

He shrugged and held his hands out. “I don’t understand.”

“Look, I’m not a fool, okay? The other girls might be quite happy
to pretend everything is alright but something is off here. You tell me your
name is Adonis? That’s not your name I know it isn’t. And this whole ‘personal
maid’ thing. It’s… weird. At first I didn’t think anything of it, just rich
people’s oddities, but you don’t even expect me to do any work, you just want
me to have dinner with you!”

He shook his head. “Eva, I’m confused. I’m asking you to eat some
food with me. It’s been some time since I’ve sat down with a beautiful woman
and enjoyed myself, what’s the problem with that?”

“I’m supposed to be working.”

“You are working. You’re keeping me company, afterwards if you
really insist you can make the bed or something.”

Filthy thoughts flickered through Eva’s brain and she took a deep
breath to calm herself. “After what?”

“Dinner of course. What did you think I meant?”

You know what you hope he meant
. Eva groaned inwardly and
tried to remember all her worries. “And your name?”

“That was naughty of me, I’m sorry.”

“Did Grace say something to you?”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, maybe something about the statues.” Eva felt
stupid saying it, she didn’t want him knowing she’d named her statue but at the
same time she needed to know why he’d called himself such an off name.

He tilted his head. “It’s a private joke. I shouldn’t have said
it. My name isn’t Adonis, of course it isn’t. Forgive me?”

“A private joke between who?”

“Does it matter?”

“I—” Eva didn’t know what to say. Should she push the point or
let it go? Either way she needed to know his real name, calling him Adonis
would feel stupid, like she was talking to her statue. “What is your name then?
Now I know it’s not Adonis.”

“My name is Adam,” he said smiling lazily, eyes smoldering. “Now
come, let me take you down to dinner. I promise you can dust the grate or
something afterwards.”