Two Knights of Indulgence (11 page)

“This has to be the best thing I’ve ever eaten.”

She smiled at Matthias and was cut short when she saw
the uncontrolled lust on his features.
 
She turned to Nicolas and saw nearly the same look.
 
She returned her gaze to her plate and began
to cut into the next bite.
 
As she raised
the fork to her mouth, she saw both men pause to watch her.
 
She plopped the bite between her lips and
made sure she didn’t moan as she had on the first bite, no matter how much she
wanted to.

The rest of the meal sped by quickly with little
conversation.
 
The unease between them
was palpable.
 
It was also confusing
considering how comfortable she felt with Matthias.
 
She helped clear the plates, but they took
everything from her and made her sit down.
 
Nicolas refilled her glass and helped Matthias in the kitchen.

She giggled to herself.
 
Two hot, sexy men who both wanted her had
served her a delicious meal, cleaned up, and made her sit through it all.
 
Could it get better than that?
 
As she took another sip, she knew the wine
had to be going to her head.
 
It could be
the only explanation she had as to what was going through her head.
 

Britt didn’t want Matthias or Nicolas.
 
She wanted them both.
 

They moved with efficiency through the kitchen and
were cleaned up in no time.
 
She was just
finishing her glass when they turned out the lights.
 
The warm glow from the fire in the living
room cast a dancing light across the walls.
 
She looked down at her attire and suddenly didn’t feel as sexy as she
wanted to at the moment.
 
Nicolas’
clothes hung from her body and made her look like an orphan.

Something also told her neither would mind.
 
She tugged the sweater over her head as she
moved closer to the fireplace.
 
Britt
still wore her scrubs below, but they weren’t enough to keep her warm for
long.
 
The fire helped, but what she
really wanted was the two of them warming her up.
 
“I need help staying warm.”

A light came to Matthias’ eye as he stalked
closer.
 
Nicolas stood at the fray,
watching her intently.
 
Matthias leaned
down to capture the sweater and pulled it back over her.
 
“You’ve had too much to drink.”

“I only had three glasses.”

“Do you drink often?”

“Never.”

Matthias lifted her in his arms and began to carry her
back to the room she’d slept in.
 
Warmth
filled her as he neared the bed.
 
She
captured his chin and kissed him firmly on the lips.
 
He dropped her onto the bed and sat down
beside her, deepening the kiss before breaking away.
 
He pulled the covers up and over her, tucking
her in tight.
 
“Sleep it off.”
 

****

Nicolas stood tensely as he awaited Matthias’ return
from Britt’s room.
 
His jaw hurt from the
tight clench he held it with.
 
A woman
had never come between them over the long years, and they’d known each other
much too long to let one now.
 
But this
woman was different.

Matthias came out moments later, and Nicolas let out a
rush of a breath.
 
“She sleeps?”

“She will soon.”
 
The large man settled into a chair across from Nicolas and propped his
feet up, relaxing.
 
Anyone who knew
Matthias knew he was never relaxed, even if his body appeared to be.
 
The killer instinct never let him rest.
 
He was a coiled snake, ready to strike.

“Matthias, we need to talk.”

Matthias brushed a hand down his face and rubbed his
eyes before answering.
 
“About?”
 

“You well know what about.”

Matthias was silent a few moments, chewing over the
words he would soon spit out, as he often did.
 
“You want her.
 
I can see it in
the way you look at her.”

“As do you.
 
I haven’t seen you take this
much interest in a female.”

“She is … unique.”

Unique was an understatement.
 
“Do you feel the ripple of power rush through
you at her touch?”

“Yes.”

“Is that the attraction:
 
not the female, but the rush?”
 
Nicolas felt his hands and brow begin to
sweat.
 
He wanted to rush into her room and
plaster her body against his even now.
 
He needed her with a desperation he didn’t understand.
 

“A rush?
 
I wouldn’t go so far as to
say I feel a rush.
 
I feel stronger, but
I’m sure it plays a part in it, but there is more to the attraction than that.
 
I’m sure of it.”

“We know nothing of this woman.
 
She could be our enemy, and we’ve welcomed
her into your home, setting an elaborate trap.”

Matthias was quiet for a long moment, his brow
wrinkling.
 
“Do you want her so badly
that you choose to turn my head?”

“No.
 
That isn’t
it.
 
I only fear she’s coming between
us.
 
The rush I feel when she touches me,
I crave it now, like a drug.
 
That
worries me.
 
She has the power to take a
life; she has the power to give life.
 
What else does she hold sway over?”

Matthias frowned at him a moment as his gaze roamed
over Nicolas’ face.
 
“I trust my
gut.
 
She’s not Illuminati.
 
She barely seems to know what she is,
either.”

“That’s my second concern.
 
What is she?
 
I think we need to involve Thierry.
 
If he doesn’t know, he will know where to look.
 
I think we need to take her to
Monte Carlo
.
 
Let Thierry decide what needs to be done.”

“We can’t leave without running the risk of our
enemies finding our trail.
 
The moment we
descend this mountain, they could sense us if they’re out there searching.
 
We would endanger everyone.”

“So, we sit here and wait?
 
What if she kills us before your two week
window expires?”

“I would say if she were going to kill us, she would
have done it by now.”

“I don’t like being a sitting duck.”

“We don’t have much of a choice.”

Nicolas didn’t much like that answer.
 
He spun and stalked to his room, closing the
door behind him.
 
He pressed against the
wood with his back and slid down the length until he hit the floor.
 
Voices in his head told him to go to her, to
take what he needed from her.
 
His skin
was aflame, the need strangling him.
 
Sweat rolled down his back and face, the want he felt for her
all-consuming.

Madness rushed through him, the screaming voices
growing louder until he clasped his hands over his ears, hoping to drown them
out.
 
Nothing helped, and the noise only
swelled louder and louder.
 
His whole
body vibrated from within.
 
He
rose
, the desire to touch her glowing skin once more too
much for him.
 
As he exited the door, he
began moving in the direction of her room.
 

She would be his, in all ways.

Chapter Five

Matthias lay in bed unable to relax.
 
Something was amiss, and he wasn’t able to
put his finger on it.
 
Since the woman
had been in their midst, nothing had seemed right.
 
His own thoughts had been wayward, and all he
could think about was ending his long celibacy to find heaven between her
thighs.
 
Nicolas hadn’t been himself,
either, the effects of the female seeming to overwhelm the male.
 

A static charge filled the air, and his breathing
stopped.
 
He listened close, the hush of
the winter’s night silent.
 
He tried to
determine if their enemy was upon them, but he heard nothing but beat of his
own heart and the cold breezes blowing down the side of the mountain.

Yet a cold chill swept over him.
 
Something was definitely amiss.
 
He doubted the Illuminati would be able to
track them through the heavy snows that still covered the landscape, but he’d
learned
long ago to never say never
.
 
All was quiet, but he still felt
unsettled.
 
He rose from the bed and
pulled on a pair of shorts to cover his nudity just prior to silently pulling
his sword from its sheath.

He opened the door and paused, listening again for
movement in or outside of the house.
 
He
heard nothing, so he pressed forward, checking the hall for unexpected
shadows.
 
He slowly drifted down the hall
to the stairs, his padding feet soundless over the cold wooden slats.
 
As he looked over the edge of the open space,
he thought he saw a silhouette just below, near the door to the room Britt
slept in.
 
He crept down the stairs
unhurriedly, trying to rein in the fear that was already settling in his chest.

Matthias knew then she’d already started to creep into
his heart.
 
She’d already become the
weakness he’d vowed to never have.

His gaze caught the shifting of the shadow again and
he held it, following it until he was at the bottom of the stairs.
 
He whipped around and thrust his sword out,
nearly beheading Nicolas as he moved.

Matthias froze, the blade mere inches from Nicolas’
neck.
 
“What are you doing here?”

Nicolas was sitting on the floor outside Britt’s door,
his back to the wall.
 
Sweat coated his
face and neck, his breathing shallow.
 
“Something is wrong with me, Matthias.”

“What is it?”
 
Matthias didn’t drop the blade, his hackles rising every second he stood
before his friend.

“I don’t know.
 
I’m hearing voices … telling me to do
awful
things, to you, to her.”
 
A tear slipped down Nicolas’ face.

“Have you hurt her?”

“I came down here—” Nicolas paused, agony twisting his
features.

“You came down here for what, Nicolas?”

“I came down to hurt her.
 
But I stopped myself.
 
I don’t know how much longer I can hold it
back.
 
The two of you are in danger.
 
You need to take her away before I hurt
either one of you.”

The door opened to Matthias’ right, and Britt filled
the doorway.
 
“What’s going on?”

Nicolas heard her speak and lunged for her feet.
 
She squealed and backed away as Matthias
landed a punch to Nicolas’ cheek, knocking the man to the ground.
 
He didn’t move
,
lying in the lump he’d fallen into.
 
Matthias checked him, and he was indeed out cold.
 
He stood and moved closer to Britt.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“I don’t know, but it started after you healed
him.”
 
Had Nicolas been right, was she
leading them into a trap?
 
Nicolas had
been fine before her arrival into their life.

“You think I caused this?”

“I don’t know what to think right now.”
 
He gathered her into his arms and shook
her.
 
“If you’re hurting my friend, you
need to stop.
 
He doesn’t deserve this.”

“I’ve done nothing to him.
 
I’ve done
nothi
—”
She paused and her eyes grew wide.
 
“The darkness.”

“The darkness?
 
What are you talking about?”

“I sensed it earlier, when we were in the bathroom
looking at his wound.
 
I sensed an evil
within him that I hadn’t felt at the hospital.
 
It made me
feel—
fear.
 
I was afraid of him.”