Spirit Bound - Christine Feehan [62]
The connection between them was slipping away over the distance. Stefan made certain to “feel” for a direction. Before he left, he was going to find out just which house belonged to Rikki, Lev’s supposed wife, so he could pay his brother a little visit and toss him out on his ear.
“Are they gone?” Judith asked, her voice trembling.
Stefan’s protective instincts kicked at him hard at that little catch in her voice. He removed his arm so she could see. They were almost out of enemy territory, approaching the last of the trumpet trees. “I believe we’re safe,” he assured.
“I’ve never seen them act that way before. Hummingbirds are aggressive, but they were actually attacking us.”
“Maybe we were too close to a nest,” Stefan suggested.
“I suppose that’s as good an explanation as any.” She sounded a little suspicious and took another careful look around with that little frown he found adorable, before giving him her attention again. “First the bee stings you and now the birds attack. I’m so sorry, Thomas. This was supposed to be a fun afternoon for you.”
His arm tightened around her. “I’m an adventurous man, Judith.”
She smiled up at him. “You’re a good sport, I’ll say that for you.” She glanced at his neck, worry in her eyes. “Your neck really is swelling.”
He could feel it. He’d been shot quite a few times, knifed, tortured and other unpleasant things. It would be irony if he was done in by a small bee his brother had sent after him. Wouldn’t Ivanov get a kick out of that? He did rather like the alarm in her voice for him. She was genuinely worried about him and since it was a brand-new, unfamiliar experience for anyone to actually gave a damn about him, he found he enjoyed it just a little too much. This woman could make him weak so easily.
She held his hand as they moved through the gardens together, the breeze sliding over them, tugging at tendrils of her hair and ruffling hers. He liked the way they moved together, the way silence settled over them both, easy and companionable. Stefan Prakenskii was never truly at ease with another human being. Thomas Vincent would have no difficulties being in the presence of others, as would any of his many personas, but not Stefan, and yet, it was Stefan walking beside Judith, holding her hand and feeling as if she’d handed him a miracle.
He couldn’t turn his head easily with his neck swelling so much. The pain was nothing to him, a small, annoying sting he barely noticed, but it definitely got him Judith’s attention. She rubbed her fingers over his arm continually, looking up at him with little anxious glances from under her long, feathery lashes, making him feel as if he’d been handed the world. It amazed him that one woman could actually change the way a man thought, his actions—more, his entire reason for existing.
She led him up the stairs to her house, a large, two-story structure. The house nestled in the center of the gardens, so looking out any of the many windows, they were surrounded by brilliant color.
“My studios are on the ground floor,” Judith explained as she opened the front door.
Stefan stepped into her entry way and again, as he had at the gates to the farm, felt the subtle shift of energy around him. Judith’s power lived and breathed in this house. The force rushed to surround him, building his joy at discovering Judith into almost euphoria. He was already fighting his physical attraction to her, a first for him, testing his years of discipline, but now, that raging hunger was amplified beyond measure.
He breathed deeply and moved inside. Her fragrance hit him hard, triggering such a need he simply turned, toed the door closed as he bunched her hair into his fist and walked her backward, his mouth coming down hard on hers. Her lips parted, accepting him, welcoming him, opening to his invasion, her arms sliding around his neck as he forced her back against the door.
There was nowhere else