A Shade of Kiev (A Shade of Vampire #8)(34)
Author: Bella Forrest

He raised his eyebrows on seeing me. Then his eyes darkened. I thought he was about to approach me but—to my surprise—he appeared to think better of it. He scowled at me and stormed off in the opposite direction.

“Good riddance,” I muttered beneath my breath.

I continued walking along the corridors until I was outside Kiev’s—Adrian’s—room. I placed my ear against the door. I couldn’t hear anything.

He must be sleeping.

I knocked.

No answer.

I knocked again. When there was still no answer I gripped the handle. I was surprised to discover that it had been left unlocked. I pushed the door open.

The room was dark except for a dim lantern that burned in the corner of the small room. And it was empty. A shirt lay strewn on his straw mattress, but other than that, there was barely anything else contained in that room.

I stood in the center, looking around at the grim decor.

I felt disappointed that I hadn’t been able to catch him off guard. But more than anything I was curious as to where he would have gone in these daylight hours.

I decided to wait for half an hour or so and if he still didn’t show up, I’d leave to wait by the well at our appointed time. I walked over to the mattress and laid his pants down near his pillow. Then I sat down and crossed my legs, staring at the front door and listening to the occasional drip falling from the ceiling.

After what felt like at least half an hour, I got up and opened the door. About to close it behind me, I felt cool hands slide around my waist. Whirling around, I found myself face to face with Adrian, his eyes staring down into mine.

Opening the door with one hand, he pushed me into the room until my back hit the wall. He placed both of his hands either side of me, trapping me against it.

“Where did you go?” I asked, breathing heavily.

He didn’t answer, but continued to gaze down at my face. I hated feeling like he was studying me. I lifted my hands instinctively to hide my face from his steely gaze, but no sooner had I lifted them than he caught them and pinned them against the wall. He pressed his body closer against mine.

“What are you doing?”

His lips parted slightly and I thought he was going to say something, but then he closed them again. Finally, resignation flickered in his eyes, and he let go of me, taking a step back.

The silence felt awkward as we stood there, looking at each other across the room.

“I brought your pants for you,” I muttered, pointing to them on the mattress. When he still didn’t speak, I continued, “Adrian, this evening, I want to take you somewhere I’ve been meaning to show you ever since our first date.”

His eyes remained on me as I spoke.

“It’s probably getting dark outside already. I suppose we can leave now.”

Wordlessly, he caught my hand and pulled me out of his room, not bothering to close the door behind him. As on previous nights, he swept me up in his arms as soon as we entered the forest.

Once we were on the other side of the wall and walking along the beach, I pointed to a rock in the distance. He ran toward it, and I tugged at him to put me down. Unbuttoning my dress, I laid it on a rock and straightened my underwear. His eyes roamed the length of my body as I stood before him in the water. Then, tearing off his shirt, he walked into the water alongside me.

When he motioned to pull me onto his back, I pushed his hands away and said, “No. Not tonight.”

I swam away from him and ducked underwater, emitting the call that Kai and Evie had been trained to obey. It didn’t take long before they came swimming toward me.

“Why do we need them?” he muttered on seeing the dolphins surface. “I can take us wherever we need to go.”

“They remember the location of this place better than me,” I replied.

I guided Kai over to Adrian as I mounted Evie. Adrian looked over the dolphin for a few moments before following my lead and sliding onto his back. Evie led the way through the waves, heading deeper and deeper into the ocean. Kai sped up until he was swimming alongside us, the two dolphins racing each other in the waves.

I looked sideways at Adrian. My motion caught his attention and he looked back at me. There was something wrong with him this evening. Something was on his mind. He kept looking at me as though he wanted to say something, but reined himself in.

We arrived at a formation of rocks far away from the main island. I patted Evie on the head, encouraging her to go the rest of the way. She swam in front of Kai, circling the rocks until she’d spotted an opening to a cave. I held my breath as she ducked beneath the waves and we resurfaced moments later in a clear blue pool, surrounded by rocks. Kai and Adrian surfaced seconds after me. I got off Evie and clambered onto the rocks overlooking the pool. I stood up and Adrian climbed up after me. The rock afforded us a better view of this little enclosure, and as I looked around I realized that the place had grown even more beautiful than before. Multicolored shells clung to the rocks, small pools of pearls and precious stones glinting in the rays of moonlight that escaped from the gaps in the cave’s ceiling.

When I turned to face Adrian, expecting to see his reaction to the gorgeous cave, I found his eyes fixed on me, ignoring our surroundings.

“What is it?” I snapped. “You’ve been acting strangely all evening—”

“Mona.” His deep voice broke through me.

Hearing him say my name sent goosebumps running through me. I looked up at him, bewildered.

“What? We’re supposed to be—”

“I know. But I don’t want to talk to Irina. I want to talk to you.”

“Th-that’s not why I brought you here—”

“I know.”

Terrified, I averted my eyes, looking anywhere I could other than into those crimson irises.

“Why do you write these stories?”

A cool hand reached for my face, tilting my chin up toward him. Unable to bear the intensity of his gaze, I closed my eyes.

“Tell me.”

Panic surged through me. I regretted bringing him to such a secluded place. There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. Nowhere to escape from the questions behind his eyes.

I sank to the ground, burying my head in my knees.

He placed a hand over mine as it lay resting on the rock. Something about his strength lured me into a comfort that my brain was screaming I could never have.

I looked up at him, wide-eyed and afraid.

He kept his gaze steady. When I still remained silent, he reached to caress my cheek.

This is Irina feeling for Adrian.