Escaping The Beast: A Darkhills Romance (The Darkhills Series Book 2) Read online

  Perks of being a vampire, she supposed.

  "Well, I don't think you look a day over two hundred," she teased, elliciting a chuckle and a polite nod of appreciation from him.

  They stepped out onto the large balcony and the scent of roses drifted over her on the cold evening breeze. Katherine closed her eyes and tilted her head upwards and took a long, indulgent breath.

  “That’s certainly one thing this place has over the city,” she smiled as she opened her eyes to look up at the stars that shone out like bright pinpricks in a dark blanket, “the air feels so clean here, everything feels more open, more free.”

  “I agree. Have you always lived in the city?” Lucian asked as he led her down a set of stone steps into the rose garden below.

  “For the past nine years or so. My father and I moved there when I was seventeen, I didn’t waste much time finding a job and my own place. But before that, we moved around a lot.”

  “I wouldn’t want to speak out of turn but I can understand your desire to secure a home environment away from your father,” Lucian spoke carefully.

  “Lucian, you don’t need to be polite about it. My father is a crook. Always has been, probably always will be.”

  “Yet you came to his aid and agreed to this arrangement when he called for you, why?”

  “Trust me, I have asked myself that question more than a few times. And after each time he calls me up, I swear that it was the last and the next time he calls, I’ll tell him to clean up his own mess. And yet, here I am. I guess it’s family, right? I suppose I’m just a sucker for feeling like the old man needs me.”

  “And what about your mother? What does she make of him? I’m assuming they are no longer together as your father wears no ring,” Lucian asked, leading her around to where a fountain trickled quietly amidst the flower beds.

  “My mom left us when I was eleven and died of a heroin overdose in a New York bedsit two years later, which suggests she didn’t think too highly of him,” Katherine smiled grimly, looking away to finger one of the petals of a large yellow rose.

  “Katherine, I had no idea. I’m so sorry for your loss, for everything you must have endured,” Lucian lifted his hand and gently guided her face back to his with a soft caress, his dark eyes were sincere and Katherine wanted to fall into them and never leave. But that would mean that she had given up, and she couldn’t give in and feel sorry for herself. She had plans and she was determined to see them through.

  “Let's change the subject, shall we? Who tends to all these roses? You, or Mr. Jones?” She said brightly, plastering on a pleasant smile.

  “That would be me,” Lucian nodded with a kind smile.

  “They’re really beautiful, aren’t the colours supposed to signify something?”

  “They do, the yellow that you are holding there is for joy or friendship,” Lucian explained.

  “Oh, that’s so nice,” Katherine thought about the yellow rose Lucian had left nestled within her belongings that he had fetched for her, “what about white?” Katherine, let go of his hold and strolled over to a bush of brilliant white flowers that seemed to glow in the low light.

  “White can mean a few things, often sympathy, purity, and honesty,” Lucian stepped up behind her.

  “I wonder how many you know; what about orange?” Katherine said, smiling at him.

  “Orange is for desire.”

  “Really? I don’t like orange. I thought desire would’ve been red.”

  “Close, red roses often signify passion and love, but also represent respect,” Lucian smiled and picked up a large, delicate light pink bloom and offered it to her. She smiled and took the gift.

  “Let me guess, this one represents argumentative and stubborn,” she laughed as she raised the rose to her nose to breathe in its heady scent.

  “It means admiration,” Lucian said, his voice soft and sincere.

  “Oh,” Katherine blushed. He really did ooze charm. “What about lavender?” She asked quickly.

  Lucian held her gaze.

  “It’s another one with a few meanings, some say it means love at first sight, others interpret it as enchantment.”

  “What do you say it means?” Katherine asked before she could stop herself. Her heart suddenly started hammering in her chest as she pictured the perfect lavender rose that he had given her the morning after he had met her.

  Lucian shrugged and looked away.

  “I’m no expert so I wouldn’t like to say.”

  Her heart grew heavy and she cursed herself for feeling a slight tinge of disappointment.

  “But, what I will say is that I suspect your dinner will burn if we are not careful,” he smiled a brilliant smile at her and suddenly her heart was back to skipping a beat. He really was so handsome when he smiled. “You are welcome to come back here anytime, Katherine, my doors are unlocked so feel free to come and go as you please.”

  “Won’t I be waking you if I want to visit during the day?” Katherine asked as she ascended the stone steps back towards his suite.

  “I do not usually need much sleep during the day, and I don’t mind if you wake me.”

  “I’ll try to be quiet enough that I don’t,” Katherine smiled, secretly looking forward to the opportunity of sneaking a peek at him while he slept.

  “I’d prefer it if you did, otherwise the moment you pulled back the curtains I would be woken with an excruciating case of sunburn,” Lucian said wryly.

  “Oh my God, I didn’t even think,” Katherine gushed. “OK, I’m definitely not coming in here during the day again.”

  “I’m glad I said something then,” Lucian chuckled. Actually chuckled. “Perhaps you should knock first to be on the safe side.”

  “Do that again,” Katherine turned and faced him on the balcony.

  “Do what again?”

  “You laughed.”

  “So I did.”

  “Do it again, it sounded so different, it was nice. Natural,” Katherine blushed as she realised she was telling him she liked the way he laughed.

  “I can’t do it on command, that wouldn’t be natural at all.”

  “OK, but I want to hear it again. So now I know what I’m going to be doing tomorrow, aside from working on my presentation, I’m going to be coming up with ways to make you laugh.”

  “A presentation?” Lucian asked, cocking his head to the side.

  “Yeah, it's for my degree, no big deal,” she bluffed, waving her hand in front of her to dismiss the topic.

  “What’s the subject matter?” Lucian persisted.

  “Oh it’s boring, I’m going to present an outline for my thesis.”

  “What is your thesis?”

  “It’s an argument that we should review the wording of some of our criminal laws that relate to sexual assault because a lot of the time it can be inferred that the victim is not entirely faultless,” Katherine explained as they walked down the dark stairwell that led back into the great hall.

  “That doesn’t sound in the least bit boring to me,” Lucian said as he lifted the tapestry aside and offered her his hand to lead her towards the table.

  “Really? I think you are just trying to be nice,” Katherine screwed up her nose at him.

  “Why ever would I need to be nice?”

  Katherine scoffed.

  “And yes, I really do find that interesting. Please take a seat and I will bring your dinner, I don’t want you to fade away on me before you have a chance to tell me more about your hypothesis,” Lucian pulled out the chair at the head of the table and saw her seated. “I’ll be back shortly, in the meantime I have a question I’d ask for you to consider before I return.”

  “I see you’re back to being bossy,” Katherine smirked.

  “I never stopped,” Lucian corrected, making her roll her eyes at him, “my question is, should we be suggesting a full review and rewording of these laws, or should we take a more moderate approach and make interpreting these laws in the correct manner, a profes
sional standard?”

  “Well, without-”

  “Uh-uh,” Lucian held up a hand, “think on it and we can debate this over dinner.”

  With that Lucian turned and strode purposefully away towards the stairwell that led to the lower level. Katherine shook her head and watched him go, chuckling when she was certain he was out of earshot. She placed the light pink rose down beside her on the table and smiled at it. Admiration. Before she could stop herself she sighed happily.

  Damn it, she wasn’t supposed to like him.

  Chapter Twelve

  Lucian

  Lucian smiled as he walked away from Katherine’s room, not purely because she had bid him goodnight with a small, sweet kiss to his cheek, but he couldn’t deny how the small genuine gesture made his heart feel warm.

  Over the past few days, he had made progress with Katherine. Each morning he ensured she had breakfast delivered with a single rose, a different colour each time, knowing she would ask him about it later that night. He had also been delighted that the gifts he had been leaving for her were being well received. The new desk and office equipment had arrived first and she had enjoyed laughing at his attempts to build the furniture and fit the lock for her door. His ego may have taken a bruising, but the sound of her laughter was worth it.

  The next day he’d given her a new exercise watch to help her track her runs that she made each morning, that, along with the Bluetooth headphones and five new running outfits meant he was forced to go for a nighttime run with her. She had laughed at him again for his lack of casual sports clothes, despite him explaining that he didn’t need to work out so there was no reason for him to own such things.

  The home cinema system he had set up in one of the guest rooms had resulted in one of the happiest nights in his life. She had leaned against him on the sofa while they watched an animated movie about a Viking boy who trapped a dragon and then formed an unbreakable friendship with the beast. Katherine had smacked his chest when he had suggested that Etienne would likely burn the boy to a cinder should he have tried that with him.

  He felt as though she were beginning to enjoy his company, it gave him hope that she would stop seeing her time with him as a prison sentence, and perhaps would let her guard down and trust him with her hidden vulnerabilities. Each gift had been given to show her he cared about what was important to her, but he was most excited about the gift she would receive tomorrow morning.

  He had heard her practising her presentation each day, sometimes sneaking past her room to listen in purposefully. They’d discuss it every evening when she’d join him for dinner, and admittedly their debates would inevitably become heated but never to the point where either of them took offence. She hadn’t asked him if she could leave Tumbricane to deliver her presentation in person. But he had made up his mind the first night they had discussed her thesis. She would be travelling to the city tomorrow to present that evening.

  Lucian climbed down to the lower level of the mansion and unlocked the first door he came to, beyond it was another set of stairs that led down to his underground garage. He switched on the light and perused his collection of cars, stopping in front of the black SUV. He slid behind the wheel and drove it up a ramp and out of the concealed entrance onto the driveway. He parked it, checked the tank was full, deposited a thick envelope into the glove box, and stepped out, locking it as he went.

  He strode back into the mansion and went directly to Katherine’s room. He listened closely at her door and heard her soft breathing. She was asleep. Lucian smiled. Yes, he would admit to having watched her sleep a few times, despite requesting a lock to her room, she had never used it. She was not a ‘pretty sleeper’. He just knew his little perfectionist would be mortified to know she slept with her mouth wide open, letting out the occasional snore, which is why he would never tell her. It was a rare glimpse of Katherine letting her guard down, and to him, it was beautiful.

  He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out the letter he had written. In it he would wish her luck for her presentation, ask that she return to Tumbricane the following day, and tell her he had supreme confidence in her ability to ‘smash it’, to coin a phrase that she had introduced him to. He placed the letter down outside her room, along with the set of keys to the SUV, and straightened.

  He quashed the small tremor of fear he felt that she might not choose to return, and he would be forced to retrieve her. Then she truly would consider her time with him as a prison sentence. She would resent him and put up her guard even higher than before. He doubted they would be able to rekindle their friendship or romance from that. The dark shadows that gathered around him seemed to grow, closing in around him with the threat of never-ending loneliness. His empty and purposeless existence stretching out before him.

  He shook himself from his depressing thoughts, he had forgotten how suffocating the loneliness could be. Having Katherine with him had all but chased it from his mind. She had shown herself to be honest and respectful, having none of her father’s propensity to swindle, cheat and lie. In fact, she seemed hell-bent on proving herself to be the complete opposite of her father. Lucian supposed it might not be the healthiest of driving forces but having had dealings with Kyle Daxton, he could understand why she acted as she did.

  She would return. Hopefully, his demonstration of the trust he had in her, would encourage her to return the gesture and place her trust in him.

  Lucian pressed his ear once more to her door and smiled at hearing a little snore. She would be well-rested for tomorrow. He silently wished her a peaceful sleep and made his way back to the underground garage. He strolled past the beaten-up old truck in the corner and chuckled. The Darkhills pack Alpha would not be pleased if he knew he had kept his truck. But he was doing him a favour. A man in his position shouldn’t be driving the rust bucket of which he was so fond. Perhaps he would return it to him as a wedding present. He had finally sent his response to their invitation, and perhaps it had been presumptuous of him, but he had informed them he would be bringing a date. Lucian smiled to himself at the thought of having Katherine by his side, the vision of them arriving together in his mind had him filling up with pride

  He strolled leisurely to his favourite black sports car. It was not built for navigating the forest trails that surrounded his home but on the freeway, it drove like a dream. He’d easily be in the city before dawn.

  He would stay the night in his penthouse so that he could be there for the presentation the following evening. He had heard her practising, had debated her thesis with her every night and he wanted her to know that he supported her. He doubted her parents had ever bothered to attend any of the key events in her life. She had played it down, but Lucian knew that outlining her thesis to her peers and tutors for the first time was important to her.

  His studies at Oxford may have been a long while ago, but the importance of presenting one’s thesis was not to be underestimated. He had already looked at the layout of the lecture hall online. He would sneak in and watch from the back of the room, then once she was finished he would congratulate her before returning to Tumbricane. He would wait for her to return to him the following day.

  With his plan firmly set in his mind, Lucian closed his eyes and let his mind connect with Mr. Jones. His long-term enthrallment of the man allowed him to give him commands at any time of the day or night. While the man might be asleep, he would wake with his instructions firmly in his mind, ready to action the next morning. Lucian sent him his orders to provide Katherine with breakfast upon the tray he had set out for her in the kitchen, the one with the orange and red-tipped rose, and to secure the mansion after her departure the next day before taking a few days of rest for himself. The man was becoming slow and cumbersome in his elder years, some time to recharge would do him good. Perhaps if the man avoided any episodes of ill mental health, Lucian might consider the possibility of releasing his enthrallment over him.

  Satisfied that he had considered all event
ualities, Lucian stroked his hand over the leather steering wheel and turned the ignition key. He didn’t fight the grin that lit up his face as the engine gave a throaty purr. While he would be anxiously anticipating seeing Katherine again, he was going to enjoy the next three and a half hours tearing up the road. With a quiet rumble, he eased the car out of his estate and over the chasm, as soon as he was on the forest road, he let the engine roar and sped off in a cloud of dust.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Katherine

  Katherine woke early, her phone buzzing her alarm reminding her to get up and get moving, starting with an early morning run. Her presentation was today, not that she would be giving it in person, but she wanted to feel prepared. Every night she had considered asking Lucian if she could leave to give her presentation in person, but every time she had lost her nerve.

  They had been getting on well. Really well, if she was honest. She was actually enjoying his company and found herself anticipating sundown so she could spend another night with him. She wasn’t sure it was worth the risk of wrecking the foundation of goodwill that she had been building with him. If she hung on a little longer maybe she could convince him to let her go for good before the two-month term was up. That’s what she told herself anyway.

  It had been less than a week but already she had started to feel more comfortable in the huge and domineering estate. She wasn’t sure if it was her daily runs that allowed her to explore the vast and beautiful grounds that surrounded Tumbricane, the fact that she had her things with her now, or the fact that she was no longer intimidated by the Lord of the Manor, but she definitely felt more relaxed about her predicament.

  Lucian was actually pretty hilarious. Admittedly, she didn’t think he intended to be most of the time but he didn’t seem to mind her laughing at his expense, and when he laughed with her, the rich sound caused all kinds of naughty tingles low in her belly. He was also generous, both with his wealth and with his time. He had seen to it that she had the most state-of-the-art office set up so that she could study in comfort, and willingly batted arguments back and forth with her each night, helping her hone her hypothesis.