chocolate. It startled her. It was dark and lush and wonderful. She had never tasted anything so good.
She released the spoon. Stared up at him. “Who begins a meal with the dessert?”
Shadows clung to his high cheekbones and full lips. His smile was gone, his mouth turned down at the corners. “Someone who is trying to make amends.”
Firelight reflected on his dark, dark eyes, making them gleam like the eyes of a predator. She flinched.
He looked away and pressed another spoonful of the creamy chocolate to her lips. “I forgot you need light.”
He put the spoon down. The bed creaked, the mattress lifting as he stood up, long legs straightening. Firelight limned him with a reddish-gold glow as he moved across the room. A light flared, then another and another. He left two candles on the vanity, and returned, carrying one to the bedside table.
Strangely, the fact she could see him made her hope that seeing her might touch some decency in him. The way he had fed her was surprisingly gentle. And he had spoken of wanting to make amends.
“Why are you doing this? No one would pay a ransom for me, if that’s what you desire.”
Her brother and sister thought she was dead, after all. Her younger brother, Harold, known as Harry, was now the earl and head of her family. Harry would dismiss a demand for ransom as the work of a madman. “Can you not just let me go?”
Ravenhunt studied her. His rubbed his fingers against his temple as if his head ached. “If I cut the ropes securing your arms,” he said finally, “can I have your word you won’t touch me and attempt to kill me?”
She hesitated.
“It would not serve you to try to kill me, my dear. There are men who want to make you their prisoner and experiment on you. Do you understand of what I am speaking?”
“No, I have no idea.” Experiments? Like men of science? Fear clawed at her again—he had to be mad.
She had to play along. The only weapon she had right now was making him believe she was going to be obedient and docile.
“You will have to trust me for now,” he said.
She nodded, biting back her real desire to scream at him, to tell him he was insane.
Her arms were numb. To have them free, to not feel so vulnerable, she would agree to anything. “I promise I will not touch you,” she whispered.
Silver flashed in front of the candle’s flame. A knife blade.
He stretched over her, his large chest moving close to her face. Grasping the rope, he sliced one, then the other. Her arms fell limply against the bed.
She wriggled her fingers. “Oh, that hurts,” she gasped as feeling returned.
His hand came close to hers, then he drew it back. “I wanted to massage your hands. They must be sore.”
“They are beyond sore!”
He sighed. “I am an assassin, Lady Ophelia. You have seen an inordinate amount of kindness from me. More than I’ve shown anyone in a long time.”
“A-an assassin,” she parroted numbly. Strangely, she didn’t feel any deeper fear at the word. It was as if she had reached the limit of horror she could comprehend and nothing more could go in.
“Can you sit up?” he continued, as if she had not spoken. She struggled to do so. He moved around her, careful not to brush against her. She pushed up, the covers falling away. Her hair was a mess, half-falling from her pins, hanging around her in a tangle of gold.
Her assassin dutifully tucked two pillows behind her back.
This was madness.
“After I’ve eaten, are you planning to kill me?” Ophelia truly didn’t know how she could speak so coolly. Exhaustion had settled on her. She’d been on a bed for hours, unable to sleep, starving, and the drug she’d inhaled still made her feel a bit dizzy. She was almost too tired to care if he tried to kill her.
“I do not intend to kill you. But you have to know I did not take you of my own volition. This is an assignment for me, and I was paid handsomely to do it.”
“Who paid you?” she whispered.
“I have no idea.”
She made a sound of frustration. “That makes no sense. How could you not know?”
He didn’t answer, and realization dawned. “You’re going to give me to this person,” she gasped.
“No, I am not.”
“What do you mean, you are not?”
“I’ve changed my mind.”
Should she be relieved? “Then what are you going to do?”
He shrugged in that languorous way of gentlemen. “I don’t yet know.”
He was a madman. “What will this unknown person do, since you are double-crossing him?”
“I assume he will attempt to destroy me,” Ravenhunt answered, as if he were speaking of the weather. “He would also come after you—or send someone else to do what I did not. That is the reason you have to stay with me. You will be safe with me.”
“No,” she said. Then stronger, for her head was clearing, “No, I am not going to stay with you. You are insane.”
He sighed, turning away from her and back to the tray. “You rescue a woman,” he muttered to himself. “The first woman you have ever bothered to save. Do you see any appreciation for your trouble?”
“Rescue me?” she sputtered. “Stop saying that! You took me prisoner—”
A plate thrust at her, the food almost toppling onto her chest. Surprise broke off her words. Her stomach ached at the anticipation of digging into ham, eggs, and potatoes. Abruptly he set it down on her lap, forcing her to grab the plate to prevent it spilling.
A slightly bitter, brewed scent filled the air. She glanced over. A silver urn flashed as he poured coffee in a cup. He downed half of it without any sweetening. Black. Then he grimaced. “Cannot drink this stuff,” he muttered. He spat it back into the cup and set the cup aside.
“I deserve to know what you are going to do to me!” she demanded.
A sardonic laugh left his lips. “I would tell you if I had any idea.” Then he sighed. He poured coffee into another delicate cup and held it out to her.
With her hands still a bit numb, she wrapped both around the warm china.
“This is the entire tale, Lady Ophelia. I agreed to kidnap you, an innocent young woman, which was unusual for me. Normally I am paid to destroy beings. But I was promised a fortune as payment, and I could not resist. As I said, I was to hand you over to my client.”
He paused, rubbing his chin.
The hot coffee was making her head wake up. Frowning, she said, “You promised me the entire tale. I think I deserve that.”
Broad shoulders moved in another languorous shrug. “The man knows about your power. I believe he wanted you to experiment on you—find out how your power works, how it can be controlled, if someone else could obtain your power.”
“No one could do that.”
Matter-of-factly, he said, “There are ways.”
“Who would want it? It’s a curse—”
“Not for someone who would want to be indestructible. I was to give you to him after I acquired you. Tonight I went and told him he’s not going to get you. Now, eat.”
Ophelia took a bite of her ham. “You speak as though you
When Ravenhunt said nothing, and she’d swallowed more bites of his delicious food, she added, “Can you give me any hints?”
“This is not a parlor guessing game, Lady Ophelia. This is serious. The only place I can be certain you will be safe is with me.”
“Why should
“You are young and you don’t deserve to die. Nor do you deserve to be cut open and studied.”
