Page 27 of The Guardian (Dark-Hunter 20)
Chapter 9
Seth stared at Lydia in a state of complete and utter shock as the sight of her sent fire burning through every part of his body. And that heat concentrated itself right in his groin. Why did I give her that one?
Why did she have to choose it?
A low-cut, rust-colored dress, it hugged her curves in a way that should be illegal. More than that, the color heightened the gold in her eyes, making them all the more vibrant.
As if she needed that.
His cock swelled against the metal plates to the point it caused him pain. Vicious, biting pain. But not even that was enough to distract him from the deep V that showed the swell of her breasts. Breasts with nipples that were tight and jutting through the silken material. He could see every outline of them. His throat went dry even as his mouth salivated for a taste.
He rose to his feet.
Lydia hesitated as she felt the weight of his icy stare on every part of her. The way he looked at her ...
It was terrifying.
"Did I do something wrong?"
When he didn't answer right away, she really started to panic.
Finally, after an extremely long minute, he blinked. "No, not at all." He picked his book up and returned it to the desk. "I ... um ... I saw those on the computer last night. I wasn't sure if they were right or not."
"I don't know how you did it, but they all fit perfectly." As if they'd been tailored to her body. "Thank you."
Still, she hated that his makeup was back in place and his hair straightened out again with that small ponytail holding his bangs back out of his eyes.
She missed the kinder looking Guardian. The fearsome one was ...
Well, scary as all get out. And as hard as it was to decipher his emotions without the makeup, it was ten times harder with those red and black lines that kept his face in a perpetual snarl.
With his mercurial mood swings, she didn't like being without those facial clues.
Completely stoic, he stepped away from the desk so that she could see he had a tray waiting for her. One with banana pancakes, muffins, eggs, bacon, and juice. Her stomach rumbled at the abundance.
"I hope all of this means you're planning to join me."
He shook his head.
Lydia sat down and reached for the empty plate. "Don't you ever eat?"
"Sometimes." There was a peculiar note in his voice that made her wary.
"You do consume food for nourishment, right?"
His eyes flashed angrily. "I don't eat babies or drink blood if that's what you're implying."
She held her hands up in surrender. "It didn't even cross my mind. Why are you so defensive about everything?"
That familiar tic started in his jaw. "I get tired of being accused of things that I'm not. Of doing things I haven't done."
She could understand that. No one liked being misjudged, though it might help if he looked a little less terrifying. "I'm not accusing you of anything. I was only curious about you. You don't eat. You don't sleep. How do you live?"
When he spoke, his voice was completely flat and empty. "I don't die."
His answer confused her. "Huh?"
He looked away as he paced the same path she'd worn out the first night she'd been here. "It's not that I live so much as it is I can't die. So it doesn't matter if I eat or sleep. My body will continue functioning without either."
"Were you born immortal?"
"Apparently. I certainly wouldn't have chosen this existence otherwise."
Yeah, she could believe that. Who would want to live here? Even for immortality. It wasn't worth it.
She, too, was immortal. A gift from her father. It was something she hadn't realized until she'd lived long after most Were-Hunters died.
And, like the Guardian, she'd never physically aged past her midtwenties. "When did you find out you were immortal?"
"When I was seven."
She poured syrup over her pancakes and savored the delectable scent. "What happened? Did you get sick or have an accident?"
The anguish in his eyes broke her heart. "I have to attend my duties. I shall return when I can. If you need me, just call and I will hear you."
Lydia sighed as he vanished. He was such a mystery to her. And his kindness belied the cruelty she knew he was capable of. She pulled the laptop over to her and turned it on to see if Solin had responded.
She smiled the moment she saw his e-mail in her inbox. He'd written to her in the Greek she'd learned as a child.
My most precious one,
I won't leave you there. Stay strong for me and I will free you just as soon as I can. I love you more than anything and I swear to you that I will come for you no matter what.
S.
She touched the words on the screen, grateful more than ever that she had him in her life. There was nothing she wouldn't do for him.
Soon she would be home again.
And the Guardian would still be trapped here ...
Alone.
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