Chapter Three

“So tell me,” he said, linking his long fingers on his lap, “about your friend.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Physical description, when you last saw him, where you have already looked for him, that kind of thing.”

I sighed and rested back, relishing the warmth and the chance to talk about Denny. “Well, he’s about five-ten, blond hair, usually wears an Arsenal beanie, he’s a mad fan.” I smiled. Denny could enthuse about his favorite football team for hours. “He’s a bit on the skinny side, not that I would tell him, he can get obsessive about things like that, do you know the sort?”

“Mmm, I do, and perhaps that may give us a clue as to his whereabouts.”

I took a sip of the sweet, fragrant tea and the heat trickled down my gullet. It was an unusual blend but I liked its flavor. “I don’t even know your name,” I said.

“And I don’t know yours.” He tipped his head and the ends of his hair stroked his pristine white collar.

“Beatrice, or rather Bea, I go by Bea.”

He stared at me unblinking. “Nice to meet you, Beatrice, I’m Aimery.”

“That’s an unusual name.”

“I suppose it is if you haven’t heard it before.”

“I haven’t. Is it foreign?”

“As far as I am aware it is a German name.”

“Are your parents German?”

“No, they were Norman.”

“Norman?”

“Yes, but enough about me, what about Denny? He is our chief concern, is he not?”

I glanced at the flickering fire. Aimery’s dark, heavy gaze was like a weight on me. Not uncomfortable, just intense. “I reported him missing to the police last week, but they didn’t seem interested. Said he was a grown man and if he wanted to go walkabout then that was fine.”

“They have more important things to deal with,” he said, “than looking for folk who have few friends and family and who won’t be missed.”

“How do you know Denny has few friends and family?” I bristled.

He hesitated. “I don’t, it’s just a guess.”

“Oh.” I rubbed at an itch on my neck and his gaze followed my fingertips.

He pulled in a deep breath. “If Denny had a wife, parents, brothers and sisters, you, just a friend, wouldn’t have felt the need to come into a stranger’s home to seek out information on him.” He lowered his voice. “You look like a sensible girl, Beatrice. I can’t imagine that you generally put yourself at risk like this.”

I swallowed and looked into his handsome face, wondering if he was being sarcastic or genuine.

Does he mean me harm?

Normally I was pretty good with my gut instincts. But something about Aimery sent them out of whack. He was devastatingly gorgeous, way out of my league I was sure, and certainly not my usual type. Also there was a restrained air about him. He was cool to the point of chilly, polite to the edge of uncomfortable. It was as though he was holding back something he wanted to do or say.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to find out what it was he wasn’t saying or doing, but at the same time, I had to admit I was utterly intrigued.

“Go on,” he said, leaning forward in the chair.

Light from the tall window behind rendered him almost in silhouette, just a few ocher shadows from the fire glancing across his face.

“Tell me everything,” he whispered.

I cupped my palms around the warm mug I held on my lap. “Well, last time I saw him was in the market, three weeks ago. It was a rainy Wednesday morning, business was steady. Denny had been shouted at by Tony—”

“Who is Tony?”

“Denny’s boss, a right wanker.” I clasped my hand over my mouth. “Shit, sorry.”

He shrugged. “I’ve heard worse, and if that describes him in one word then so be it.”

“It does.” I nodded. “And then I was working, preparing a fillet, and I saw you. Then I looked at him, looking at you, and by the time I’d got ten steaks out of the fillet he was gone and I never saw him again.” I shook my head and gripped the mug more firmly, took a sip. “He just vanished. Without even saying goodbye.” Tears nipped my eyes. I couldn’t cope with the thought of never seeing my best friend again.

Aimery folded his arms, sat back and watched me staring into my mug of tea. I was sure he was giving me time to compose myself and I was grateful. I wasn’t normally a crier. That kind of behavior would render me a laughingstock at the market. “I’m sorry,” I said, blinking rapidly and refusing to let the tears spill.

“Was Denny happy?” Aimery asked softly.

“No, not particularly. He wanted more from life than working in a cold meat market for the rest of his time and he also hoped to…” I hesitated, feeling like I was revealing confidences.

“Please, Beatrice, go on. If I am to help you I must know every little detail.”

I stared at him. His eyes were narrowed and his fingers meshed tight. There was something solid and powerful about him. His calm assurance and the air of competence and determination surrounding him made my soul fill with hope. But at the same time, prickles of apprehension snaked up my spine. He was almost too perfect to have landed right here, right now, to help me out of this nightmare.

I nibbled on my bottom lip. The truth wasn’t easy and it saddened me to say it. “Denny wasn’t happy, in fact he was downright miserable, completely in the doldrums.”

“Why is that?” He’d lowered his voice, softened it too. It was more like a hum now, like a concerned parent coaxing a child to speak. “You can tell me, Beatrice. In fact, you need to tell me.”

“Denny is gay and they made his life miserable at Smithfield.” There, I’d said it.

“How did they do that?”

“Always having a dig at him whenever they could, typical playground bullying. Calling him an up-hill gardener, ginger beer, bum bandit, you know the sort. Ignorant and pathetic.”

Aimery frowned. “So why did he stay?”

“He had nowhere else to go and no one to help him out of the situation. I wish I could have, but what could I do? I live at home with my dad and it’s not like I have loads of dosh to give him so he can start fresh and do the interior design course he’s always on about.”

“Maybe someone has offered him a way out and that’s why he’s gone.”

I shook my head. “No, he would never have left without saying goodbye. We were close, best friends.”

“But not lovers?”

“No, absolutely not.” I was shocked by the question and fiddled with the base of the mug, sliding my fingertip around the smooth pottery. “I just told you Denny is—”

“I know, gay. But maybe he met someone and was swept off his feet, whisked away into the sunset.”

“Do you really think so…? Ouch!”

“What?” Aimery was on his knees before me, reaching for my right hand.

“Bloody hell, that’s sharp,” I said, watching a ruby blob of blood grow on the tip of my index finger.

He wrapped his hand around my wrist and tugged my arm straight so he could examine my wound.

“The base of this mug is chipped.” I lifted it and glanced at the smear of blood on the shiny surface. “It has a lethal bit sticking out of it.”

“Hardly lethal.” He cocked one eyebrow and swept his tongue over his bottom lip. “But I’m sorry that had to cause you pain.”

“Had to?” I frowned and tried to pull my wrist from his grip.

He kept a tight hold, his cool fingers keeping my hand still and hovering before his face.

“Hey, I—”

“Please,” he said almost on a pant, “allow me.” He leaned forward, shut his eyes and wrapped his lips around my bleeding digit.

Instantly I was aware of a powerful suction, his tongue soft but firm as he took my entire finger into his mouth, knuckle-deep.

“What are you do—?” My words cut off as tingling warmth spread up my arm. It seeped into my chest, spiking my nipples and creating a heavy weight low down inside of me.

He continued to suck, his cheeks hollowing and his eyes shut tight as though succumbing to ecstasy. My hand felt on fire, but not painfully. It was good heat, heat that was now burning up my arm and flooding my stomach, my pelvis, oh God, and my pussy.

I squirmed on the seat, captivated by the sensation but also needing to be free of it.

“Aimery,” I gasped. “Please—”

He slid his hand from my wrist to my elbow, bunching my sweater and keeping a tight hold of me.

I felt trapped, pinned in place, but I didn’t mind. His mouth, his tongue, the soft gulping noises he was making as though drinking greedily were mesmerizing. And my pussy, the heat was intense, the pressure building. My clit was pressing against the gusset of my knickers and in turn against the seam of my jeans.

A small groan weaved its way through my throat. He responded by placing his other hand on my thigh and smoothing it upward to the juncture of my legs and pressing against my clothing.

“Ah, oh, oh, what is happ—” I couldn’t speak another word. A small, trembling orgasm was ravishing me. Fingers of pleasure burst outward from my pussy, clenching my gut and curling my toes. I screwed my eyes shut, slumped back in the chair and dropped my head down.

As the spasms faded I was aware of the heat in my chest, arm and hand subsiding. I opened my eyes and refocused.

Aimery was staring at me. His pupils were enormous. He kept a tight hold of my wet finger. The end was now pale and the slit in my skin void of blood.

“Just as I suspected. You are truly an exquisite find,” he said.

“What, what just happened?” I was being treated to quivering, orgasmic aftershocks and my breath was hard to catch.

“You have a very rare blood type,” he said, cocking his head and again licking his lips.

“Yes, I know,” I said a little dreamily. “I have to store some in the local hospital, my mother always did before she passed too.”

“Bombay,” he said. “Truly a delicacy.”

I tugged my hand from his.

This time he released me.

“What the hell.” Despite feeling dreamy, I jumped up and scooted to the middle of the room. “How would you know about my blood type?”

“I just tasted it.” He stood also, towering over me.

I rammed my hands on my hips. This wasn’t making any sense. “No one has ever heard of my blood group. Barely anyone in the world has it and if it wasn’t for some throwback gene of mine I wouldn’t either.”

“Hardly sensible to go into a profession where cutting yourself is a daily hazard, then.” He smiled, almost lazily.

It was the first time I’d seen him even vaguely relaxed since I’d met him.

“You didn’t answer my question,” I snapped. “Again.”

He broadened his smile, kept his eyelids heavy and reached out and stroked the back of his thumb down my cheek.

I hitched in a breath. His proximity, the way he smelled this close up—sweetly spiced, like man and sex—filled my senses. But I wanted answers. I was confused, angry, scared, turned-the-hell-on by him. How did he know my blood group just from tasting it?

“You really don’t know how special you are, do you?” he murmured.

Suddenly his lips were on mine. Lips that had been wrapped around my finger moments ago were moving, soft and pliant, teasing my mouth open. I felt helpless to resist. I didn’t want to. Aimery was class-A gorgeous, despite his overenthusiasm for sucking my blood.

He delved into my mouth, the tip of his tongue searching and tangling with mine.

I joined in, played the game, opened up and tilted my head to deepen our kiss. Allowed myself to fall into the delicious flavor of him and the fantastical moment.

Suddenly I remembered why I was there.

Denny.

“No.” I stepped backward, away from him and toward the door. “Aimery, what are you doing? I thought you were going to help me find my friend.”

“I am.” He rubbed his temple. “I will.”

“But—”

“Come back tomorrow.” He sighed. “I will have news of Denny by then.”

“How can you know that?” I shook my head and watched him fold his long body into the chair by the fire. He crossed his legs, hooked his hands over the arms and rested his head back, as though preparing for a nap.

“I just know,” he said. “Trust me.”

“What makes you think I can trust you after…after that?”

“Because,” he said, settling his gaze on me, “you, Beatrice, have just become my world and I will do anything to make you happy.”

My heart rate rocketed and it was going like the clappers anyway. “Don’t be so ridiculous, we’ve only just met.”

“I’ve met lots of people, and I’ve always known whether they are special within a few short hours of becoming acquainted and you, well…” He paused and crossed his arms. “And you, let’s just say, it just took me a while to get past all those other smells you had lingering around you. But now that I have I know that you are indeed very special.”

His riddles and overzealous declarations suddenly irritated the hell out of me. “Oh, this is ridiculous,” I said, turning and striding to the door. “You’re just too weird, all this smelling me and sucking my blood. What are you, a bloody vampire or something?”

“Beatrice,” he said wearily. “Do not go, not yet.”

I turned as I reached for the handle. “It’s Bea, not Beatrice. And I’m going because this is freaky. I thought you were going to help me find Denny.”

“I will. Please, come back tomorrow and I promise I won’t disappoint you.”

Annoyance gnawed at me. I pulled open the door and stepped into the hallway. I slammed the door so hard a picture of a wolf shot through the neck with an arrow lurched on its hook.

A deep voice to my left startled me and I spun around.

“Well, well, well, isn’t this a surprise. Aimery finally has female company.”