Read Online Golden Stair by Jennifer Blackstream - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jennifer Blackstream
Tags: Romance, Paranormal
Ads: Link
eye pull the secrets from her art that she’d so far kept hidden from her mother? What on earth had she been thinking, parading her soul in front of a demon?
Oblivious to the chaos her thoughts had dissolved into, Adonis examined all of her paintings in turn. “I’m sorry you have so much panic in your life,” he said finally, quietly. “You have so many portraits of the royal families, but…I’ve never known anyone to hold such fear of them. Even the people of Dacia , who know the royal family are vampires, even they don’t feel this level of terror.”
“I’ve never met them,” Ivy defended herself automatically. “I only know what my mother has told me.”
Adonis leaned forward. “But surely everyone you talk to doesn’t speak of them like this? Shouldn’t that be cause enough to reconsider?”
Ivy pressed her lips together and looked away. She counted to ten in her head, distracting herself and simultaneously cursing herself for dragging out her art. She bled her soul into her work and here she was displaying it for a perfect stranger. She swallowed, eyeing the incubus through her peripheral vision. A very perfect stranger.
Her emotions were too close to the surface, and that was dangerous for one in hiding such as herself. I never should have held him here. I should have expelled him from the tower.
“I’d like you to keep my rendition of the king and queen,” he continued gently. “Perhaps you could hang it up in place of that terrifying battle.” He gestured at the painting he’d commented on earlier. “It might lessen your fear to have an alternative view of them.”
It was a logical suggestion, but Ivy knew better. Her mother favored her violent paintings, praised them far more than any pleasant pictures Ivy created. She told Ivy that she admired truth, and that was why she liked the war depictions. She didn’t want Ivy to be confused, to start to believe in a fantasy world over reality. And after last night, Ivy was absolutely certain her mother would destroy Adonis’ painting of the king and queen as a lie.
Suddenly it was all just too much. She couldn’t bear for him to be in the room with her anymore, couldn’t stand for him to say another word. She needed to be alone, needed to collect herself. She kicked one of the stones, breaking the protective circle that held him prisoner.
“Get out.”
She tensed, hyper-aware of her instincts wailing at her to be careful. Tracking his every movement, she concentrated on the energy in the room, on guard for any attack on his part. Her mind swirled in a chaotic cloud of doubts, everything her mother had ever taught her clashing with everything the incubus had said.
Despite her caution, she didn’t believe he would hurt her—a conviction that twisted her nerves into tangled knots. She’d finally gotten her wish, a peek into the outside world. If only she’d realized just how devastating a little peek could be for the only life she’d ever known. It was too much.
Adonis sat there for a moment, perhaps too surprised to move. Tension sang between them and the intensity of his gaze spoke to some primal part of her, reaching into her chest and grabbing hold.
“Do you really want me to leave?”
She jumped at the sound of his voice, arm twitching with the urge to point at him and try to call the fire that had nearly consumed her earlier. Instead, she found herself considering his words. Whatever manner of creature he was, he’d been her first introduction to the world beyond her tower, the only person she’d ever spoken to besides her mother. A tiny part of her wanted him to stay, wanted to beg him to tell her about the world and damn the conflict with her mother’s claims. The other part of her was petrified to hear another word. Her palms grew sweaty and she held very, very still.
“Not that I’m not grateful,” Adonis added, rising to his feet. “But you
Oblivious to the chaos her thoughts had dissolved into, Adonis examined all of her paintings in turn. “I’m sorry you have so much panic in your life,” he said finally, quietly. “You have so many portraits of the royal families, but…I’ve never known anyone to hold such fear of them. Even the people of Dacia , who know the royal family are vampires, even they don’t feel this level of terror.”
“I’ve never met them,” Ivy defended herself automatically. “I only know what my mother has told me.”
Adonis leaned forward. “But surely everyone you talk to doesn’t speak of them like this? Shouldn’t that be cause enough to reconsider?”
Ivy pressed her lips together and looked away. She counted to ten in her head, distracting herself and simultaneously cursing herself for dragging out her art. She bled her soul into her work and here she was displaying it for a perfect stranger. She swallowed, eyeing the incubus through her peripheral vision. A very perfect stranger.
Her emotions were too close to the surface, and that was dangerous for one in hiding such as herself. I never should have held him here. I should have expelled him from the tower.
“I’d like you to keep my rendition of the king and queen,” he continued gently. “Perhaps you could hang it up in place of that terrifying battle.” He gestured at the painting he’d commented on earlier. “It might lessen your fear to have an alternative view of them.”
It was a logical suggestion, but Ivy knew better. Her mother favored her violent paintings, praised them far more than any pleasant pictures Ivy created. She told Ivy that she admired truth, and that was why she liked the war depictions. She didn’t want Ivy to be confused, to start to believe in a fantasy world over reality. And after last night, Ivy was absolutely certain her mother would destroy Adonis’ painting of the king and queen as a lie.
Suddenly it was all just too much. She couldn’t bear for him to be in the room with her anymore, couldn’t stand for him to say another word. She needed to be alone, needed to collect herself. She kicked one of the stones, breaking the protective circle that held him prisoner.
“Get out.”
She tensed, hyper-aware of her instincts wailing at her to be careful. Tracking his every movement, she concentrated on the energy in the room, on guard for any attack on his part. Her mind swirled in a chaotic cloud of doubts, everything her mother had ever taught her clashing with everything the incubus had said.
Despite her caution, she didn’t believe he would hurt her—a conviction that twisted her nerves into tangled knots. She’d finally gotten her wish, a peek into the outside world. If only she’d realized just how devastating a little peek could be for the only life she’d ever known. It was too much.
Adonis sat there for a moment, perhaps too surprised to move. Tension sang between them and the intensity of his gaze spoke to some primal part of her, reaching into her chest and grabbing hold.
“Do you really want me to leave?”
She jumped at the sound of his voice, arm twitching with the urge to point at him and try to call the fire that had nearly consumed her earlier. Instead, she found herself considering his words. Whatever manner of creature he was, he’d been her first introduction to the world beyond her tower, the only person she’d ever spoken to besides her mother. A tiny part of her wanted him to stay, wanted to beg him to tell her about the world and damn the conflict with her mother’s claims. The other part of her was petrified to hear another word. Her palms grew sweaty and she held very, very still.
“Not that I’m not grateful,” Adonis added, rising to his feet. “But you
Similar Books
