Page 8 of Trapping His Angel

I sat at a table by myself, and cut a small sliver of orange with my fork, not wanting my hands to get dirty.

“Malen'kiy angel,”a husky voice whispered in my ear.“Imagine my surprise when I woke up to find you’d fled my bedroom.”

“What would you do if you woke up in bed with a stranger?” I murmured, not turning toward him.

His woodsy scent enveloped me as he straddled the seat beside me. “I would at least let them have another round in the shower, before sneaking out to do my walk of shame,” he whispered back.

This time I turned and looked at him. Caught up in his dark eye, my mouth dried up, and I forgot all the words I was going to say. He was magnificent. Dark and dangerous, but touched by time, in a way that said he could handle himself.

I should stay away from him.

Yet I leaned towards him, wishing for his touch. He looked down at my plate with a scowl. “That isn’t enough food to eat,malen'kiy angel.”

I shook my head in agreement, but said, “I’m not starving.”Do I even like this food? I can’t remember.

“Why are you here then?”

Having his full focus on me was terrifying.

“So I’m not alone,” I answered honestly.

He growled and got up from his seat. It shocked me and I jumped, but he wasn’t attacking me. No, he stalked to the buffet line and grabbed a plate. Oh, maybe he was hungry as well.

It was a rather abrupt way of ending the conversation, but I could understand if he couldn’t help himself, and needed to grab something nutritious to eat as well. With that in mind, I cut off another small sliver of orange. I chewed and swallowed the small bite like it was the largest, most grandiose meal.

When I looked up from the bite, I noticed the stranger back in the seat next to me, with a plate of pancakes, sausage, eggs, toast, and assorted fruits. A well-balanced meal for a man his age.

He cut a slice of the pancakes and held the fork in front of my mouth.

“Open,malen'kiy angel,”he demanded.

Like magic, my jaw dropped open, and he slipped the fork in between my lips. I chewed and swallowed, all without breaking his stare. When I finished the bite, I had the strangest urge. I opened my mouth to show him I’d eaten every crumb.

“Good girl,” he praised.

A wondrous spark exploded in my chest with those two words. Wetness spread between my thighs. I would do anything for him to say those words to me again. I would walk through fire to feel the way I did at this moment.

In silence, he fed me more of the meal. I had to stop him when I finished a quarter of the pancakes, and had a couple of bites of fruit. I already felt nauseous from the ship rocking. Eating too much was asking for the rest of my stay to be stuck in the bathroom.

“Look at me,” he commanded.

Does he even care who I am, or just what I represent?

I peeked up at him and saw the dark aura surrounding his body. What had I done to set him off? I squirmed out of my chair and sank to my knees. The room grew quiet. I could barely stand it, my heart pounding in my chest.

I didn’t know where they sent bad ones to on the ship, but I knew it was dark. I didn’t want to be in the dark. “I’ll be good. I’ll be good. I’ll be good,” I whispered, rocking on my knees.

“Isadora!” Valentina shouted from across the room.

She was skidding on her knees in front of me, her arms wrapped around me so quickly that I flinched half a second too late, hating her touch.

“What did you do to her, Benedikt?” I heard Valentina address the terrifying man before me.

“Fed her,” he said, lazily. “I didn’t know it was such a crime.”

Benedikt. I mouthed his name to myself, feeling eyes on my head as soon as I did it.

“This is no time for your jokes. I don’t want my sister hurt any more than she already has been,” Valentina hissed.

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