Page 13 of Taken By the Vampires
“There those cheeks go again. You’re hungry. You should be. You have a few days to catch up on. I’ll have Cassius bring up some breakfast for you,” Davon said.
I glanced about the room, but I needed to know more about where I was. “Could we maybe get out of this room?”
“Feeling a bit confined, are we?” Davon’s smile was delicious.
I blinked, forcing my eyes somewhere other than on his face. “Something like that.”
“Then the kitchen, it is. Mind you, we’re are three bachelors living here on our own and this room is the nicest by far. You’ll have to ignore the mess. Cassius is an enthusiastic cook,” Davon said.
“Don’t worry. I’m good at ignoring mess.”
“Can you walk? Shall I carry you there?” He held his arms as though to pick me up.
I stepped back, my backside hitting the wall. “I’m good. I need to work my muscles.”
He looked dubious but relented, much to my relief. “Breakfast should nearly be ready. I told him you’d woken.”
They were just being nice and I was overreacting. Dressed in too-large sweats and my hair a complete mess like it was did not make an alluring picture. He held the door open for me and I followed him into a hallway that matched the gothic look and feel of the room we’d left.
Cream-colored, rough-hewn plaster topped dark wood paneling on both walls. Wall sconces that held bulbs reminding me of something yesteryear threw off a yellowed light and were placed at regular intervals along the wall. It was bright enough to see where we walked, yet dim enough to create pockets of shadow.
We passed several closed doors. Another was open and I peered into a room that had every available surface lined with shelves. One look at the window outside showed the snowstorm still raging.
“How long do you think the storm will last?” I asked, hoping he might have heard a weather report.
“They usually last quite a long time in this neck of the woods,” Davon said.
“How long has this one been going on?” I hoped it was on the tail end. That it wouldn’t be days until I could leave.
But all Davon said was, “Quite some time now. Here we are, welcome to the kitchen.”
He opened a door for me and I stepped into a room that was at complete odds with the rest of their house. Like the bathroom, this room was state-of-the art. Sleek, black marble counters shone beneath brilliant lighting. Stainless steel appliances were built into stark white cabinet doors. Above the stove top was an enormous stainless-steel range hood. In the middle of the room was an enormous island and around it sat Cassius and Xander.
Cassius smiled at me while he placed a plate full of scrambled eggs and bacon in front of a chair that was sightly pulled away from the countertop. “There she is. I hope you’re hungry. I’ve cooked up a storm. Bacon. Eggs. Sausages.”
“You’re not eating?” There was only one plate and four of us in the kitchen.
A ghost of a smile whispered over Cassius’ mouth. “We’ve already eaten.”
The aroma of a freshly cooked breakfast reminded me how hungry I was. I slipped into the chair, picked up the fork and made short work of the scrambled eggs. I’d finished the pile when I noticed all of the men watching me. I realized how I must look. “It’s really good, Cassius. Thank you. You shouldn’t have gone to all this effort just for me. You’ve gone out of your way so much already.”
Cassius snorted, “It’s been a while since I’ve properly cooked. Besides, what sort of hosts would we be if we didn’t feed our guest?”
“Oh? This tastes so good, I’m sure Davon and Xander would have you cooking for them every day,” I said.
“They like things a little less cooked than this,” Cassius said.
“Like healthy living. If it isn’t fresh, you don’t eat it?” I said.
Cassius sent me a strange look. “Something like that. I’m happy I’ve remembered enough of my skills to have cooked for you. I used to be renowned for my meals.”
“A chef?”
“I ran a little inn at one point,” he said.
“Oh, really? Where?” I asked. I knew the roads in and out of town intimately and I’d never come across an inn. It was such an old-fashioned term.
“It was quite some time ago now, but it used to get very busy,” Cassius said.
