another part of his anatomy, which had clearly been gearing itself up for dessert, pressing against my stomach, until it, too, was hastily removed.
The woman behind me was rather alarmed to discover a naked woman squashed against her so tightly I could feel her suspenders against the back of my thighs and a certain hairiness tickling my bottom.
She screamed, and I screamed, and Roman hissed like a startled cat, then there was shouting from a short distance away, and as usual, it was dark and I was naked.
Roman reacted in an instant. He violently shoved me sideways and I fell to the ground with a squeak of indignation and surprise, scraping my knees on the gravel. Roman ignored me, concentrating on the shocked woman, rapidly enthralling her. I picked tiny stones out of the skin on my knees and grumpily wondered why he hadn’t done that in the first place. She was limp and unresponsive when he picked her up and flung her over his shoulder, and I hoped he hadn’t done anything more serious to her, but before I could ask him, my lover shot out an iron hand and hauled me to my feet.
‘Ow!’ My voice was loud in the darkness. ‘What do you –’
‘Shut up.’ His was menacingly quiet and very grim. I shut up. The shouting was getting closer and I realised it might possibly have something to do with us. The first spike of alarm pierced my mind and when Roman shot me a bleak look, I knew there was trouble brewing. Whoever said I was slow to catch on…
Roman ran, dragging me along in his wake, a swift sleek yacht towing a little rowboat. By the time he had taken five paces , I was stumbling along, unable to keep up; he was incredibly fast and he had shoes on. I would have given a lot to be wearing shoes right now.
He stopped and I couldn’t help another squeal when he picked me up and slung me over his other shoulder. He carried on running.
The breath whooshed out of me as my stomach hit the heavily muscled shelf of his shoulder, and I bounced painfully, head down, bum up, the blood rushing to my brain as he moved with astonishing speed. His sheer strength terrified me; the weight of two grown women appeared to have no effect on him. The ground careened past, scant inches from my eyes, first rushing gravel, then dirt track, and I fought not to be sick. I scrunched my eyes shut to block the sight, but I wasn’t sure if it made things any better, so I opened them again, trying to lift my head sideways to find a point of reference that wasn’t moving.
The river . I could see the water to my right and lights on the opposite bank, but they rapidly disappeared behind us as Roman continued to put more distance between us and whoever had been shouting. I couldn’t hear them anymore; all I heard was my own laboured breathing, the wind in my ears, and the gurgle and suck of moving water.
We came to an abrupt halt and my cheek smacked into the small of his back.
I grunted.
‘Shush.’
I did as I was told, reluctantly, because I wanted him to put me down, and I grimaced but stayed silent, trusting him to know what he was doing. I held what little breath I had as I, too, listened intently. Roman didn’t need to hold his – he didn’t appear to have breathed at all in the last few minutes. Eventually, he tipped to the side and I slid clumsily off his shoulder and crumpled to the dirt. He gently lowered the other woman to the ground, smoothing her skirt modestly over her legs. I remembered the feel of suspenders and pubic hair, and was too grossed out to feel cross. Cross would come later, when I was fully clothed and knew exactly what was going on. For now, Roman exuded menace and there must be a very good reason he was on high alert.
I sat up, my gravel-pocked knees tucked into my chest, trying to catch some air and relieve the ache in my stomach. I wrapped my arms around my legs and stared at the vampire. He seemed satisfied and he dropped down to Defcon 3 ; I gathered we weren’t completely in the clear but were in
The woman behind me was rather alarmed to discover a naked woman squashed against her so tightly I could feel her suspenders against the back of my thighs and a certain hairiness tickling my bottom.
She screamed, and I screamed, and Roman hissed like a startled cat, then there was shouting from a short distance away, and as usual, it was dark and I was naked.
Roman reacted in an instant. He violently shoved me sideways and I fell to the ground with a squeak of indignation and surprise, scraping my knees on the gravel. Roman ignored me, concentrating on the shocked woman, rapidly enthralling her. I picked tiny stones out of the skin on my knees and grumpily wondered why he hadn’t done that in the first place. She was limp and unresponsive when he picked her up and flung her over his shoulder, and I hoped he hadn’t done anything more serious to her, but before I could ask him, my lover shot out an iron hand and hauled me to my feet.
‘Ow!’ My voice was loud in the darkness. ‘What do you –’
‘Shut up.’ His was menacingly quiet and very grim. I shut up. The shouting was getting closer and I realised it might possibly have something to do with us. The first spike of alarm pierced my mind and when Roman shot me a bleak look, I knew there was trouble brewing. Whoever said I was slow to catch on…
Roman ran, dragging me along in his wake, a swift sleek yacht towing a little rowboat. By the time he had taken five paces , I was stumbling along, unable to keep up; he was incredibly fast and he had shoes on. I would have given a lot to be wearing shoes right now.
He stopped and I couldn’t help another squeal when he picked me up and slung me over his other shoulder. He carried on running.
The breath whooshed out of me as my stomach hit the heavily muscled shelf of his shoulder, and I bounced painfully, head down, bum up, the blood rushing to my brain as he moved with astonishing speed. His sheer strength terrified me; the weight of two grown women appeared to have no effect on him. The ground careened past, scant inches from my eyes, first rushing gravel, then dirt track, and I fought not to be sick. I scrunched my eyes shut to block the sight, but I wasn’t sure if it made things any better, so I opened them again, trying to lift my head sideways to find a point of reference that wasn’t moving.
The river . I could see the water to my right and lights on the opposite bank, but they rapidly disappeared behind us as Roman continued to put more distance between us and whoever had been shouting. I couldn’t hear them anymore; all I heard was my own laboured breathing, the wind in my ears, and the gurgle and suck of moving water.
We came to an abrupt halt and my cheek smacked into the small of his back.
I grunted.
‘Shush.’
I did as I was told, reluctantly, because I wanted him to put me down, and I grimaced but stayed silent, trusting him to know what he was doing. I held what little breath I had as I, too, listened intently. Roman didn’t need to hold his – he didn’t appear to have breathed at all in the last few minutes. Eventually, he tipped to the side and I slid clumsily off his shoulder and crumpled to the dirt. He gently lowered the other woman to the ground, smoothing her skirt modestly over her legs. I remembered the feel of suspenders and pubic hair, and was too grossed out to feel cross. Cross would come later, when I was fully clothed and knew exactly what was going on. For now, Roman exuded menace and there must be a very good reason he was on high alert.
I sat up, my gravel-pocked knees tucked into my chest, trying to catch some air and relieve the ache in my stomach. I wrapped my arms around my legs and stared at the vampire. He seemed satisfied and he dropped down to Defcon 3 ; I gathered we weren’t completely in the clear but were in
Similar Books
