Grievous (Wanted Men #5) - Nancy Haviland Page 0,28

incarceration. She would be demanding separate accommodations after this.

“Simple directions would have been helpful,” she said aloud as she jumped when she heard what sounded like a door slamming. She whimpered a little and continued talking to herself if not just to hear a voice. Flashes of the dark attic one of her families had made her sleep in kept coming to her, making her stomach churn.

“Spooning would have been even nicer,” she bit out, increasing her speed when she pictured the lecherous cooks. Her neck was beginning to ache from constantly looking over her shoulder. “Fucking hell. This is worse than walking alone through old man Tavares’ auto wreckers on a Friday night. Lucian!” she finally shouted, once more feeling the stark sense of rejection she’d felt when he’d blocked every touch she’d attempted to land after their frenetic coupling. God, he was good. So, so good. But his aftercare sucked. He hadn’t wanted any part of her once the sex was over, and she’d been left floundering. After what he’d done to her, the things he’d made her feel, she’d been afloat and in need of an anchor. One he hadn’t provided. That had made her bitchy, but he deserved it.

She turned yet another corner and spotted an arched opening much larger than an average doorway about thirty feet ahead. She started jogging for it, confident it would lead to the massive foyer. That was when something whizzed by her head. Already at the end of her rope, there was nothing she could do to swallow the blood-curdling scream that belted up her throat when flapping registered. It came again, but it wasn’t until her hair was slapped at that she gave up running and stopped to throw her fit.

It was only seconds later that she heard footsteps. She was yanked into a hard chest and wrapped up good and tight. “Shh. It is okay. I have you, pet.”

She realized who the deep murmur belonged to at the same time as his scent registered. That familiar scent that burrowed into her and made her want something she knew damn well she was never going to get.

She pushed away from the too-little-too-late and swatted around her head a couple more times for good measure. “Don’t touch me,” she snarled as she looked around, wishing the ceiling was better lit. Sorin stood a few feet away. “Is it gone?”

“If you are asking after the bat,” Lucian said. “Yes, it flew into—”

“You couldn’t have come back for me?” she demanded, cutting him off. Oh, she was so ready to lose her shit, she was choking up. “You destroy me, leave me to recover on my own, then don’t even bother to come back when you know damn well this place is impossible for someone who’s never been here to navigate—” She stomped her foot when he opened his mouth. “I’m not finished! Couldn’t you have sent someone else? Sent a note? Fixed my fucking phone and sent me a text? That was so inconsiderate of you, Lucian!” Do I mean so little that I’m not even an afterthought? “I’ve been roaming these halls forever, terrified a ghost was going to possess me before your creepy cooks could catch up and assault me!”

She took a breath when her lungs began to burn, and it wasn’t until she paused that she realized she’d been shouting at him. Afraid he might punish her in some way, especially because she was reprimanding him in front of Sorin, she pulled in another harsh breath and forced out an apology.

“Forgive me for screaming like an out-of-control harpy.” She didn’t sound sorry at all. “But you abandoned me, and that’s shitty.” She stepped back when it looked as if he was going to lift his arm. “It was inconsiderate and shitty. I just thought you should know that.”

“If you had not been so impatient, you might have been in our room when the person I did send up knocked.” He wasn’t looking at her but at her body.

“I’m. Up. Here,” she said in a quiet tone so poisonous it should have peeled the skin off his face.

His darkening eyes continued to travel up at his leisure, lingering on her swiftly rising and falling chest before reaching hers. Rather than be repulsed, her belly gave a soft roll and waved hello.

“I know where you are at all times, draga. If you want the truth, I thought you might be exploring. Or searching for a way out. I left you