Grievous (Wanted Men #5) - Nancy Haviland Page 0,30
few breaths.
“I don’t want to talk to you right now.”
His lip quirked. What did that matter? “I asked you a question. Answer it, draga.”
“They eye-raped me,” she said after an extended pause. “It was invasive and uncomfortable.”
He froze mid-step as the sturdy guillotine stashed away in one of the rooms in the lower levels flashed in his mind’s eye. He breathed for a few seconds and concentrated on the feel of her body in his arms.
“This is an expression I have never heard before, yes?” The question was laced with traces of hope. He should have continued to watch the monitor while he and Sorin had talked. But he’d looked away when Yasmeen had been on the stairs behind the kitchen because Sorin had been catching him up, telling him Sergei and his partner had attempted to kill Alekzander Tarasov’s infant daughter the same night Sergei had taken Markus’s life. Apparently, Alek had taken that as one would expect and put the partner in the ground, but he’d yet to locate Sergei.
Yasmeen lifted her head and looked at him. Her eyes were droopy. Sad. She was still bewitching. “Eye-rape? How can you never have heard a woman say she was eye-raped? Yes, it’s an expression. It means your rude cooks looked me up and down with something more than curiosity in their eyes. I look people up and down all the time, men and women. But I do it discretely, and I certainly would never make it obvious if I was imagining what’s under their clothes. And to lick your lips as though you’re tasting someone is not sexy, it’s disgusting.” She shuddered and tightened her arms around his neck as she laid her head down on his shoulder. “You can put me down anytime, you know.”
The display of trust and her continued acquiesce had him bringing his treasured possession in a little closer as he walked on. He was sure she didn’t really want to be put down, so he didn’t even consider it. Not once did he acknowledge he might be trying to make up for not giving her what she’d been seeking earlier; some affection.
When he reached their room, he got back on track by laying her on the bed. After slipping her boots and socks off, he took out his phone and dialed Sorin. He stared at her perfect feet and switched to Romanian when the call was answered.
“After you deal with our tray, I want you to bring Costel and Radu out to the south forest. Take their clothes, give them no supplies, and leave them to find their way out. Be sure to tell them, if they make it, I will be waiting to hear about anything they found worthy of eye-raping during their adventure.”
He hung up and tossed the phone onto his pillow before bending to kiss his pet’s upturned forehead. She was sitting before him with her long legs crisscrossed, her neck straining as she looked up at him. Her eyes were wide and searching.
“You will be okay on your own while I shower?”
She nodded. “Yup. It’s all good. Not afraid anymore. You go ahead.”
He began unbuttoning his shirt as he turned away. By the time he closed himself into the bathroom, he was smiling. Silly girl didn’t have a clue how transparent she was.
♦ ♦ ♦
The second the bathroom door closed, Yasmeen was diving across the bed. She overshot and almost tumbled to her death, but gained her balance while snatching up Lucian’s cell phone. She wanted to raise it over her head and celebrate but didn’t because she wasn’t sure how much time she had.
She dialed her overseas call as quickly as her shaking hands would let her.
“Hello?”
“Oh, shit,” she whispered, instantly choked when she heard her best friend’s voice. “Hey,” she said in a louder whisper. “I don’t have much time, so please keep the hysterics to a minimum.”
She grimaced and had to take the phone away from her ear when Miranda started screaming. She brought it back when she heard her name being shouted.
“Oh, my God.” Miranda was crying. “I love you. I realized I never told you that enough and I thought I might never get the chance to do so again, so I love you. You’re my sister and my best friend and aside from Eric you’re the best thing in my life. Now, where the fuck are you? Why haven’t you called