Unleashed by the Defender (Brides of the Kindred #25) - Evangeline Anderson Page 0,17
“And remember, you are not to take his leash and harness off until you are safely in your residence. Am I understood?”
“Completely, your honor,” Imani said, nodding at her. Then she looked at her new charge. “Come on, J’are,” she told him. “Let’s go home.”
Ten
She was the One and she had come for him, to Claim him. So many nights dreaming of her—dreaming of her warm brown skin and big dark eyes. So many nights seeing her luscious curves when he closed his eyes at last to the torments of the hole and was able to drift away for a few precious minutes of sleep.
J’are followed her willingly. He was aware that his feral side was still more than halfway in charge—his senses on high alert as long as they were out in the open. Seeking danger and finding it, when he saw the Horvath guards (Gods damn them to the Seven Hells and let them burn there for all eternity!) and the Cruel Mistress who had first shocked and hurt him.
But even with danger all around, she was unafraid. The feral part of J’are wanted to fight—wanted to kill the guards who had harmed him, wanted to hurt the Cruel Mistress the way she had hurt him. But she said he must not and the sentient part—the thinking part—also said not to. So he listened and followed her out of the cold, echoing room full of danger.
Followed her out into the open and away from all the bad people towards home.
Eleven
Imani hadn’t arrived at the legal building until late afternoon and the trial—if you could call it that—had taken several hours. By the time she and J’are emerged onto the sidewalk outside the tall black building, twilight had fallen.
The big Nightwalker Kindred looked like a vast shadow in the deepening gloom—all except his eyes, which glowed eerily in the gathering darkness. He didn’t seem too happy to be so close to the heavy traffic, still whizzing by.
He whined uneasily as an especially large vehicle whooshed past, flattening Imani’s skirt and blouse(which she had put back on as soon as she left the courtroom) against her body with the force of its passing. If he had been a dog, she thought, his ears would have been flat back and his tail would have been tucked.
“Come on now, J’are.” Imani could feel the tension in the leash as she tugged it gently. She was well aware of the awesome physical strength on the other end of the black leather strap she was holding. If the big Kindred decided he didn’t want to go where she was leading, he damn well didn’t have to. There was absolutely no way she could force him because she was not going to break his trust by using the remote to the pain collar, which was still tucked into her bra.
The phrase Got the tiger by the tail popped up in her mind. Yup—that was pretty much what this amounted to. She had a huge, only semi-sentient beast who had killed five people on the end of a leash and it was nearly full dark outside. How was she going to manage to get him home?
At first she tried hailing the Yonnie Six equivalent of a taxi or an Uber, but the traffic was whizzing by much too quickly for anyone to stop. Or maybe the drivers just didn’t like the look of the huge, bound male who was covered in black gook from head to foot. What was that stuff on J’are’s skin anyway and how hard would it be to get off?
Well, that was a question for when they got back to her suite at the Luxx—if they could even find a way back, that was, Imani thought grimly. She wished she had arranged for a ride to pick her up, but she’d been in such a hurry not to miss the court date that the idea hadn’t even occurred to her. She sighed.
Well, maybe she would have better luck finding a ride back where the last driver had dropped her off before court. It had seemed to be some kind of a drop off and pick up zone. Unfortunately, it was across the street.
“Come on, J’are. I know you don’t like the traffic but just try to bear with me, okay?” she said coaxingly. “I promise we’ll be home soon and then I’ll get you a nice bath and a yummy supper? All right?”