“Excuse me.” Ducking her head, Liza rushed from the elevator and headed for the exit.
“Slow down,” Stygian murmured as he came to her side, keeping pace with her as he placed his palm at the middle of her bare back.
“Why?” Pushing through the doors and striding to the side of the entrance patio, she turned in frustration as she planted her hands on her hips and confronted him. “Why should I? They all knew,” she bit out between clenched teeth. “They all knew we were—” Her lips clamped shut.
Stygian’s lips quirked into a half smile of pure male appreciation as he stared down at her.
“That we wanted each other? Honey, it wouldn’t take Breed senses to figure that out when those doors opened. Anyone with a knowledge of lust would have known it in a microsecond.”
Just what she needed. A reaction to a man that anyone could see in a microsecond.
“Take me home, now.” She had to get away from him.
Oh God, had the link been active?
She hadn’t heard it disconnect after it had reactivated in the suite, seconds after the mass of Breeds had moved away from her.
She didn’t need this.
Raking the fringes of hair that had fallen forward across her face, she turned and stared around the entrance to the hotel.
“Do you have a ride here, or am I walking?” Turning back to him, she swore she could feel the caress of his gaze as it touched her br**sts before sliding slowly back to her face.
“We have a ride.” He shrugged before lifting his hand, never taking his eyes off her, and giving a quick backward wave of his fingers.
She couldn’t tear her gaze from his.
She didn’t want to.
As his hand lowered, Liza realized there was something unsettling, yet something so secure in the depths of those black-and-blue eyes.
She was all too aware of the vehicle moving up beside them though and coming to a slow stop.
“Our ride.” Opening the back passenger door, he watched her expectantly.
The SUV was all luxury: black, pure leather seats and a gentle rush of cool air.
Taking the hand he extended her, Liza stepped into the vehicle, settled into the seat and gave a small flinch as the door closed gently.
A second later Stygian was sliding into the front passenger seat and giving the dark Breed behind the wheel the order to drive.
There was something almost surreal about the ride.
Sitting in the leather comfort of the luxurious vehicle, Liza closed her eyes and tried to tell herself this was going to work out. Everything was going to be okay.
Her assurances were quickly wiped away by another flash of an image.
A limo, the seats luxurious and soft, the couple sitting across from her grief-stricken.
The older woman held her hand: her incredibly small, pale, childlike hand.
Liza jerked her eyes open, her head turning to stare through the dark window as the vehicle made its way toward her home.
What was she seeing, and where were those images, those memories, coming from? Why were they suddenly flashing through her head?
What was happening to her?
Gideon watched.