her over a cliff. But, Lucian would be forever furious with me and my shots at a long and sex-filled life would be ruined.”
Her face flamed. “Is that...so.”
“Oh yes,” he said, arrogance dripping from his voice. “One day, Lucian shall be mine and Devlin will have run into a semi, causing her ultimate demise.”
“Do you hate her that much?” Despite herself, she laughed. The look Vladimir gave her would have sent her down the hall screaming, if she were Devlin.
“I do. It would bring me the greatest pleasure in life to see her blood flowing down the streets, with millions of people cheering as if a war just ended. And then we can go to the nursery homes and set up a stripper’s pole for them and...”
Jessica laughed at her, grinning. “Vladimir here is our local hospice robber. You know, like cradle robber but...older.”
Vladimir took on a proud stance, shoulders straightening and eyes taking on a distant look. “It is my dream to take each and every wrinkled body I can and lavish them with soft licks of...”
“Stop it! I’m okay with you being...obsessed with old people, but I think Jessica and I can safely say that we do not want to know what you do behind closed doors. Thank you very much.”
She expected him to get offended and storm off in a wave of sparkles and hair gel, but he just laughed and waved his hankie at her, an almost delicate act. Jamie laughed even more.
Jessica showed her to the door while they learned more about Vladimir’s obsession with Lucian and his “nightly activities”, and before she knew it, Jamie was running back to her room and grabbing the comfiest clothing she could find. In only five minutes, she was in the workout room and surrounded by leather, weights, and different types of bench presses.
Vladimir had said he could come back in a bit with some refreshments for her, saying with quaint finality that he was going to be her new friend, but she didn’t wait for him. Talon was long gone, and she didn’t want to bother him. She stripped off her shirt was glad the sports bra covered the little marks that were placed over her breasts.
Jessica and Vladimir were a good distraction, but the familiar feeling of ice ripping along her body was distracting and mentally painful. She saw those amethyst eyes almost everywhere she went, and the second she brought her fists up to punch the sand back, hair pulled back and nerves strung out as hell, she saw them. Staring at her.
In the sand bag.
Her chest tightened up to the point where she could barely breath, but she forced herself to bring up her leg in a roundhouse kick. The collision hurt, but at the same time it was a relief.
In minutes, she was lost in a workout routine and the world was closed off to nothing but the smell of leather and leather. She forgot about Vladimir and even forgot where she was. The more the dream tried to invade her mind, the harder and faster she punched and kicked.
That is, until she heard a soft growl.
She whipped around, not expecting to see Talon standing there. His arms were crossed over his chest, his legs crossed at his ankles, and the look in his eyes... She shivered, reaching for her shirt.
He gave her a devil’s smile and then strode forward, grabbing the shirt from her and throwing it over his shoulder. Jamie couldn’t stop he flush that came over her body as his hands came around her waist slowly pressing her body to his.
“What are you doing in here?” she asked, out of breath. Jamie looked up at him, putting her hands on his shoulders as he dragged her closer.
“Watching my woman beat the shit out of something. You know how unbelievably sexy that is?” His voice was so deep; he sounded like he was going to tear her clothes off right there. Her head shook mutely, and she stared up at him. She noticed how soft yet firm his lips were, how his hair didn’t look ruffled at all... She should change that, she thought, starting to smile.
Still sounding like he was going to take her up against the wall, she was shocked when he asked, “Why am I seeing shadows in your eyes?”
Chapter 17
Talon grabbed hold of her hands and pulled away from her. She stared at him, swallowing.