BEFORE THE FALL - A Dark Breed Novella Page 0,3
her nightstand. He grabbed them and slid the gun into his waistband. Then, he stuffed the cuffs into his back pocket and slipped to the corner of the room. He didn’t want to scare the shit out of her, but now that he had her gun, at least he didn’t have to worry about how to get her out of here without getting shot.
He waited, inches behind the door, trying not to breathe too loudly. The minute the bathroom door opened, he grabbed her, startling a scream from her as she brought her elbow back to pummel him in the gut.
He grunted but held her tight. “It’s me, Shanna. Zach. I knocked but you didn’t answer.”
He gave her just enough leeway to turn in his arms, and as she did so, the towel she was rubbing her wet hair with snaked to the floor, leaving him holding one damp, sexy-as-hell woman in his arms. He caught her wrist before she could slap him, then let her go and took a step back.
“So you broke in?” She punched his arm hard enough to make him wince. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Get dressed. I need you to come with me.”
“Have you been drinking?”
Damp brown tendrils clung to her face and ivory throat, and he followed their path down her full, white breasts spilling out of a black lace bra and the smooth, flat tummy, to the place cruelly hidden by the tiny triangle of silk panties. Everything inside him tensed and ached, and it took him a second to remember why he was here. Why he wasn’t reaching for her right then and there.
But as he licked his lips to draw moisture back to his mouth, he forced his gaze back to hers, forced his temperature to cool. He’d come here to save her, not to fuck her.
“Stone-cold sober,” he said, half wishing it weren’t true. “But get dressed anyway, princess.”
Suddenly realizing her vulnerable state, she snatched the towel from the floor, wrapping it around herself as she backed away.
“You’re scaring me.”
He watched her gaze stray to the nightstand. Saw the momentary panic flash on her features when she noticed her weapon was gone.
“Get dressed. Do that for me, and I’ll explain everything when we get out of here.”
“Screw you,” she said, hugging the towel to her breasts. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
Zach clenched his jaw. “Remember all the shit I told you? About what I used to do for a living?”
The stuff she’d called him crazy for and left him because of?
“O-of course.”
“Yeah, well, things are getting really bad, princess, and I need to get you to safety before I can do my job.”
She snatched a pair of jeans off the chair in the corner and slid them on beneath the towel.
“Your job,” she said, her voice mocking. “You mean, slaying demons. That job?”
He didn’t like the amusement in her voice one bit. “I only slay demons when they’re in my way.”
He unbuttoned his shirt and let her see the claw marks from tonight’s exploits that still burned like hell. “Like tonight.”
Her eyes widened, fixated on the long slashes that he hadn’t yet had time to tend. “Good God, Zach. Who the hell did that to you?”
“I said I’d tell you everything when we get out of here. Put on a shirt.”
“No.”
He sighed, seeing the resolve in her eyes, in her tight shoulders. He was going to have to do this the hard way. He strode to the dresser and yanked out a t-shirt.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
He held out the shirt. “Put this on.”
Her darting gaze landed on something over his shoulder, and she made a mad dash across the room. Zach shot after her, catching her around the waist.
“Let! Me! Go!” She kicked out, trying to break his hold.
Twisting, he grabbed the cell phone she was reaching for and tossed it out the window. He set her on her feet, holding out the shirt again. “Get dressed.”
“Go to hell.”
“That’s gonna be a short trip, sweetheart.” He pulled the shirt over her head. When she slipped her hand through the opening, he clasped one cuff to her left wrist and the other to his right.
“What the—” Shanna rattled the chains holding him to her. “Do you know how many laws you’re breaking right now? Uncuff me!”
“I will. The minute we’re on the plane.”
She sat on the bed, yanking his arm painfully toward her. “You’re crazy, Zach, and I am not going anywhere with you.”
He