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.The main street was littered with brick storefronts, striped awnings andquaint coffee houses with Victorian chairs.The streets moved lazily from one toanother, and the mountains in the background served as a majestic backdrop tothe small town.She smiled at people as they went by, and was surprised to re-ceive smiles in return.She d gotten used to the idea that strangers didn t smileat each other in the street, and found herself warming even further to thecharming town.She was just pressing her nose to the glass of an antiques store when she no-ticed the tall blond man in the trench coat across the street.There wassomething familiar about his slender build.The way he held himself sent a chilldown her spine.She couldn t see much of his face because of the distance andthe distortion of the window, but when he smiled at her in the reflected glass,she shuddered.Doug.Suddenly the cheerful day seemed cold and dim.She turned in slow motion,watching as he moved purposefully down the street away from her.Glancing atMarian, she noticed the older woman engrossed in a conversation with a short,dark-haired woman.Good.Abby couldn t let Seth s mother get hurt.She d follow Doug, keep himin sight, make sure he didn t try and do anything to Marian.He wouldn t hurt Seth s mother the way he d hurt hers.Abby followed the familiar figure, barely able to keep the dark trench coat insight.Her heart tripping a mile a minute, she stopped as Doug ducked down anearby alleyway.Pulling her cell phone out of her pocket, she started to moveafter him, only to find her way blocked by a tall, muscular man in a scarredleather bomber jacket. Excuse me, she muttered, trying to move past him, but was startled to findher arm held in a firm grasp. Where the hell do you think you re going? Seth s voice was tightlycontrolled.100/222She saw the fury in his eyes and gulped.She was in so much trouble. I. Sheblew out a breath.There was no way she was getting out of this one.Better tojust get it over with. It was Doug.His eyes widened in disbelief, his hand tightening on her arm to the point ofpain. Where?She used her chin to point the way. He just went down that alley.Seth left her standing there and peered around the corner.He returned andtook her arm once again, marching her back the way she d come. No one sthere. But I saw him.He s wearing a trench coat.He must have gone right pastyou. She was having a hard time keeping up with his long stride, and his gripon her arm was starting to hurt. No, but then I was too busy watching something impossible.I was watchingsomeone I d told never to be alone as she walked down the street by herself.The clipped tones of his voice made her wish she d taken the time to interruptMarian. Your mom drove me into town.It s not like I came here looking for him, youknow. I know.Even you aren t that stupid.She glared at him in mingled outrage and dismay as he marched her pastMarian and placed her into his car.He waved briefly at his mother, who noddedback, obviously confused, and got into the driver s seat.He roared off, not both-ering to check and see if his father joined Marian.Abby did, relieved to seeJoseph, standing by his wife, scowling.Ah, crap.She was in more trouble than she thought.* * *Seth was damn near strangling the steering wheel.What the hell had she beenthinking? If it had been Doug in that trench coat, she could ve been killed.Hell, fucking Shem miasma had been down that alley faint but there.Shecould have been worse than killed.He shuddered.No.He couldn t even consider what might have happened toher without wanting to go ballistic.Just this morning he d been wondering when they could hop back into the hottub.Right now it was taking all of his strength not to tie her up in her room.When they d driven far enough out of town that none of the buildings couldbe seen, he pulled the car over onto the side of the road and turned off the igni-tion.His hands were shaking too badly to continue.He took off his seat belt and101/222got out of the car, stalking around the hood until he reached her door.Heopened it, leaned in, and released her seat belt.She flinched as he lifted herfrom the car, took her by the arms, and shook her slightly.She winced, and he loosened his grasp.As angry as he was, he didn t want tohurt her, even by accident. Do you want to tell me just what the hell youthought you were going to do if you actually caught Doug? She bit her lip, herexpression guilty as hell. I thought not.Do you even have your pepper spray onyou? She hung her head, and he nearly howled. God, Abby! He flung himselfaway from her to pace, nearly blind with fear. What the hell is wrong with you?This man put you in the hospital, nearly kills you, and you think you can chasehim down with nothing but a bottle of wine?He stopped pacing to glare at her.His wings threatened to explode from hisback.How could she put herself in danger like that? What did you think you were going to do? Reason with him? Maybe invitehim to tea? Talk about new shades of lipstick? Give him a trim? She was watch-ing him with wide eyes as he began to pace again. How were you planning ondefending yourself? Your good looks? Your charm, maybe? He stopped andsnapped his fingers. I know.You were going to hairspray him to death. Hetook hold of her again, emphasizing his words with a slight shake. You are nev-er to be alone.What part of never do you not understand, Abby? Um. She blinked at him out of dazed amber eyes, but she wasn t backingaway.He d have to think about that later.Right now, his world was still hazed with red. No, don t answer that.Obvi-ously, you don t understand, do you? You were alone, weren t you? Thereforeyou must not understand it. He sighed roughly and released her arms. Fromnow on, consider yourself handcuffed to me.Where you go, I go. Even the bathroom?He raised his eyebrows at her tone.She sounded far too serene, almostamused.He d need to get through to her, remind her that this wasn t a joke. Ifnecessary. I guess we d better not go out to eat.You d get us thrown out. She grinnedup at him impishly, and some of the haze of fear dissipated.Shit.She was goingto have him wrapped around her little finger in no time.His wings ached tospread, to encase her and keep her safe. I m not joking, Abby.She shrugged. I know.You yelled at me, and I won t do it again [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]