He stopped and put his hands up in the air slowly. "I come in peace."
Her full lips curved into a smile so white that she lit-up the night. He felt his insides lurching forward. His cock wanted to be in her so bad that he wondered if he could control himself. He was far too old to be behaving like he was still twenty. He was experienced now, and wise enough to be able to control his erections at will, or at least he had thought so prior to meeting Peren. The wind caught her long black skirt and blew it up. Shiny black leather boots that ran up to her knee showed through. He waited for a better glimpse at what kind of panties she wore under that skirt, but the wind refused to help out any longer.
Just as well; I’d probably jump on her right here and now. This target of his, this Peren, stirred things in him that hadn’t existed in over a century. He watched her take a wider stance and realized that she thought his intent was to do her harm. She was going to try and protect herself. It hit him then that if all had gone according to plan, she’d be dead already, so her instincts were good, but so were his.
* * * *
"What do you want?" she asked the tall stranger.
He gave her a large smile and shrugged. "I don’t know, maybe to know that I wasn’t what chased you off. That could leave lasting effects on a man’s ego, you know."
I’ll just bet you’ve got ego problems. No, he looked like the type that was incredibly comfortable in his own skin. She thought about how comfortable she’d be in his skin too, and shook her head. Cut it out. You don’t sleep around; you leave that up to Melanie. She’s good at it.
"I’m Lukian, and you must be Peren," the man said, extending his large hand out to her. She took a small step forward and grabbed it quickly. A spark of energy flew between them. Something similar had happened to her once when she was a child and the circumstances surrounding that encounter were anything but pleasant. Having little desire to relive that, and the overwhelming urge to flee, she gave into her instincts and screamed.
What the hell? Was all that ran through her mind as she turned fast from the man. The boots she’d worn were thankfully low heeled or she’d have killed herself trying to run on the uneven terrain. She didn’t look back to see where Lukian was, yet she knew he was close behind her. Sensing things came naturally to her. It had been a curse she’d hidden all her life. The curse, so to speak, had just allowed her a very bold glimpse into the intentions of the man on her heels, and they weren’t honorable.
She hit the edge of the woods and never skipped a beat. She knew she didn’t have that good of a lead on him, and that he’d catch up if she dared to stop. A limb scraped her cheek and she screamed out, pushing onward wildly. It’s just a scratch, definitely not worth dying over. She could see the forest in her mind, even though she could not see her hand before her face in the darkness. She’d learned to trust her mind; the last time she’d ignored it, Kyle had vanished. She wouldn’t make that mistake again.
Coming to NCP June 2004!
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Daughter of Darkness Page 28
