Page 38 of Unveil
I glance out the window of the high-end off-roading SUV, expecting to see city streets, brick buildings, Juliet balconies, and shotgun houses. But nope.
Walls of thick trees block the view on both sides. We’re climbing a mountain, the winding road ahead as empty as behind us, its faded yellow lines barely visible. Colors are richer, green, brown, a touch of yellow and orange on turning leaves, all more vibrant under the overcast sky.
My heart squeezes. This is just like the autumn family vacations we used to take. We haven’t been back in ten years, not since…
… not since King Fury came to New Orleans and threatened my family into an arranged marriage pact.
Fuck the Furys.
“Youkidnappedme?”
This is what I get for making fun of how my parents met. I don’t care how cute they are, I will not be suckered into loving a black-masked stalker. No matter how hot he is.
“Well… you’re an adult, so, there’s that.” He shrugs. “Maybe call it a honeymoon, instead?”
“No, jackass! I’m not calling it anything, because I’m not going anywhere with you,” I rasp around my dry mouth then kick the back of his seat. “Let. Me. Go!”
“Shoot, really? But I got you a pillow and everything.”
“What do you want me to say? Gee, thanks for the blankie with a side ofkid-nap-ping?”
“Ah, now that’s not nice, little bird.”
“Little bird?” I mock. “How cute,Fury.”
It actually is kinda cute. I loved hearing it until he enacted his deranged, evil plan to steal me. Especially in that deep Southern drawl, a lyrical, mountain hollow accent that dips and flows like something sinful.
Of course I’ll never tellhimthat. Not when my bodice digs into my underarms and its white feathers stab my boobs. I’ve worn this same piece for hours of rehearsals, but lying in it? I’ll take torture instead, thank you very much.
I shift against the seatbelt to scratch where the feathers itch me, but my arms won’t move, numb from being immobile behind my back for so long. And why?
Oh right. Because this madmankidnapped me!
“Why am I still tied up?” I snap, tugging at the makeshift cuffs that dig into my wrists. There’s barely any room to loosen them. “Thanks for ripping my favorite tutu, by the way.”
“You didn’t mind before,” he chuckles.
I lift a brow. “That was before I realized you were the same guy who couldn’t even get me off thefirsttime. If I’d known, I would’ve never gone to that dressing room with you. You… youclitblocker.”
He snorts before a full-throated laugh breaks through.
“Don’t laugh at me! You left me hanging! I had to use a vibrator and spicy romance books forweeksto get rid of you.”
And I never really did.
I bite back that truth, but it still thickens the air between us as hotly as if I’d said it out loud. A second ago, his gaze in the rearview mirror was warm with laughter. Now his eyes smolder, and the intensity there forces me to squeeze my legs together.
“Shit, Luna.” He shifts in his seat. “Is that what all this attitude’s about? I’ll pull over and make up for lost time right now.”
I blink, only now realizing what I blurted out.
Wow, embarrassing.
“No, God no. I can’t stand you. Everything that happened back there was only because you were pretending to be my fiancé!”
“Ain’t no pretending about it,” he growls. “Iamyour fiancé. And you knew who I was the moment we kissed. I could tell. Which is theonlyreason I went as far as I did.”
I want to argue, but… he’s right. On some level, I knew he wasn’t Ozias. The bouquet alone was a major tipoff. Ozias treated me like an obligation. The fact I stayed with him so long proves how desperately I was looking for something. Probably the same something only this man’s ever given me.
