Page 5 of Awaken the Dragon
Her voice sounded closer, but she hadn’t snuck up on him this time because he’d been listening for any movement she might make. Looking at her wasn’t necessary for a response.
“You’ll get there. Your husband-to-be won’t leave if you’re late.” The words were spoken with more disdain than he’d intended. But this night wasn’t turning out the way he’d thought it would so he was slowly running out of fucks to give.
“He won’t be there.”
He should be here now. What type of guy let his soon-to-be wife travel to a foreign country on her own? Why hadn’t he been the one to meet the Odò Guard? And why did this woman need an additional guard for two weeks? The company’s standard questionnaire did ask why security was needed. It was a basic question designed to offer the best form of protection possible, while keeping his agents safe as well. Any tactical strategy was best served by having all available information. So why was he getting the sense that he wasn’t playing with all the cards this time? Whether that was an omission on Magnum’s part, or on the part of Ms. N’Gara and her husband-to-be, he planned to find out.
“I’ll get you to the hotel safe and sound. Don’t worry.”
“I am not worried.” She paused, the shallow whisper of her breathing filling his ears. “I am anxious.”
The urge to see her, to look into her eyes for a sense of who and what she was gnawed at him until he was about to turn and face her, but his communicator buzzed.
He kept his gaze straight ahead and reached for the door handle. “Our ride’s here.”
His fingers appeared to slip right through it, but the powerful locks eased out of place and the door opened and he stepped back.
“Go. I’ll be right behind you.”
She hesitated, looking at the door and beyond it to the pitch blackness. When her gaze found his again he could have sworn he saw the darkening of fear in the red swirls of her eyes. Fury bubbled in the pit of his stomach and he yelled, “Go!”
Shola was flanked by two men, both as tall and as broad as she’d noted her guardian to be. Neither as alluring, however.
The two stayed beside her, one putting his hand on her arm, leading her to the big black truck parked only a few feet away from that lighted doorway she’d come through. The back door to the truck opened. One of the men moved to stand at the far end of the truck, while the other ushered her into the back seat. She slid across the cool leather and had just pulled her legs inside when the door slammed shut.
With concerted effort, she sat back against the seat, inhaling a clean new scent and closed her eyes briefly. Slow, deep breaths would regulate her pulse rate and calm her mind, if not her spirit. That would take more work for which time and space were not readily available.
What the hell was going on?
All she’d needed was a ride from one point to another. Was that so difficult? The bossy guard, his motorcycle and the appearance of demonics weren’t things she’d even considered a possibility. And yet, all of them were her current reality.
“When the normal becomes abnormal, evil is at work.” She whispered the old proverb, imagining her voice was that of her great aunt, who, at one hundred and one, was the oldest member of their tribe.
But when had Shola’s life ever been normal? From birth she had been surrounded by an invisible cloak of chaos and now was the time for that cloak to be discarded forever. Without thought, she touched the cool metal of the pendant hanging from the multicolored beaded necklace. The coolness immediately soothed her and she drank of its calming power, relaxing further and assuring herself that things would work out according to their plan.
Seconds later the calm dissipated. The door across from where she sat opened, andheslid on to the seat. There was plenty of space back here so she should not have felt crowded, but she did. The guard was built, his body obviously muscled even through the leather jacket, black shirt and jeans he wore. For the first few seconds she had seen him, she’d thought him ominous and extremely sad. Now, after their trip through the city, she thought him demanding, arrogant and extremely sexy.
“When the normal becomes abnormal, evil is at work.”
“What?”
Her head snapped in his direction and heat fussed her cheeks. Had she said that out loud?
“Nothing.” She shook her head. It might be better if she just got out of the truck and traveled alone from this point on. Something about the start of this trip, this man and all that had happened wasn’t right.
“You said something.” His voice held an edge of anger combined with a touch of worry. She could take both away if he allowed it, her herbs and oils were in her suitcase at the hotel, but there was power in her fingers, she’d felt it earlier.
She looked away from him. “What I said was nothing.”
He still wore the dark glasses so even when she was staring at him, she could not see his eyes. Not that she wanted to, they did not matter. Neither did the line of his jaw covered by the light beard or the dark hair curled close to his scalp. She should not give a care about how strong his hands looked resting on his thighs, or how muscular those thighs appeared as well. There was an air about this guard, a self-assured and powerful air that he wore well. And when he talked, she wanted him to say so many things to her. Things that were not appropriate, things that even now made her breasts ache and stirred a yearning buried so deep inside her she hadn’t known it existed. Until now.
“To the hotel.” He gave stern commands, like a leader or a king.
She should stop thinking so much about him and return her attention to the reason she was here. “Thank you.” The words came quietly. She had wanted to avoid looking at him and was staring out the window, but now she turned to look forward.
“I was telling the driver where to take us.”
She felt foolish again, but this time figured silence was the better option.
