I won’t drop you.”
I’m not worried about him dropping me. I feel completely safe with him. I shift a little to get more comfortable and once again he gets a shock. Damn that chip. I put my lips to his ear and am about to tell him I’m sorry, when he gets shocked once again. I’m going to bloody kill him at this rate. “Put me down Kayden, I’ll walk.” I unhook my legs and slide my body down to the ground and damn it, that gives him another shock. “Is it safe to get so many shocks so close together?”
“I dunno,” he says. “It hasn’t happened before. Let me carry you. To hell with the shocks. You’ll get scared walking in the dark.” He picks me up again and so far so good, no more shocks. I’ve no idea where we are. He’s climbed over two wooden fences with me still in his arms. I don’t know how he’s managing to find his way without a torch. He must have a good internal navigation system.
“I think we broke the chip,” he says, laughing.
“How do you know?”
He puts his lips to my ear and whispers, “Coz my dick has been trying to get out of my jeans for the last five minutes and I haven’t been shocked yet.” A shiver of excitement runs through me.
We’re in the corner of a large field. A rusty old caravan rests on bricks, there’s cardboard where a window should be, the glass must have got smashed I guess. In front of the caravan is a large bonfire and from the light of the flames I can make out two men and a woman sitting around it.
The woman stands up and runs towards us. Even dressed in rags she’s beautiful. Curvy, with long legs and a tiny little waist, long ebony curls tumble down her back. She flings her arms around Kayden and he lifts her off her feet and spins her around, then smiles down at her.
Oh I’m so stupid. I thought he liked me but she’s obviously his girlfriend. If she isn’t I can see he wants her to be. Why did I come here? I should have gone to the movies. Turning around I start to walk back the way we came. He’s too busy talking to her; he won’t even notice I’m gone. I don’t know how I’m going to get home in the dark, I’m going to get lost and Simon will have to send out a search party, they probably won’t find me until morning. My eyes fill with tears as I stumble blindly. I hear footsteps behind me and then Kayden is in front of me, his hands on my shoulders. “Where you going Savannah?”
“Home. Enjoy the picnic.”
“What’s wrong? What have I done? I’m sorry.”
Ugh, I don’t want to tell him. I’m too ashamed to admit that I thought he liked me. Maybe I can pretend I’m not feeling well but then he’ll have to walk me back and I’ll know that he’ll wish he could’ve stayed here with her. That’ll make me feel even more stupid. I’ve got no choice, I’m going to have to put a brave face on this. It’ll only be for a couple of hours, then I can go home and cry. I’ll avoid Kayden after tonight. “I’m fine.” I put on my best fake smile. “I thought I’d left something at home but now I remember it’s in the bag.”
He puts his arm around my shoulder and we walk back over to the others. This is the last time I’ll ever feel his hands on me. Maybe I should be making the most of it, but I can’t. We sit down around the fire with them. They’re looking at me but no one is saying a word. Finally Kayden speaks. “This is Savannah. She’s my owner’s sister.”
The beautiful one looks at him, her eyes wide. “You call her by her name Kade?” Oh they are so definitely dating. She’s shortened his name; I can never call him that now. She obviously thinks we’ve got close. So did I. We’re both wrong.
“She told me to call her that.”
I close my eyes. I don’t want to hear anymore. He was obviously happy calling me Miss and keeping his distance. I should have left things as they were. I should never have asked for his help with the eggs. Should’ve, would’ve could’ve. I tune out the rest of
Piers Anthony
M.R. Joseph
Ed Lynskey
Olivia Stephens
Nalini Singh
Nathan Sayer
Raymond E. Feist
M. M. Cox
Marc Morris
Moira Katson