Read Online Sweet Seduction Shadow by Nicola Claire - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Nicola Claire
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stomach. Never question it. Never doubt.
OK, Dad. I'll just have to go with my gut.
The ten minute break seemed to last forever. A few more passengers climbed back on board with their snacks hidden in their bags so the driver didn't have a fit. The leather clad dudes smoked three more cigarettes, their gazes occasionally washing over the inside of the bus and quite possibly me, but I wasn't sure.
My heart rate maintained a steady 180 beats per minute. My respirations were racing to catch up. Sweat coated my brow and dribbled down my back. I prayed I wasn't losing it, because the leather clad dudes weren't acting as trackers should. But then, neither had Tiki tattooed Ben. Today had proven to be one out of the box, that was for sure.
And I was tired again. So very tired. Almost tired enough to give in, give up, let them find me and take me back to Roan. Let him do his worst. But his worst could be shooting my Dad in the head in front of me, over the back fence of the Compound.
I took a shattering deep breath in at that thought.
The bus driver came back, after the last passenger boarded the bus. My leather clad nemeses sat themselves down in their front row seats. Even from where I was sitting, half way down the bus by a still open door, I could smell the tobacco. The bald guy shifted in his seat, cast a glance over his shoulder towards me and smiled when his eyes met mine. They were a light grey colour. Could have been quite attractive if his continual interest in me hadn't just ratcheted up my heart rate to over 200 bpm.
The driver stood at the front of the bus, looking down at the row of seats, taking a headcount no doubt. My chest tightened. My breaths came in little short bursts. I tasted something sharp and metallic on my tongue. Adrenaline. I was drowning in it. Then as he moved to sit in his driver's seat, the springs squeaking as they took his weight, I took one last look at baldy - who had returned his attention to his car mag - and slipped out the back door.
I dashed around to the rear of the bus, before I took a breath in. A ringing had started up in my ears. Then ran full speed across the carpark to crouch down behind a Maui Campervan. The ringing was joined by an excruciatingly loud thumping inside my head. I watched through the gap between the bumper and the side of the camper, to see if my escape had been witnessed. It took five heart stopping seconds for the rear door on the bus to swing closed, quickly followed by the front.
I took a breath in. Flashes of bright white light encroached the edges of my vision. Three more seconds passed before the bus's diesel engine started up. I let my breath out. The white flashes were now strobes across my eyes. The metallic taste on my tongue had turned to bile. And my chest was now aching, burning, crushing my entire upper torso in a vice-like grip.
Then another six torturously long seconds ticked by before the bus started to pull away.
I sucked in air and held my breath until the bus disappeared out of sight down the main highway. My hands tingled, my head buzzed. I felt sick to my stomach. For a long moment my vision blurred while the white lights danced a disco display across my eyes. I panted through the need to vomit. It took longer than it should have for the adrenaline to be absorbed back into my body. Flushed from my veins. I ended up sitting slap bang down on the gravel of the carpark, behind the rear end of the campervan and just... breathed.
I was alone. The bus hadn't returned with Roan's trackers or any one else. I was safe. For now. But my mind wouldn't accept that, not when my heart was beating so fast I couldn't even count the thumping it made in my head. Not when my breathing was see-sawing out of my chest and my mouth was dripping with pre-vomit saliva.
I needed to move. I needed to plan my next step. I needed to think.
I glanced around my surroundings. I was hidden from the main road and the carpark, but I couldn't remain here. The tourists
OK, Dad. I'll just have to go with my gut.
The ten minute break seemed to last forever. A few more passengers climbed back on board with their snacks hidden in their bags so the driver didn't have a fit. The leather clad dudes smoked three more cigarettes, their gazes occasionally washing over the inside of the bus and quite possibly me, but I wasn't sure.
My heart rate maintained a steady 180 beats per minute. My respirations were racing to catch up. Sweat coated my brow and dribbled down my back. I prayed I wasn't losing it, because the leather clad dudes weren't acting as trackers should. But then, neither had Tiki tattooed Ben. Today had proven to be one out of the box, that was for sure.
And I was tired again. So very tired. Almost tired enough to give in, give up, let them find me and take me back to Roan. Let him do his worst. But his worst could be shooting my Dad in the head in front of me, over the back fence of the Compound.
I took a shattering deep breath in at that thought.
The bus driver came back, after the last passenger boarded the bus. My leather clad nemeses sat themselves down in their front row seats. Even from where I was sitting, half way down the bus by a still open door, I could smell the tobacco. The bald guy shifted in his seat, cast a glance over his shoulder towards me and smiled when his eyes met mine. They were a light grey colour. Could have been quite attractive if his continual interest in me hadn't just ratcheted up my heart rate to over 200 bpm.
The driver stood at the front of the bus, looking down at the row of seats, taking a headcount no doubt. My chest tightened. My breaths came in little short bursts. I tasted something sharp and metallic on my tongue. Adrenaline. I was drowning in it. Then as he moved to sit in his driver's seat, the springs squeaking as they took his weight, I took one last look at baldy - who had returned his attention to his car mag - and slipped out the back door.
I dashed around to the rear of the bus, before I took a breath in. A ringing had started up in my ears. Then ran full speed across the carpark to crouch down behind a Maui Campervan. The ringing was joined by an excruciatingly loud thumping inside my head. I watched through the gap between the bumper and the side of the camper, to see if my escape had been witnessed. It took five heart stopping seconds for the rear door on the bus to swing closed, quickly followed by the front.
I took a breath in. Flashes of bright white light encroached the edges of my vision. Three more seconds passed before the bus's diesel engine started up. I let my breath out. The white flashes were now strobes across my eyes. The metallic taste on my tongue had turned to bile. And my chest was now aching, burning, crushing my entire upper torso in a vice-like grip.
Then another six torturously long seconds ticked by before the bus started to pull away.
I sucked in air and held my breath until the bus disappeared out of sight down the main highway. My hands tingled, my head buzzed. I felt sick to my stomach. For a long moment my vision blurred while the white lights danced a disco display across my eyes. I panted through the need to vomit. It took longer than it should have for the adrenaline to be absorbed back into my body. Flushed from my veins. I ended up sitting slap bang down on the gravel of the carpark, behind the rear end of the campervan and just... breathed.
I was alone. The bus hadn't returned with Roan's trackers or any one else. I was safe. For now. But my mind wouldn't accept that, not when my heart was beating so fast I couldn't even count the thumping it made in my head. Not when my breathing was see-sawing out of my chest and my mouth was dripping with pre-vomit saliva.
I needed to move. I needed to plan my next step. I needed to think.
I glanced around my surroundings. I was hidden from the main road and the carpark, but I couldn't remain here. The tourists
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