Read Online The Becoming Trilogy Box Set (Books 1-3) by Jess Raven, Paula Black - Free Book Online

smile and
released Ash’s face, patting her cheek. ‘Isn’t that right, sweetheart?’
    Connal’s eyes narrowed to
slits. Ash felt herself trembling, the little blade she held amplifying her
fear like a seismograph.
    ‘Uhhhuh,’ Connal sneered,
‘and I suppose she’s cultivating these cross-cultural relations by teaching you
to shave with her nail file?’
    Blondie’s hand shot up to his
throat and came away bloodied. ‘Crazy foreign bitch pulled a knife on me!’
    ‘Good for her.’ Connal’s
mouth curved into the hint of a smile. ‘You know nothing would turn this shitty
night around better than carving the self-righteous smirk off your face, asshole,’
he said, ‘but you’ve traumatised the girl enough for one night. She doesn’t
need to watch me go Freddy Krueger on you, does she?’ Grinding his molars,
Connal stepped aside and growled at the guy to get gone.
    Blondie scuttled by, hugging
the wall of the alley furthest away from Connal. If he’d said boo to the creep,
he’d have jumped out of his own skin.
    Approaching her slowly, he
wrapped a hand around her fisted knife grip. ‘You can let go now,’ he said.
‘Wouldn’t want you giving yourself a paper-cut with that ... letter opener?’ He
stroked his thumb down her clenched knuckles and levelled steely eyes on her
face. She stared back, wide-eyed, imprinting her panic onto him.
    Ash barely felt his hand on
hers. If she let go of the knife ... She wouldn’t be safe. He was talking, and
she forced herself to follow the shape of his words as she waited for her heart
to stop pounding enough that she could hear over the din.
    From one nightmare to
another. She could feel her body trembling up a storm of adrenaline, crashing
from the fight that had battled her to knife-point. When she finally persuaded
her mouth to work, what breached her lips wasn’t a scream but an indignant huff
of a verbal stomped foot.
    ‘It’s not a letter opener,
it’s a pocket knife,’ she said, brandishing it in front of his eyes. The silver
flashed in a way that would have been cool if she hadn’t been so damn
terrified. ‘And you were following me, weren’t you?’ Ash’s heartbeat hammered
back up to a flat out gallop. She was mentally writing his résumé .
Breaking and entering. Check. Stalking. Check. Homicidal maniac was pencilled
in. With the way blond fucktard had legged it, she wasn’t crossing it off just
yet. After all, what monsters fear, she figured she certainly should. ‘How long
were you standing there? Did you enjoy the show?’
    Arms folded across his chest,
he regarded her from behind his defensive posture. ‘Seems like you should be
grateful I was here,’ he said.
    Her exhale could have been a
language all its own, heavy with annoyance and a hint of embarrassment. But
defiance had a louder voice. What did the creepy stalker expect? A red carpet,
hero’s welcome? Hell, she didn’t think she could spit up a ‘thank you’ if it
had been jammed down her throat covered in rat poison. ‘I was handling myself
perfectly well before you showed up.’
    One dark slash of a brow
quirked up and there was amusement in Connal’s voice. ‘So I noticed. Your grand
plan being to poke the bad guy with your pointy nail file thingy?’
    ‘Oh, right, and that’s the
technical term, is it?’ Ash scoffed, brushing invisible dirt from her coat. She
shifted her weight and looked back up at him. Fuming didn’t begin to cover it,
but laughter was a step behind and she would not let it out. ‘I drew blood. I
cut him.’ Her chin raised up a notch and she dared him to laugh. Her blade may
not be more than a toothpick against his bulk but even a toothpick could hurt
if it was jabbed in one’s eye.
    He tilted his head slightly
and the corners of his mouth twitched. ‘And how was that working out for you?’
    ‘Look, dude,’ the knife
stabbed in his direction, emphasising her point, ‘I can take care of myself, I
don’t need a babysitter.’ Ash bit down