Page 90 of A Sanctuary from Shadow
“Then go find something else to do for a while.”
“I’m quite content where I am, thank you.”
“I don’t care. Go away.”
He smirked, admiring his fruit. Maybe he’d choke on it. “I’d much prefer to stay put and assure myself that you wash every insidious—germ, was it?—right off your mollycoddled skin. I fear the rant you’d subject me to, should you take ill.”
“Whatever. Then cover your eyes until I’m in the water.”
Chewing, he scratched his whiskered jaw. “No, I’d rather not.”
I burned, stomping. “You can’t really want to see me naked!”
Malice tainted the grin slanting across his face. “Oh, aye, I do, Shorty. If my watching rankles you half as much as you’ve been rankling me, then I want to see every bare speck of you.”
“Oh, come on!” I hopped. “You’re being unreasonable!”
“And you’re wasting my time.” He gestured at the lake. “Best set to bathing before I change my mind about stopping.”
So, I could either wash with him watching or not at all.
Mother effing pervert!
“Fine,"I growled and chucked my dress behind me. Pete had another thing coming if he thought he could use my modesty to cow me out of my bath. “You want a show?” I taunted, unhooking my bra. “Then I’ll damn well give you one.”
My undergarments divested, I suppressed the urge to dive into a bush as I stood brazen before Pete. In my birthday suit. Not even my hair shielded me from his gaze, a warm zephyr blasting it off my breasts.
Pete’s last bite lulled in his cheek. The tan of his face heightened, his darkening eyes roaming my form. His Adam’s apple bobbed.
Afraid to breathe, I stared him down, daring him to look away.
When he finally did, something tight loosened within me. Something in Pete’s eyes—the way they’d scorched—had liquefied me. My heart thumped as he rose to his feet and tossed his core over his shoulder.
Eyes averted, Pete cleared his throat. “On second thought, I’ve a few personal matters to attend to. It’ll be heaven to enjoy a nice long shite without your voice harping at me in the background.”
Blushing, I watched him pelt through the sand toward the tree line.There you go, Amy.All this time, all you had to do to drive him off was get naked.
Clearly, I’d misjudged that look he’d given me.
Pete emitted a sharp whistle, and Sionna sprinted back down the shoreline to him. Waiting for her, he met my gaze once more. “I’ll give you some slack on your tether. But don’t forget who’s in charge, aye.” He grabbed the invisible link between us and snapped it like a whip—wrenching my ankle, nearly unbalancing me.
Sure, I’d beaten Pete at a staring contest, but I’d never truly gain the upper hand. Not as he marched me to my doom like a filly on a lead.
Pete swaggered away with Sionna, snickering, and my slighted pride sparked with the promise of fiery retribution.
Luckily, so did my fingers.
I didn’t notice I was flickering like a misfiring lighter until I smelled smoke. When I glanced down, spots of brilliant orange already burrowed into my tether, eating it for lunch.
“Ohmigoddess, yes!” I knelt over the embers and strangled the tether, keeping the damn thing visible. I cupped my hand around the glowing flecks and blew and blew and blew.
Nothing wondrous happened. If anything, I barely prevented the sparks from dying. To have any shot of severing the tether right then, I needed more fire.
“Come on, Amy. You can do this.” I shook out my arms and closed my eyes to concentrate. On everything that could rile my most powerful negative emotions.
I thought of Pete baiting me into stripping, about him dropping me into the lake. I recalled how he’d fooled me that first night, playing the good Samaritan before he’d kidnapped me like a jackwagon—knowing someone who cared was coming for me.
I thought of Briar, and his panic upon arriving at the Thorny Rose Tavern to find I wasn’t there. Would Jade and Reed have lied for Pete, told Briar they’d never seen me? Their terse interactions with the harbinger that night hinted that they’d known I was his target. The notion had displeased them, yet neither had warned me. So, I doubted they’d betray their friend and tell Briar I’d been abducted when he showed up to claim me like his lost puppy.
