Adrienne Read Free Page B

magicks over her skin.
    His bride opened her eyes and watched him. He smiled at her. She looked confused.
    Correction, she was confused. The emotion felt like itself instead of a temperature. Malik knew he wasn’t confused, so the emotion belonged to her.
    The chill of her fear started ebbing away. He took that as a good sign. With slow movements, he rose to his feet and pulled his bride to stand next to him.
    She snatched her hands from him and rubbed her wrists. The feeling of her confusion intensified. She looked down at her hands, then back up at him.
    “What?”
    “I am Malik of Ulan, my lady. Your servant,” he said with a bow.
    “My… Huh?”
    “And your name?”
    “Ad…Adrienne. Adrienne Backett.”
    Malik told himself to stop staring at her so intently. The feel of her fear had returned and she looked ready to run. He reached for her hand to hold her at his side.
    “I should go home now,” she said with a tug of her hand.
    “Would you leave in such a state of disarray?”
    Adrienne looked down at herself and gave a cry of shock. She snatched her hand away from his and pulled her shredded shirt together over her naked breasts.
    Malik swept out his hand. A cloak appeared out of nowhere and he placed it over Adrienne’s shoulders. He brought the ends of it together in front of her. She grabbed the edges of the cloak with a murmured thank you.
    He smiled at her bowed head. “Such as this is my pleasure, my lady, as I would do anything to make you happy.” He stepped closer to her, which forced her to look up at him. He asked softly, “Shall we return?”
    “Return? Yes, I need to go home. My parents will be worried. If you tell me your address, I’ll mail this cloak back to you.”
    “You misunderstand.” His voice remained low and soothing. “I meant my home.” He slid his hand around her waist and pulled her close. The action indulged his baser needs. He recognized the lust he felt. What he didn’t understand was his urgency.
    Even when he was new to sex he had never felt this anxious to be with a woman. Something about Adrienne made him want to forget all the rules and have her now.
    “Let go of me. I’m not going anywhere with you.”
    Malik bent to place his other hand under her legs and lifted her effortlessly against his chest.
    “I’ll scream.”
    “You could, as it is your right. I do not see the merit in it and think you would be better served with rest rather than theatrics.”
    “I’m not…I…” Her words stumbled to a halt as sleep claimed her.
    He smiled at his sweet burden. She would understand once he explained the entire situation to her. He laid a feather-light kiss on her temple before starting back the way he had come.
    His fingers brushed over the hilt of his discarded sword when he passed it. The sword faded and disappeared. It would return when Malik needed it.
    “Freeze!”
    Malik looked back at the man who pointed a light, and what seemed to be a weapon, in his direction. It wasn’t every day someone dared command him to do anything—or threatened him. The sheer novelty of it made him obey.
    “Okay, buddy, put the girl down nice and slow and back away.”
    “Are you the guardian of this place?”
    “Yeah. I’m the ‘guardian’, buddy,” agreed the security guard in a humoring tone. He pointed the flashlight at Adrienne. “I want you to put the girl down.”
    “No. I would not leave her to such an incompetent guardian. Your aid has come too late, as I have done your job for you,” Malik said. He moved his gaze to the two bodies the guard had overlooked.
    The guard glanced quickly in the direction Malik looked. “Holy Jesus,” he yelled.
    “I leave the rest to you, then, guardian. You shall leave the girl to me.” Malik walked back to the portal. The guard yelled for him to come back, but the novelty had worn off so Malik ignored the man.
    The guard ran to catch up. He would be too late.
    Malik closed the portal after himself.
    A soft sigh from