Awakening Kiss (Watcher's Kiss Book 4) Read Free Page A

to in the city. “Look, um…I don’t know what was going on in that alley, or who you were with. Three guys cornered me.” Her voice cracked on the last word at the terror she had avoided, only to face the big, hulking new problem before her. She swallowed. “I-I don’t what they were going to do. I was running for my life. That’s all. And now I’m here, and I don’t know where ‘here’ is.”
    He gave her a withering glare. “You’re a bad liar, and good thing I don’t need you to tell me where your goddamn portal sent us.” He pulled out a phone and started tapping the screen.
    Phone. Enza’s hands flew to her pockets in a frantic pat-down. She still had her apartment keys, buried securely in one pocket, but no cell. Her purse was gone too. “Shit!” No way to call for help. Trapped in strange woods with a strange man who thought she was a liar.
    “The Arboretum?” He quirked an eyebrow. “Interesting place for you and those elves to hang out.”
    “Elves?” Her jaw dropped. Maybe he was on drugs. Had to be. Crap. Should she play along to placate him?
    “The ones who sent us here.” His tone was matter-of-fact, like everyone ought to know about elves on Earth.
    Okay, forget the elf issue for a minute. Focus on where I am. “We’re in The Arboretum?” Enza stared at their surroundings. That explained the trees and lack of other people, but... “That makes no sense. How could we get here so fast? Isn’t this place, like, way west of the city?”
    “Yes, and you know exactly how we got here.” He spoke as if he were talking to a five-year-old.
    “No. No I don’t.” She lowered her voice, not wanting to antagonize him. And god, those huge muscles. He could probably break her arms. She needed to work with whatever weirdness he was going to spout off.
    He scrubbed a hand over his square jaw and glowered. “What are you hiding?”
    “N-nothing.” Was that a knife holstered to his arm? Shit! Despite the muggy night, a cold sweat broke out on her forehead and she pushed back a wave of dizziness.
    A noise escaped his throat that sounded a lot like a growl. “Tell me what you were doing back there.” In the darkness, his eyes seemed to get a little brighter.
    Those eyes…his talk of elves…Memories of fairy tales and nightmare creatures rushed back at her from childhood stories that were supposed to be, well, stories. But sudden awful questions loomed in her mind. Fear uncurled, raw and powerful, and she couldn’t stand there a minute longer.
    She turned and bolted.
    And got about ten feet away before strong hands gripped her waist. “Don’t try to run from me.” Warm breath ghosted over her neck. “You will never, ever, succeed. Are we clear?”
    She gulped. He was fast. And his arms locked around her body felt as solid as iron. She wouldn’t get away by speed alone. “Please don’t hurt me,” she whispered, fighting back a sob. “I really don’t know what’s going on. If I did, I would tell you, I swear.”
    He released her and she whirled, on edge and not wanting to turn her back on him again. Her leg muscles wobbled but she fought to stay upright, too much adrenaline zooming through her veins to allow her to relax. God, why hadn’t she gone to that kickboxing class with Meena? Or at least gone to the self-defense sessions that her college had offered periodically?
    His eyes narrowed. “You okay?”
    “Sure,” she replied cautiously. “For getting flung through a weird black hole and dumped somewhere thirty miles away, then being called a liar and restrained by a stranger.”
    He scowled. “You done?”
    She lowered her gaze to his hands. “Can you call someone to come get me? I um, I must have lost my phone.”
    “I can.” He ran a hand through his short hair. “But not yet.”
    Oh no. What did he want? “Please…” Instinctively she backed up.
    “I won’t hurt you. I just need some answers.” He scanned the trees. “I can stay here all night.”
    Her jaw