Knight-in-Arms - Demons: (BWWM Interracial Paranormal Billionaire Shifter Romance Part Three) Read Free Page B

looked into her eyes.
     
    “I love you” he said.
     
    He leaned forward and kissed her. Softly. Gently. Like he needed her in his life.
     
    He pulled away. She looked up at him, feeling a warm buzz glow through her chest. He loved her.
     
    “I love you too” she said.
     
    They began walking along, holding hands. The sun shone down on them. It felt like an enchanted garden, with Renaissance statues dotted along the path. Some were busts of people, others were figures and creatures frozen for eternity in their designated poses. It was so peaceful and secluded. Or rather, it was peaceful until a swarm of chattering tourists came along the path from behind.  There were so many and they came upon Xavier and Rochelle so quickly that they broke their hands apart and Rochelle was drawn along on the tide and jostled towards the centre.
     
    With great effort, she waded to the edge of the tourists and finally extricated herself from them. As the last of the throng passed by her, she looked for Xavier along the way that she had just come but he wasn’t there.
     
    “Xavier?” she called. Still he was nowhere in sight.
     
    He had probably been drawn along with the tourists too. She went in the direction they – and hopefully Xavier – had gone.
     
    No one was there.
     
    She looked behind her again. A man with dark hair and a blue shirt was walking along the path. He was looking at her. The way he was staring made her feel uncomfortable. Most people looked away or smiled or did something to acknowledge they’d seen you but he just carried on staring with a crooked smile on his face.
     
    Rochelle ran. The man ran too.
     
    Rochelle had no idea where she was going. The bushes lining the paths were so tall she could have been in a maze for all she knew.  Suddenly, peaceful and secluded had become eerie and isolated. Her heart beat wildly.
     
    She turned at every corner, hoping to be free, only to be greeted by another path similar to the last. It was almost like a nightmare.
     
    Where was Xavier? After the things he’d told her earlier, she really didn’t want to be alone here.
     
    Slowing down slightly to catch her breath, she took out her phone. She’d had six missed calls from him already. She called him back, still running.
     
    “Rochelle?” 
     
    His voice sounded relieved that she’d finally answered the phone.
     
    “Xavier?” she called frantically. Fear made her voice shrill and shaky.
     
    “Someone’s following me”.
     
    “Where are you?”
     
    “I’m in the Boboli gardens somewhere. I’m lost”.
     
    “Don’t worry, Rochelle, I’ll find you” he said.
     
    Through the phone, he suddenly heard her scream, followed by a thud.
     
    “Rochelle? Rochelle?”
     
    Frantic, Xavier scoured the whole of the gardens but the only thing he found of her was her red scarf lying abandoned on the ground. He roared in anguish. The sound was half-way between wounded animal and enraged man.
     
    *              *              *
     
    “Nice of you to join us”.
     
    Rochelle didn’t feel that she’d quite joined them yet, whoever they were. She felt groggy and disorientated and her vision was blurry. She was lying on the floor. It was cold and had a black and white diamond pattern.
     
    Where was she? The last thing she remembered was being in the Boboli Gardens, on the phone to Xavier and then everything had gone black. How long ago was that? Hours? Days? She’d been missing too much of her life in the past couple of months.
     
    And where was Xavier? Was he here? She tried to sit up to see but she found her wrists and ankles were bound.
     
    “Precautions”, said the voice, “We’d prefer it if you didn’t leave before you’d realised your purpose”.
     
    Realised her purpose? She turned her head to see who was speaking. He was a man in a crisp, dark blue suit with dark hair and brown eyes. Somewhere in his forties, he looked quite ordinary, as though he would