East Bound by Nana Malone (best value ebook reader .txt) 📗

My heart hammered in my chest and I wondered just what kind of horror I'd gotten myself into.

East

Amelia was out of the back of the van almost as quickly as I was. "I'll deal with it. You go back."

She scoffed. "You're kidding right? She’s my partner."

"She's my girlfriend."

"What, like that gives you some kind of claim on her?"

"You're just going to get yourself hurt, Amelia."

I chased her across the lawn, around the side of the mansion where Nyla's beacon said that she was.

"Again, you seem to forget that we're not the little women who need saving."

"I didn't forget that, goddammit, since you're both reminding me every two seconds."

"Garreth Jameson is the literal devil, so I've got to get her out of there before anything happens to her."

"Or you could just fucking listen. Do you have a plan, Amelia? Or are you just going to run in half-cocked?"

She glowered at me as she tossed her braids over her shoulder. "I suppose it should be you running in half-cocked."

"Do you even know where you're going?"

She stopped and frowned. "That's beside the point."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head as I led the way to the side window of the small library Garreth had dragged her into.

"It's time to leave this to the professionals," she hissed.

"What, like you? You're hardly a professional. You realize you nearly got yourself and Nyla killed once, right?"

Her eyes went wide. "Me?"

"You and your little trip to see Bram Van Linsted, remember that?"

Amelia winced. "Okay, so I fucked up there. But come on, getting in bed with a thief?"

"If you could just stop for a moment, I can get in there to help her."

All of a sudden Nyla's com went silent. My heart squeezed and started a full gallop. "Fuck."

Amelia's voice was quiet and tense. "What do you need me to do?"

"How about you help me remove this sill? I put this alarm blocker in the last time I was here in case we needed it as an egress. I didn't realize we'd be back."

She helped me remove it. We unscrewed the sills frantically, and I was moving as quickly as I could even while my hands were shaking. The nip in the air didn't help. Good old England, forever rainy and not so much heat.

We worked silently together, moving as quickly as we could to avoid being seen because there would be no explanation for what the hell I was doing there. Amelia could maybe pull off that she was there as Nyla's partner, but she had a point. What exactly was I going to give as an excuse if they saw me in there? But still, I couldn't leave her in there.

Not with him. Not like that. Just as I deactivated the alarm, a voice rang out behind us.

"What in the world do you think you're doing?"

I whirled around at the sound of Nyla's voice. Amelia tackled her with a hug. "Jesus Christ, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Garreth Jameson is a handsy arsehole, but I'm fine. I repeat. What in the world are you two doing?"

I stepped forward and bracketed her face in my palms. Gently, I searched for any sign that he’d hurt her. "Are you okay?"

“You know me, I’m really good at evading.” Her voice was choked and gravelly as I pulled her in. Just hearing her in distress, I'd stopped thinking. I'd stopped breathing. I was never fucking going to feel anything like that ever again.

"Yeah. Jameson is a pain in the arse. Like I said, handsy as fuck, but I handled him and let myself out through the terrace. What are you two doing?"

Amelia and I looked at each other. I was the one who said, "Rescuing you?"

Amelia laughed. "I told him you didn't need rescuing."

My jaw dropped. "Horseshit. You were out of the van faster than I was."

She waved her hand dismissively. "Hush, no one believes that."

Nyla laughed. "Oh my God, are you two friends now? This is awkward if you are."

I shook my head. "No, we're not friends. We just share a mutual concern for your safety."

Nyla laughed. "I'm so glad you're getting along now. My bestie and... what are you again?"

"The love of your life. Anyone else want to get out of here before we get caught?"

Nyla nodded. "Yeah, and fucking hell do we have a lot to talk about."

Nyla

There was something off about East. Since returning to the penthouse, he hadn't let me out of his sight. Even as he made love to me, there'd been something desperate, as if he'd been attempting to permanently mark me or was looking for affirmation of some kind.

And afterward, as he held me, it was in the way he wound himself around me like he meant to guard my whole body with his, and he wouldn’t hold my gaze, as if he was guarding his emotions. At that point I'd been too tired, too sated and sleepy to dwell on it. I figured we'd talk in the morning.

While I drifted off into a dreamland of chasing bad guys and uncovering secrets, I was confused when my dreams took a turn into me chasing a thief, determined to bring him to justice. And when the thief dropped his mask, God, he was beautiful. He had dark hair, green eyes, and a jaw to make Henry Cavill jealous.

And in my dreams, East was very, very sexy. Instead of running like he should when I told him to freeze, he sauntered toward me, with the devil's own grin and sin in his eyes. And then right before me, he kneeled, lifting my skirt, his eyes challenging me the whole time as if daring me to make him stop. Or daring him to continue.

I did neither. And inch by inch, up slid my dress. Then he backed me up to a desk. We were in some kind of office building? Who knew, it was a dream, and I held onto it tightly. Because God, this was getting good.

He exposed my garters,