But tonight…tonight, I wanted to throw hands.
The only thing that stopped me was the fact that this guy was easily twice my size and he’d moved as fast as Daniel had earlier. He wasn’t human, and I wasn’t confident that he wouldn’t eat me alive if I tried to smack him across the face.
I shook my wrist in front of his face, which was nearly a foot over my head. “What is that supposed to mean?”
With another sigh, he turned around and started trudging toward the house I’d just escaped from. “If you want the answer to that question, you’re going to have to come up to the house and let me answer it in front of Ayres’ fireplace with a cup of cocoa in my hand. The cold weather sucks.”
I closed my mouth over a frustrated scream and stomped my foot. My heel hit something round and hard and I looked down. It was a gigantic acorn, nearly the size of a baseball.
I had nearly decided to grab it and hurl it at the back of the huge guy’s head when he said, “And if you throw that acorn at me, I’ll take you down to the police station and lock you in a holding cell.”
I goggled at his back. How had he known what I was going to do?
“It’s supposed to drop down to freezing tonight,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to stay out here in what you’re wearing.”
He was right. I was shivering inside my light sweater and jeans. My booties weren’t much protection from the cold air that slithered around my ankles. I’d freeze to death if I stayed out here.
I decided then and there that I was going to do what it took to survive this kidnapping just so I could have revenge on Daniel Ayres and whoever this guy was.
With a groan, I stomped after the big man. It took very little time for us to reach the house and I realized that Idefinitelyneeded to start running. Or cardio. Or something. It was disheartening how short of a distance I’d traveled even though I’d been sprinting full out once I’d fallen out of the bedroom window.
The man walked up the porch steps, his footfalls so heavy that I wondered if the wooden treads would hold his weight. They creaked ominously but didn’t break. I waited until he was all the way up before I followed.
“Worried I’ll hurt you?” he asked, his voice gruff.
“No, worried you’ll fall through the steps. I wanted to be a safe distance away if it happened.”
His back remained to me, but I heard him grunt.
Man of few words, that Devil Springs police chief.
He opened the front door, walking inside without knocking or even announcing himself. He shut the door behind him, as if to say I could follow him if I wanted or I could be a stubborn ass and freeze out here.
I stared at the door for a long moment, but finally sighed and started climbing the steps.
It was cold out here. It was clear I couldn’t escape. I didn’t have much choice.
Plus, hot cocoa sounded pretty good. Maybe I could scrounge up a sandwich or something to go with it because my stomach was growling.
I did the exact same as the police chief and opened the door without knocking. If Daniel Ayres could kidnap me and tackle me in the woods without my permission, I could enter his house however I wanted.
I shut the door behind me and stared in horror around me.
Not because the house was hideous. The complete opposite, in fact.
No, this was my dream house.
I wanted to cry as I stared at the gorgeous wood paneling, the rug centered in front of the staircase with a round table in the center. Instead of flowers, there was a gorgeous glass sculpture of sinuous twisted shapes and a vibrant rainbow of colors.
I took a few hesitant steps down the hall and glanced to my right. It was a formal dining room, the lights off. A few more steps and, to my left, the door was open to reveal a study that made me want to kick Daniel Ayres out of this incredible house that he clearly didn’t deserve and live inside it.
There were built-in shelves of the same wood that paneled the hallway on three of the four walls. The fourth wall was a gallery wall of paintings and photographs, surrounding an antique fireplace.
Entranced, I couldn’t stop myself from stepping inside and looking around. A large writing desk was by the only window in the room. A couch and two chairs faced the fireplace.
I bit back a whimper because this was my dream home library. And it belonged to a vampire that kidnapped me and then kissed me.
Oh, I was definitely kicking him out of this gorgeous house.
