“Let me go, damn you!” he says, his fists meeting my back.
There’s a crash behind us, and I look over my shoulder just as a spotted leopard skids out of the barred door, ploughing into the opposite wall.
“W-what…” my treasure stutters out.
“I know, right?” I scoff. “I was hoping the umbrella would hold for longer.”
The cat shakes away the confusion, then swings his heavy skull our way before it bolts towards us, closing the distance on powerful legs.
“Faster! Run faster!” treasure cries.
I let out a hearty laugh as I speed up, sprinting down the long corridor towards a glass and wood partitioning door. “This is the start of a beautiful relationship, treasure.”
I slide open the partition and step into the other cart, then once inside, slide it back.
“That won’t stop anything!” my mate yells.
My reply is a smirk as I move backwards, the leopard charging at us through the glass like I’m watching it on TV until he comes leaping through it in a shower of glass and wood.
I drop my mate, regretfully, not-too-gently to the carpeted floor, and shield his body with mine. He screams out for help, but whoever soundproofed these rooms really did a good job.
The shifter misses us by centimetres, so when he lands, I dart forward at incredible speed, wrap my hands around the leopard’s thick, furry neck, and with a single, satisfyingly loudCRACK, he drops like a sack of potatoes.
“There we go,” I announce, dusting my hands off as I turn back to my mate. “All dealt with.”
My treasure isn’t where I left him; he’s further back at the broken door, unsuccessfully rattling at the handle to force it open.
“We aren’t going to get out that way,” I tell him.
“I’m not going anywhere with a kidnapper who fights…fights…big cats!”
“He’s not a big cat. He’s a shifter, see.” I nod to the body behind me, and my treasure reluctantly looks over, eyes huge and wobbling, to find that the big cat has turned back into a man.
“This can’t be happening…”
“Now,” I say, stepping forward and grinning at him, “I saw in the cabin your cup of tea was ruined. How about I get you a new one. Then you can fall in love with me, eh?”
Chapter Four - Thomas
‘He’s crazy.’
Rain batters against the windows as the train rushes across steel tracks, but it’s the broken glass crunching under my shoes that’s deafening. I’m glaring at the madman who threw me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing, considering we’re nearly the same height and build—him broader—it’s both insulting and annoyingly impressive.
“So, tea?” he prompts.
“If you think I’m going to getteawith you, then you’ve absolutely lost your mind,” I bite out between gritted teeth, the back of my neck hot at the blatant hunger in his pale-grey gaze, roaming over me from head to toe.
A cocky smile spreads across his supple lips. Not that I notice or care. I also don’t notice he’s got a single dimple pressed into his right cheek, making him look almost boyish even with the sharp lines of his jaw.
“When looking at your pretty face…” His unapologetic stare glides up the full length of my body to lock onto my glare. “How could I not?”
I raise a single, unimpressed eyebrow. “Has that line ever worked?”
He tosses me a ridiculous wink, the profile of his stupid chiselled jaw and strong nose sharpened when lightning flashes. “First time for everything.”
“Not this time, so your streak continues.”
His smile grows, causing my heart to skip a beat. But while I can begrudgingly admit my kidnapper is handsome, I refuse to getdistracted by his reddish-brown hair falling in messy tufts. Or that his shaved sides are decorated with intricate blue tattoos that snake down under his neck, hiding under a tan leather and fur jacket…
