Charisma grunted in pain as she tripped over the broken branch that hadn’t been removed from the dark path. She’d been walking for at least an hour and in that time, the only thing she’d been able to think of was the fact that her life was unbelievably messed up. She’d only been trying to get to the twenty-four-hour mini-mart when she’d been attacked. While she did admit that going through the abandoned part of town had not been one of her smartest ideas, it did save her ten minutes of walking. A lot of good that did her.
She’d waited exactly five minutes after the men walked out of the solarium before she went to the window. She jumped for joy inside when she realized that she was on the ground level of the house. Charisma made quick work of opening the window and jumping out. Once she was out, she took off running. There was no way in hell she would allow herself to be an accomplice to her own kidnapping, even if the one called Jameson had the face of Adonis and made her feel things that honestly should have stayed in the minds of romance novelists. How she found her way off the large estate, she did not know. She cut through the woods that surrounded the only road that led to the house and found herself approaching the back of the city library. Perfect. She was only a mile away from her house.
Charisma walked briskly, paying very close attention to any and all noises she heard. Had she not been paranoid, she would have just called the noises she heard normal stirrings of the night. But she was paranoid, and scared half out of her mind; every noise made her walk faster. Had she the sense to own a cellular phone, she would have called her assistant, Marie. That was after she called the police, anyway. Charisma would need loads of alcohol and a sounding board for the asylum-worthy story she had to tell. But she didn’t own a phone and figured that it was probably for the best; who would believe such a story?
“Thank you, God,” she muttered when she spotted the oddly blue house she’d purchased only months ago. The house had attracted her not only because of its blue/purple appearance, but because it was partially separated from the other houses on the block. “It’s good to see you too, Blue.” Charisma felt relief wash over her as she approached the house, but stopped when she heard the deep, menacing growl behind her. She slowly turned and felt her skin go cold at the sight of the abnormally large dog watching her. It was partially crouched and the golden hairs on the back of its neck were pointed toward the dark sky.
Good Lord, she was going to get mauled to death.
Charisma did the only thing she knew to do; she hauled ass to her house. As she ran, she pulled her key out of her pocket. Luckily, she had to get through the screened porch doors to get to her front door. She ran up the stairs and cried out when she tripped over the last step. Charisma was smart enough to push the screen door open as she pitched forward. After she landed on the floor, she pulled her legs in and used her foot to shut the screen. Panting for breath, she lay for a moment, expecting to hear the wild beast trying to break through. There was nothing. She sat up and looked at the extremely quiet street. “Great, now I’m seeing things.” She shook her head as she moved to stand. Charisma quickly opened the door to her house and closed it firmly behind her. Thank God for automatic locks. One deep breath helped her calm down enough to turn on the lights.
The sight of the very large, very gorgeous man sitting on her couch had her jumping back against the door. There was something very dangerous about him, and that fact alone kept her from moving. His long white-blonde hair framed a flawless oval-shaped face. Thick, golden eyebrows hooded crystal blue eyes that accented a perfect patrician nose. Perfect, succulent lips led to a dimpled chin that made him look boyish.
“Do not make me chase you.” He stood and looked at the lithe human with interest. She had a pleasant face and her obvious fear of him stirred his loins. Had he not had to get her back to Zaide, he would have enjoyed taking pleasure from her.
The man was huge! He looked to be about the same height as the twins, but he had the physique of a body builder. She had no idea how to handle this; though the man was smoking hot, he terrified her. Calling Marie was definitely out of the question. “What?”
“Come with me and you will not be harmed.”
That was classic. Charisma’s fear dissipated enough for her anger to push through. She’d had about enough of these damned men telling her what to do. “Who the hell are you people?”
He smiled at her slowly, deliberately, to regain the fear she’d shown him before. “We are what you make us.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean? She crossed her arms over her chest as she asked, “Can I make you gone, then?”
He laughed at her courage. The attempt was futile, but still commendable. “Make it easy, human. I was told to bring you back alive.” He took a threatening step forward and smiled at her sharp intake of breath. He could just hear the blood rushing through her veins. “Zaide said nothing about how alive you had to be.” He took another step forward but stopped at the loud crash. The sight of the large golden bear that charged him had him baring his razor sharp teeth as a signal for battle.
Charisma watched as man and beast went head to head. The two figures landed on her coffee table, splintering the chestnut piece and the man shouted in pain as the bear clawed at his chest. It was the sound of the man’s pain that pulled her out of her trance. Without a backward glance, she unlocked her door and ran out of the house. Two seconds later, she ran into what had to be a brick wall. New fear washed over her and she jumped back, ready to do what she had to do to defend herself.
“Calm down, calm down.”
She looked up and sighed in relief at the sight of Jameson’s face. She didn’t know how he’d found her, but she was grateful nonetheless. “Jameson, oh, my God.”
Jameson did his best to keep from shaking the woman for her foolish actions. When he’d walked back into the solarium to find her missing, he was calm, figuring that she was in another part of the house. He hadn’t even considered the open window - until Alexis informed him of the fact that the protective cloak that shielded the manor had been taken down due to the installation of the new security system. The cloak not only shielded the manor, but it put those who weren’t given unlimited access to sleep if they tried to enter or leave. Panic gripped Jameson then. How could she be so stupid as to leave?
Fortunately she was easy to track and he’d found her, just as she ran from her strange looking house like a bat out of hell. “What-” Jameson stopped speaking when he was roughly pushed aside by Liam. He watched as his brother placed his hand on Charisma’s before throwing a hand out. There was no fire.
“That’s better,” Liam said as he stepped back. He wanted to yell at Charisma for leaving before she could set things back but this was better. Based on the panicked look in her eyes, the fear of God himself had been put into her.
Charisma found herself shrieking in terror when she was launched forward into Jameson’s chest. They rolled a few feet and it was when she was covered by his body that she heard the loud crashes associated with fire and explosions. Her house was on fire! She pushed against Jameson’s heavy body, but it was useless; he wasn’t going anywhere. It wasn’t until everything stopped exploding that he rolled off her and pulled her to her feet. Charisma watched her house become consumed by flames. Anger rolled through her and she began to shout. At who, she didn’t know or care. All she knew was that her house was on fire and would be gone in seconds.
Jameson experimentally threw his hand out. After grunting in satisfaction at the ball of fire that shot out from his palm, he turned to Charisma’s red face. She was livid; good, now she knew how he felt. “What the hell were you thinking leaving like that?”
“My house is on fire!” she shouted at him. Rage at him and the out-of-this-world situation she found herself in had her yelling everything that came to mind.
