Page 27 of The Silent
“Or we can take her now and you’ll never find her,” Niran said. “What will it be,scribe?”
Kyra’s chin lifted. “No one takes me against my will. You don’t speakforme.”
“I speak for your brother,” he said. “I promised no harm would come to you in myterritory.”
Leo said, “I’ve got her brother’s number on speed dial. Shall we callhimnow?”
“No!” Kyra shouted. “Leo, don’tyoudare.”
What the hell was going on here? Kyra looked panicked. Niran was hard to read, but Leo would swear there was some confusion inhiseyes.
“Fine,” Leo said. He drew a hotel card from his shirt pocket and handed it to Kyra. “I’m here when you’re finished talkingtohim.”
Kyra relaxed. “After we talk, I’llfindyou.”
“I want your phone number before you go.” Leo didn’t take his eyes offNiran.
Kyra was reluctant, but she nodded and put a hand out. “Yourphone?”
Leo unlocked his phone and handed ittoher.
Kyra quickly entered a number and hit Send, then she held up her own phone for him to see the number flashing. “Satisfied?”
His eyes raked down her body. “Farfromit.”
She turned bright red. “I’ll call youlater.”
“I’ll waitforyou.”
She walked toward Niran, and everything in Leo screamed at him to grab herandrun.
He didn’t. She wasn’t his to steal. Plus he had a few questions for Alyah before he and Kyratalked.
“Kyra,” he called toherback.
Sheturned.
“If you don’t come to me, I’llfindyou.”
The smile she gave him was sad. Amused. Skeptical. Far too complicated for a singleemotion.
“Youcouldtry.”
* * *
Leo openedthe heavy gate to the hotel garden on the other side of the river. He’d ignored the hails of the tuk-tuk drivers and walked the distance from the night bazaar, needing time to gather his thoughts. The hotel where Alyah had brought them was close to the old city and the bazaar, just on the other side of the river and downstream. High walls protected it from prying eyes, and lush gardens greeted him when he entered the compound. His suite faced a narrow pool where lilies floated and fish swam. Across a small bridge, Alyah had taken her own room, but all her lightswereoff.
The garden was silent. The staff was gone. But Leo’s thoughts were inariot.
Theirkiss.
The sheer pleasure of it kept leaping to his mind, scattering every other consciousthought.
He unlocked his room and walked inside, tossing his keys on the small table by the door and falling back on the bed to stare at theceiling.
“I like kissing you.”He closed his eyes at the memory of her lips.“So much.”Her hands gripping his hair.“Did you like it too?”Her breasts. Heavenabove…
Leo had dreamed of kissing Kyra for no less than two years. From the time he’d met her, he’d been aware of the desire, but Kyra had been a tentative bird in the beginning. She could barely manage to walk down a street without cringing from the rampant human thoughts that invaded her mind. The last thing Leo wanted was for her to feel that a large, clumsy giant of a scribe was preying on hervulnerabilities.
