Page 36 of Inside the Maelstrom: Part One
Nemo was the endgame. Not these guys. Though, would there be any harm in tasting them?
I internally snorted at myself. I was such a fucking idiot. It would be like voluntarily putting my heart in a blender.
Finally, Evan parked, and we all climbed out. It was a short walk to Buckingham Palace, but it wasn’t a bad day. A little cool and gray, but not raining. I pulled my coat tighter around me as we walked toward the giant gates.
It was packed with tourists, each trying to take a selfie while getting the giant building in the picture. I thought I’d feel something being here, seeing a place that I’d only ever seen on television, but I wasn’t overly enthused. I was living someone’s dream right now, but it just wasn’t mine apparently.
“Underwhelmed?”
I looked at Sampson, and tried to find a way to say yes without seeming ungrateful. “No, it's wonderful.”
He shrugged. “I’ve seen bigger.”
I grinned at him. “Hear that a lot?”
He gave me a heated look, and I listened to my hindbrain and scuttled away before he whipped it out to show me. I wandered over to one of the iconic guards in their red livery. Sampson was a step behind me, finally off his phone. When a tourist trying to somehow get the whole building in his viewfinder stepped back into me, I tried to move backwards, tripping over my feet. Only Sampson’s reflexes kept me from falling on my ass.
“Watch where the fuck you’re going,” he growled at the old man, who honestly must have been eighty, and the old guy sneered at us both. Sampson went to step toward him, but I grabbed his hand and dragged him away before Evan had to put down an old man.
“Come on, Sam. Leave the geriatrics alone,” I mock-whispered, side-stepping around more people. Too many people. The feeling of them around me was like ants on my skin until I just wanted to flee.
I looked over at Evan. He seemed bored by the whole experience, but I watched the way his eyes roamed the crowd and he held his body tight. “Do you run?”
The answer was obviously yes, because the guy was fit as hell, probably had to be to keep up with Sampson. He just gave a grunt and a nod, and I smiled brightly at him, enjoying the slight widening of his eyes. When my ex was drunk, he used to say I was as interesting as bran flakes, except when I smiled.
I turned back to Sampson. “What about you, rich boy? Do you run?” I’d felt Sampson’s body against mine, so I knew he was fit too. But that didn’t mean he could run. You could lift weights every day, and then drop dead if you had to run more than twenty feet.
“I’ve been known to jog.”
I looked down at my Converse. This was why they were the superior footwear—they were always ready for anything.
“Let’s run then, Bad Boy,” I said, a play on his nickname for me.
“Why… Hey, wait!”
I took off, dodging around the people snapping photos, turning my head and throwing up bunny ears when I got in their shots. I just ran. I ran down alongside the high fence that enclosed the palace gardens, pushing myself harder and faster until my lungs felt like they were on fire. I could hear Sampson and Evan’s heavy footfalls behind me.
I’d always been fast, mostly because I was small and light, and being a swimmer had given me good endurance. The wind on my face felt good, and I tried to remember the last time I just ran. It had been too long. Before driving into that tree. Before the drinking and meaningless sex. Maybe before I even went away to college and realized I didn’t have a personality.
I swerved around the people walking their dogs, the leisurely strollers and the guided tour groups. I smiled, uncaring if I got bugs in my teeth or hair; I was just happy to be free. Free to do whatever I liked. There was no one to disappoint here. I watched a double-decker bus with a morbid kind of fascination as it came lumbering down the road. One quick burst of speed, and we’d collide.
I didn’t realize I was laughing until we hit an intersection and a hand wrapped around my forearm. I looked up at Sampson, who was lightly puffing, his eyes taking in my face. “You okay, Good Girl?”
I grinned at him. “Don’t you ever feel like just running?” I looked between him and Evan, who was watching the crowd like someone was about to pull a gun and shoot us both. Sampson just continued to stare, but Evan winked at me, his chest heaving slightly.
My expression probably bordered on manic as Sampson held my hand, pulling me close to his side as we crossed the road, walking toward the Wellington Arch. It was pretty, and also kind of terrifying. Walking through it, I ran my fingers along the stone of the giant arch, appreciating the grandeur of it. Old and grand—that was London in a nutshell, wasn’t it?
Suddenly, Sampson dragged me into his body and pressed me tight against the wall of the arch. He captured my lips with his, kissing me hard. A dominating, oxygen-stealing kiss. His tongue plunged into my mouth, stroking mine like it was trying to lure it to the dark side. His hand dropped to my ass and he squeezed it tight with a groan. I gripped his hair, threading my fingers through the dark strands and held on for dear life as he dominated my body.
Someone made a disgusted noise and Sampson slid his hand higher, baring the side of my ass to the world. When someone nearby muttered something about children being present, he finally drew back, and I was panting harder than I had after I’d sprinted for a mile. Sampson stepped back, but kept a hand on my hip.
“Your madness is the worst kind, Aviva. It’s the kind that infects those around you.”
With that, he turned and walked away. I watched his heaving shoulders as he emerged out the other side of the arch, the sun hitting his mahogany hair and making it shine.
I stood there, looking back at Evan, who was watching me with a guarded expression. My cheeks flushed and I shrugged. If he was disgusted with me, he didn’t say anything. “Let’s go.”
He ushered me in front of him until we caught up with Sampson. Just when I thought Sampson was going to ignore me, he reached out and gripped my fingers. He didn’t look at me, or say anything, but that small connection meant something.
