Carpathian 15 - Dark Secret

her partway into a world she knew nothing about, and he'd taken her partway out of the world she was familiar with. It was terrifying and yet she couldn't imagine her life without him. And that in itself was what was so frightening.
    "You can come with me, all of you," Natalya offered. "It isn't much fun running alone. And we might all be safer together."
    And I would find you. There is nowhere to go that I cannotfind you. There was a bite to Rafael's voice, a warning. Colby felt a shiver run down her spine.
    "He can hear me." Natalya pulled away instantly, looking warily around. "I have to go. I don't dare stay here. Good luck." She backed away from the truck.
    Colby fought down the urge to grab her hand and keep her there. "Be careful, Natalya," she called, shoving the small piece of paper with Natalya's cell phone number on it into her pocket. She wanted to run away too. There was fear in Natalya's eyes and an absolute resolve to get away. Whatever the vampires wanted from her, she wasn't going to give them. Colby just wished everything would magically return to normal. She closed her eyes again and counted to ten, knowing Paul had run into one of his friends and was talking instead of rushing the pain medication back to her. So much for his concern.
    "Don't tell me Annie Oakley fell off of her horse!" Tony Harris leaned into the truck, his handsome features mocking.
    "You're just what I needed to make my day complete, Tony," Colby told him tiredly.
    "What happened?" He moved closer to stand in the open doorway, his weight across her body as he bent to examine the thick, rather bloody bandage. He was pinning her against the seat, his arm pressed Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    tightly and very deliberately into her waist. He whistled, glancing up at her, his dark gloating eyes revealing his enjoyment of her predicament. "Maybe I should take a look at this; it seems to be bleeding."
    His hand was on her thigh, fingers pressing into swollen flesh.
    "If I scream, Tony, half this town will come running."
    "No one can see with me blocking the view," he said. "Scream away, I'll just say your leg hurt and I was trying to help."
    "As if they'd believe your word against mine. Go to hell, Tony. And get your hands off me." Colby swung at him, but her movements were hampered by the lack of space.
    He dodged the blow and laughed at her. "You leave your rifle at home, Colby? What's wrong, where's all that cold haughty disdain you love to dish out?" His hand was back at the bandage, hovering there while he watched her closely, enjoying her helplessness.
    "Shut up, Tony, and get out of here."
    His fingers inched closer to the wound on her leg, pressing that little bit harder.
    "This isn't funny, Tony." Colby tried to not to look at his hand.
    "Oh, yeah, I think it's really funny. You always thought you were better than me, haven't you, Colby? So now you've got your rich man and you think that proves you're too good for someone like me, but you know what I think? I think you're nothing but his paid whore. I'm going to show you what a real man makes you feel like."
    Before she could elude him, Tony bent down, clamping his mouth to hers, deliberately grinding her teeth against her soft inner lip. One hand remained on her leg, right beside the swollen laceration in warning.
    Colby forgot everything, her weariness, the pain in her leg, the fact that she was parked on the main street of town. It was one thing to put up with Tony's sick innuendos and bullying; it was an altogether different proposition for him to physically touch her. Their feud had started in the schoolyard when Tony, two grades ahead of her, had been unmercifully teasing a boy in her class. She had hit him right in front of everyone. When he had retaliated, Joe Vargas, Ben, and Larry Jeffries had all instantly jumped to her defense. Over the years Harris had threatened and harassed her, but he had never laid a finger on her.
    Her right elbow slammed into his solar plexus and her left hand caught the back of his curly black hair in a wicked grip, in an attempt to jerk his head away from her. To her horror he was suddenly catapulted from the truck as if unseen hands had lifted him bodily and thrown him down. Then she was staring into Rafael's black, black eyes. She caught her breath at the stark menace concentrated there. Tiny red flames were glowing, fierce and unnatural. He looked a demon, a predator, vicious, cunning,