Sienna fled into a full sprint and tripped over a particularly knotty root, catching her fall with her hands. Her basket fell open, pears rolling away.
A familiar masculine voice sounded on her left. "Am I that frightening that you must run at my nearness?"
Adrenaline shot like lightning through her frame. Leaning back against the old oak was the man of her dreams. Quite literally. For the past few months, she would wake in the morning, sweating and breathless from the sensual pleasures he'd given her. She'd swear by heaven to never think of him again, and certainly not about the wicked things he was doing to her each night. Until the next night, of course.
And there he was, arms and ankles casually crossed, soft black leather pants fitting him all too well, blond hair falling partly over one eye, devilish smile in place. He looked like a mutinous pirate, taking a jaunt on land for a bit of pillaging.
"Lieutenant Nikolai. Have you been following me?" She sat back on her rump, gathering her runaway pears.
"Of course I was."
"Not very gentlemanly of you."
"I needed to speak with you."
"Well, the normal course of action is to walk up to a lady and say, ‘Good afternoon. Might I have a word, my lady?' Not skulk about and frighten her to death." She slapped the top of her basket shut.
Vampire-swift, he was there, lifting her to her feet. She wobbled for it was too fast for her human senses, but his hands banded her waist underneath her red cloak, keeping her steady.
"I apologize, sweetheart," he said, voice low and intimate and entirely too close. "I did not mean to frighten you."
"I am not your sweetheart." She stepped out of his arms, quite sure he could hear the rapid beat of her heart. She hoped he presumed it was the fright he gave her and not the uncomfortable nearness of him. She bent to pick up the basket, but he was there, lifting it before she could. "Thank you."
"It's the least I could do after giving you such a fright."
She ignored the way his mouth ticked up in amusement and continued on the path. "Why were you hiding?"
He followed alongside her. "Because I'm a wanted man, as you know. And the Glass Tower has spies everywhere."
She laughed. "Even in Hiddleston? I don't see the likes of squash farmers and quilt-makers spying for the queen."
"You'd be surprised who Queen Morgrid would employ. Or seduce."
Sienna shivered at the thought of the queen. She'd only seen her from afar once, when she waved to the peasants of Sylus from the castle's terrace one harvest. Her black hair glistened like a raven's wing, her porcelain skin pale like winter's snow, and her regal beauty beamed like night's brightest star. She was a beautiful yet dangerous force. Even from a distance, the queen's evil seeped into her bones.
"I suppose you're right." She exhaled a deep breath, finally feeling at ease. Well, as much at ease as one could be in the presence of a man who'd seduced her nightly in her dreams. Not a man. A vampire. "So, lieutenant. What brings you here?"
They crossed into the shade of Silvane Forest. At once, a soothing tranquility washed over Sienna. A white flash zipped between the trees.
"I see your companions never stray too far," he said, noting the black hart wolf stalking on his right.
"No. They don't like it when I go to market. They grow anxious until I return."
"I don't think the black one likes me."
"His name is Luca." Sienna tossed a smile into the vicinity of the woods where the bear-sized wolf loped. "But don't feel bad. Luca doesn't like much of anyone. Except Duchess, of course. He worships her."
When she said her name, the snow-white mate of Luca appeared on the path up ahead. She glanced at the two walking side by side, then trotted farther on.
"Oh, and Arabelle," added Sienna. "Luca and Duchess both adore her."
"Where are the other two?" He sauntered along, one hand holding the basket, the other casually in his pocket, but he studied his surroundings keenly. One thing she'd noticed on her few encounters with the lieutenant, he never missed anything.
"The brothers? Kai and Hugo are off with the other hart wolves most likely."
"There are others?" This brought his attention back to her.
"Oh yes. Though I rarely see them. And when I do, they never come too close."
"Haven't you lived in these woods for many years?"
"Five, actually."
"I'm surprised you wouldn't run into the larger pack more often."