Guildhall Guardian: Thamesian #1 (Thamesians) by Aidan Ladsow Read Free Book Online Page B

store for you."
    He couldn't help his mind from going there. Was she here for some kinky afternoon session? Lunch intercourse could be interesting. But he doubted it.
    She quickly put her laptop on his desk, her moves determined.
    She took hold of one of the chairs.
      "I think I'd better sit down for that."
    He was intrigued to the utmost point.
    *
        I was on the verge of divulging too much at the same time. It would come out messy or not at all, it seemed.  I couldn't stand Roydon's amber stare without feeling the hammer in my chest and butterflies of excitement. I tried to steady my hands as I connected my computer to the Internet.
    Roydon looked slightly...different. Ruffled. His stubble was out of control, his face rougher and therefore, hum, sexier. His white shirt was open and his face less pale.
    No distraction! I got back to my plan.
    Opening the auction webpage, I turned the screen toward Roydon.
      "I thought you would like to see this."
    Suddenly he stood behind my shoulder and I briefly closed my eyes, fighting against the gravity which seemed to make me lean back against him.
      "And what's that?" he breathed into my ear.
      "This dear Mr Thamesian is a private auction taking place in one week. The thing is very secret" I emphasized the word, delecting in beating around the bush. Ahah, who was the know-it-all now?  "very mysterious. The webpage is locked and aimed toward a very specific kind of people."
    He didn't fidget. Not a single twitch.
    I faced him "What do you think?"
      "In fact, I have a question for you. Does your curiosity, no your inclination to probe into dangerous things, have bounds?"
    I watched him innocently. ''Nope, no bounds.''
    *
    Roydon assessed the black and red website. Was it connected with the attacks. Gioia had done something short of genius here. She knew what he was. She had remembered, damned he knew how, and she knew he knew she knew.
    Terribly funny little games.  How could have thought the humans could be such fun? Brand,of course!
      "What do you want to eat for lunch Ms. Di Terzi?" he asked.
      "I won't have what you have that's for sure.''
    Roydon touched her hair.
      "Witty scoundrel, you."
    She looked at him with  delighted surprise.
      "I like..."
      "The way I say this word, yes."
    So she didn't remember everything.
      'Don't mind me if I repeat myself. My memory has been a little defunct lately'' she said.
      "I know a nice place, nearby. Come.''
    *
      It was the restaurant just around the corner of the Olde pub. Nice ethnical food  I had already noticed. The weather was warm for September in the UK.
    I looked at Roydon, walking beside me, graceful and unbothered, looking every inch the movie star with his sunglasses.
      ''Isn't it a little bit too sunny for you today?'' I asked.
      "In fact I can stand the sunlight as well as any of my fellow Englishmen, if not better''.
    Table for two. It was a very beautiful place, one I wouldn't have entered alone but surely admired. The menu had me drooling too.
      "If we just agreed to speak plainly, Ms. Di Terzi, we might save time." he stated.
      "And spoil the fun? You disappoint me Mr Thamesian."
    Aside that he was potentially a real vampire, that I was the weak player here, I really enjoyed the situation.
    I put down the menu, dramatically.
      "Okay. As you could have guessed, I finally picked up the truth. You know it, I know it. Will you admit you're...not...human?' I said in a hush-hush voice.
    Roydon looked at me from behind his sunglasses, his lips curving into a grin.
    What happened to his poker face? The man seemed to have undergone a serious meltdown.
      "So you want an official statement? And no need to whisper, almost everyone in the Quarter is well-aware of what I am.''
    So it was worse than I had initially thought.
    A whole supernatural Quarter, nested in an hard-working British city which could have been designed by Maggie Thatcher herself.  Hard to believe.
      "Allright, got it.