Let the Night Begin by Kathryn Smith Read Free Book Online

want to know where to find me.”
    â€œI could follow you by air as well, Liv. Take the carriage.”
    He was right, of course. And she had no other excuse. “Fine. But only because it’s not worth arguing with you.”
    â€I find that amazing,” he drawled. “Wednesday evening. Be here at precisely six.”
    â€œOr what?” she asked with a hint of a smile. “You’ll leave without me?”
    The look he shot her could have frozen a house fire. She swore there were shards of ice in the smoky depths of his gaze. “I’ll consider our arrangement null and void.”
    He meant it. Olivia felt the chill of his words right down to her toes. “I’ll be here.” With the arrangements finalized, there was no reason for her to linger any longer.
    â€œReign?” She said as she stopped at the threshold, turning her head to look at him over her shoulder.
    â€œWhat?”
    Somehow she managed a smile, even though a tendril of guilt wrapped itself around her stomach. “Thank you.”
    Â 
    She was being followed.
    Olivia peered out the back window of Reign’s luxurious carriage, her sharp gaze purposefully studying every shape, every vehicle and silhouette underneath the murky streetlights. That hack, had it been with her since Belgrave Square? And what of that man on horseback? Was that Reign, or just her imagination? Trying to scent him out would do no good amongst all the odors of London. Their kiss earlier insured that his smell clung to her like an expensive perfume, confusing her senses and pulling at her heart. She would have to bathe once she returned to the hotel.
    And scrub herself raw. Perhaps she’d burn her clothes. Grinding her teeth, Olivia drew a deep breath. She would not become a hysterical fool just because a man’s scent threatened to choke her.
    Regardless of the fact that she could smell him, why would Reign follow her when his man would easily divulge her destination? Perhaps her husband thought her a murderess now and feared for his driver’s safety.
    Or perhaps he feared for hers.
    That was a romantic thought she had no business entertaining. Reign was no more in love with her than she was with him. Too much had happened between them, too much bitter time had passed. Regardless of anything she might still feel for him, or feel for him again, there was nothing that could change the fact that it wasn’t going to last. This time she was going to betray him, and anything that might be left between them would never survive it.
    Turning around, she leaned back against the padded velvet seat and closed her eyes. What matter did it make if someone was following her? They wouldn’t be for long. And unless it was another vampire, or a small army of men, there was little anyone could do to harm her.
    Indeed, her strength and agility were two great perks of vampirism. Never again would she know the fear of a lone female walking at night. She would not fear sickness or injury. She wasn’t physically intimidated by man or nature. Never again would a human man, or several of them, inspire her to quicken her pace as her heart pounded in her chest. Only one man incited such a reaction in her and he wasn’t human.
    How could she react so strongly to him given all he had stolen from her? Had their short time together been that amazing that her body could forget so easily? Had the pleasure outweighed the pain? Even now, that same thing that had hurther so badly came to her veiled in erotic images of their bodies entwined, yielding and clinging to each other like sea to sand.
    Their first night together was as sharp and clear in her mind as her own hand—perhaps more so. The memory of his touch brought a flush to her skin, a tremor to her spine. She had never experienced anything like it. And Reign had held her in his arms afterward and confessed the same.
    â€œPathetic.” Saying it aloud made it all the more real. It