Free Breath of Love by Ophelia Bell

muscular bulk and a killer’s instinct to back up that knowledge. What David wanted, David had always gotten. Except for her.
    There was no use struggling. She just had to hope Kol knew where to find the asshole once Erika realized she was missing. She walked slowly, trying not to stumble when he pushed her forward toward the alley around the side of the restaurant where a sleek town car waited.
    She slid into the confines of David’s car, silent and grim.
    “That’s my girl,” David said. “How about a kiss hello?’
    “You touch me, I will bite your fucking tongue off,” she gritted through her teeth.
    “I’ve been fantastic ,” he said, not missing a beat. “How have you been, baby? Had a few little adventures, I take it? You are a clever one. Put on a good chase—so good I was sure I’d lost you. But here you are, right back where you belong. It’s fate, I think. Destiny . Destiny brought you back to me, baby. And destiny will make you stay.”
    She turned to glare at him then, meeting his shrewd, pale blue eyes with a withering stare. “You have no fucking idea what that word even means.”
    David shook his perfectly groomed head with its close-cropped dark hair. He’d grown a narrow goatee since she’d last seen him and it only served to make him look more sinister than she remembered, offsetting the cruel set to his jaw even more. “I know it means you belong to me,” he said.
    He leaned back slightly in the seat, letting his eyes rove over her. She’d worn one of Kol’s favorite dresses, a strappy summer number that was white with smatterings of black flowers printed on it. He’d always said it offset her blue eyes and sleek brunette hair perfectly. David seemed to appreciate it, as well, his eyebrows arching and his lips quirking in overt appreciation. His eyes narrowed when they rested on the mark that peeked out just above the cleft between her breasts.
    “Did sweet little Hallie go and mess up her perfect skin with a tattoo? What the fuck is this?” He reached a hand out, extending fingertips to touch the mark. Hallie avoided looking down but hoped like hell the thing wasn’t glowing like it did whenever she was within about fifty feet of her lover. Just before David’s fingers came into contact with her skin, his eyes widened, then a million things seemed to happen at once.
    The car lurched to a stop, throwing Hallie and David against the seat backs in front of them. The driver and David both cursed loudly.
    “What the—” David began, glaring at the back of the driver’s head, but he didn’t get the words out before his door was wrenched open and a large hand reached in, grabbed him by the collar, and dragged him out, kicking in protest. Hallie barely managed to avoid getting knocked in the face with one stray Italian-leather loafer.
    Her heart pounded at an unreal pace, but began to slow the second she saw the pair of large men staring down at her old lover, daring the bastard to speak.
    “Oh, thank God, Kol.”
    Geva grabbed David by both arms, restraining him. Kol met David’s defiant gaze with one even more menacing.
    Hallie’s door opened behind her and Erika startled her with a squeeze of a hand on Hallie’s shoulder.
    “C’mon sweetie. Jesus you scared the crap out of us. Are you all right?”
    Halie stumbled out of the car and embraced her friend. “Thank you. How the hell did you guys find me so fast?”
    Erika smirked and tapped Hallie’s mark gently. “I guess it’s a little bit of a beacon for them. As soon as we figured out you were missing, we called him.”
    They wandered around the rear of the car and paused. Hallie kept expecting Kol to pull back and swing at David—kept hoping that’s what he would do—but all Kol did was stare at the man wordlessly. He glanced once at Geva and a smile stretched across his lips, letting her know the pair were likely having a private conversation about what to do with David. The second she took another step toward Kol,