Free Insatiable by Lauren Dane

here?”
    “The passageway. Clever. Your mother assured us your father and his people do not know of it. I hope for all our sakes she’s right. Go on in and change. I’m going to do a few things.”
    She tried not to flounce off, but she probably did, and that only frustrated her more. Just as she reached the crawl space, he spoke again.
    “By the way, princess, if I wanted you dead, you’d be dead. I’m not a villain; I’m your only hope of survival. Don’t forget that.” He turned his back on her and began to fuss with the bedding.
    She stifled her urge to hit him over the head with something and instead, grabbed a photograph, one taken when she and her mother had been on holiday some years before. Once she’d squeezed into the passageway, she dressed quickly, leaving her sleeping gown behind. Carina leaned a note at the base of the wall, knowing her mother would find it eventually.
    The pain of that tore through her, sending her reeling as the loss hit her. The reality of what she was doing finally registered. She might never see her mother again.
    He came in through the crawl space and stood to his full height. His gaze went to the note and then back to her face. He took the note and handed it back to her. “Don’t. I know it’s hard, but you can’t look back. If this is found, you will endanger whoever it’s for.” The words were hard, but he said them almost gently as he took her elbow. “We have to run, princess. Can you do that?”
    She nodded, grateful for the spark of anger he’d stoked and also that small thread of compassion in his eyes. “Yes. Physical activity is part of my daily regimen. In the future, don’t call me princess, Mortimer . My name is Carina.” It wasn’t very haughty, though she tried.
    He grinned, transforming his face, and an unbidden thrill rode her spine, sped her heartbeat. He was so breathtakingly overwhelming.
    “All right, Carina. I’m Daniel, and we have to go.” He held out a hand, and she took it, changing her life forever.
    Daniel. The name fit this man far better than Mortimer.

Chapter 5
    T hey ran. Down the darkened corridor, following it farther and farther until he finally eased her out, shouldering her pack, on the other side of the outer wall. The air outside was still warm, but the still-dark sky would provide plenty of cover. Andrei waited there, as Daniel knew he would. The others he’d had in his entourage had melted back into society. He knew if he had need to call for them again in the future, there’d be fewer. Fardelle’s grasp had tightened. Security had become far more difficult to work around. Some of the operatives who helped them would be discovered; it was a basic fact of what they did. A fact he tried not to think about even as he appreciated and respected their choice to do right, no matter the cost.
    They could not take horses or any sort of vehicle while in the sight of the compound. Remaining on foot would keep them quieter and less easily sighted by the spotters who would most definitely be called up when she was discovered missing. If their luck held, they’d be off ’Verse by the time her disappearance was discovered.
    His cargo began to speak, but he shook his head. Her mouth firmed and her eyes narrowed, but she obeyed. He didn’t dare look at her mouth any longer; he’d already been too distracted by it. All his attention needed to be on the mission. On eluding their enemy and getting to the portal. He’d shaken off Mortimer and was fully Daniel again. He needed to keep focus.
    His field glasses showed Imperial troops along a nearby road. He pulled out the map and looked it over. There was no way around the path they were on. They’d been stationed on a narrow bridge over a dry gulley, far too steep to climb into and out of, and the nearest crossing beside that one would take them several hours out of the way and make it full day by the time they reached the portal. Their options were limited.
    “Stay here. Both of