Free EmbracedbyaWarrior by Marisa Chenery Page A

what he was, and hadn’t made up his
mind if he wanted Brisa to know. For now, it had to remain his secret.
    “Nothing,” he said. “I just have to make a quick stop in the
restaurant’s men’s room. Sorry. I’ll be quick.” They reached his vehicle. “I’ll
let you in the car first.”
    Darius unlocked the passenger door and held it open as Brisa
sat on the seat. The pulling sensation became stronger, and would the longer he
ignored it. Once she brought her legs in, he shut her inside, then turned to
head back to the restaurant.
    At the door, he looked behind him to see Brisa had turned
her head to watch him through the window. He ducked inside the entrance, then
waited until she looked away. Darius slipped outside and ran in the direction
of the rear of the restaurant, where he was being led.
     
    After Darius disappeared through the restaurant’s door, Brisa
looked down as she adjusted her purse on her lap. She looked in the direction
Darius had gone again and could have sworn she saw him running around the
corner of the building, heading toward the rear of it. But only having glimpsed
the back of a male figure before it was out of sight, she wasn’t all that sure
it had been him.
    When a couple of minutes ticked by and there was no sign of
Darius walking out to the parking lot, Brisa felt her curiosity getting the
better of her. Maybe that had been him running to the back of the
building. More than likely wrong, that didn’t stop her from getting out of the
car and heading in the direction she’d seen the man going.
    Brisa gave the entrance doors a quick look as she came
closer just to make sure Darius still wasn’t there. Not seeing him, she
continued on. It was getting darker and the alleyway she entered after rounding
a corner was mostly in shadows. She was probably wasting her time, trudging
around in the dark. She wouldn’t find anything and would end up going back to
the car to find Darius waiting, wondering where she’d gone.
    She heard what sounded like a bit of a scuffle at the
opposite end of where she walked, a place where the light over the back
entrance of the restaurant didn’t quite reach. Brisa squinted, trying to see
into the darkness. She went closer, and figured she had to be seeing things. A
very tall figure that looked half human and some kind of animal stood in front
of a man.
    “Hello? Is anyone there?” she called.
    After blinking a couple of times, still not really having a
clear picture of what she thought she saw, the beast thing disappeared, along
with the man she thought she’d seen.
    Okay, she definitely was seeing things that weren’t there.
Deciding Darius had to be at the car already, and that he hadn’t come back
here, Brisa turned on her heel and walked the way she’d come. At the car,
Darius still wasn’t there. She got inside. She’d give him another minute or so,
then go look for him in the restaurant. He was taking too long for just having
to use the toilet.
    A minute almost up, that’s when she saw Darius finally walk
through the entrance doors and out into the parking lot. He hurried across it
and got into the car once he reached it.
    “Sorry,” he said. “I had to wait my turn. I guess more than
a few people needed to use the facilities at the same time I did.”
    “I was beginning to wonder what had happened to you. So you
only went to use the men’s room and didn’t run outside to the back of the
building?”
    He gave her a confused look. “No. Why?”
    Brisa shook her head. “Nothing. I just thought I saw
something, but obviously I was mistaken.” She leaned across her seat and gave
Darius a hard kiss. “Now didn’t you say something about getting some kind of
dessert at your house?”
    He returned her kiss before he pulled away and put the key
in the ignition. “You’re right. I did.” He started the car, then drove out of
the parking lot.
     
    Darius snuck glances at Brisa from the corner of his eye as
he drove toward his home. That had