els hit the cold, wet stone of the f

ered, her voice trembling despite

waist, yanking her off balance. As she stumbled toward him, his free hand shot out and grabbed her bare shoulder, hi

y violently, bringing her right hand up and smashin

and and flung it sideways. The heel skipped across the stone and plopped into th

riana snapped her head to the side. His wet lips dragged

knee up, driving it h

rward, his palms barely catching the edge of the fountain to keep his face from smashing

ned her mout

hand shot out from the darkness. Long, thick f

He was ripped off his feet. His braced leg twisted at an unnatural angle

e was a mask of pure, murderous fury. The a

slid down the side of the fo

tightly against his chest. The familiar, clean scent of cedarwood hit her senses. T

rms bunched. He stripped off his suit jacket a

. He looked up, squinting through th

wly. The sound of his leather shoes crushin

r to Eston, pulled his foot back, a

loudly. Eston screamed, clutching his shatt

the sole of his shoe down hard on Es

a demonic whisper. "You touc

convulsing in terror.

. Three estate security guards ran over,

k at them. "Drag this garbage to Fran

and dragging him away into the shadows. One of them scoo

n fell si

his pocket. With rough but controlled movements, he wiped the side of her face where Eston ha

eyes locking onto her

scene. Instead, he slid one arm under her knees and the oth

instinctively grabbi

me," he muttered

he main ballroom, and walked straight to a wai

leather seat and climbed in beside her. The privacy partiti

herself. She looked at his sharp profile i

e of water, opened it, and handed it to her. "Yo