Chapter Two
Ebony looked towards the small town for a few moments trying to work out as much about what she was about to walk into as she possibly could before she moved into it however she found that it was almost impossible. She couldn't tell anything about the town and didn't know if it would be far enough from the city so that no one would know anything about her. She didn't want any questions for fear of people working out who she was and that she had failed at something.
She was just about to turn and walk on in the hopes of finding somewhere else which was further away when she heard a sound coming from behind her and turned just in time to see a man on a motorbike coming to a halt just beside her.
Although she didn't feel like conversing with anyone she couldn't help herself from acting like her old self for a second flicking her braids over her shoulder and fixing him with a look which would have melted lead.
"Is there any hope that you might learn to steer that damned thing before you run someone over, because I swear if you ever come that near to me again …" Ebony started her tirade with an energy which managed to sound as if she hadn't been walking all night long. There was no way in hell that she was going to let him get away with almost knocking her over after what she had been through.
Slade smiled roguishly at her as he pulled his helmet off to reveal his handsome face. Upon seeing her properly rather than through his tinted visor he could help but let out a low murmur of appreciation and slight smirk which he was well aware would probably only succeed in antagonising her further.
He had seen her standing there for a time and couldn't help but admire her, she looked like a dying flame, something that could have great power and beauty but who was wasting it and he wanted to see her fired up.
Just as she was about to turn the air blue Ebony was taken a back by the arrogant smirk on his face. Under normal circumstances she would have taken the time to notice how good looking he was and have indulged her lust but at that moment all she could think of was that damned smirk.
She couldn't stand to see a man before her who could hold his own around her and who dared to mock her so, she had had enough of things like that with Lex and the hurt was still fresh from how that had ended, no Ebony was convinced that a man should be a slave to the woman or things could not end well. That was what made Ebony snap, "What the hell do you think that you are smirking at?" in her thickly accented tone.
Seeing that she was annoyed and slightly hurt Slade stepped off his bike leaving his helmet on his seat and opened his arms slightly to show that he meant her no harm – although he knew that he would have had his work cut out to cause her harm without loosing any limbs.
"Seems that I know how to steer this 'damned thing' - as you like to call it - quite well, after all it didn't hit you did it? Just gave you a little shock, which might have been a good thing as you have been standing there quite a while deciding whether or not to go in. And look, now we are in", he said coolly.
Ebony rolled her eyes at his assessment that she needed a shock although she supposed it was better than Lex who had always maintained that she either needed a 'shag' or a slap.
"And what makes you think that I would want to come into this little tin pot town?" Ebony demanded crossing her arms and raising one eyes brow with her lips in a pout which sent the message 'I am in power, I have control and you will answer my question for my amusement, not because you know something that I don't'.
She was rather proud of that look in particular as it had taken years to perfect. Ebony listened to his accent seeing if she could place it, but likes hers it was to different from the normal to be able to tell where he was from.
"Well I don't think that a girl on the run can be too choosy", Slade said simply as he leant back against his bike casually, crossing his arms in reply.
He knew exactly what this girl was trying to do but he was going to show her that her little looks were not going to have him wrapped around her little finger as he supposed that most men were.
At that phrase Ebony's ears pricked up, "And what the hell makes you think that I am on the run?" she demanded the heat in her cheeks becoming more obvious. She had never been caught out before, never before had she had something to hide as great as the shame that she felt now at the way that she had let Lex treat her.
Feeling the uncomfortable warmth Ebony knew that she had to continue to look confident as such sighed and pulled her lips to one side of her mouth and looking the same way before letting them relax – the way that she had seen her sister do so many times during infancy. She hated her sisters, both of them, but she decided that if she was in the positions that they had once been in she might as well learn from the masters.
"I just assumed that you were, only one bag and coming from the city", he started but upon seeing the quirk of her lips he knew that he had over stepped the mark and that there would be time to find out all about her later yet that he had to get her to go to the Saloon with him first.
"Look I'm sorry, it's none of my business why you are here as let's face it, all that I really want to know at the moment is who you are and how long you are staying here", Slade said smiling down at her as she lifted himself off his bike and took a step towards her although not into her personal space.
Sensing that he wasn't attacking her Ebony eased up a little bit and decided that maybe talking to him wouldn't be so bad especially as she still didn't want there to be a man in the world that she couldn't subdue using her feminine whiles, as she had never been completely able manage it with Lex.
Yet, there was something even more enticing about this man, the fact that he was just so laid back yet obviously attracted to her, unable to resist her instincts Ebony looked down for a second before looking up a little so that she was looking up at him out of the corner of her eyes before batting them almost unnoticeably.
Next she lifted her face enough so that he could see her when she licked over her lips with so deliberation trying to make him go weak in the knees.
"But who would I be to tell you such intermit details when I don't even know your name", she asked coyly. It was true that this was not her normal way of acting but she thought that it would serve her purpose, and from the look in the man's eyes she was correct.
Slade smiled broadly in amusement, "I'm Slade, and who are you?" He asked holding out his hand gently to her. He knew exactly what she was trying to do and hell he wasn't about to complain but he wouldn't be messed around by this woman.
He could sense her power and that was what attracted him more than anything else, the fact that there was nothing in the world that she probably couldn't do and the fact that she didn't come across as a simpering moron like most girls. Yet, a certain interest was sparked in him, as he saw her licking over her full, blood red lips which led to him step still closer to her, taking her hand in his and leaning down to kiss it gently before looking up out of the tops of his eyes and whispering throatily, "But I would like you to tell me all of your intermit secretes".
Ebony was about to shake his hand in return until she felt him take her hand so gently and kiss it sending a shiver up her spine, she had never been one of those girls to get overly exited by such a small gesture but there was no way of ignoring how gentle he was … like he would never hurt her.
However, Ebony would not let herself become a slave to this man's charms so even as the word, 'intimate' went shooting to her core to warm her she ignored it and merely informed him, "Ebony, it means dark strength so I wouldn't mess with me".
Slade couldn't believe it, she had given him a name as he surveyed her had to admit that it defiantly suited her, he would have had no problems imaging just what she would do to him if he hurt her.
"I assure you Ebony, that I have no intention of messing with you, tell you what, why don't you come over to the Saloon with me and I will explain that I have no intention of being anything but a good boy for you", he smiled.
"Damn that smile", Ebony thought as she felt her resolve slipping to the point where she returned his smile – if some what stiffly.
"Alright", she finally conceded as she decided that this town would be as good a place as anywhere to stay at the present time.