Drakon Read Online Free Page B

the way he was standing, his hands clasped behind his back.
    “Have you hurt your hands?” she said. Maybe if she kept talking he wouldn't do anything.
    “There's nothing wrong with me!” he said and the angry voice did not belong to Jonathan.
    “Who are you?” demanded Andrea, more frightened than she cared to admit. Before he had time to reply, the cabin door opened and Jonathan stood there holding a breakfast tray.
    “Who the hell are you?” shrieked Jonathan, the real Jonathan.
    “You know who I am. You won't be able to keep her from me. I'll find her wherever you go,” and suddenly, as if he'd never been there, he vanished. Andrea stared at the space where he'd been. She should feel like screaming, but all she felt was numb.
    “I brought you some breakfast,” said Jonathan, at least she hoped it was Jonathan. How was she to be sure of anything ever again?
    “Thanks,” she said as he set the tray down on the bed. Neither of them referred to what had just happened.
    Had she imagined it? She did have a vivid imagination, but it had felt real, nothing like a daydream. There was a difference between fantasy and reality and no matter how much she wished it hadn't happened, she knew it had. Jonathan poured her a cup of strong black coffee and put lots of sugar in it.
    “Here, drink this,” he said as he handed her the cup. She drank it and felt a little better, even though she didn't like sugar in her coffee. For the shock, she realized. He'd given it to her to help the shock. So he hadn't imagined it either. A man the exact double of Jonathan had somehow got into their cabin and then had disappeared into thin air. It should have been impossible, but they'd both seen it happen. What on earth was going on?
    “I've left some clothes in the bathroom, if you want to get dressed before breakfast,” said Jonathan, averting his eyes from her.
    “Oh, thanks,” she said. She paused at the door. “Can you whistle?” she asked.
    “Whistle? No, I've never been able to.” Jonathan began to butter some toast and she left him to it. At least she knew the man in the bathroom had never been Jonathan. She surveyed herself in the mirror and let out a weary sigh. Jonathan was behaving like a perfect gentleman and she wasn't sure she wanted him to. She wanted him to kiss her, kiss her so forcefully that he'd take her breath away and then he'd lift her up in his arms and lay her down on the bed and then...her thoughts stopped there. It made her go weak at the knees just thinking about it. She knew what would happen next, but the thought of actually doing it filled her with a nameless terror. Nameless but not faceless, a man had tried to rape her, the man who broke her legs, and she had forgotten. How could she have forgotten something like that? And Jonathan was there. Jonathan had stopped him.
    Jonathan had finished his toast and was starting on some cereal when she finally emerged from the bathroom. She wanted to rant and rave at him because he was sitting there so calmly. How could he be so calm when she was in turmoil?
    “I've asked Lucy to come to Pompeii with us, is that all right?” he asked as Andrea helped herself to the last few slices of toast.
    “Of course,” she replied, politeness winning out over her true feelings. She didn't want anyone to go with them. Was it too much to ask that she was alone with her husband on their honeymoon?
    Obviously it was.
    Was Jonathan afraid of being alone with her? Afraid he might not be able to resist her if there was no one else around? She smiled a secret smile. Maybe there was hope for her and Jonathan after all.
    They docked at Naples shortly after nine and Andrea couldn't help but feel a frisson of excitement as they disembarked. Pompeii. To think she'd actually see the place where such a tragic thing had happened. All those people buried by the volcanic ash that fell from Vesuvius. She was glad that it had happened long ago and wasn't likely to happen again, at least she