Grind Their Bones by Drew Cross

inconvenience for you?’
    His voice was deep and full, not a trace of the infirmity of age, although she guessed that he was probably older than her mother, who looked practically ancient by comparison due to the ravages of her illnesses.
    ‘Actually there was a point halfway up this track when I cursed the fact that I hadn’t worn my trainers, but at least you didn’t leave me standing and waiting for long.’
    She worked hard to keep the ghost of petulance out of her words and finished the sentence with a dazzling smile.
    ‘In that case I’ll need to work extra hard to make it up to you tonight then, won’t I?’
    He returned the smile casually and waited for her to clip in the seatbelt before he pulled smoothly away.
    ‘So do I have to wait until we arrive at wherever you’re taking me before you share any details of this opportunity, or are you going to give me some little teasers on the way?’
    She looked over at him, fluttering her eyelashes playfully when he risked a glance back.
    ‘I always find that anticipation heightens the experience in life, but you’ll be finding out soon enough.’
    He faced forwards again looking thoroughly pleased with himself and Elizabeth found herself thinking about the stun gun momentarily again.
    ‘How do you know that I’ll like it when I do find out?’ she asked innocently, noticing that he was concentrating more on their surroundings than on her now and wondering how often he’d done this kind of thing before.
    ‘Because I know what I want and I know what you want to, and between us I know that we can be part of something special.’
    He guided the Jaguar around a tight turn to the right, heading right up into the hills and woodland, and the conversation died away for a few minutes. Elizabeth turned her face to the window to hide her disappointment from him, making a pretence of looking out at the view. Earlier in the day she’d been dwelling on thoughts of a fine hotel with champagne and a big bed, not some leafy glade in the open air with bugs flying around and thorns scratching up her legs. Still, if it got her what she wanted then she’d endure it this time around.
    ‘Since I can see your scowl in reflected in the window, I’ll just let you in on the fact there’s a cottage further along this track, and it’s got all of the usual creature comforts.’
    His voice shocked her back out of her thoughts and she blushed, and turned back towards him, pasting on a guilty look as she mentally kicked herself.
    ‘I’m sorry. I was deep in thought and I tend to scowl when I’m thinking. Anywhere that you take me will be absolutely fine.’
    She moved her hand across to rest on his thigh for the second time that day and felt the faint quiver of excitement rippling just under the surface of his skin. All was not lost. She was quite sure that he’d forget all about her little slip when they were in the cottage together alone at last.
     
     

Chapter 36
     
    I let Emily go in the aftermath of our argument, in considerable pain where the tomato based sauce had touched my bare arms and neck, and not entirely trusting myself to keep my anger at her actions in check if I followed her out into the street. The carpets were probably ruined, but I was more concerned about the burns on my body anyway, so I stripped and had a long cold shower before liberally applying cold antiseptic cream to soothe my tender skin. I had nothing else to get dressed back up for, so I put on some old pyjamas and wrapped my white dressing gown around myself, pulling my hair back away from my face and then twisting it into a wet ponytail.
    When I calmed down enough to go back downstairs and surveyed the mess I almost burst into tears. Livid orange stains coated every available surface, with spaghetti and sauce clinging to cushions, carpets, walls and paintings all around the room. It seemed as if the portions had multiplied once they were liberated from the plates, and the damage could easily run