Page 23 of Dancing for the Minotaur

“No, I haven't,” Terra countered.

“You refused me last week,” he said.

“I wasn't working last week when you came in,” she pointed out.

“You were here Tuesday.”

Terra froze. Tuesday? She hadn't worked Tuesday. She had come into the club for less than ten minutes because she'd left one of her accounting textbooks in her locker after studying during a break the weekend before. She had been wearing jeans and a T-shirt. She hadn't gone anywhere near the stage.

“How do you know I was here Tuesday?” she asked.

Orlov gave her a smug smile.

“I saw you.”

“You were here?” Terra was still trying to understand.

“No…not exactly.” His smile grew but his eyes were predatory.

The cold feeling spreading through Terra’s stomach intensified.

“Then how did you see me?”

He shrugged.

“I have friends. Perhaps I asked some of them to watch over you.”

Did he have her under some kind of surveillance? Feeling sick, Terra took a step back.

“This dance is over.”

Orlov rose and reached for her.

It happened so smoothly that for a second, she didn't react. He wasn't nearly as large as Taurex—he was barely taller than Terra in her heels—but there was something about the way he moved that frightened her.

“Sit down,” she said, taking a step back to avoid his reaching hand.

Orlov frowned.

“Why, my Bunny?”

“Because I'm leaving,” Terra told him.

She turned to go but before she could, he stepped between her and the curtain.

Terra's pulse began to quicken.

“Move!” she demanded.

Orlov looked almost amused.

“Ah, my Bunny is angry.”

Terra’s jaw clenched.

“My name isn't Bunny.”

“I know,” he purred. “You are Terra.”