Page 27 of Savage Desires

"Where are the others?" I growl.

"We separated," Lexis gasps, trying to catch her breath. "They were looking for us."

"Fuck! I'll be back. Don't move."

I pull my gun from its holster, once again glad that my car has its own mini armory inside a secret compartment. I take off into the trees, heading toward the gunshots. I should probably slow down instead of running headlong into an unknown situation, but the thought of someone hurting my Beauty has me throwing caution to the wind.

It doesn't take long for me to hear movement in front of me. I slow my steps, listening. There are women's voices to my left. I pick up the pace again and hear multiple feet moving in different directions. Smart. Spreading out will make them harder for their attackers to find, but it will also potentially make it harder for me to find them.

I hear a choked whimper, and then she steps out from behind the tree she was hiding behind. I wouldn't have recognized her if it weren't for her tangled blonde hair and the clothes. She's covered in blood. She looks like Carrie after she was splashed with pig's blood. I'm in front of her before I even realize I've moved. My hands run over her, checking for injuries. So much blood.

Jesus.

"Not my blood," she says hoarsely.

I pull her into my arms and bury my face in her hair, not giving a single fuck that she's covered in blood. She wraps her arms around me. I breathe for the first time since I watched her disappear into the woods without me.

"Fuck, beauty. I heard gunshots… I thought…"

One of the girls steps out from behind another tree, lowering a gun to her side. Where the fuck did that gun come from?

"She's a stubborn bitch. Can we get the fuck out of here now?" she says.

I'm ready to scold her for calling my girl a bitch, but Willow sways in my arms. I look down just in time to see her eyes roll back as she goes limp. I scoop her into my arms before she can hit the ground.

"Is she okay?" the woman asks, rushing to my side to check on Willow.

"She fainted. I need to get her out of here."

"The man choked her before I got to him. She… I was almost too late…" she says with shame lacing her words.

"Let's go. I've got a doctor on standby."

"I'll get the others."

She hurries away. Instinct tells me to get Willow out of here now. I don't like how light she is in my arms and that she hasn't regained consciousness yet. I can only pray it's exhaustion and the adrenaline crash that caused her to faint, not something worse. Thankfully, the other three women quickly appear, and we can move. It takes longer than I'd like to get back to the car, but the women are exhausted, and from the looks of it, two of them are injured.

I want to ask them what the hell happened, but we don't have time for an interrogation right now. The priority is getting the women to safety. Questions can come once we're out of danger. We get to the car without incident. The girls pile into the SUV. Two squeeze into the front seat while the other three get into the back. I lay Willow across their laps and close the door.

The access road we're on is completely empty, which works for me because it means no one is in my way. Getting to the main road should take ten minutes, but I get there in five. Even though it's late, there's still a good deal of traffic as we get closer to the city.

"Where are we going?" Lexis asks.

"A safe house of sorts. A doctor is waiting for us."

My eyes flick up to the rearview mirror more than is probably safe, but I need my eyes on Willow. I hate that she still hasn't regained consciousness. The mere thought of something being really wrong with her has me pushing the speed limit. It takes half an hour to get to the safe house. The garage door opens as soon as I pull into the driveway.

I'm already pulling Willow from the backseat when Dr. Wolfe and Gladys rush into the garage. Dr. Wolfe immediately comes to my side and starts checking her over.

"What happened?" she asks.

"She was attacked and choked nearly to death," I growl through gritted teeth. "She fainted and has been out for over thirty minutes."

"Bring her inside," Dr. Wolfe says, leading the way.

I leave Gladys to help the other women. Willow is my only concern. Dr. Wolfe leads me to one of the bedrooms that doubles as a medical treatment room. I don't want to put Willow down, but I know she needs to be looked at. I lay her on the bed and force myself to step away. Dr. Wolfe immediately takes my place and starts checking Willow over.

"Help me get her clothes off so I can check her for injuries."

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