Page 161 of Double Bucked

She squints at me. “Didn’t you used to be British?”

Victory is brief.

I hear a click behind me, and I know immediately I have a gun pointed at my skull.

I turn. Arris is holding the pistol that slipped from my fingers. And he’s aiming it directly between my eyes.

“See you in hell, Everett Holden,” he tells me.

Two things happen at the same time:

One, the gun goes off.

Two, the ground is pulled out from underneath me.

My arms snap to my sides, and my middle feels constricted, as though I’ve been hugged by a boa constrictor.

I blink. I’m on my back, staring at the ceiling.

But I’m alive. Somehow.

Suddenly, Ransom is hovering over me, rust-colored hair framing his face. “You okay?” he asks, his voice full of concern.

I glance down. His lasso is around my middle.

He yanked me out of the path of the bullet.

“Good cowboy,” I tell him.

I wiggle out of the rope, grab the back of his head, and yank his mouth down on mine.

He lets out a muffled sound. His lips are warm, and the scruff of his jaw rubs pleasantly against my thumb. A low groan rumbles from me.

I want to rub myself against this man like a cat.

When Ransom pulls back, he’s short of breath.

“Fight now,” he says, “kiss later.”

He takes my hand and helps me up to my feet. I scan the room.

But Arris is gone.

“He’s getting away,” I say. “If he’s in the wind again, we’ll never get him back.”

I step forward, but?—

My balance slips. Fuck. Stimulants are wearing off. The sedatives are seeping in again. The room is sliding out from under me, and I have to grip Ransom’s shoulder to keep from sliding.

“Hey.” Ransom claps my arm. I feel sturdy in his embrace. “You stay. Leave Arris to me.”

I lift my gaze to meet his soft, brown eyes. “Dragonfly. Your whole life, people have told you that you’re stupid and worthless and ugly.”

He blinks. “Ain’t nobody ever called me ugly, but okay.”

“Now is your time to prove them wrong.”

He sucks in a breath. I can feel him steeling himself off. “Take care of Claire,” he says. Before I can say anything else, he grabs the rope and rushes through the sea of people and out the front door.

---