Page 73 of Montana Heat

Jensen’s arm was up in a block, but it wasn’t enough to deflect the man’s bat coming out of nowhere and crashing into his head.

“Jensen!” I screamed again, terrified as he fell to the floor. In the haze of panic and fright clouding my senses, all I could do was stare at him lying on the floor as another masked man burst inside, heading straight toward me.

I momentarily froze, not sure what to do, not wanting to leave Jensen defenseless on the floor. That moment of hesitation cost me. When I shook myself out of my daze and turned to run, the man was there, blocking my path. He grabbed me and yanked me toward the door with him.

I immediately started twisting and pushing to get away. His hard fingers dug into my flesh, causing me to cry out. I punched at him, but he caught my hand and wouldn’t let me go.

Dressed only in my tank top and pajama pants, I was at a disadvantage on many fronts. Suddenly, the man jerked me hard, pulling me flush against him. I immediately froze and looked up into a pair of soulless eyes full of anger and lust. I started to shake violently from the cold and fear as I felt the man’s hot breath brush across my face.

No. This wasn’t happening.

Movement by the door jarred me out of my statue-like state. My eyes immediately went to Jensen lying on the floor unconscious. The tall man who’d knocked Jensen out prodded him with his boot then kicked him in the side, waiting for a reaction. Seeming satisfied Jensen wasn’t faking, he walked around the other side of the couch to box me in between them.

“Hold her still, and this will be over quick,” the tall man said behind me. I couldn’t help the whimper that escaped.

What would be over? What were they going to do?

I was too scared to voice the question, but as soon as the shorter man in front of me shifted his grip on my arms, his hands skimmed the sides of my breasts.

I went manic. If these men were going to rape me, I wasn’t going to just stand here and do nothing.

I twisted, jerking my arms, flailing around as much as I could to get a little space between us. The shorter man was caught off guard and stepped back for balance, and I had my opening. I brought my knee up as fast as I could and jammed it in his crotch, causing him to completely release me.

“Fuck!” He doubled over.

But the other man wasn’t so easy. He grabbed me, yanking my arms behind my back.

“Hold her.” The man I’d just kicked approached with fire in his eyes, clutching his junk. I couldn’t help the small smirk that formed on my face at the damage I’d done.

“Think that’s funny? Bitch!” The fist came at me too fast for me to prepare. Hard knuckles slammed into my stomach, and I bent over, gasping, trying to find air. “Not so funny now, is it?”

The man behind me yanked me back up and bound my hands tight with some sort of zip tie. Still, I kept fighting. I couldn’t let them take me.

“Hurry up and inject her with that shit.” The man behind mewouldn’t let me go, no matter how much I fought. The other guy pulled out a needle and stuck it in my arm.

“What was that?” I yelled.

“Nighty-night time, bitch.”

A few seconds later, I felt it. I pitched forward to the couch, nausea swirling in my stomach and my eyes getting heavy. I tried to shake my head to stop myself from fading, but that only made the darkness close in faster.

I heard more rustling of fabric, heavy footsteps, and the sound of something being dragged. I felt hands on me, a cool breeze. I was moving. I tried to force my eyes open to see what was happening, but the best I could do was a hazy view like looking through a dirty window.

The short man threw me over his shoulder and followed the tall man out the door. The last thing I saw before I was carried away was Jensen’s distorted form, unmoving on the floor.

I whimpered, wanting to reach for him, but I couldn’t make anything move.

With my next breath, I was sucked into a dark void of nothing as everything faded to black.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Kenzie

I woke up slowly, unable to get my bearings. I’d had another nightmare, but this time, it hadn’t been about the rattlesnake. It had been about Jensen lying hurt on the floor.

My heart began thundering in my chest as the memories came flooding back. This wasn’t a nightmare. Or at least, it wasn’t one I could wake up from.

The jostling rhythm of tires let me know I was in a vehicle, but I kept my eyes closed. I didn’t want them to know I was awake yet.

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