Page 45 of Hunt for You

He was here. I was certain of it.

“Feeling shy, Cain?” I said to the trees, smiling.

Nothing.

Humph.

“I know you’re here. I saw the forest in your picture. Thank you for that, by the way. I’ll cherish it. I hope it’ll show up on my phone. You’ve got my phone, right?”

The phone in my pocket buzzed again and my adrenaline shot up a notch.

Still keeping my eyes on the forest around me, still turning slowly, scanning for any sound or sight of him, I pulled the phone out of my pocket and tapped the screen.

One glance, and my smile got broader.

CAIN: Look on the stump.

I whirled to face the stump of one of those fallen trees. It wasn’t very big, maybe a foot in diameter. But the treehad clearly snapped because there were jagged teeth of wood standing up from it.

Still watching and listening, I approached the stump slowly and peered behind those spikes of wood to find the light reflecting on a black screen.

My phone.

I kept my eyes on the trees behind it as I reached over to pick it up. “Thank you,” I said in a normal voice. “Now… don’t be scared. I brought enough food that you can have s—”

A weight slammed into me from behind, knocking the wind out of me so a strange, strangled choke erupted in my throat.

Then we were tumbling to the sodden earth, big hands, thick arms curling around me and turning me as we fell so I went down to the left of the trunk, not on those wicked spikes sticking out of it.

We hit the ground and it thumped like a drum, the carpet of pine needles and leaves almost cushioning the fall. But there was a thick, steel arm under my ribs, and a heavy weight bearing me to the ground. So even though we bounced a little, the last squeak of air my lungs had retained was gone on impact.

I lay on the forest floor, my arms pinned to my chest by his, his breathing in my ear. And mine… non-existent.

I couldn’t breathe. At all.

I couldn’t breathe.

And my heart wasvibrating,it pumped so fast.

Cain was here. He was finally here—grasping at my body, growling in my ear. And we were alone. It was everything I’d been hoping for. I just prayed I wouldn’t have a heart attack and die before I could enjoy it.

Because I couldn’t… fucking… breathe.

16. Takedown

~ BRIDGET ~

He’d rolled me onto my stomach and had me pinned to the dirt, one arm around my chest keeping me from using my arms, the other clapped over my mouth, though he had left my nose free so I could breathe. It wasn’t what was stopping me.

My body quivered, demanding oxygen. But my thoughts were oddly calm and everything felt… weird.

He gave a snarl in my ear and my heartrate ratcheted up another notch because he sounded so feral—exactly how I’d hoped he would be.

But then he noticed I wasn’t struggling and he went still. I felt that large body over mine, suddenly freeze. Poised.

“Bridget?”

He had been panting a little, but his breath stopped for a moment as he listened—and obviously confirmed that he couldn’t hear mine.

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