Page 19 of Bleeding Blackheart

Once I’m done feeding her, we pet her together, and he looks down at me while we do so. We’re so close. I can smell the beer on his tongue and can see the cerulean lines in his irises. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he wanted to kiss me.

I remove my hand from Willow and take a step back, and he looks off into the distance while his cheeks turn pink. “I think it’s time for bed.”

He says it so casually as if we’re two lovers going in for the night when in reality he’s my captor. We walk side by side in silence, and when we get back to the house, I look up at him. “When did you get Violet?”

His entire body turns to stone, and he glowers at me. “I got her on the worst day of my life.”

Without another word, he opens the door to the house, and we take off our shoes to head upstairs.

8

Blackheart

Iwalk behind Montana while she heads upstairs, and all I want to do is drown my sorrows in more booze. I don’t know why I accepted that job from Mason Barnes. I wish I didn’t. Then I would’ve never met her.

I don’t know why the fuck I took her to the stables. I needed the help, and she was quick and efficient just like I knew she’d be. I didn’t expect her to talk to my girls. To pet ‘em and hug ‘em. I didn’t expect for her to notice Violet. And Violet noticed her too.

There’s a look a horse has when it chooses you. When it wants you and is drawn to you. I swear to God that horse gave Montana that look.

Or maybe I just had too much beer today.

I don’t know what got into me, but I liked seeing her with Willow. I liked that Willow liked her. I enjoyed talking about my girl and telling Montana all that we’ve beenthrough together. It’s like I’d forgotten that I kidnapped the damn girl.

And then I smelled my soap on her and saw her smile. Her real smile. It was the first time I’d seen it all day given the circumstances. And she looked so damn beautiful.

But her beauty, experience with horses, and what she wants to do when I let her go are none of my business. And when she stepped away from me was when I realized that I’m slipping, and I need to keep my fucking head on straight.

Come Monday morning, I’ll have my money, but I’ll have a target on my back. And just like Montana, I’ll need to figure out what I’m gonna do next.

When we get to the top of the stairs, she steps into the room slowly. Her hair is a little ruffled from the wind, and the left corner of her gown is tucked in the side of her lace panties. Her breasts look like they’re seconds away from spilling out of her sheer lace cups, and all I want to do is burn the three hundred dollar scrap of fabric.

I don’t have time for this. To get tangled up in emotions just because I feel like getting my dick wet. I remind myself that the woman in front of me is dangerous. She has to be. Her father wants her dead. Setting my gun aside, I reach in my nightstand for a pair of handcuffs when her doe eyes meet mine.

I turn on my bedside lamp and shut off the main light, and I sit at the edge of my bed. “If you need the bathroom, go now. Door open, Montana.”

Her face drops, and she digs in her belongings for a fresh pad. She probably thought we were getting close out there, and we weren’t. It’s best she realizes that now.

I keep a close watch while she uses the bathroom, not wanting to be a total jackass, but needing to pay attention to her. Montana is planning something. I can feel it. And the last thing I need is for her to grab a pair of tweezers and shove them in my eye in the night.

She looks up at me, frowning. “If you’re going to watch, could you at least use some headphones?”

Reading between the lines, I grab a pair from my beside drawer while she does her thing. I zone out a little with her being in there for so long, and after ten minutes, she comes out with a grimace on her face.

Realizing my little fox needs some extra attention, I grab a bottle of ibuprofen from her beside table and hand her some caplets with water. “Take these quickly then give me your wrist.”

I know she could probably use a hot water bottle or something, but I can’t offer her that luxury right now. One, I don’t have one, and two, I can’t be too nice to her. After she’s finished her water, she holds her delicate righthand up in my face, and I latch it to my right wrist, causing her eyes to spring open.

“I have to sleep chained to you all night?”

I turn off my bedside lamp, pulling her down to the mattress while the moonlight filters through the curtains. “Yep.”

She holds her wrist behind her back, laying on her left side. “This hurts.”

I slide a little closer and cozy up on my pillow. “You can bring your arm forward.”

She pauses. “That would mean that we would have to spoon.”

Spooning Montana is the very last thing I ought to be doing right now, but it would put us both in a more physically comfortable position. “You won’t even know you’re spooning me when you’re asleep.”

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