Page 7 of Bleeding Blackheart

“I try to be.” His eyes dart down into the water, looking at my peaked nipples.Perv.“Where are we headed to?”

You’re the fucking kidnapper. Aren’t you supposed to tell me?“I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

He grips the side of the tub, getting the tips of his fingers wet. He has faded tattoos on his knuckles, and he wears a ring on his right ring finger. “To get the money you owe me. You said it wasn’t here. We’ll go get it in the morning. I need to know where we’re headed.”

I close my eyes and cover my face, groaning internally. Morning? That means I have to stay the night here. And it’s going to be a long drive. There’s no way he’ll take us there by plane. I really am going to spend the entire weekend with this man. “Arizona.”

He spits in the water, making my eyes spring open.

“Arizona? We have to go toArizona, Montana?”

I glance at his glob of moisture that floats on the surface of my bath. “Yeah. It’s where the money is.” I’ve been storing it there over the years without my father’s knowledge. A little bit at a time. And when I give it to Mr. Blackheart, I won’t have more than a few hundred dollars left.

He stands up, towering over me in the tub. “We’ll leave at four in the morning. And if I find out you’re lying to me—”

“I know—you’ll shoot me.”

He kneels before the tub, bringing his face inches from mine. I freeze when he grips the back of my head, wrappinghis fingers in my damp hair. “No, little fox. If you’re lying to me, I’m going to kill you slowly. You’ll feel pain you never imagined while I drain the life from your weak and bruised body.”

4

Blackheart

Isit on the edge of my bed while I watch my little fox get dressed in one of my shirts that’s four sizes too big. I’d give her a pair of pants to go with, but they won’t fit. She can just wear this as a dress. Isn’t that what women love doing anyways?

I haven’t taken my eye off Montana since I unchained her in my shed. She needed fluids badly, so I set her up the drip so she wouldn’t die. I thought she would sleep, but she was out for four hours. I’d planned to stay and wait for her to wake up, but I couldn’t bear it.

Due to our little fight in the woods, I got her dirtied up again, and I knew she needed a bath. I was seconds away from giving her one while she was unconscious, but deep down, I knew it was a bad idea. Not the washing her part, but the thoughts I would’ve had while I did it. She was in bad shape on that bed, but it didn’t matter. I haven’t been with a woman in a long long time, and seeing her sprawledout and ready for the taking was nearly too much for me to handle. There’s a lot I’ve done in my life, but I’ve never fucked a woman in her sleep, so I went in my house to wash off and calm down before I had to see her again.

After her bath, I changed the bandage on her head again, giving her one a little smaller than before. The wound isn’t as bad as I thought now that it’s clean, but it still doesn’t need to be exposed right now.

She sees me watching her, but she avoids my gaze. She’s a spitfire, but I can tell she’s scared of me. She should be. I want to do terrible things to her.

Looking in my mirror, she tries to style her wavy hair, giving it a little fluff, and I could almost laugh at the gesture. It’s like she’s forgotten where the hell she is. She has no reason to try and beautify herself for me. And there’s no need. She’s a natural beauty. Beautiful skin, bright eyes, glossy hair, and a nice figure. Despite her condition, I can tell she took care of herself before her imprisonment. Her teeth look healthy and white, and her bare nails are decently manicured even after running through the woods. I wonder how she got herself into the trouble she’s in. Something tells me she was up to no good, and that concerns me.

Her big doe hazel eyes meet mine in the mirror, and she scowls with all her might, trying to intimidate me like I doher. The only thing in this world that intimidates me is the sunlight. The brutal reminder that I’m awake and forced to live another day.

I stand up behind her with my gun in hand, not wanting her to get any ideas. “Come on.”

She whips around, and her damp hair clings to the collar and shoulders of my shirt while she eyes me down. “Where?”

“Downstairs. Walk ahead of me.”

Her nose crinkles up and she crosses her arms, highlighting what she’s hiding underneath my clothes. “Why? So you can stare at my ass?”

I put my hand on her back, giving her a gentle push forward. “No. But I will now that you’ve put the idea in my head.”

She stumbles under my touch, being unnecessarily dramatic. “I swear, if you try to touch me—”

“If I try to touch you, there’s not a damn thing you’ll be able to do to stop me. So quit pissing me off or I’ll take what I fucking want. Get your ass downstairs. Now.”

I don’t know what’s gotten into me. I’ve never threatened a woman like that in my life. But Montana likes to push my buttons, and if she’s not cautious, she will push me right over the edge. Whether she knows it or not, I’mhelping her. I’m ordering her to fall in line, or she will unleash the beast within me clawing to get out.

Not looking back and keeping her mouth shut, she walks forward slowly and quietly like a scared animal. Like her hunter, I stay on her heels just as stealthily, keeping watch over her every move.

My prey has a little muscle on her, but she’s weak. So weak that she barely made it away from the cage she was being held in. Her father guessed that she’d been gone for two hours, but by the time I got to her, it would’ve been a little over three.

But when she got out of the bath, I asked her how long she was out there, and she said five. She should’ve gotten way farther in five hours. Whatever her father was doing to her, it couldn’t have been good.

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