Page 44 of Burning for You

At the end of some haphazard stretches of twigs and leaves, a wooden shed comes into view.

“You’re mine now, here,” Levi says from behind me.

Mine. There are a lot of things that I should worry about but his statement amuses me. In my New York bathtub, I was totally his. It was a sweet surrender. And now, being told I’m ‘his’ in this Montana wilderness makes me feel confused, like a lost mule deer.

I scold myself for not being able to process how serious the situation is.

“You won’t get away with this,” I say. I have to put up some kind of resistance. Saying it out loud might just nudge my brain to start comprehending that I’m really in deep shit.

Inside the shed, there’s a thin mattress, a sleeping bag, and a pile of blankets. Levi leaves a can of tuna and another bottle of water.

There’s also a small burner—which he lights up.

It’s a matter of minutes before the sun completely disappears. That tiny fire won’t shine on anything. This is why I don’t hike and camp anymore.

While he’s busy checking the fire, I bolt toward the door. Barely a second later he catches me, caping my back with his body and restraining me with his arms.

“Fuck you!” I shout.

He drags me back inside the shed and pushes me down so I’m lying on the mattress. He spreads his legs and sits on my belly.

I scream in agony as his ass carves itself into my pelvic shelf.

Levi immediately jumps off me, landing on the floor, ass first. His gaze wanders alternately between my belly and my face.

After gathering himself, he comes back to me and stoops right above my head, eyes almost as wide as the horse’s in the trailer.

“Are you pregnant?” His lips barely move, as if embarrassed to ask.

I almost burst out laughing at his conclusion. But I pause, lengthening the suspense.

“Carolyn? Was that why you fainted in the bathroom that day?”

“What would you do if I was?” I say.

He cocks his gun. “Don’t joke with me. Are you pregnant, Miss Meyer?”

“No.”

As if I was going to turn into a vampire, he scoots himself out of the shed, moving backwards, looking like a stunned priest. The only thing missing is a cross and holy water.

He locks me inside.

I look around the shed, shaking and banging at the log walls, and finally kicking the door.

He’s gone. I should be glad, but I’m trembling with fear.

How am I going to survive this? The roof of my mouth suffers from numbness, and my throat tastes like metal. It’s all in my head, but I swear I am about to spew blood, and my lower tummy is crushed. Alone and in darkness, I might as well lay dying in a ditch.

As my defenses crumble, I hear the door open. Levi peeps in and then tosses at me what looks like an LED lantern torch.

He knew, and he had the heart not to let me die of panic.

Without a word, he locks the shed again and leaves.

What do I do?

Even if I could get out of this shack, there would be wolves waiting for me outside. The best thing I can do right now is to wait for sunrise.

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