Page 32 of Revenge

A smile breaks out across my face once I make it through them, but then I realize how fucked I am. Cloud cover makes everything beyond the trees a dark outline. Without the light of the moon, I’m a blind woman running.

My legs begin to feel the exertion as my adrenaline wears off and I slow to a fast walk, but I force myself to keep going. I’ve come too far to stop now. A whip of lightning streaks across the sky, lighting my way.

I wipe the rain from my eyes and push on. A sudden dip in the ground causes my ankle to twist sideways, sending me forward on my hands and knees. Clay and mud splash into my face. The sharp sting of rocks slicing into my hands is only a slight distraction from the pain radiating from my ankle.

Thunder booms overhead, sending a vibration to rumble straight through me, but it’s the high-pitched growl that has the tiny hairs on the back of my neck standing on end. Things are about to go from bad to worse. All I can make out is some sort of animal. It’s too small to be a wolf, but sounds too feral to be a dog. Not to mention we’re too far out in the middle of nowhere for it to be just a family pet.

My heart beats like a trumpet against my chest the longer I stare at it. Lightening strikes again and I quickly realize just how deep the shit I’m in is. Its mouth is pulled back, exposing a set of sharp canines as a pair of small eyes trains on me. The animal is standing tall and ready to attack any second.

The clay digs underneath my fingernails as I make to crawl backwards in preparation to run the other way, but I don’t even move an inch. Warm hands yank me up to my feet and against a firm chest as another one clamps down over my mouth, muffling my screams.

“Quiet, Princess. I’d hate for either one of us to end up this coyote’s dinner.” A shiver runs through me at the feel of familiar warm breath against my cheek. It takes a minute for his words to register, but once they do it chills me to the bone.

A fucking coyote? In Georgia?

Chapter Twenty

Asher

Her pulse pounds against the side of my arm as she takes quick shallow breaths. She’s lost inside her head letting the fear take her over. If I don’t shake her back to reality we’ll both wind up dead.

“I’m going to shove you behind me, but if you run, you die.” I probably should have been gentler about my approach, but I can’t afford to hold her hand right now. Time is of the essence. This animal is ravenous and the only thing standing between it and its dinner is me. “Understand, Princess?”

She nods against my chest.

“Good girl.” I remove my hand from her mouth and with slow, controlled movements, shove her behind me. “Don’t move and keep this steady.” I shove the flashlight in her hands and aim it in the direction of the coyote.

Fingers dig into the back of my shirt, stretching the wet fabric, as she burrows herself deeper into me, keeping the flashlight where I need it. I ignore how damn good it feels to have her pressed up against me, and focus. In this moment she trusts me with her life and that’s not something I’m taking lightly.

My eyes set on the danger in front of us and I puff out my chest. I start yelling for the fucker to leave, showing him that I’m the bigger threat. The coyote merely stares me down, unfazed.

Brazen little fucker.

Looks like I’m going have to resort to other measures. My knees bend down and I grab whatever I can get my hands on. Clumps of mud and nearby sticks fly in its direction. A few hit just in front of the animal, but a few nail him right on the ass. It’s one hell of a shot.

“What are you doing? It’s going to attack us.” Her soft voice melds with the steady pounding of the rain, a perfect staccato to the thrumming of my pulse.

“Relax, Princess. I’m hazing it and showing it that you’re mine.” I shake off the emotions that one word invokes inside of me and stare straight ahead. There’s no time to dissect that now. I’ll worry about that shit later. Much later.

After a few more throws, the animal shifts back and forth on its hind legs, finally getting the message. It watches us a beat longer before it finally runs off.

Charlee sags against me, letting out the breath she must have been holding. “Oh, thank God. I thought it was going to rip us apart.”

I turn around to face her and my throat goes dry at what I see. The flashlight illuminates every inch of her delicate features. Strands of dark hair stick to the sides of her wet face, highlighting her cheekbones. Water glistens against her plump lips, making my jeans feel like a noose around my dick.

Her tongue darts out to lick away the stray droplets of water and I have to fight back a groan. Something so innocent is exotic as fuck coming from her. I clear my throat and motion for her to walk back through the trees. Two steps in, she stumbles back.

“You’re hurt.” My eyes narrow on the way she’s favoring her right ankle.

“I tripped over a stupid hole and now I can’t put any weight on it.” She shrugs like it’s no big deal and begins to limp away from me in the direction of the house.

I shake my head at her stubbornness and lift her up over my shoulder into a fireman’s carry.

“What the hell are you doing? Put me down!” She slaps at the back of my wet shirt the entire way back to the house.

“Stop being a fucking brat.” My hand comes down on her ass with a loudsmack, shutting her up for a brief second. It doesn’t take long for that temper of hers to flare back to life, making me smile. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of this.

“Don’t hit me, you son of a bitch.” Her tiny hands clench into fists as she continues to punch at my back while I walk through the house and up the stairs.

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