Page 13 of When He Hunts

But staying back in the cabin, with the big, dangerous, predator who’d kidnapped her?Even worse plan.So, yes, as they’d talked, she’d acted for all that she was worth. Pretended that she believed his crazy story, and then she’drun.

She was still running, hoping that she’d see some light in the darkness. That she could find some help. That she could get away and survive. But there was just blackness ahead. She could hear insects chirping and croaks that—please, please be from frogs and not alligators—and Luna just kept running because there was no alternative. If she wanted to keep living, she had to keep going and?—

She hit the ground. Not because she tripped and fell like a horror movie queen, but because a massive hitman had just slammed into her. He fell down on top of her, caging her, and for a moment, terror held her still against the dank earth.

This is it. He’s going to kill me right now. The end. This is how I go out. Face down in the mud and muck.

“Pain in the ass,” he groused. And he…lifted up. Flipped her over. But he caught her wrists and pinned them to the ground even as his legs went between her spread thighs.

Way, way too intimate.

He was a giant, menacing shadow above her, and his grip on her wrists seemed utterly unbreakable. More unbreakable than handcuffs.

“How does this make sense?” he snarled. “I tell you that I’m the person protecting you. And you immediately run from me. Do youwantto be gator bait?”

Not particularly, she did not. “You’re the person who brought me to a scary cabin in the bayou.Andyou’re a killer.”

“I haven’t killed you.”

Not yet. No. Her breath huffed out.

His didn’t. He’d been running after her, and he wasn’t even breathing hard? How was that not extra terrifying?

I hit him. He’s going to be so angry with me…

“Fucking sonofafucker.” An enraged growl. And then he…

Let her go?

He did. He let her go. She started to scramble up?—

Only for him to grab something that had been right beside her head. He yanked it up.Wait, what is that? A twig? No, way bigger. A branch? A?—

OhmyGod. It was a crazy long snake that he picked up andthrewaway from her.

“Thanks so much for that,” he snapped at her. “Could have gone my whole life without doing that shit. Freaking snake wrangling now. Gray owes me so much for this job.”

Did he truly mean Gray as inGrayson Stone?The Fed that she’d planned to meet in New Orleans? She was too scared to really hope.

But the hitman was on his feet, and he’d hauled her up. Not just up. He tossed her over his shoulder, and when she squirmed, he?—

“I will spank that sweet ass if you don’tstop.I am not in the mood for more snakes. We’re going back to the cabin, Gray will vouch for me, and youwillcooperate. Or else I’ll leave you on your own and you can face the rest of the hired killers that come to claim the bounty on your head.”

Definitelypissed.

He stomped back toward the cabin. She didn’t fight because—what would fighting do, right then? She’d seen for herself that no one else was close by. Running in the dark had just gotten her nearly bitten by a snake, and her captor had chased her down with crazy, super speed.

But hehadn’thurt her.

He was swearing and stomping and holding her tightly. One of his hands was right beneath her ass, clamped along the back of her upper thighs, and each angry step he took had her bouncing and thudding into him.

“This is what happens when you do one good fucking deed,” he seethed. “You have to throw snakes in the dark. Who wants to do that shit? Not. Me.”

They were back at the cabin. He kicked open the front door. Stalked inside. Kicked the door closed as soon as they were past the threshold. She’d just levered herself up by pressing down on his very strong back, so she saw the wood of the door slam closed. The whole cabin seemed to shake from the impact.

Then he was stalking forward again. Cursing and muttering and going on and on about snakes. She shoved her hair out of her eyes and figured she should try calming down her captor, if that was at all possible. “Look, could you—ah!”

He’d hauled her off his shoulder and planted her into a wooden chair. His hands clamped down on the arms of the chair as he caged her in place. “That was a water moccasin.”

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