Page 108 of Hot for Hostage

Bear leapt to my rescue, latching on to the arm of one of the men holding me and thrashing with a vicious snarl. The man cursed and shoved Bear off him.

Bear planted himself between the two guys holding me and the SUVs, and the goons hesitated. They could tell Bear had no intention of letting them take me past him.

“What are you waiting for? Get her in the car,” Zain ordered from behind Bear.

I used their hesitation to struggle against my captors, even if getting free felt impossible. The one on my left grunted. “But the dog…”

Bear snarled and jumped forward with a warning nip, making the men yank me backward with them.

“Just shoot the damn thing,” Zain snapped, pulling a gun out of his waistband.

Terror stole my breath, and I stopped struggling.

ShootBear?

“Stop. Don’t hurt him!” I gasped out, going limp in the men’s holds. “I’ll go with you, okay? Just let Bear and my friends go, and I’ll go with you.Please.”

Zain snorted and barely spared me a glance.

“Who said we need your permission?” he asked. When he raised the gun at Bear’s snarling form, my heart dropped into my stomach. “You’re going with us whether you cooperate or not.”

“Please!” I cried as tears blurred my vision. The urge to throw up reared its ugly head again, but I swallowed it. “Don’t shoot.Pleasedon’t shoot him. I’ll do anything. I promise, just don’t shoot.”

Zain’s head tilted to one side as he watched Bear. And for one terrifying, paralyzing moment, I thought he would pull the trigger.

Until Fessy limped forward and stopped beside his brother. “You’re not really gonna shoot the dog, are you?”

Zain rolled his eyes. “What do you care?”

“I don’t,” Fessy backtracked quickly. He balanced on one crutch and scratched the back of his head. “…But he’s just a dog.”

“He’s not ‘just’ anything,” I protested through my tears. “He’s Bear, and he’s my best friend?—”

“Holy shit.Fine.” Zain lowered the weapon and jerked his chin impatiently in my direction. “You have ten seconds to control your animal, or I’ll shut him up myself.”

The two men holding my arms loosened their grips until I could break free, and I ran up to Bear just as he darted past me to jump on one of the goons. His teeth latched on to an arm, sinking into skin and earning a howl of pain that gave me a heart attack.

“Bear,stop!” I yelled over the man’s screams, terrified Zain would decide to shoot now.

Bear let go immediately, backing off his victim and standing guard between me and the men who’d held me. He kept growling, eyes never leaving the one he’d singled out.

I was just relieved he’d listened to me. Now, I needed to make sure he kept listening and didn’t give Zain any reasons to shoot.

“It’s okay, Bear,” I cooed to him, easing around to his side. “It’s okay.Sit.”

He obeyed again, plopping his butt down but not letting up on his growls. I fell to my knees at his side and wrapped my arms around him in a big hug.

He wasn’t feeling the love at first and tried to wiggle free, but I tightened my hold. “It’s okay. It’s okay.”

I kept repeating it over and over, until the force of his growling slowly faded, leaving just a light rumbling from his chest.

“Thank you for protecting me,” I whispered, combing my fingers through his fur to calm him.

“Sadie Marie, don’t do this,” Gladys called to me. “You can’t go with those men.”

I took my focus off Bear long enough to see men pulling Gladys and Ryan around the side of the van. It took three of them to drag Ryan, even though he wasn’t putting up a fight.

Swallowing, I raised my voice. “What else am I supposed to do?”

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