Page 60 of Blackwood

He ground against me, my clit taking the full brunt of his cock as he trapped me against the trunk. I wanted him to fuck me right there, up against the tree like two wild animals. He must have had the same thought, because he groaned into my mouth and skated his fingers down to my jeans.

Something popped, and the skin along the top of my shoulder burned. Garrett’s body shuddered and he broke our kiss. His brows drew together, confusion washing across his face.

“What? What is it?” I stared at him.

Another pop, and the bark next to my head burst into shards of wood.

“Down!” He sank to his knees and dragged me around to the back of the tree, then covered me with his body.

It was only then that I noticed the crimson stain spreading along his chest and soaking through the sheepskin coat.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Rain soakedthrough myclothes until my skin crawled, my teeth chattering nonstop. Garrett sat behind me on the ATV, his head lolling forward onto my trembling shoulder every so often. He’d stopped shaking, which worried me more than anything else.

We’d waited behind the tree while I did my best to stop Garrett’s bleeding. The bullet had gone straight through, but I couldn’t tell if it had hit any organs. The blood worried me, the crimson stain soaking his shirt despite my attempts to stanch the flow. And his breathing had taken on an ugly wheeze.

He’d wanted to wait until dark before we moved, but I refused. He couldn’t stay out in the frigid woods for that long with major blood loss. So, despite his protests, I’d darted out to an ATV, started it up and driven it to where he was. He’d managed to climb on behind me, and then we took off through the woods.

The rain had set in only an hour later, the smell of water mixing with the dirt. The forest floor became a sloppy mess, and I couldn’t fight the chill. Instead of trying to make it to the house, which was two more hours away, I headed for the shack. I prayed that it still had a roof. If I could get us somewhere dry, I could tend to Garrett and warm him up.

I pushed ahead through a thicket, pinning the vines and scraping brush beneath the ATV. At least the shack was well hidden, though I had no reason to believe that whoever shot Garrett didn’t know about it. I stowed that thought and decided to worry about it later. I had enough on my plate.

Once through the first wall of foliage, I saw the shack ahead. About ten feet by ten feet, the wooden structure had been constructed of roughly-hewn wood from nearby trees. The roof consisted of a pine thatch, one corner completely rotted through.Fuck.

I motored up to it and peered through the darkened doorway. No windows greeted me, just a narrow entry. It would have to do. A burst of lightning shot across the sky, and the thunder chased it down, the rumble deep and loud.

“Garrett.”

“Mmph.” He squeezed around my waist.

“Come on. We’re here. I have to get you inside.” I threw my leg over and slid off the ATV.

He stared up at me with glassy eyes, his wet hair plastered to his head. “Here?” His breath wheezed in and out.

“Yes.” I dug in my pack and grabbed my gun, then found my flashlight, which I clamped between my teeth.

I slung his arm over my shoulders and pulled, keeping my gun in my free hand.

He stumbled to his feet, and I struggled under his weight.

He stopped, his breath a rattle. “This isn’t the house.”

“Uh huh,” I mumbled around the flashlight and helped him walk forward as the rain intensified, the sheets broken up by the pine boughs overhead.

Training the gun on the door, I followed the beam of light and checked the dank interior. The floor was made of packed dirt and strewn with pine needles. A pile of leaves in one corner appeared to be an abandoned critter nest of some sort. The back left side was wet, water pouring through the hole in the ceiling. Not good, but the ground sloped, so the water ran out between the rough planks. I could work with that. I dropped the flashlight and pulled Garrett along.

“Let’s go.” I dragged him inside, turning sideways so we could navigate through the narrow door.

My back ached, and I wondered if I’d pulled something as I lowered him to the ground in the dry corner.

“Stay.” I retrieved the flashlight and did one more sweep just to make sure nothing was going to jump out.

Dashing back to the ATV, I grabbed our bags and dumped them inside the door. My face and hands were so cold they hurt. Not a good sign. Garrett rested against the wall, his eyes closed.

Even in the dim shack, I could tell his skin was ghostly pale. A frozen hand squeezed my heart, and I snapped. “Garrett!”

His eyes fluttered open. “Yeah?”

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