Page 79 of Winters Heat

Not a smart one. And Mia Kensington was the smartest woman he’d ever met.

Fuck this awful stomachache. He’d take gunshot wounds any day over this shit. He felt hot and cold. Cloudy-headed and incredibly, desperately sure of his sub-par value to Mia.

The slower he plodded toward the shack, the more he hated himself for holding back. If he went any faster, it would only serve to hasten the pain. What a catastrophic conundrum.

He was the last to enter the shack. He took in the small space and his brothers-in-arms. Jared, Brock, and Rocco. Faces pinched and etched with concern.

“Where is she?” Winters looked around the bare room. He kicked the dirt floor, and his leg retaliated with an intramuscular fire. “Where the fuck is she?”

No answers. Jared bent over and picked up a plastic handcuff, smacking it against his palm.

Winters stalked to a lone chair and threw it against the shambled wall. His arms roared. His wounds throbbed. The chair took out a few of the rotted wood wall slats. It splintered and scattered on the dirt floor like kindling.

“Calm it down, Winters.” Jared didn’t sound like he was listening to his own advice.

Winters didn’t plan to either. His fists balled tight. His fingernails dug into to his skin. This was why he should have stayed the hell away from her. How many times had the poor woman been attacked since he stepped into her life? Goddamn it.

“We’re going after her. Now,” Winters said with a level of anger he didn’t know existed.

“Go where? We need a plan.”

“I’m sick of your slow plans.” He stormed toward the door.

“You stop right there, soldier. What are you going to do? Canvass the entire jungle?”

“There’s that strategy to consider.”

“You’ve got shit for brains where this chick is concerned. Brock, if Winters rolls out of here, you grab him and nail his ass to a chair.”

Brock glared at Jared. “Yeah, thanks, man. That’ll be like catching Niagara fucking Falls with a fly net.”

***

The hand over Mia’s mouth tightened and her heart raced. Adrenaline fueled her. She snapped her teeth open and shut like a crazed piranha, hoping to bite flesh and gain her release. Her elbow arched back and slammed into a brick wall of solid muscle. Her attacker wasn’t fazed.

No. No. No. She refused. This wouldn’t happen.

Summoning power, fortitude, and brawn, Mia bellowed in exertion, pushed off her hands and knees, and slammed the back of her skull into his face. His teeth tore into her scalp, but his hands didn’t let go.

The tiniest whoosh of a curse word danced in her ear. An English curse word. No accent.

The man pinned her legs beneath her and pulled her close as though she were as fragile and delicate as an egg. “Mia. Stop. It’s Cash.”

She opened her eyes, seeing all the dark around her. Her nostrils flared open, closed, open, closed, as she fought for breath and to understand what was happening.

Cash. Titan.

“I’ll move my hand,” he whispered. “But you can’t make a noise. Got it?”

She nodded like her life depended on it. She had to tell him she was being hunted. His tight grip relaxed, but she was still pinned. Cash rolled next to her, dressed in a pile of leaves. His face paint blurred into his costume.

She mouthed to him.Alejandro. She pointed ahead. No, wait. To the right. Shit. Where was he?

Cash cupped her hand. “I got this. Stay put. I’ll come back to you.”

“Don’t leave me.Please.”

He scanned the area, then moved to her ear. “You stick close. I’ll scout him out, then he’s done. You okay with that?”

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