Page 132 of Fire Island
I lean in, close. His sweat-clad skin is caked with dirt and filth. “Said the mouse to the lioness,” I growl.
Movement rushes at my side.
I spin to face him. A wall of sweaty man hits me. I stumble, and he shoves me to the ground. I scramble backward, but he grips my legs, crawling over me until his hand closes around mywrist, the other sinking into my hair and making a fist. “Looks like we’re doing this the hard way.”
He leans down, licking my neck with a groan. “Good, I like a little fight in them.”
Timothy steps toward us.
“Fuck off! She’s mine, you pathetic excuse.”
I send my free hand into his side, sinking the rusted blade between his ribs.
He roars, face twisting with pain. The knife lodges, and I can’t pull it back. It’s stuck.
No!
He pants through the pain, spittle hitting my face. “Fuck!”
The hand closed around my hair pulls up, and the back of my skull hits the ground. Hard.
Stars pop into my vision, and I whimper. I grip my last weapon with every bit of remaining strength I have. Bucking underneath him, I scream out, “I will kill you!”
He seethes, leaning down. “Not if I kill you first, little one.”
I snap my head up, smashing into his nose. He groans, swaying a little before he sits back, pinning me under him. With a deep breath, he tugs the knife from his ribs and tosses it through the front door. His fingers around my wrist, he slams my hand into the floor until my grip falters and the blade falls.
No . . .
No!
“You can’t win this game, Eve. So don’t bother trying.” His eyes study my face.
Eve.
He called me by my name.
Was T his sidekick all this time? Is he the bigger wolf, lying in wait to sweep in and take the spoils?
“Wha—what did you call me?”
“Your name, precious girl.” The last two words are almost a snarl.
I glance at Timothy, and he looks as deflated as I do, surprised.
“What kind of man lets his girl get away?” the man over me whispers, his lips brushing my ear.
My heart flings against my ribs, bruising the air right out of my lungs.
Heis the stalker?
What?
“My useless cousin over there is about as good at operating a semitruck as he is abducting a meek little woman.”
“You still owe me a new fender,” Timothy whines.
The man straddling my hips gives him a dirty look that registers as anot nowexpression.
