Page 133 of Fire Island
“I like to watch my prey being played with, Eve. He’s good for that, but I’m done waiting.”
That explains why Timothy drugged me but never...
“Please, stop. You can have me willingly, if you j-just let me go! Please!”
I’ll trade an unwanted encounter for my life any day.
“I don’t want you willing.” He tugs at my shirt, and I slap at him with both hands. “Hold her!”
Timothy takes a tentative step toward me.
His nervous gaze flicks from us to the door, like he’s about to make a run for it. Something snaps on the ground outside, and Timothy shakes his head, fleeing the hut.
“Fucking coward,” the man hovering over me says.
“Who are you?” I ask, half wanting to know, half wanting to buy myself time.
“Need a name to scream?” He runs his knuckles down my cheek, and I wince, snapping my head to the side. “You can scream Thorin while I fuck the life right out of you.”
My mouth gapes.
Reaching over, he takes my knife from the floor and holds it up while inspecting it.
My heart rate kicks up. I squirm beneath him, wanting out. Now.
His gaze falls from the blade to my face.
“How about I mess you up before the good part?”
The knife comes down, the tip aiming for my chest.
His piercing eyes find mine.
I slam them shut. He won’t get the satisfaction of seeing my fear.
Hauling a long, slow, stretching lungful, I wait for the piercing pain of the blade, the tang of crimson and the burn of death to find me...
Thirty-Six
CALLUM
Reese spins back on the sand, a hand rubbing over the back of his neck. “They caught her, they?—”
“Who and where.”
“That old hut, and there’s two of them.”
I take off for the forest.
The world around me blurs as time grinds to a halt. The air in my lungs stalls out, never to return. Branches whip my face, neck, and shoulders. I thunder through, not feeling a thing. It doesn’t take long before I come across a guy in black sweats and a black T-shirt running through the forest toward the south. I slide to a halt, crouching behind a tree as he closes in on my position.
The second he’s close enough, I jump out, tackling him to the ground.
“What the hell!” he screeches. “Get off me.”
I pin him to the ground with my forearm sunk into his throat. “Who the fuck are you?”
He chokes under my weight, hands pulling at my arm to no avail.
