Page 55 of His Pet

“You scared the shit out of me,” I say, gripping his hand.

He opens his eyes and finds mine. “Come here.” His voice is hoarse. He pulls me by my hand until I’m on top of him, my face inches from his.

“If you die, you can’t let me go. I probably would’ve died too out in this damn forest, and even if I didn’t, your family would blame me for what happened. They’d murder me.” I don’t know why I’m justifying saving his life, but the words spill from me.

“Hush,” he says, his fingertips gliding over my lips. “You just saved my life. Don’t ruin it with all your talking.”

I narrow my eyes, and he smiles. He pulls my head toward him and lifts enough to kiss me on the lips. Adrenaline still rushes through me, and I can’t think straight. That’s the excuse I give myself when I kiss him back.

I melt into him for a few seconds before I come to my senses and pull away. I gasp and stare at his chest. I rest my forehead against hard muscle and refuse to look up.

“You can’t die,” I say, my tone demanding.

Lorenzo groans, and I look up.

“Hop off me for a minute, Kitty.”

I do and he strains to sit up. He reaches around his back and when he brings his hand in front of him, blood drips off his fingertips. My eyes widen and I rush behind him to see how bad it is. There’s a gash on his back, probably from when he hit the tree. Blood spills from it.

He goes to stand, and I grab his arm to help him.

“Can you walk?”

“Yeah,” he says, although his teeth are gritted like he’s in pain. I couldn’t have imagined Lorenzo in pain before right now. “I think so.”

“Maybe you should call one of your brothers for help.” I reach into his pockets, hoping the water hasn’t destroyed his cell phone, but it isn’t even there.

Lorenzo grabs my wrist and pulls me into him. He smoothes hair back over my head and cups my jaw. “We’ll be fine, Kitty… don’t worry.”

“How could you be the one to almost die, andI’mthe one worried?”

Lorenzo laughs and it must hurt because his face pinches and his laughter dies in his throat. “We should get going.”

“Right.” I nod and look down the bank.

He brings me back to look at him and presses his lips to mine again. He pulls away after only a moment and cups my face in his hands. “I owe you.”

I shrug, uncomfortable by the sudden seriousness in his tone.

“I always repay my debts, Kitty. That’s one thing you should know.”

I don’t know what he’s talking about, but I nod anyway. He’s already letting me go. He told me that. There isn’t anything else I want from him.

He stands up straight and rolls his neck. “Kay… let’s go.”

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