Page 129 of The Finding Series: Vol. 2

“You stay the fuck away from her!” I shouted as Dale’s beady eyes flitted to Lilah.

“She came on to me!” Dale snapped. “She wanted it!”

Dale’s words set me off all over again and I tried to pull free of Brody’s arms, but he refused to release me.

“No she didn’t!” I yelled. “You think you can take whatever you want? That just because you’re bigger and stronger you have that right? You have no right!” I screamed. Pain ripped through me in a violent wave as memories washed over me, one by one. I shook my head to try to stop it, but it was like a Pandora’s Box and they all came flooding back at once. Every look, every suggestive word…every instance where what I’d wanted had been ignored.

“They had no right!” I shouted as something inside of me ripped wide open. “I didn’t want it! I never wanted it!”

“Beck,” Brody said softly in my ear, trying to calm me. But he’d also loosened his hold enough for me to shove away from him. I looked around the small group of people to see that they were all looking at me with various expressions. While Dale was looking like he wanted to rip my throat out, everyone else was staring at me with looks of pity, horror and disbelief.

Heat flooded my system as I heard my own words.

I.

I’d saidI.

I shook my head as the truth hit me. I saw Quinn step forward as if to put his hands on me, but I instantly stepped back. My insides were rolling so violently that I felt like I was going to be ill.

Humiliation was what got me moving.

And fast.

By the time I hit the end of the hallway, I was running. I was dimly aware of Brody and Quinn calling my name, but all that did was spur me on. I crashed through the kitchen door and frantically darted for my car which, thankfully, was just a few steps away. My fingers slipped off the door handle the first time I grabbed it, but I managed to get the door open on the second try. I wasn’t aware that Harley had followed me until I opened the door and she jumped inside. My keys were in the cup holder so as soon as I got in, I engaged the locks and scrambled for them. It seemed to take forever to get the engine going. I had just put it into reverse when Brody came running out the door. I ignored his shouts for me to stop and hit the gas, sending the car flying backwards. My tires gripped the gravel as I slammed the gearshift into drive and hit the gas again. It wasn’t until I flew past Brody that I finally took a breath.

The tears didn’t come until my car sped past the sign welcoming guests to the resort and I realized that the perfect little bubble I’d been living in had just burst.

* * *

No Beck, we can’t. It’s a sin…

I’m sorry my beautiful boy…

I jerked awake at the sensation of wetness on my cheek. My arms instinctively went around Harley as I straightened and as soon as I stopped moving, she resumed licking my face. I used my hand to wipe at the dampness and realized there was too much moisture on my skin to have just come from the dog.

It took me several long seconds to remember where I was. A glance outside showed darkness was just starting to fall. Which meant it had probably been a couple of hours since I’d left the resort.

As soon as I’d hit the main road, I’d automatically turned north since that was the way to Dare. But as I’d neared the town, I’d realized I had nowhere to go. I couldn’t talk to Dane and Jax because they would insist on calling my fathers. So I’d kept driving and then I’d started taking random turns. It wasn’t until the narrow road I’d been driving on had started to wind up a mountain that I’d started crying so hard that I couldn’t see clearly anymore. I’d ended up pulling onto an access road and while there’d been a chain barrier preventing me from actually driving any distance down the secluded stretch of dirt road, I hadn’t cared since I’d just needed to get off the main road so I could try to collect myself.

I hadn’t intended to fall asleep, but that was exactly what had happened because it had still been light out when I’d fled the resort.

Which meant Quinn and Brody must be frantic by now. They were likely even out looking for me. They might have even called Dane and Jax to tell them what had happened. And that meant if my fathers didn’t know what was going on, they would soon enough.

My thoughts drifted back to my lovers. Humiliation swamped me again, but even though I couldn’t face them, I couldn’t allow them to suffer through worrying about me. I reached into my pocket for my cell phone, but then remembered I’d left it in my room earlier in the day to re-charge since the battery had died.

I wiped at my face as I realized what the turn of events meant.

I had to go back.

I gently placed Harley back into the passenger seat and then got my car started. But when I put it into reverse and hit the gas, nothing happened. Concern turned to worry when the car didn’t move and it hit me that one or more tires were spinning. I climbed out of the car and my feet immediately sank into heavy mud…the same mud that was now holding my car prisoner.

Despair consumed me as I sank back into my seat and closed the door. I tried several more times to free the car, but the back and forth motion of the wheels seemed to make the problem worse and I finally gave up and put the car in park. I was glad when Harley climbed back into my lap because the darkness settling around my car had me on edge. I could try walking down the mountain, but I hadn’t noticed any houses on the way up it and I knew it had to be at least a dozen miles from the intersection leading up the mountain. There was no guarantee if I walked farther up the mountain that I’d find anyone either. I glanced in the rearview mirror and watched for traffic passing by, but there was nothing. I waited a good twenty minutes and not a single set of headlights went past.

I knew I was fucked as I realized how dangerous it would be to be out in the dead of night in rural Montana. Just this afternoon on our trail ride, Quinn had pointed out some bear scat. The world just outside my car window was an unforgiving one that I knew nothing about.

Which meant I’d be spending the night in my car.

And my men and my family would be in a full-on panic.

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