Page 40 of Impossible

“Please,” I whimper, and he pulls back, letting me go. His eyes are wild with lust and pain and I feel the need to comfort him. “I’m sorry,” I murmur, reaching for his face. “I didn’t mean—”

“HEY!” A voice pierces the darkness.

I look up and realize we’re in the woods. I don’t know how I got here, but then his lips are on mine again and I’m on my back in the dirt. My bad knee throbs, and I’m lost in the kiss for a moment, my hand snaking into his thick waves and pulling him closer before realizing I really,reallyshouldn’t be doing this. Fear starts to bloom in my chest. This man could do whatever he wants to me and I couldn’t stop him. I let go of his hair and try uselessly to shove him away.

The thunderous sound of feet approaching breaks his concentration for a moment. I squirm, but I’m not strong enough to slip out. I don’t reallywantto slip out. No, I do. Right? Everything is jumbled and his lips are hot and needy. Or is that me?

Then he’s gone, lifted from on top of me and tossed away like a ragdoll.

Leon towers above me, chest heaving. “Blue jay, are you—”

His words are cut off by the other man crashing into him, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

Then they’re fighting. I try to get up and scramble away, but my bad knee gives out immediately and I fall, pain igniting my entire leg.

I can only watch.

At first, it looks like Leon is going to easily overpower his opponent—he’s bigger and stronger. But after a few breathless moments, the stranger is winning. They strike at each other with a sort of practiced familiarity, grunting and blocking and circling, always in motion.

Leon isn’t used to fighting without his hand. He keeps trying to use it to hit or grab the man before realizing it’s not there. And the man takes full advantage of this, pummeling Leon with lightning-fast blows. He’s incredibly skilled, finding the tiniest windows to strike Leon where he can’t defend.

Just when it seems like the fight is over and the stranger will have me at his mercy, Leon’s voice booms out.

“Standdown.”

Dominance drips from the words and I shiver, cowering in the dirt. But my instinctual reaction has nothing on what happens to the man.

He falls like he’s been shot. Then he makes the strangest keening sound I’ve ever heard, like a choked off howl of pain. Leon cringes as the stranger convulses on the ground, his back arching unnaturally like somebody just shocked him back to life. Once, twice he convulses, then he rolls onto his hands and knees, head ducked pitifully as he whines like an animal. He looks between Leon and me, seeing but not seeing, before staggering to his feet and tearing off into the forest.

Leon is breathing hard, but he jumps to his feet and comes over to me. I’m holding my knee, and he crouches, his big hands settling on the swelling.

“So,” he pants. “I see you’ve met Risk.”

12

Misbegotten

Risk

“sit,littlealpha”

“stand!”

“I said sit!”

“on your back, you pathetic degenerate”

“did I say you could move?”

“break your own finger.”

“do it, go on now.Do it.”

Dirt in my mouth. Knees skinned. Tree. Good.

Thud. Forehead split. Orders still there. Won’t come loose.

Thud.Searing pain. Blood in my eyes. Still there, can’t do it all, can’t do them both.

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