Mike ranuntil the cliffs gave way and the land turned to flat beach stretching toward the woods before he veered back into the thick forest. Mollie hadn’t spoken since they left Holden behind. Her hands dug into his back, and her face remained in his neck as her shallow breaths tickled his skin. At first, she trembled against him, but that ceased when they entered the woods.
Mike cursed himself and his lack of control. She never should have seen that brutal side of him. He should have kept it hidden from her, especially after those two fuckers attacked her, but after witnessing what Holden did and hearing histhreats, all sense of control vanished.
He’d only managed to keep himself from killing Holden because of her, but he hadn’t controlled himself enough. He was not naturally a violent man, it was always a last resort, but he hadn’t hesitated to kill when he saw those vampires clawing at her. And no matter how much he wished she hadn’t witnessed it, he would not hesitate to kill or maim for her again.
Judging by the position of the sun, he’d been running for a couple of hours. When they first entered the forest again, he’d eased his speed but continued to lope across the ground. The reminder he could have lost her caused him to cradle Mollie closer.
Mollie’s rumbling stomach, and his need to speak with her and hopefully repair any damage he may have caused between them, slowed him to a walk before he stopped. Mollie clung to him for a minute longer before her legs unlocked against his sides and she slid to the ground. She kept a hand on his shoulder when her legs wobbled, but once she was steadier, she released him.
She kept her head bowed while he gazed at her. Mike’s heart twisted. He ached to clasp her chin and kiss her; instead, he stepped away.
“I lost your food and water, but I’ll get you more,” he said as he examined the section of woods they’d stopped in. To his right, he heard the flow of the waves against the shore, but they were at least a quarter mile away from the ocean.
“Thank you,” Mollie murmured as she stretched her cramped legs.
Though what he could do, and how remorseless he could be, unnerved her, she couldn’t deny she missed being held against him. Once her revulsion and alarm over what happened faded, she’d found herself comforted by the effortless way he moved across the land and the flow of his muscles against her. While he ran, the trees were a blur and the wind tugged at her hair, but no branches touched them as he dashed around any obstacles in his way.
Lifting her foot to her ass, Mollie bent forward to stretch; resting her fingertips on the ground, she examined Mike while he patrolled the area. He looked as lethal as he had while standing before Holden. The echo of Holden’s screams in her ears and the strain radiating from Mike caused her to drop her foot to the ground.
She saw nothing out of the ordinary in the trees as the birds chirped and a squirrel raced through the branches of a pine, but he saw far more of this world than she did.
“Is anything out there?” She was not in the mood to be attacked by vampires again, and she wasn’t fond of humans right now either.
“No,” Mike said, but he continued to prowl like a guard dog protecting its property.
“Those vampires in the cave, they weren’t Savages, were they?”
“No.”
“But they would have killed me; I felt that from them. They were unraveling…”
Her voice trailed off when she recalled the unraveling she’d sensed in Mike too. He would have killed Holden if she hadn’t intervened. And though Holden was probably dead by now, and that death was, in a way, because of Mike, even if he hadn’t been the one to end Holden’s life.
What he’d done to Holden was one of the cruelest things she’d ever seen, but he’d done it to protect her and because of what Holden had done to her. He wouldn’t have sacrificed Holden if Holden hadn’t tried to sacrifice her first. She felt confident Mike wouldn’t turn his brutality on her.
“They were starving,” Mike said. “They probably would have killed you. Maybe not on purpose, but they were losing control of themselves.”
“Thank you for stopping them.”
Mollie’s breath caught when his head turned toward her. As his striking blue eyes met hers, the vulnerability in his gaze confused her and tore at her heart.
“They never should have gotten so close to you. I should have gotten there sooner,” he said.
“Mike—”
Mollie gasped as, before she could finish her sentence, he closed the distance between them. His hands on her shoulders were tender when he pulled her closer to him.
“It will never happen again,” he vowed and bent his head to hers.
His breath caressed her lips as his mouth hovered above hers. Tingles of anticipation raced over Mollie’s skin. The hair on her arms and nape stood on end as his nearness caused all her nerve endings to come alive. After what she saw him do today, she should step away and put some distance between them. She didn’t move.
When Mollie didn’t shove him away or tell him to get lost, Mike closed the distance between them and claimed her mouth. He should get away from her, he should make sure their bond never progressed beyond the small steps they’d already taken, but walking away from her would take far more control than he possessed.
His arm snaked around her waist, and he lifted her against him until the enticing evidence of his erection pressed between her legs. Unable to stop herself, Mollie whimpered and squirmed against him in a desperate attempt to get closer.
Suddenly, she hated the clothes between them as her fingers tugged at his shirt and her heart hammered in anticipation. This man could break her in two, and they were caught in a nightmare, but in his arms, she’d never felt more protected or cherished.
Mike’s fingers threaded through her hair, and he deepened the kiss until her apple scent burned into his nostrils. Her tongue and lean body were all he could feel as the taste of her ingrained itself on him. She was everything he’d ever wanted, everything he’d been missing over the years, and he couldn’t get enough of her.
