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Fuck.
“Fine,” she says through gritted teeth, marching right past me as though she can’t stand the sight of me.
And I’d be lying if it didn’t affect me.
“I didn’t choose this,” I growl.
“Oh, like that’s supposed to excuse you from your actions?” she muses.
I know it doesn’t matter. And I don’t know why I even care.
“I’m doing my job,” I add.
“And your job is to do something cruel,” she says.
“How do you know?” She doesn’t even know where she’s going, but I follow her anyway.
“Because that’s what you people do. You said it yourself. You torture people to make them confess their sins. And if you can’t torture me in that House, you’ll just do it somewhere else, won’t you?” she says. “Who are you bringing me to? Who else is going to have his way with me, huh?”
I take her wrist to make her stop and look at me.
“No one,” I say as I grab her chin. “No one … will touch you.”
Her lips part, but no words fall off her tongue even though she tries. And I can’t stop looking at her soft, succulent mouth, wishing for a taste.
I’ve never desired a woman like her the way I do now.
And that is the sole reason I will not allow anyone to touch her.
Even though I know that after I bring her to our destination, my job will be finished, and I will have no more control over her. But that thought haunts me. Makes me want to destroy everything in my path until nothing is left except her and me.
What has she done to me?
Before I can ask, she jerks free of my grasp, and the spell is broken.
“Stop lying,” she hisses. “If you’re going to ruin my life, at least be honest about it.”
“It’s not my choice,” I growl.
“Well, we’re out here now in the middle of nowhere with no one to tell you what to do,” she says, folding her arms. “I’d say it’s damn well your choice.”
The fire in her eyes has never burned this bright, and it stirs something inside me that makes it hard to ignore her pleas.
She sighs out loud and parks herself against a tree. “Whatever. I know I’m only a pound of flesh to all of you.”
I stand in front of her, planting my hand against the tree, trapping her inside.
“You are not.” My hand instinctively moves up to her chin, caressing her jawline with my thumb. “Not to me.”
She shudders, her cheeks turning bright red as I lean over her, wanting nothing more than to grab her face and …
Sudden rustles behind us make her eyes widen, and I turn my head toward the sound.
A bear sniffles around in a bush not far behind us.
“Oh my God,” she murmurs.
I place my hand over her mouth to stop her from making a sound.
The bear noticed us.
It lifts its head and roars.
“A bear!” April’s squeal is enough to kick off the adrenaline in my body.
Within a second, I’ve grasped her hand and drag her along with me as I run like hell. The bear is right behind us, chasing us like we’re a toy to play with … or meat to consume.
But I refuse to let this be our end.
Especially not hers.
But the bear is faster than us, faster than her.
And when it gets close, I grab the nearest long stick I can find and shove her behind me, bracing for impact.
“Soren!” April squeals.
The bear charges. I lift the stick and point it right at him.
I shield her with my body, spreading my legs and arms wide to prepare to take him on.
The impact of his body against mine is overwhelming, and I can barely take it. The stick falls to the ground within an instant as the bear crushes me with its weight. Its jaws are right at my face, breathing out a putrid smell, and I push it away with all my might not to get eaten alive. Its claws rake at my arms, and I fight off the pain from the gashes it leaves.
“RUN!” I bark at April, who squeamishly cowers in a corner near a tree.
No fucking way will I let this bear get anywhere near her. I’d rather die than let that happen.
She nods and runs off, but she’s not nearly fast enough.
And the bear turns its attention to her.
She’s the prey.
But I’ll be damned if I let her be his prey.
She’s mine.
And I roar out loud as I reach for the stick on the ground and jam it straight into its side.
The beast howls in pain and slumps sideways while backing off. With the stick still stuck in its side, it runs off, away from us, away from April.
And I breathe out a sigh of relief.
Only for the pain to come rushing back in.
All this time, I’d been running on adrenaline, but it took so much energy to hold that beast back that I can’t get up. So I just lie here for a moment and close my eyes, hoping, praying, that she makes it out alive.
