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He looked over his shoulder at her. “Put your hands up under my shirt. It’ll keep ‘em warm.”
She did as he said, and he must have felt the cold bite of the metal against his stomach. “Shit, that’s cold.”
A small smile formed on her lips.
He didn’t miss it. He returned it. “Okay, darlin’. You ready?”
She nodded.
He started the bike, slid a pair of riding glasses and gloves on, and pulled out.
They headed down the mountain.
***
Cole knew it was a three-hour ride back, and the temperature was dropping rapidly. What had been a warm day was turning into a chilly night. He felt her tuck in behind him, trying to stay out of the wind.
They rode for about an hour on the deserted two lane highway. Cole took them down out of the mountains and started across the flat desert lands before he finally pulled over and stopped on the side of the road.
He could feel her trembling.
He twisted slightly to look back at her over his left shoulder and frowned when he saw her teeth chattering as she shook with cold. “You okay?” As she tried to nod, he pulled the glove off his left hand and reaching back, he ran his hand over her bare thigh.
It was ice cold.
“Fuck, baby. I’m sorry. You must be freezing.”
Cole slipped his hands down under her cuffed wrists and lifted them up and over his head. Then he got off the bike and helped her off.
She stood there, shaking.
“You ain’t gonna make it. We got two more hours to ride, and you’re freezing to death.”
***
Angel watched as he pulled his cell out and flipped it open.
“No service.”
She looked at him, wondering what the plan was.
He took a deep breath and blew it out. “I guess we spend the night here and head back in the morning after it warms up.”
“H-here?” she asked, looking around. They were in the middle of nowhere. It was desolate desert scrub brush for as far as she could see in the silvery moonlight. He put his hands on the handgrips and began pushing the bike off the road.
“Yeah. Here. Come on.”
She followed him until they were about fifty yards from the road. He parked the bike and began untying a rolled up blanket from the front of the handlebars. Then he reached down into his saddlebag and pulled out a bottle of whiskey, the silver rings on his hand flashing in the moonlight. He grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her along.
“Come on.” He led her over to some boulders.
“Is this the part where you rape me, too?”
He looked over at her, and as if trying to hold his patience, he bit out, “No, this is the part where we get some sleep.” His eyes held hers for a moment, and then he turned and shook out the blanket.
As she watched him, flashbacks of what she had endured at the hands of Chuck came flooding back, and a gripping fear took hold of her. The fight or flight instinct took over, and she found herself running blindly. She didn’t care where, as long as it was away from him. She ran like a hunted animal. She only knew she had to keep running to escape whatever he might do to her.
After a few moments, she became aware of footsteps pounding on the ground behind her, closing in. Her hair fell in her face, and her breath rasped in her throat. She knew she was tiring, her steps beginning to slow and falter. No! Please, not again. She couldn’t let him catch her. She tried to turn back to see how close he was, and she tripped and felt herself falling to the ground. She stretched her arms out to protect herself as she landed in the gravel and dirt.
She lie there, exhausted and defeated. Opening her eyes she saw his boots coming to stand before her face. From above her she heard him ask, “You done?”
Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath.
“Did you really think you could get away from me? Did you think I’d let you go?” He reached down to pull her to her feet. “I know you’re not that stupid.”
As she slid up his body, she grabbed at the knife he kept in the sheath at his side. Hardly thinking beyond the blind desperation she felt, she swung the blade at him, slicing through the air, her cuffed hands making the movement awkward.
He managed to jump back, and the blade skidded across his vest leaving a thin scratch across the leather. She heard him curse under his breath as he grabbed her wrists and slammed his boot against her ankles, knocking her off her feet. She landed on her back with him on top of her. He had her manacled wrists pinned above her head, and he slammed them into the ground twice before the knife went skidding out of her hands across the ground.
***
Cole stared down into her eyes. “Goddamn, woman! That’s twice now you’ve tried to kill me. I told you I wouldn’t hurt you. But you can only push a man so far, Angel.” Her face was illuminated by the moonlight. Her eyes were dark and liquid, her mouth slightly open, her breath panting. He watched as the fight went out of her. As the resistance in her ceased and he felt her submit, his anger dissolved. He was breathing hard, his chest heaving as he poised above her.
“Please—”
“Please what?” he snarled. His eyes dropped to her mouth, and desire roared through him. It was the chase, the violence, her pinned under him, subdued and flat on her back. All that animal aggressive shit. He felt it surging through him, and he tried to fight it, to push it back.
***
