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I couldn’t lose her. Not now. Not when I just got her back.
Coughing again, I hauled her up against the tree, using my body as shield from the fire. I gripped her face with one hand, bracing the other on the trunk.
I was dizzy—lightheaded—and I just wanted to sleep, but my heart and soul wanted to see her green eyes open again.
“Open your eyes, Val. Let me see that green. Give me my green,” I begged, my voice shaking with desperation and sorrow.
Nothing.
My head fell and my shoulders began to shake.
Denver, focus.
I lifted my head, coughing some more, and squinted. I scanned her body for any other injuries. My hands followed my eyes. She was okay.
Fuck, but she was okay.
No bruises or blood I could see. My hands and eyes went further down. She wasn’t wearing any shoes, and she had been last night.
I couldn’t wait to kill him.
I couldn’t wait to hang him up like a hog and make him scream.
I couldn’t wait to hear his cries and pleas for mercy.
Until then, I needed to get Valerie home—where she belonged.
I made sure she would stay leaning back against the tree before I moved, trying to find the other end of the chain. “Where the fuck is it?” I growled. There was no way I was getting that cuff off her ankle—not without breaking it. That was a last resort. I found the other end; it was lodged into the other side of the tree by a spike.
Yanking it out with a grunt, I began wrapping the chain around my arm. I came back to her, kneeling and scooping her up. I didn’t know where this energy came from, but I was grateful, so fucking grateful. I twisted and leaned my back against trunk, holding my woman close to me. I pressed a firm kiss to her temple.
“Hold on, Val. Hold on for me, baby,” I chanted as I heard the chopper get closer. The tops of the flaming trees fanned, and the flames grew higher—angrier. There was no time for anything else.
Before my eyes, a thick cord fell from the heavens, and a forest firefighter landed in front of me. He turned to me, running over to us. He pulled his mask down to tell me his name and the game plan. I didn’t hear a word.
The only thing that I could focus on was the precious human in my arms. When he tried to take her from me, I growled, baring my teeth and getting his face. There was no time to argue, and he didn’t. He strapped us up and a second later, we were being lifted into the air. The seal of smoke broke, and blue filled my vision. The sky. I inhaled a deep breath, my body thanking me for the fresh air.
Everything was a blur, but when we were set back on the ground, in the field in front of the barn, I dropped to my knees and laid Valerie on the lush grass. People were running to us, and the firefighter was trying to pull me away from her. I shoved him back and turned back to my love.
My hand, which was covered in soot, cupped the side of her dirty face, my fingers tangling in her soft hair. I leaned down and studied with her. A set of knees appeared on the other side of my baby, and a paramedic started barking orders.
“Mr. Langston, can you lift your arm?”
I gave them an inch, my eyes never leaving her face. They checked her pulse and put an oxygen mask on her.
Everyone around us stilled, waiting for her chest to rise and inhale the air, but nothing happened.
Nothing happened.
She didn’t move.
“Baby?” I called, not understanding why she wasn’t breathing. She had fresh air now. That’s all she needed.
“Mr. Langston, we need you to move—can someone get him out of the way, please?”
I shook my head. “I’m not fucking moving.”
Hands landed on me, and I was being hauled away from her—my love. My Valerie. With a growl, I tried to fight, but my body was too weak.
