Page 40 of His Last Nerve

Once they were out of my room, I shrugged off my jeans then set to work on getting her out of those clothes.

The woman I’d held for four hours against my chest was now sitting on the front porch of my house, the landline in her shaking hands. I slowed my steps and watched her, shoving my hands in the pockets of my Carhartt to keep myself from touching her.

Fuck, I really fucking wanted to.

Images of her body pressed against mine came rushing back, her hands gripping my arms in her sleep, as she mumbled something that I couldn’t make out. She felt so damn good against me, in my arms—

Shut that shit down, Den.

She was crying now, a normal reaction from a person who had never witnessed a murder before. She was still in my Marines shirt, and I noticed she’s slipped on a pair of my boxers.

Fuck, even in distress, she was a work of art.

Her hands were shaking, and she dialed 911. She put the phone to her ear, and I knew she got a busy tone. She whimpered and tried again, over and over.

“Phone tower is down, City Girl,” I said.

Her head snapped up as she let out a gasp, and those green eyes scanned the darkness for me. She raised a shaking hand. “Stay away from me.”

Damn.

Her sweet voice was more unsteady than her hands.

I didn’t like that.

Why did I give a fuck?

“You going to sit out here all night?” I asked as she looked up from her lap to me. “Or are you going to get inside?”

She continued to stare up at me, a single tear rolling from her eye and descending down her reddened cheek. Still, she remained silent.

“Do what you want, but you go hypothermic again, I ain’t saving you.”

Nothing.

My stomach tightened.

I didn’t give a shit about what she just witnessed. She just got a firsthand look at the monster inside me. The monster—my monster—was a permanent resident in my soul. It was branded on my skin. That would never change.

I wouldn’t give a shit if the phone towers weren’t down, and she did manage to call 911. She didn’t know the full story. She would never get the full story. No matter what she did, I would never see the inside of a prison cell, not before taking down some very powerful people with me.

For some reason, though, I gave a shit if I scared her.

Fuck me.

I lifted my chin. “Get inside. It’s cold.”

“You just killed an innocent man,” she breathed, looking at me with fear in her eyes.

I chuckled darkly, pulling my hand from my coat and getting down on my haunches so we were eye level. “That man, City Girl, was anything but innocent. Get inside.”

“You killed hi—”

I stood and put my boot on the first step. “Get inside,” I ordered.

“I would like to leave.”

“Believe me, I would love nothing more than to watch you go,” I sneered.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com