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The second I closed my eyes, a vivid image of the horrible raid appeared. I could almost smell the stench of smoke. After taking a deep breath, terrible pain slammed into my head. Almost instantly I was nauseous, forced to double over as another batch of vivid images rushed into the back of my mind.
“Get your hands off me!” I screamed, twisting in my effort to get away as two enemy soldiers dragged me toward a series of buildings. As soon as they stopped, I managed to kick one in the groin, jerking free and struggling to get to my feet. I had to find the girl. She was in terrible danger.
I took off running in the direction where they’d dragged me from, the wretched cries of men in agony echoing in my mind. Where was she? What had they done to her? She was just a young girl. I jumped over several bodies, the vacant eyes of men tortured beyond recognition staring back at me. They were right behind me, screaming in their native tongue.
As a weapon was slammed against my head, pain tore through me and I was forced to drop to my knees, my vision instantly impaired. Then a volley of blows was pummeled into my stomach, the agony so intense I retched, falling face down into the mud.
And I could hear them laughing.
“Jesus,” I muttered, shaking my head several times. Why had the memory surfaced? Apollo whined, pressing his face against my leg. “I’m okay, buddy. It’s not real. Nothing is real.”
I’d managed to save one beautiful soul from certain death.
I stood staring at the painting, waiting until the fogginess faded, blood still pumping wildly. Maybe it was good to finally face the mental anguish.
Or maybe I’d go completely insane.
Apollo nudged me again, finally bringing me all the way back to reality.
“I’m an asshole. Right?” I asked as I stood back from the painting, keeping the paintbrush in my hand as I grabbed the bottle of beer. When Apollo didn’t make a sound, I peered down at him. His tail was thumping back and forth, which was an indication that he was agreeing with me.
“Okay, I know. I shouldn’t have left her alone, but I had to come home and take care of you.”
Gggrrr…
When I took a gulp of beer, I almost spit it out all over the painting. I hadn’t realized how long I’d worked on the pup’s portrait. And I was shocked that it looked damn good. Okay, so maybe I was pushing it, but in comparison to the mess that could never be described as art from before, the likeness was genius.
The thought reminded me I’d promised to take her to the art show. What had come over me? She’d provided an accurate representation of how I’d likely respond, immediately searching for a bar to wait it out until she’d had enough of pretending she liked some flowery piece of trash on an oversized canvas. I should know. Chuckling, I took another swig then took a step further away, trying to think critically.
“Fine. You’re right. You’re also a pain in the ass, buddy.” I grinned then placed the brush on top of the can. “Take a look. I think it’s an excellent representation of you. Damn good likeness.”
He moved to his feet, trotting over and staring at it with me, cocking his furry head after a few seconds. Then he was completely still.
“What? Am I wrong?”
Woof!
“Hmmm… Okay, I’ll work on it a little bit more. I think it’s time for your dinner.” I took the warm beer with me, preferring bourbon at this point. When I noticed the clock on the stove, I cringed. “Well, maybe I should call it an early breakfast.” It was almost four in the morning. My thoughts drifted to wondering whether it was too early to call Chasity.
I rubbed my finger across my jaw as I tossed the bottle in the trash, grabbing his bowl and filling it with food. The visions of her remained fresh in my mind and fucking her in the lagoon had been a wonderful idea.
Even if we were freezing on the drive home.
But I’d felt compelled to be as close to her as possible, letting go of all inhibitions. Oh, the girl had no idea how far she’d crawled under my skin.
The fact she’d loved riding on the back of the Harley had shocked me, although I wasn’t certain anything she could do would shock me any longer. She was special.
I placed the bowl on the floor before grabbing a glass out of the cabinet, still able to catch a hint of her scent every time I breathed in. After dropping in a few ice cubes, I poured, my mind still processing when she’d run off into the woods. She was full of surprises.
Apollo’s insistent bark drew my attention back to the glass. Shit. I’d overpoured onto the counter. “I think I have it bad for that girl. What do you think?”
He gave me a dour look then returned to eating.
I wiped up the mess and leaned against the counter, watching him as he consumed his food. She’d brought sunshine in my life when all I’d seen for months were turbulent, dark clouds. Still, I didn’t want to hurt the girl and I couldn’t see us as long term. I rolled the glass across my forehead, the ache for her continuing.
“What do you think, buddy? Should I continue seeing her?”
His growl was low and throaty, and it made me laugh. “I know, you like her.” What was there not to like?
