AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It anguished him to ignore her, but he focused on tearing a strip off the closest shirt in his closet and gagging her beautiful mouth with it. Tears lay unshed in her beloved turquoise eyes, ripping his soul in half.Mistake. This is a mistake.His heart knew it, but his fear of losing her overwhelmed everything in its path.“I am sorry, but I can’t risk you leaving me, my gift. It will be over soon. I just need more time with you.” Another knock at the door. Louder this time. “Pleaseunderstand.”
Hating the betrayal on her face, he closed her in the closet and went to face thepolice.
A man was mid-knock when Rixen opened the door. Him and his partner immediately stepped back, their hands moving to hover over their weapons. Rixen only watched them in silence, his hatred for them mounting. Hatred for shattering the growing happiness between him and Morgan. For forcing Rixen to betray hertrust.
A voice in the back of Rixen’s head told him they’d forced him to do nothing. That his own fears and insecurities had hurt his mate’s feelings. But he ignored the voice and focused on his anger. These men would not separate him from Morgan. No one would unless he was cold and dead in theground.
“What do youwant?”
At the low timbre of Rixen’s voice, the men backed up farther. The one in front appeared braver, however, wetting his lips to speak. “There was a car broken down about two miles back at the road. A girl was driving it. Young. Reddish-blonde hair. Goes by the name Morgan.” The cop’s eyebrows went up. “Odds are she didn’t make it this far without getting snapped up by a gator, but we’re performing our due diligence. You wouldn’t have happened to come across a young thing out this way? Have you,mister…”
“Rixen,” he snapped, annoyed by having another man describe his woman’s appearance. “No. There has been noone.”
It was then that he noticed where the second cop was focusing his attention. In his haste to hide Morgan and answer the door, Rixen had forgotten to don a shirt. Scratch marks left behind by Morgan crisscrossed his chest, arms, neck, shoulders. Hell, they could probably smell the sex on him. He’d fucked her at least six times since his lastshower.
There wasn’t a chance in hell these men would believe the mating had been consensual. No. They had eyes. In their minds, a man like him could never persuade a gorgeous female like Morgan to open her thighs. Not withoutforce.
“Her mother is very worried about her.” Their hands crept closer to their weapons. “How’s about we come take a lookinside?”
Rixen propped his hands on either side of the doorframe. “Do you have awarrant?”
Silence ticked past. “You can bet we’ll be back withone.”
He didn’t budge from the doorway until both cops took their leave, their suspicion and alarm lingering in the air. As soon as they’d gained the clearing and left in their squad car, Rixen locked the door and moved at a fast clip toward the bedroom, guilt like a manacle around his neck. His poor Morgan. Would she hate him? Was sheuncomfortable?
No. She was neither of thosethings.
She wasgone.
Chapter Nine
Morgan
Morgan ranat full speed through the bayou, leaping over downed trees and dodging hanging vines. Tears clogged her throat and made it difficult to see. How could he? How could he put her in a closet and lie to the police? Especially after they told him her mother was worried? Selfish man. Selfishmonster.
The mental accusation made her feel bad, which was proof she’d lost her fucking mind! How could she have sympathy for a man who’d gagged her and locked her in a closet? He was a kidnapper, through and through. And she’d been a complete idiot for forgetting it. Worse than that, she’d…she’d fallen for him. Even now she could be carrying the man’s baby. Why did that give her a warm, happy feeling? She should want to shoot off his massive dick for trying to get her pregnant without so much as a conversation about thefuture.
There was a rustling in the brush to Morgan’s right and she skidded to a halt, her sides heaving with exertion. This was literally the worst episode ofNaked and Afraidever. Because in her shirt and no panties, that was essentially her condition. If she didn’t have malaria and a bite taken out of her by the time she reached some kind of civilization, she’d beshocked.
A bellow of anguish sounded in the distance—Rixen—and Morgan forgot all about the movement in the brush and started sprinting again. While browsing through Rixen’s extensive book collection, she’d come across a crude map of the bayou and knew there was a small town in this direction. Maybe she should have alerted the cops once she’d freed herself from the closet, but she’d been worried for their lives. No way would Rixen let them cart her off back to Key Largo. He’d kill them first. So she’drun.
After another three minutes of a flat-out sprint, Morgan’s feet started to hurt. The stickiness of the swamp air wouldn’t allow her to draw a decent breath, either. But that’s when she heard Rixen’s footsteps pounding after her, so she picked up the pace, pumping her arms andlegs—
Until that rustling in the brush grew louder. Louder. Followed by a terrifyinggrowl.
A cougar leapt into her path and Morgan let out a blood-curdlingscream.
Less than ten feet away, the animal bared its teeth, appearing ready to spring. Its coat was mangy and filthy, its fangs dripping with saliva. Hunger. A predator. And she was the prey. She went through a lifetime’s worth of Discovery Channel viewing and came up empty. Run or don’t move? What the hell was she supposed todo?
Turned out, the cougar didn’t care about her fight-or-flight instincts. It just wanted lunch. It lowered its body in a ready stance and leapt at Morgan. She closed her eyes and cried out, waiting for sharp teeth to sink into her skin. But the pain never came. Instead, there was a loud shout of denial and Morgan opened her eyes to find Rixen battling the cougar, rolling on the soft earth. Rixen’s muscles shone with sweat, bulging and shifting as he fought for supremacy. Animal versus animal. But the cougar was mightier than the alligator had been and not as easy to subdue. Its teeth found Rixen’s shoulder and slashed the skin, leaving blood pooling in theirwake.
Morgan snapped herself out of her horrified daze and searched the ground for a weapon, wanting to help Rixen even if he was a low-down, dirty kidnapper. He’d saved her life twice, hadn’t he? At the very least, she should return the favor. Before she could find a makeshift club or something sharp, however, Rixen gained the upper hand with a guttural curse and punched the animal across the face. Once, twice. Again, the cougar surged up, giving Rixen no choice but to end its life with a twist of his deadlygrip.
The bayou seemed to suspend all animation as Rixen stood and approached Morgan, blood trickling from his shoulder wound and another cut over his eye. “My gift,” he rasped. “I am sorry. Please come tome.”
Despite her anger at him, Morgan couldn’t help the chemical reaction that took place in her body, watching Rixen conquer an animal that’d wanted to kill her. The rush of lust was swift and consuming. She’d been protected by a superior being. Defended at the cost of injury. An instinct to praise those actions was undeniable, the way it had probably been within women since the beginning of time.Reward the male. Show him his worth. Show himyours.
Morgan gave a close-mouthed moan, her body shaking in its effort to coat her flesh between her thighs with moisture as fast as possible. Awareness prickled her skin with the need to have Rixen inside of her. She’d stopped running long minutes ago, but she breathed like she’d never stopped. Rixen watched the transformation happen in her beneath heavy eyelids, his flat male nipples turning to points, an erection filling out the front of hisjeans.
