AllFreeNovel
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I’m up.
I try to run past him, hoping to make it to the front door, but he catches me by the left wrist.
“Fuck you,” I say and take a swing at him.
Add this to my bucket list. Fistfights.
I punch him in the eye, my knuckles connecting hard, and he swears.
I let out a blood-curdling scream.
“Charlie!” I inhale again. “Charlie, help—”
A hand slaps across my mouth. My scream smothered. I struggle to break free, trying to pull away as his arm hooks around my stomach. The man pins me back against him. My bare feet drag the ground. I fight against him but he’s strong.
“Leave before someone gets hurt,” he says in my ear. “Before it’s too late.” His voice isn’t mean or angry like I expected. Instead, it’s gentle, hesitant.
Adrenaline spikes, causing my heart to race. Its beat is shaky, and my head spins, dizziness spreading through me. I’ve never heard a heartbeat get this loud. It pounds in my head. I can feel the soft spot on my throat pulsing.
“No,” I whimper, my mouth muffled by the man’s palm. “Please,” I beg. “Please, stop ...”
It’s too much, too much for my heart.
The room sways left and right as my vision warps into a sparkly tunnel slowly being eaten up by blackness. I can’t speak, I can’t scream. There’s a ringing in my ears that I know all too well. My head lolls as I fight to stay conscious. A softuhnnnparts my lips. I go limp against the man holding me, unable to fight the unconsciousness creeping over me like a black lake.
“Fuck.” The voice is shaky. Afraid. “Miss Ruby?”
Miss Ruby.
“Charlie,” I gasp.
My breath stalls. My heart stops.
Then I faint away into darkness.
“Ruby!”
Blackness ebbs. My eyelids fight to open. That’s when I realize I’m on the floor of my cottage.
Cradled in the arms of a cowboy.
Charlie’s ragged voice breaks through my semi-consciousness. “Ruby. Ruby, baby, talk to me. Open your eyes, Sunflower,” he begs. “Let me see those pretty baby blues.”
The world swims. My head lolls against a hard chest, and a moan splits my lips. I hear a sharp intake of breath.
My entire body comes alive hearing Charlie’s voice, like a flower in desperate need of the sun. When I open my eyes, I see Charlie’s worried face staring down at me.
“Thank fucking God,” he rasps.
A curse, a prayer, a combination of the two.
“My heart,” I croak.
My trembling hand moves to my throat, and Charlie’s hand follows. His cool palm cups the curve of my throat, where my pulse pumps at a frenetic rhythm.
I try to focus on him, but I can’t. Drifting between consciousness and unconsciousness, my eyes roll back, my wrist sags to the ground.
“Eyes on me.” Charlie’s demand is urgent, desperate. “Keep ‘em open, you hear me?” His frantic hands race over my body as he positions me on his lap.
