AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It’s my turn to play lights out.
…Go.
twenty-five
Hailey
“Rory?”
Stumbling, I almost trip over an abandoned branch but catch myself at the last possible second, thanks to a randomly placed giant mound of dirt.
“Shit,” I curse, dusting off my hands and winding myself deeper into the woods. I could’ve sworn I saw her come this way, but when I hear a snap, I whip around and find nothing but more trees. Convenient, seeing as there are only a million of them.
I hug myself and after a moment of quiet, I continue on. Other than the tall ribs of timber, it’s only me. The air has chilled, sweeping in from the lake nearby, dropping the temperature drastically. My shoes have turned into a caked combination of spongy moss and mud.
Eventually, I shift, edging back toward where I’m sure I came from, but all of the trees have started to blur together. I could’ve been out here for minutes or hours. My world is currently warped in a sheet of black twilight.
My heart rate frazzles as my nerves shoot off at the sound of another snap from a twig. This one much, much closer.
Spinning again, my head grows dizzy the longer my sense of direction has time to fracture. I’m trapped in a maze of thick and heavy emptiness.
“Okay, Rory, this isn’t fun anymore. Let’s go back home,” I somehow manage to rush out even if my teeth have started to chatter.
I thought this would be fun. We messed with the boys, but I’m ready to go back now and have the warmth of safety in securely hugging my son.
My gut swirls as more bubbles of nerves pop to life. Goose bumps climb, meeting the hairs on the back of my neck that already stand straight.
“…Boo.”
A broken gasp leaps from deep within my stomach. What air I have left in my lungs as heavy as lead.
“Gotcha, Williams,” Finn tuts behind me. The sound of his nickname for me going off like a bell, striking my very soul to its core. My very being, my very foundation, clangs off-balance.
He’s right here, touching me, but not as he continues to lean in from behind me.
I’m bone weary and drained. Finn’s spite radiates off him so powerfully that I feel it more than the leaden ire of the words on his tongue.
In, out. In, out. In, out.
His warm breath continues to pepper the flesh of my ear and down the nape of my neck. I thought my nerves earlier were in a frenzy. Well, now they’re nonexistent. The faint smell of whiskey twinges my nostrils with each new draw of air.
The atmosphere around us turns palpable. My senses are heightened, and I’m aware of him everywhere.
“So…predictable.” Finn finally decides, as if musing over the correct word to use. His voice is soft but not any less patronizing.
A chill shoots all the way to my toes like the strike of a match. That word,predictable,sticks to my skin the same way it clings to his tongue. Was he talking about me or himself?
I don’t turn around because if I’ve learned anything by living by the ocean, it’s that you don’t need to be in the storm for it to strike.
“Following me again? Howpredictableof you,” I retort, the words stinging as they tumble from my mouth before I can stop them. I say it knowing better than to poke a beast when it has its prey cornered, but I hate how vulnerable this one word has made me feel. Instead, I use it against him to avoid my own penance.
A knot of heat and need between my thighs suddenly cripple me. When he rounds me, my heart gives a desperate thump. His eyes are wolfish, alert and so stunning. The deep green watches me so sharply he could cut me with the intensity.
“You thought I was referring to myself?” he barks out with a heinous laugh. I take a small step back and he echoes, matching my footing. “Ah, Hailey, it seems you’ve swallowed too much salt water in your years of absence.”
My heartbeat climbs to a dangerous speed as his hand clamps around my neck like a vise and I’m moving backward, confined to his shackle until my back slams against the base of a tree. A combination of both pain and desire claws at my spine.
Confusion. Panic. My knees have grown weak at my sudden need for him, and I have to squeeze my thighs together. What is happening? I haven’t felt anything remotely close to this in a long time.
