Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 34025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
“I’m all right. It’s nothing.”
I pulled her into my arms. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left you alone.”
“But you got Martin, right?” She gazed up at my face. I expected to see tears in her eyes, but they were dry. She offered me a small smile.
“Yeah,” I said. “I got him.”
“Then the plan worked.”
She was right. It had worked.
And yet…
I wiped the drop of blood from her chin and looked deep into her blue eyes.
“Did Duke touch you?”
“No. He wasn’t up here for long. I heard him coming up the stairs and then hid until I saw a chance to knock the gun out of his hand.”
“Where is the gun?”
She shrugged. “Somewhere on the ground? Anyway, he hit me, and I pretended to pass out. When he turned his back on me, I pushed him.”
My head swam as I mentally rifled through all the ways that situation could have gone differently. All things considered, it could have been a lot worse. I felt lightheaded all of a sudden, and I almost started laughing. It didn’t help that I’d had no sleep and was running on rage and adrenaline—and the trauma. Couldn’t forget about that.
I kissed her forehead and then her lips.
“I’m so proud of you, my brave girl.”
The nightmare was finally over. We had nothing else to fear out here in the wilderness. We’d survived the most difficult test of our lives.
But I had to wonder how this experience was going to change us.
Could we live with the people we’d become?
Chapter 9
Willow
Despite everything my dad had been through, he insisted on carrying me back to our campsite. He didn’t want me to bruise my feet further by walking back barefoot through the woods. I laid my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes, lulled into a state of detachment by the reassuring crunch-crunch of his boots. Being carried through the woods felt like floating through a dream. I wished it had all been a bad dream.
Well, maybe not all of it…
It took us a few hours to reach the campsite. While neither of us said as much, I knew we both wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. I couldn’t glance at the firepit without shivering. After changing our clothes and packing up the gear, we ate a quick breakfast of granola bars and then set off down the trail, back toward the ranger station. I wasn’t looking forward to the three-day hike ahead of us; I just wanted to be home, in my own bed, surrounded by familiar things.
“Speak up if you see anyone,” he said. I assumed he was just warning me to stay alert until he added, “They might have a sat phone we can use.”
“Use for what?”
“To call the Park Service. We have to report this.”
I almost lost my breakfast. The thought of relaying all the terrifying, disgusting, and embarrassing details to a stranger made me feel sick. Realistically, I knew my dad was right. Our DNA was all over the campsite and the fire tower, not to mention the bodies of the men who attacked us. As much as I wanted to leave it all behind and forget, it wouldn’t look right to the investigators if we left Wyoming without saying anything.
We hiked in silence, stopping only to filter and refill our water bottles. Neither of us was in a particularly talkative mood. I got the feeling we were both trying to process the last twenty-four hours now that the adrenaline had worn off.
Afternoon bled into evening. We picked a random spot at sundown and set up the tents but didn’t start a fire. Technically, boondocking—camping on public land outside of a designated campground—wasn’t allowed in Yellowstone, but recent events had obviously messed with our itinerary. We wanted to cover as much ground as quickly as possible and get back to the ranger station. And if we happened to attract the attention of a ranger out on patrol? Even better.
I made it twenty-three minutes by myself in my own tent the first night before I begged my dad to join me. I didn’t plan to have sex with him again. It just happened. Pressed up against him in the dark, listening to the rain patter on the rainfly, I felt his cock harden against my hip through his clothing. Simply knowing he was aroused made my clit pulse and my insides tighten. I slid my hand along his abdomen and kissed his neck. He tensed for a moment before reaching down to tease me through my leggings while I rubbed him. Soon, our tongues were tangled like our clothing at the base of the tent.
“Oh god… It’s too good,” I huffed, as his fingers curled inside me while his thumb simultaneously caressed my swollen clit.
“Do you want me to stop?”
I shook my head. I didn’t care how wrong it was. It felt right at that moment to be pinned between the hard ground and my dad’s long, thick fingers. My hand tightened around his cock as he thrust into my fist. He made me come twice that night, once on his fingers and then again while taking me from behind.