Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 108721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
“There's no one there,” I murmur and then ask, “Who kidnapped you?”
She shoves at my chest again, tears trailing down her cheeks. I don’t want to let her go, but it’s obvious touching her is making things worse. “Let me go. Please, let me go!”
With a sigh I soften my grasp, and she tugs her arms free like a thread through the eye of a needle. Studying her, I notice more rope, this time hanging off her right ankle. It looks cut. I survey the area for any other clues, and my gaze catches on something shiny. That's when I see the blade of a small knife she’s wielding in her hand.
My gaze shifts almost involuntarily to the gray bodysuit she's wearing. Spaghetti straps and silk hug her body. Lace panel cut-outs give me glimpses of bare, goosebumped flesh, and I have to swallow hard.
Shit. What the fuck is going on?
I reach for her again, mainly because I need to touch her to ensure she’s real, and maybe touching her will give me an answer because I need to know what the fuck is happening. Is she out here to play? Was she planted here? I don’t get very far because she releases a screech of pure terror and swings the knife toward me like she thinks I’m going to hurt her.
With a long exhale, I snatch her wrist, the one holding the knife, and tug her back against my chest. At the very least to give her some of my body heat. Her skin is ice cold now that the sun has set. How long has she been out here?
“If you cut me before I'm ready to play I'm going to get mad, and then I’ll have to punish you,” I hiss.
She jerks against me and freezes, her wrist still caught in my grasp.
Is she finally giving up? Then, like her fight or flight has been activated, she moves with precision, twisting her wrist hard, forcing me to lose my grip. The knife knicks my suit jacket, and all I can do is shake my head. Fucking hell, I thought she was done destroying my clothing.
I don't have enough time to grab her again, and like the bunny she’s dressed as she scampers off into the woods. Adrenaline races in my veins, awakening needs and desires I'd spent the last couple of days burying.
My instincts beg me to give in, to chase her down and claim her, but if I do that, it’s over. She will be mine whether she wants it or not, and that baby inside her will be mine, as well.
Her body, her soul, her life. All fucking mine.
It's not a choice but a need. A bone-deep ache I can't reject. I have no other choice. I can’t let her go. The possibility that someone else might find her and claim her makes me murderous.. I strip off my jacket, hanging it on a low tree branch, and tuck the flashlight into my pants pocket.
Then I start to walk, my steps slow but without hesitation. I know this property and have been playing this game since I was a teenager. She can’t escape me. Not at my own game. I watch curiously as she cuts a path through the trees.
She's fast, faster than I thought she'd be, I'll give her that.
Desire ripples through me, bringing with it heat. I tug the tie I’m wearing loose, letting it hang limply around my neck. I choose not to toss it as it might come in handy later. Depending upon how squirmy she is. I cut around the trees, going left to see if I can cut her off if I move quickly enough. The sheath of my favorite knife rubs against my ankle, reminding me that it’s there.
Something hot and molten fills my veins, igniting things I've been suppressing. It's as if my world shifts on its axis like I've been waiting for this very moment, this one perfect second, to come back to myself.
Of course it would be my Ely who brings me home.
“You can’t hide from me, Ely. I know these woods like the back of my hand.” I taunt.
Leaning into those feelings, I finally race after her, closing the distance between us. She hasn't looked back once, and it only takes a minute to catch her around the waist, lifting her off her feet and taking her down to the cold-packed earth.
There's a soft bed of leaves beneath us, but I know she'll be aching from the hit tomorrow. Being that she’s pregnant, I can’t risk hurting her out here, or at all, so while I want to unleash myself on her, I remind myself that I must maintain control and be gentle. Something I have no experience being.
“Look what I caught, a little rabbit.”
She, on the other hand, doesn’t think she has to be gentle, and swipes at me with the knife. I roughly lever my weight off her, pressing my hips into hers and anchoring her arms to the forest floor.