Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 94513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
“She’s not this way. Than went down the middle, Oz is on the east side, and Forge went on the front right side of the house.”
They were all out here, and no one had found her yet? Fuck!
My heart was hammering so hard in my chest that I could hear it.
She was out here, alone somewhere. I had to find her. Moving toward the middle, which was a direct path from the backyard, I decided it was the most likely way she’d have gone.
She had to be okay. She fucking had to be okay.
“I GOT HER!” Than shouted.
I broke into a run toward the sound of his voice. Shoving branches and scanning the darkness until I saw him. His arm was around her. She was wrapped in a towel.
Ignoring him, I scooped her up into my arms. Wide eyes stared up at me. Her face was streaked with tears. The sorrow shining in them ripped at my soul.
What had happened?
“She was sitting on a log,” Than said.
I couldn’t say anything just yet. At least not to him. To any of them. They’d done something. She had been so fucking upset that she walked into the woods.
“You’re back.” Her voice was raspy.
“I am.”
She sighed and rested her head against my chest. “I’ll leave. You can stay.”
My arms tightened around her. Like fucking hell she was going anywhere. But we’d discuss that later. Right now, I had to get her home.
Oz stepped in front of me, coming from another direction, and walked toward my truck. He opened the driver’s door, then nodded his head for me to go to the passenger side. I didn’t argue. Letting her go wasn’t something I wanted to do.
When I reached the truck, Ransom opened the passenger door for us, and I climbed inside. He closed us in, and Oz headed toward the house.
“What happened?” I bit out, fucking livid with every damn one of them.
“Don’t know,” he replied and glanced at me. “But she hasn’t been eating much or saying a lot. Before you start taking swings, you might want to look in a mirror.”
When I winced, my arms flexed, and she stared up at me.
I tried to leave, little brother. This is what happened. She needs me.
I pressed a kiss to her forehead, not giving one fuck about Oz seeing it. They were all gonna have to accept it. I’d tried. I couldn’t turn this off.
He barely rolled to a stop when I swung open the door and climbed out.
“I can walk,” she said softly.
“No, you can’t,” I replied. Because I needed to hold her. It was all that was keeping me calm.
“He’d have wanted it to be you,” Oz called out behind me, and I stilled but didn’t turn around. “He wouldn’t have wanted her to do this alone. He’d have wanted her taken care of. And he would have wanted it to be you. If someone else got to love her, you’d have been his choice.”
My chest burned. I started walking again and didn’t slow down until we were in my bedroom. I sank down with her on the large black leather chair that sat in the corner of my room. She tried to get up, and I shook my head, not loosening my grip. I wasn’t ready to talk just yet. I pressed my lips to her head again and inhaled.
“Bane,” she said.
“Yeah?” I replied, my voice thick with emotion.
“What are you doing?”
The corner of my mouth twitched. Acting like a fucking psycho. “Holding you.”
She let out a shaky breath. “Um, I got that. I meant, why are you holding me?”
That was a loaded question. I wasn’t sure she wanted that truth just yet.
“You scared me.”
“I’m sorry.”
I closed my eyes. Was Oz right? I wanted him to be. I really fucking wanted him to be.
“Why did you walk into the woods, pretty girl?” I asked her, moving back so I could see her face.
The surprised look on her face made me smile. God, I’d missed her.
I brushed my thumb over her cheekbone. “You not gonna tell me?”
She licked her lips, her eyes searching my face. “You called me pretty girl.”
“I did.”
When she didn’t say anything else, only staring up at me with uncertainty, I traced her lips with my finger. “Talk to me.”
She inhaled deeply. “I wasn’t sure. I debated back and forth, but it was real. Not just my dreams. You were in my bed.”
“You remember the other nights?”
She nodded. “Yes. But I thought I was dreaming. You called me pretty girl and sweet girl.”
“How do you feel about that? Knowing I was getting in your bed while you slept. Touching you.”
Her chest rose and fell. “I … I liked it.”
I chuckled. “You did, huh?”
She nodded.
“I put my cum in your mouth. Had you suck it off my thumb.”
She bit her bottom lip and lowered her lashes. “I know,” she replied. “There was some on my stomach … and I tried some of it.”