Roman-2(Lane Brothers, Book 5)(27)

Ten minutes later and after a team of ten—men I hadn’t even known were there, they are so silent—sweep the cabin and the surrounding area, I almost wish Wesley had had the balls to put my woman in there.

“Empty. Fuck.”

***

Ash

“Please, Jesus, don’t let him get me.”

Darkness. Everywhere. Surrounding me. Pushing down on me like a living blanket that suffocates me with every inhalation I can stutter through my constricted chest.

I want to cry and scream, rage against Wesley and his passive violence, but I can’t manage a sound as I crawl through the blackness enveloping me.

I’m trapped, stuck in the middle of nowhere, doomed to crawl through these trees all night, alone and so scared I feel my bladder cramp brutally.

He’d dragged me out of the car, literally, on my back for so long the skin on my shoulder blades is raw and suspiciously sticky. That hadn’t been the worst, though. No, he’d then proceeded to dump me in the middle of nowhere before ripping my engagement ring from my finger and running away, leaving me alone and bound, scrambling to retrace his steps as darkness fell.

That had been so long ago. At least he’d done me a solid by cutting the cable ties from around my ankles, but it’s not much use when I keep falling or running into trees I can barely see.

When a twig snaps somewhere to my left I freeze and hold my breath, whimpering, squinting into the darkness for the tell-tale glint of a machete.

Yeah, I know it’s ridiculous to be afraid of a fictional character, but it’s no use trying to tell myself it’s just make believe. In my mind he’s a living, breathing entity that’s silently stalking me through the pitch black woods surrounding me.

I crawl forward on my knees and elbows, breathing heavily as I try to find my way. It’s literally impossible to see my hands in front of my face, it’s so dark.

“Please, Jesus, don’t let me suffer here,” I beg, falling onto my face. “Please just give me a sliver of moonlight.”

It doesn’t happen because, of course, if there is any I can’t see it for the freaking thick canopy above me. When something furry scuttles across my bound hands, trailing a tail, I give up any pretense of calm and scream bloody murder, jumping to my feet and forward in a mad dash for any place but the area inhabited by that furry critter.

Now you know I’m crying hysterically and begging for help, miraculously not hitting any trees, when suddenly I hit a brick wall with muscular arms and tree trunks for legs.

“Nooo!”

Thrashing and kicking out at the monster rampaging through my head, I struggle to get away in the hopes of dashing for safety. The arms tighten instead and I act on instinct, sinking my teeth into what feels like a pectoral muscle and bite down as viciously as possible.

“Jesus, love, leave off, would you!”

What I feel in that moment is crushing relief and an aching recognition that steals every rational thought but the most basic of all. My man has come for me; he’s saving me from the monsters in the dark and the villains in my head.

He’s come for me, and I no longer have to keep myself together because his strong arms are here to hold me up and chase the demons away.

“Lucian?”

“It’s okay love. Shh, don’t cry, my darling, I have you,” he whispers, crushing me closer and stroking my hair as I fall apart and attempt to crawl right into his skin. “I have you, baby. Shh, don’t cry.”

Can you blame me for pushing closer and ceding the battle? Is it pathetically stupid to fall into his heat and give up the last vulnerable piece of the heart now pounding in my chest?

Maybe, but right at this moment I don’t give a damn. I’m safe and protected, and for the sake of not feeling so alone, I’m willing to give him everything I have just to see where it will take me.





Chapter Seventeen




Luc

I’ve never felt this happy and furious at the same time. The emotions are stronger than any I’ve ever experienced, and not because I’ve not felt these things before but because the intensity is far beyond anything I’ve known.

After seeing the empty, rotten bowels of that cabin I’d been ready to lose all sense of sanity. I’d looked into the darkness of the woods and felt my head spin with the desperation of a drowning man, when the shrill scream of my girl had lit the air, making the hair at my nape stand straight on end.

We’d all run toward that sound, ready to defend against any attack. Honestly, I’d been ready to rip her father apart with my bare hands before assessing the damage to her and getting her to the nearest hospital.

Thankfully what I’d stumbled upon was nothing worse than my frightened baby, running pell-mell in the inky darkness because some unseen animal had crawled over her skin.