“This is the thanks I get for checking on you?” He tilts his head. “Don’t be like that, Lainey.”
“I’ll be however I want to be.”
“What about our walk tonight?”
“Canceled so hard.”
Manny ambles toward me, but he’s brought up short by a low growl from nearby in the woods. His face goes white, his body stilling. “Is that him?”
I smile. “Back up or you’re going to find out.”
The counselor’s face contorts with disgust. “We all saw him last night. That what turns you on? A fucking monster?” He steps away, swiping a hand over his twisted mouth. “We thought he was just some legend, but now that we know he’s real, some of the boys and I are going looking for him tonight. Can’t have some freak scaring the kids, can we? The next person he takes might not come back.”
For all Manny’s big boy talk, he’s sure whispering pretty quietly so Carver won’t hear him. Still, my stomach bottoms over the news. How many men are going along on this search for Carver? Enough to handle him, despite his size? What are they planning to do? “Leave him alone,” I say, my voice vibrating. “The stories are bullshit. He didn’t hurt me. Stay away from him.”
“So sweet how protective you are,” he sneers. “Nothing is going to protect him from us.”
“No,” I breathe, clutching at my chest.
But Manny has already turned and walked away, taking a path that leads away from the wooded area. I turn to the forest, hoping to catch sight of Carver, but I no longer feel his presence. He’s…gone?
“Lainey!” the campers shout in a chorus behind me. “Come on!”
With one last desperate glance toward the woods, I tell myself I won’t let anything happen to Carver. Tonight, I’ll go back to him. He needs to be warned.
Who knew I would be too late.
Chapter Seven
Carver
I stomp through the forest with even less grace than usual, sending small animals scurrying in every direction. There’s an awful pinch in my side that I haven’t inspected yet, but I can only think of finding my Lainey. Holding her. She’s not supposed to return to me until Saturday night, but waiting isn’t an option. I need her so badly, my head is turning inside out. Every second pushes me closer to insanity. Last time I saw her, she was standing in that tempting red bikini, her beautiful face in distress, and I only want to cure her of it.
A twig snaps to my left and I hear a sob. It’s a familiar one, too. I remember it from last night when Lainey was in pain after falling and hitting her head. It occurs to me in a sickening flash that the men who attacked me tonight could have also tried to harm Lainey—and the possibility has me battering a tree with my fist, its roots ripping out the ground at my feet.
“Lainey!”
“Carver?”
My heart hammers back to life in my chest as she comes stumbling through the trees, her arms wrapped around herself to stave off the cold. Without waiting, I scoop her up into my arms and begin rubbing warmth back into her limbs. “Princess, you should not be out here on such a cold night.” I search her for injuries—didn’t I hear her sob before? “Are you safe? Did they come after you? I should not have spared them—”
“I’m okay.” She clasps my face between her hands and I notice the tears in her eyes for the first time. “I was worried about you. I left as soon as the girls were asleep to warn you they were coming, b-but they’d already left. Oh God, I’ve been so scared something happened to you.”
“You are crying for me?”
My question seems to make everything worse. “Of course I am.” She wiggles until I set her down. “What happened? Did they—” Her breath leaves her in a rush as she prods my side. “You’re hurt. Oh God, you’re bleeding.”
“I feel no pain,” I say honestly. How can I feel anything but pleasure when this girl cries for me? “They brought only five men. It wasn’t much of a challenge for me.”
Her laughter is watery. “This is all your fault, you know. You just had to abduct me in front of everyone. Couldn’t you have waited until nighttime, at least?” She peels up my shirt, wincing at my injury. “No one would have known and you wouldn’t be bleeding right now.”
“I apologize, princess.” I brush hair away from her tear-stained face. “It was my first kidnapping.”
She peers up at me through her eyelashes. “If they took the time to know you, they wouldn’t think you’re a-a—”
“A monster?” I tilt her chin up. “I only care what you think of me.”
“I think you’re beautiful.” I’m still reeling when she says, “I want to know how you got your scars. Will you tell me?”
A sound leaves my throat, images of glinting silver assaulting me. “It’s not a pretty story. It doesn’t belong in your beautiful head.”
“My story isn’t that pretty, either. I can take it.” She takes me by the hand and I let her lead me away. “But first I’m going to bandage you up.”
I don’t know where Lainey is taking me, and I don’t care. I’ll follow her to the ends of the earth, so I’m content to watch her cute backside swish back and forth in the moonlight and marvel over the fact that she’s mine. The solitude I’ve known for so long in the woods has come to an end as of tonight, but that’s a problem I will solve tomorrow. I’ll do whatever I have to do to keep Lainey, though. That is a fact set in stone.
After about ten minutes of walking around the camp perimeter, we reach a small cabin, with a sign on the door that reads INFIRMARY. Lainey pulls a key ring out of her pocket, unlocks the door and goes inside, turning on a dim lamp that fills the room with a glow. I duck through the tiny doorframe behind her, taking in the room full of beds, the shelves full of medicine and supplies. Without sitting on one of the beds, I know they will not hold my weight easily, so I pull my shirt off and lean back against the counter. Lainey has been collecting antiseptic and bandages from the shelf, but when she turns and sees me naked from the waist up, she gasps and freezes.
“I’ve never seen you in the light before.” She rolls her lips together. “You have so much hair.”
“There’s a lot of me to cover.”
Her laughter is halting. “You don’t say.” When she comes closer, I see that her nipples are in tight peaks, causing my cock to lengthen, preparing to fuck my mate. “Oh, wow. Okay,” she says, watching the front of my pants tent. “I guess your injury isn’t that bad?”
“I could hack off a limb and still get hard for you while I’m bleeding out.”
Her mouth forms an O. “How…romantic.”
I grunt, trying to decide if she’s being serious. Her nipples are still hard and her thighs won’t stay still in those tight, black shorts, so I don’t think she minded what I said. Still, the reminder about being romantic reminds me of something. “I brought you a gift.”
She sets down what she’s holding on the counter. “You did?”
Nodding, I pull the present out of my pocket, holding it up. “For you.”
“Is that hair?” Her nose wrinkles, but it’s not long before understanding dawns on her face. “Is that…Manny’s ponytail?”
“Yes.” Just thinking of the way he looked at her this afternoon tightens bolts in my temples until red bleeds into my vision. It took all my willpower not to crush his skull on the banks of the lake, but I knew murdering him in front of the campers would displease Lainey. “He will not bother you again.”
Finally, she accepts the ponytail, laying it down on the counter. “Is he…did you…?”
“He is alive, but in considerable pain.” After not touching Lainey for so long, I’m starting to grow restless, so I snag a finger in her tiny shorts and pull her close, sighing when she lays a cheek on my belly. “He lusted for what is mine. His consequences were well deserved.”
I’m alarmed when her body begins to shake, until I realize she’s laughing. “Some guys show up with roses. You bring me hair.”
“Roses are more traditional, are they?” My mouth feels unfamiliar. I’m…smiling. “These are things I will learn.”
“Don’t. Don’t learn anything. Don’t…change.” Ducking her head, she pulls away and prepares a bandage before coming back and pressing it to my wound. I can’t take my attention off her, she’s so beautiful in her concentration, a little line running down the middle of her eyebrows. My dick is still firm and pulsing with blood, but now I’m torn between wanting to fuck her and rock her like a baby. “Will you tell me about the scars now?”
Pressure eases down on my chest, my throat closing. “I was always bigger than everyone. Much bigger. It was…hard. Whenever someone new moved to my neighborhood in Detroit and wanted to prove themselves, they picked a fight with me. I never lost and people started to hate me. Fear me.” I swallow and focus on the sensation of her fingers on my side. “I thought things would be different when I joined the Marines. Thought they might have some value for my size. And they did.” I pause, recalling the title I haven’t used in a decade. “Lance Corporal Carver Shade at your service.”