Page 7

Chapter Six

MAVERICK

T he most beautiful cries I’ve ever heard float around me while I trek through the woods. I’ve been at this for weeks now, and I’m over it. Mainly over the loneliness, and man, I’m horny as fuck too. My beard has grown out longer than I’ve ever had and the only shower I was able to take was days ago at an abandoned truck stop.

The whimpers get louder the farther I walk, and it makes me hard, my cock presses against the zipper of my pants. The closer I get, the easier it is to make out what the woman is blubbering on about; in the distance, I see figures in a clearing. Some I can recognize as men, so I pull the gun from my waistband and make sure it’s loaded. I haven’t had to use it once since I burned my house down, and I’m hoping I still won’t need to use the precious ammo. I walk out of the trees and into a small clearing where three men are standing surrounding a woman tied to the trees in nothing but a pair of pink holographic heels on her feet. It’s silent for a moment while we all stare at each other, and I take my time looking over the beautiful creature laid out in front of me.

Her blonde hair is long and down to her waist; it’s dirty with leaves and twigs stuck in it. She’s thin but has an athletic build to her, and I guess she may have some gymnastics or dance training with her muscle tone. Her blue eyes look like little pools of crystal blue water as tears fall from them down her face. She makes eye contact with me, those weeping sapphires pleading for help, and in that moment I decide she’s mine. I take a step closer to her, and the blonde one in the middle speaks up.

“Hey man! There’s plenty to go around over here; we really don’t mind sharing.” I tilt my head and look up at the woman, seeing the truth about what this whole situation is. Stepping closer, I look over each of the assholes standing guard in front of her. Her pouty lips open to speak, but a hard smack slams across her ass, making her screech in pain and making me see fucking red. “She deserves everything she has coming to her, so you might as well join in with us.” Blonde boy waves his arms at the whimpering woman, showcasing her like a rare art piece up for auction.

I take it as an invitation and walk up to the woman, almost eye level with her pretty eyes. Sliding my hand along the outside of her thigh makes her tremble like she’s never been touched by a man before. Her body stiffens beneath mine like she’s preparing for me to rain pain down on her.

“Look at me, little one.” I demand of her. Her tearful eyes sweeping to mine, pleading so prettily for help. For a knight in shining armor to save her. That makes something snap inside of me, my hand grabbing her thigh tightly while the other one holds my gun firmly inside it. “You’re going to be okay, you got me?” I say so low that I see the wheels turning in her head, trying to understand. She sniffles and nods her head at me in acknowledgment. “I need you to close your eyes. Do you think you can do that for me, beautiful?” I say with a tilt of my head, the hand that was clutching her thigh coming up and grasping her chin, forcing her to look at me. She tries to nod her head in acknowledgement again. Fuck that. I want to hear her words. I want to hear what her voice sounds like while thick with tears, so I shake my head, “Use your words.” I growl. She takes a deep shuttering breath before her melodic voice tells me she understands. The sound goes straight to my already hard dick. When she squeezes her eyes shut, I raise the gun, aim it at the blond man holding a knife by his side, and pull the trigger. A bullet is embedded in his head, and he drops like a sad sack of potatoes. The other men stand there stunned, making it easy to pick them each off next in quick succession. All the while the beauty next to me screams at the top of her lungs.

I tuck the gun back into my waistband and reach up, pressing my hand against the woman’s mouth, silencing her ear-piercing screams. Her eyes fly open, more tears spilling from her eyes as she whimpers into my hands. Her feet slipping on the stump, sending her swinging to the side until I wrap an arm around her legs to steady her. “Shh, little one. You’re going to wake the dead if you don’t stop fucking screaming.” I say to her and wait until she’s quiet before removing my hand from her mouth. I step up onto the stump with her, my arm around her waist, reaching into the strap of my pack for the knife that I keep there. Flicking it open, I cut the rope from her left arm and then her right. Both arms flopping down at her sides like dead fish. A sob creeps out of her mouth from what I’m assuming is the blood rushing back into her limbs from hanging there as long as she was.

After ensuring that no stray splinters will get stuck in her ass, I assist her in descending from the stump on unsteady legs and place her on its edge. She squeezes her thighs closed, trying to mold them together, and wraps her arms around her chest, shielding herself from view. Her pretty head hangs down between her shoulder blades, hair falling over her face like a curtain trying to hide her from me. I crouch down before her and sweep her hair behind her ears, grip her face in both of my hands, and tilt it up towards me. She sniffles and shivers in my grasp as I look her over. She tries to pull away, trying so hard to hide from me, but I won’t allow that shit, so I grip her face tighter.

“Where are you from, sweetheart?” I soften my voice like I’m coaxing a skittish animal out of hiding.

“L-Louisiana.” She manages to stutter out. “But I don’t know where I am now. They knocked me out and then took me, so I have no idea how long we drove for.” Her voice cracks as she finishes talking. Fuck me. I know she’s going to freak out when I tell her she’s not in Louisiana anymore. She seems young, college-age if I had to guess.

“Welcome to Alabama.” I say with a soft smile. She stares at me like I have three heads and starts shaking her head, repeating no over and over. Fuck, she’s panicking. Guess I called that one. I brace one hand on the stump next to her and grip her chin firmly with the other before I get in her face. “Breathe, baby.” I command her, her pupils blowing as she stares at me. “Come on, you can do it. In.” I mimic how I want her to breathe by inhaling slowly and then blowing it back out. “Out. That’s a good girl.” I praise her when her breathing becomes normal again. Her small hand comes up and wraps around my wrist, holding on for dear life. “You’re okay. You’re mine now, and I always take care of what’s mine.” I lift the hand that I braced on the stump to run my fingers through her knotted hair, somehow still soft and silky after everything she’s been through.

“Thank you.” She whispers, her soft voice floating on the wind.

“What’s your name? Unless you want me to call you, little one, for the rest of your life.” That makes a small chuckle come from her throat, bobbing against the hand that I have held there. I let go of her neck and sit back on my haunches, studying her.

“Mallory. You?”

“Maverick… But I think I prefer that you call me sir.” A blush rushes to her cheeks at that, running down her neck and chest. Her rosy nipples harden, making my cock jump from the sight.

“Okay… sir.” The way she says Sir almost has me mauling her right there on the fucking stump. I’ve been called Sir before, but not like this. Aspen did it to appease me because she didn’t like being punished. The way Mallory says it is like she wants to say it, and she believes that’s what I am.

“Let’s find you something to wear and get the fuck out of here.” I grab her hand in mine, and we head towards the log cabin in search of some sort of clothing. Hopefully finding some shoes too, because the ones on her feet are going to make her break a damn ankle.

I drag her through the back door of the cabin, heels clacking against the wooden floor as I lead her over to the couch. She follows behind me like a lost puppy, and it almost warms my icy heart just a bit. “Sit. I’ll look around; see what I can find.” Looking back at her on the couch, she’s slouched into herself, like she’s hoping the couch will swallow her whole. I head towards the first door in front of me, pushing the knob open. The whole damn room is empty, besides some smears of mud and a few red spots that I deduce to be blood. This must have been where they kept her before they tied her up in the trees. I slam the door a little too hard and then grasp the knob on the door next to it, pushing it open so hard it slams against the wall behind it. Thank fuck there’s a bed and a dresser in this one. Rummaging through the dresser, I found some black sweats and a gray T-shirt. She will be swimming in these, but it’s better than walking through the woods naked. I find a thick pair of socks stuffed in the far corner of the drawer and grab those as well and head back towards her.

She hasn’t moved an inch from where I left her; I feel a sense of pride seeing that she has followed my commands even if it was unintentional. I kneel on my knees in front of her and undo the clasps from her heels that are around her thin ankles before sliding them both off her feet. Red marks adorn her ankles where the straps have rubbed her pale skin raw. I slip the socks over her feet first, rolling the cuffs down so she doesn’t look like a little old lady in the tube socks. Slipping the pants up her legs, I direct her to stand so I can tug them over her small but luscious ass. It bounces slightly when the waistband gets stuck on it. Once they are loosely in place around her waist, I tie the strings tight in an effort to hold them up. Lastly, I direct her to hold her arms up before pulling the T-shirt down her torso, her nipples hardening with the intimate action of being dressed by someone else. She stares down at her toes, her face flushed, and her hands twist in front of her. She’s ashamed, and it pisses me the fuck off.