Page 36 of Chalk Outline

“I forgot to tell you,” she whispers.

“What?” I search between her hooded eyes.

“Winona…? Is that you?” A tall woman approaches, and I immediately recognize the other two following her. The triad from school. The girls who pretended to be her friends. “Won’t you introduce us to your bodyguard?”

They inch closer. All wear studded dresses, probably heading to a party.

Winona spins around to face them. “Nope,” she giggles and playfully taps her finger on the woman’s nose. “He’s mine. Now shoo.”

Damn right.

I’m pulled out of my thoughts when we reach her tower.

Sometimes, a single word or moment can send me back in time. I don’t always end up where I want to be. The memories with her are sweet and peaceful, but others are cold and twisted.

I crouch down and lower her unconscious body to the ground, then place the precious backpack she swore me to protect beside her.I almost got tased for that thing.

A grin pulls at my lips.

Damn you, I’ll let you tase me as many times as you want.

I caress her cheek with the pad of my thumb, enjoying the sensation of her soft skin against mine. Her long lashes rest against it, and nothing disturbs her overthinking mind. I trace the curves of her perfect heart-shaped lips, taking my time before my thumb trails up her cute, upturned nose.

So hauntingly beautiful.

I breathe in the musky scent wafting from her skin, shutting my eyes and letting it fill my chest. I wanted to feel pain in every way possible, but it never hurt enough, like saying goodbye to her.

My soul screamed for me to return.

I missed her every minute of every day.

I part my lips, fighting the lump in my throat to tell her, “I came from nothing, and you are my everything.”

Chapter six

Winona Bishop

Who Are You — SVRCINA

The daunting sound of a snake hissing jolts me out of my sleep. I snap my eyes open. Cold sweat gathers on my forehead as the snake slithers a few inches from me, crossing the mud toward the tall blades of grass.

I kick my boots against the ground, throwing myself backward to get away from it. I scramble to my feet, my eyes stay fixed on him as I run in the opposite direction, but I lose my balance.

“Shit!” I whisper-shout as my body crashes between large arms. My head is pounding. Pain pulses in my left side. The hard planes of his chest inflate against my face as he shields me by tucking me into his warmth. His breathing stirs the tiny hairs on my neck, sending shivers down every cell in my body.

“It’s okay.” He touches me as if he owns me, as if he knows my body and what it could do for him. I’m sure he can hear the slight hitch in my breath, too. “It’s harmless,” he adds.

“Stop,” I demand, craning my neck up to meet Jason’s soft gaze.

“Or what…?” He looks down at me through dark lashes. “You’d lose your senses? I mean, you’re not going to have sex for a year, so I get where you’re coming from.” His soothing voice is so familiar and caressing. It messes with my head.

I shove him away from me. Whatever he injected me with hasn’t worn off yet. Still feeling dizzy, I scan the ground for my backpack. “I won’t use your dick even if my life depended on it.” I haven’t had sex since my husband died, so I’ll survive.

“Good to know.” He jerks forward, wrapping his arms around me and yanking me upward just as I stumble on a stone.

“Let go,” I snap, swallowing around the lump in my throat, and I cough like I smoked an entire pack of cigarettes. “I can do this myself. I don’t need your help.”

“I know,” he says, loosening his grip and stepping back.