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CHAPTER THIRTY

NICO

B reathing heavily, Nico skidded to a stop. The trees in front of her were so dense, she couldn’t see a way through. She’d gone off the main road some way back. Should she turn around? Rocco had been somewhere behind her. And behind him were his father and grandfather.

She turned at the sound of an engine. The Ninja came speeding toward her and then suddenly stopped a few feet away, skidding and sending up a cloud of dust.

Rocco.

She stared at him. As near as she could tell, he stared back. But that tinted helmet visor covered his eyes.

The wind had been so loud when she was racing down the path and now, suddenly—silence. She glanced up at the trees. Surely there must be a bird perched on a branch somewhere. Some small animal scurrying among the fallen leaves or burrowing into the ground. Some sound of life.

Something.

Nothing.

No sound at all. Not when he placed his feet on the ground. Not when he swung one leg over, dismounting. Not even when not bothering to kick down the kickstand, he shoved the motorcycle aside.

She watched it hit the ground with a thud. Only there wasn’t a thud.

That can’t be right. Of course there was a thud. There had to have been a thud.

Why didn’t I hear it? Why can’t I hear anything?

Not even the sound of his footsteps as he approached, crushing leaves beneath his boots.

He pulled off his helmet and tossed it aside. Those dark locks tumbled around his face, shedding beads of sweat that shimmered like crystals as they fell to the earth.

Once he was beside her, he removed her helmet and tossed it aside as well. He grabbed her around the waist and lifted her off the motorcycle. But once her feet hit the ground, he let go, and she stumbled.

The earth didn’t feel solid.

No, it’s not the earth that’s not solid. It’s me.

With his eyes fixed on hers, he moved toward her, and she stumbled again, taking a step backward on shaky legs. She grabbed hold of his arms, gripping the stiff leather of his jacket.

He kept coming and a sudden surge of heat seared the entire terrain of her body as though he were fire itself—his eyes, his lips, his chest, his thighs. She felt the weight of him—all of him—bear down upon her.

She couldn’t be sure if it was the heat but something broke the sound barrier. And she heard it. A rushing sound.

Where is it coming from?

Her heart was pounding as she looked left and right. Were they near a body of water?

No.

It’s not coming from outside. It’s coming from me.

It was her own blood coursing through her veins, her own breath blazing through her lungs. And it was all she could hear.

He loomed over her, blocking out sun and sky.

He was all she could see.

She had nowhere else to go.

Her back was up against a tree.