Page 28

28

HARPER

I kick, claw, bite, and scream like a wild animal, attempting to evade my captor.

But his grip is too strong.

Before I know it, he hauls me over his shoulder, carrying me in the opposite direction I was running.

I’m not going to make this easy for him.

I kick my legs wildly as his long strides carry me deeper into the woods.

My bound wrists make it harder to hit the bastard the way I’d like, but slamming my curled fists into his back is all I can do.

Nothing fazes him.

He doesn’t break his stride.

Doesn’t utter a peep.

Just silently, stoically, carries me deeper into the forest.

I thought being curvy would make it harder for me to be kidnapped.

But alas, my fat ass isn’t saving me from this beast that’s carrying me through the woods like I weigh nothing.

My thoughts nearly make me laugh out loud.

I’m being squeezed from the inside, my vision tunneling, my hearing a distant buzz, as the hysteria wells up inside me, trying to escape my lips.

My muscles lose strength, go limp, and spots fill my vision.

The bitter irony of the moment overwhelms me as my chest hitches before a sob bursts free from my lungs.

I spent a decade denying my feelings for Ford.

I intensely fought every emotion, every reaction to his touch, every single damn thing I felt since we ran into one another, only to realize how much I love him.

How much I’ve always loved him.

But now, it’s too late.

The thudding of his footsteps up the stairs jerks me from my thoughts.

Old, weathered wooden boards shake beneath his feet as he strides across a familiar deck.

My breaths burst free from my compressed lungs.

I know this place!

He stops, his fingers rapidly punching buttons, before the long beep sounds.

He turns the knob, pushes the door open, and carries me inside.

All my fear rushes from my head to my feet as he lowers me to the floor.

It mixes with shock and then pure, unadulterated rage.

Pushing my hair from my eyes, my chest heaves from the rapid gasps of air trying to fill my lungs.

But I’m too irate to breathe correctly.

He stands there, facing me, silent and still.

In direct contrast to me, as my body vibrates so hard, my teeth clang together like I’m using a jackhammer.

Volcanic-level rage rises up, burning my throat as it explodes from my lips with a single, pyroclastic force.

“Ford!”