Page 21

Asher

Her pulse pounds against the side of my arm as she takes quick shallow breaths. She’s lost inside her head letting the fear take her over. If I don’t shake her back to reality we’ll both wind up dead.

“I’m going to shove you behind me, but if you run, you die.”

I probably should have been gentler about my approach, but I can’t afford to hold her hand right now. Time is of the essence. This animal is ravenous and the only thing standing between it and its dinner is me. “Understand, Princess?”

She nods against my chest.

“Good girl.”

I remove my hand from her mouth and with slow, controlled movements, shove her behind me. “Don’t move and keep this steady.”

I shove the flashlight in her hands and aim it in the direction of the coyote.

Fingers dig into the back of my shirt, stretching the wet fabric, as she burrows herself deeper into me, keeping the flashlight where I need it. I ignore how damn good it feels to have her pressed up against me, and focus. In this moment she trusts me with her life and that’s not something I’m taking lightly.

My eyes set on the danger in front of us and I puff out my chest. I start yelling for the fucker to leave, showing him that I’m the bigger threat. The coyote merely stares me down, unfazed.

Brazen little fucker.

Looks like I’m going have to resort to other measures. My knees bend down and I grab whatever I can get my hands on. Clumps of mud and nearby sticks fly in its direction. A few hit just in front of the animal, but a few nail him right on the ass. It’s one hell of a shot.

“What are you doing? It’s going to attack us.”

Her soft voice melds with the steady pounding of the rain, a perfect staccato to the thrumming of my pulse.

“Relax, Princess. I’m hazing it and showing it that you’re mine.”

I shake off the emotions that one word invokes inside of me and stare straight ahead. There’s no time to dissect that now. I’ll worry about that shit later. Much later.

After a few more throws, the animal shifts back and forth on its hind legs, finally getting the message. It watches us a beat longer before it finally runs off.

Charlee sags against me, letting out the breath she must have been holding. “Oh, thank God. I thought it was going to rip us apart.”

I turn around to face her and my throat goes dry at what I see. The flashlight illuminates every inch of her delicate features. Strands of dark hair stick to the sides of her wet face, highlighting her cheekbones. Water glistens against her plump lips, making my jeans feel like a noose around my dick.

Her tongue darts out to lick away the stray droplets of water and I have to fight back a groan. Something so innocent is exotic as fuck coming from her. I clear my throat and motion for her to walk back through the trees. Two steps in, she stumbles back.

“You’re hurt.”

My eyes narrow on the way she’s favoring her right ankle.

“I tripped over a stupid hole and now I can’t put any weight on it.”

She shrugs like it’s no big deal and begins to limp away from me in the direction of the house.

I shake my head at her stubbornness and lift her up over my shoulder into a fireman’s carry.

“What the hell are you doing? Put me down!”

She slaps at the back of my wet shirt the entire way back to the house.

“Stop being a fucking brat.”

My hand comes down on her ass with a loud smack, shutting her up for a brief second. It doesn’t take long for that temper of hers to flare back to life, making me smile. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of this.

“Don’t hit me, you son of a bitch.”

Her tiny hands clench into fists as she continues to punch at my back while I walk through the house and up the stairs.

“I didn’t.”

I dip my shoulder and adjust her weight so she doesn’t hit the back of her head on the doorjamb when we walk through my room straight to the bathroom. “I spanked you. There’s a difference.”

“You are a such a bastard.”

“Stop whining, Princess. I saved you from being eaten by a coyote.”

I grip the backs of her legs and slide her down my body. The feel of her supple breasts sliding down my chest sends all the blood rushing straight back to my dick. At this rate, my balls are going to be in my throat. I step away giving us some much-needed distance. If I don’t get my shit together I’m going to do something we’ll both regret. As a distraction, I glance down but that only makes things worse.

“Cold?”

My eyes zero in on her nipples. The beady points are poking through her shirt and I envision what they’d taste like against my tongue as I flick on them, sucking each one into my mouth until they’re wet and firm peaks.

She folds her arms across her chest to cover herself and I laugh. Her discomfort shouldn’t turn me on the way it does, but I’m fucked up enough to enjoy it.

Still holding her tits, she takes the opportunity to do a quick glance at our new surroundings and I wait for her judgment.

Candlelight bounces of the white walls as her green eyes take everything in. I know what’s coming the second she opens her mouth.

“It’s very…”

Sterile. Clean.

“Austere.”

Or that. I shrug it off like it’s no big deal, but there’s a bigger truth to her words than I’m willing to admit to myself at the moment.

Her body shivers and I know she’s going to catch a cold if I don’t get her out of these clothes and fast. My fingers grip the edge of her shirt and pull the material up.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing? Stop that.”

She slaps my hands away and cranes her neck back to glare up at me, but not before I see her eyes linger on my chest.

“You’re so cold you’re shaking. Not to mention we’re both covered in mud. So, stop fighting me. The sooner you do, the sooner we can both be warm and you can go back to being the spoiled little brat we both know you are.”

I dip my head down to meet her gaze head on. This is a battle of wills she won’t win.

“You are such an asshole.”

The second the words are out of her mouth she flinches. She’s expecting me to punish her for this little outburst and I should, but I find her attitude so fucking fascinating this time that I laugh instead.

“I am.”

If she’s expecting an apology, she’ll be waiting a long time. Despite her protests, I whip the t-shirt over her head and toss it onto the floor. My body sparks to life with the vision in front of me.

She’s standing there in nothing but the white lacy thong and matching bra like an angel for the taking. My eyes linger on her tits. Pert pink nipples are peeking out through the thin strip of lace, taunting me. Every muscle in my body burns with the need to taste, to take what’s standing right in front of me.

Judging by the fire in her eyes and the rapid rise of her chest, she’s fighting her own emotions. I need to break this connection before I do something we’ll both regret. I shove her backwards toward the shower door.

“No.”

Her whole body trembles as she squeezes her eyes shut. Fear is etched across her face, making me feel like the biggest piece of shit on the planet.

I hold her face in my hands as my thumbs lightly trace circles against her soft cheeks. “Look at me, Princess.”

When she refuses, I dip my head closer. “We need to warm you up. Can you trust me take care of you?”

“No. I don’t trust you at all.”

Her words hang in the air between us, a somber reminder of just how badly I’ve fucked things up.

“Fair enough.”

My lips press into a tight line, hating the truth in her words. Hating that she sees me for the monster I am. I grab the bracelet from my back pocket and place it in her hand. “You will.”

Her green eyes narrow at me in curiosity, but I ignore the inkling of emotions that are threatening to break free at what I’ve done and focus on her wet clothes.

“Let’s get you out of these.”

My fingers dip down to the hook of her bra, but she jerks out of my grasp and steps back.

“I can do it myself.”

“Fine.”

I point to the shower door and work at keeping my face a blank mask. “Clean up and we’ll talk.”

“You’re not going to punish me?”

Her eyes narrow as she clutches the bracelet tighter into her tiny palm. She looks as lost as I am at the moment.

“Not this time, Princess.”

The hardened lines of my face soften. “We have things to talk about, but I’ll let you get cleaned up first.”

“What about you?”

A flush of color spreads across her cheeks and I have to fight back another smile. She too fucking cute like this. “That’s not what I meant. I mean…”

She hangs her head, unable to finish that thought and I decide to let her off the hook.

“Relax, Charlee.”

I tilt her chin up until her eyes meet mine. “I’ll take one in the downstairs bathroom.”

With that, I close the door and get the hell out of there before I explode. When I don’t hear movement on the other side of the door, I shout, “You’ve got ten minutes, Princess. Use them wisely.”

“Asshole,”

she mumbles back. My lips twitch at her insult as I change my clothes and head downstairs to the kitchen.

The rules have certainly changed. I just need to figure out if the game is still the same.