Page 155 of Stand: Part One

He had no fucking idea.

“I know, and it’s supposed to last the entire rest of the day. This is my only shot,” I pleaded. He grunted his disapproval of my reasoning, but I wasn’t giving up yet. “Please?” I sang, emphasizing the gloom in my voice. “I promise I won’t go too far. After last night, I really need the air. Just for a little while?”

A heavy exaggerated sigh finally escaped his lips, and I knew I had won.

“Fine, fuck it,” he growled and looked toward Scott. “Put Emmett and Luther on her while she’s outside. She’s got one hour, then I want her back inside.”

One hour was too short, but I would take what I could earn.

“Thank you,” I said quietly so only he could hear and turned for the door.

Darren abruptly stood from his chair, catching my wrist and hauled me back over to him, making my stomach clench as his massive frame towered over mine. Each muscle of his body was so sharply defined through his black dress shirt, the sleeves rolled to his elbows to expose that beautiful eagle tattoo on his forearm.

The man was designed for ruin, reminding me of all the terrifying things he was capable of, and how it would all come to fruition in less than seventy-two hours. Taking my face in both his hands, he leaned down and pressed a firm kiss to my lips, the heat of his body making mine melt right into him.

“One hour,” he reminded me as he pulled away. “No fuss.”

I blinked up at him. “Okay, no fuss. Byeee!” I said quickly and scampered around him before he could keep me there any longer.

I grabbed the Frisbee from the couch and called Camaro to follow me out the door. Heading out to the wide-open backyard, I released a massive breath of relief, and then held up the Frisbee for Camaro to see.

“You want it?” I asked playfully.

When she barked and jumped up on her hind legs, I flicked my wrist and sent the Frisbee through the air and across the yard. Like the speeding bullet she was, Camaro raced after the Frisbee, jumped into the air and caught it right between her teeth.

“Good girl!” I shouted, clapping to encourage her to bring the Frisbee back for another toss. Glancing up at the sky, I took note of the gray clouds rolling in and the dark blue ones far off in the distance. And damn if I didn’t love a good storm.

Watching Camaro run, I felt the two new shadows creep up behind me. They remained a respectable fifty feet away, but they were not the comfort I usually got when Clive and Owen were around.

We played like that back and forth for a little while, Emmett and Luther watching from the shade of the patio, looking bored and brooding all over the place.

I’d ask them if they wanted to play too, but I doubted I’d even get a response. It was hard to blame them, though. Not many people ever dared to interact with me for good reason.

Deciding to send Camaro on a good run, I tossed the Frisbee hard into the air, sending it high into the sky and catching the wind. The gust sent the Frisbee far right, and Camaro chased it even after it changed directions until it smacked right into the face of one of the guards.

Oops.

The second guard he’d been patrolling with laughed hysterically as Camaro tackled him to the ground to retrieve the Frisbee stuck in his jacket.

Giggling to myself, the rest of the patrolling guards laughed at the scene as the poor guard finally shot up from the ground, yanking the Frisbee out of Camaro’s reach. The dark expression on his face made it clear he was not as amused as everyone else.

“Sorry about that!” I shouted, hoping he wouldn’t stay too mad about it. I mean, he did literally walk right into it. For a guard, that was some piss-poor situational awareness.

Catching my apology, he looked back at me with the meanest scowl on his face and then yelled something at Camaro. He then whipped his arm back and tossed the Frisbee all the way into the damn lake, turning to finally wave and smile at me as Camaro ran straight for the water.

The sound of her jumping from the dock to the splash of the water made me glare back at him. She literally just had a bath the other night.

Marching past his post to retrieve my dog, I scowled back at him. “Thanks a lot, asshole,” I growled at him.

“Oops!” he replied sarcastically, making me want to throat punch him with the butt of his rifle.

Ignoring him, I didn’t even make it to the dock before Camaro started barking and whining like I’d never heard before. My eyes scanning the lake, I found her in a patch of floating weeds, the Frisbee long abandoned and floating away.

She yelped as she struggled to paddle forward, getting absolutely nowhere as the seaweed growing up from the water tangled under her legs.

Panic seized my heart as I watched my dog struggle to free herself, bobbing up and down in the water and barking, seemingly only making the tangles worse.

“Camaro!” I shouted in panic, racing down the dock and diving straight into the water.