Page 34 of Tied to You

I don’t know what it is, but everything I do only seems to make him angry. So, soangry. Admittedly, Ididincite trouble the night I went with him to Dean’s homecoming, and after my night with Henry, I have finally accepted there is something pulling me toward him.

I shouldn’t feel it. He isn’t like any man I should feel attracted to. But as he heaves another heavy breath in my face, I try to gain space. Try to hide the way my stomach flutters and my head turns dizzy.

“For fuck’s sake, stop stepping back.” His face is red. His voice sounds clipped. He looks like a giant this high up.

“You’re mad?”

“Mad? I’m fucking furious,” he says.

I pause, watching the way his chest rises and falls. “I can see.”

His luscious lips pull into a straight line. He looks deadly. “One more smart comment and I’ll—”

“You’ll what?”

He stares at me, mentally deciding how he’s going to kill me. “Last chance, or over the edge you go.”

Every fibre of my being wants to challenge his dramatic threat. I won’t. I can tell by the angry lines on his head that he is fuming. We’re up pretty high and I have a bad foot. Come to think of it, it is really starting to ache. Painkillers must be wearing off already. Peering over my shoulder, I chance a look down. I’m not entirely sure why I pushed myself to climb up here to be honest. I guess the feeling of being a waste of space crept into my mind. I’m happy with working hard. Have no issues with it.

It was sitting still thinking abouthimthat was the hardest.

“Care to explain what the fuck you’re doing up here when you should be resting?” His eyes flick down to my bad foot now raised so only my toes are touching the hay.

“Mick said he thought there were rats.”

Travis closes his eyes with a mild shake of his head. “So you decided to climb to the very top, with a fucking pitchfork, and do what? Poke ‘em out?”

“It doesn’t matter.” I go to turn.

“You can’t get down there. You can’t even put weight on your foot.”

“I got up here just fine,” I snap. “And I wasn’t the one who fell,” I add under my breath.

“God, you’re such a brat.”

I freeze halfway to sitting on the edge of a bale, ready to lower myself to the next. “Any tips on how I should do this?” I can’t help myself. I turn to look at him behind me as I lower, wanting to provoke him the way he does me. “Should I just throw myself straight over the edge, or roll my way to the bottom?”

If he were a cartoon, I’m pretty sure his eyes would be bulging and his ears would be spitting out steam. He turns, picks up a bale in a fit of rage, lifts it above his head like it’s the easiest thing to do, then tosses it over the edge, sending it falling nine meters to the ground.

I shrink, watching the veins bulge in his neck.

Then he’s behind me again, hauling me to my good foot, his hand underneath my arm.

I cry out, feeling my mind scatter as my breath suddenly runs wild. I grab his arm to steady myself, my body swaying slightly from the height and the feel of my skin on his. There’s no denying the current of desire that jolts up my arm, causing my spine to tingle. I try to stand straighter. Try to give off the illusion that he has no effect on me.

It’s not true.

He might have fell, but I’m definitely the one falling.

He pulls me closer to him, my front pressing up against his.

The air flees my lungs, and I’m left gasping as I say his name. “Travis.” My heavy, hot breath hits his chest, and I look up, seeing his deadly eyes fixed on me.

I go to speak again, but he cuts me off, pressing his lips to mine.

What the hell?My body instantly stiffens, confused by his actions. This is stupid. He’s made it abundantly clear that he can’t spend more than five minutes around me without feeling the urge to kill me. Now he’s kissing me? I’m so confused. I want to push him away for being so all over the place. For telling me one thing then doing another.

But his kiss. The way he moves so slowly. I don’t know what to do. He’s tender, his lips barely moving. I feel his fingers spread against my back as he pulls me even closer.