38. Emery #2
A big palm suddenly settled on my cheek, so gentle that it stole my rasping breath. He leaned in so his cheek was pressed to mine on the other side, his warmth all around as he cradled my face between his cheek and his hand.
His words were low and emphatic when he murmured, “Know what it’s like to be afraid.
To fucking run for your life from the pain.
I’d been running and running until I crashed into you.
And I don’t want to run anymore, Emery. I won’t hurt you.
Not ever. Not when the only thing I want to do is cherish every single thing that you are. ”
My heart ravaged at my chest, and my ribs stretched to the point of cracking. “You know I have to leave.”
Kane vacillated before he somehow dragged me tighter, his fingers on the other side of my cheek winding up in my hair. Inching back a fraction, he brought his nose to mine as he stared down at me.
Emerald sparked and the golden flecks glowed.
“And maybe you thinking you have to go is just an excuse for you running. For the war you think you have to fight.”
“All clean! Let’s eat, Mr. Kane!” Maci shouted it as she came bounding back into the kitchen with her arms thrown above her head.
He pulled away, all grins again, as if the severity hadn’t transpired between us.
Kane reached out and tugged at my hand. “Come on, Little Warrior, let’s eat.”
“You don’t have to do that. I can go.”
“You’ve completely upended your life since we came to stay here. I can go to the grocery store, Kane.” I tossed my cell into my purse where I’d left it on the entryway table.
“That was the whole point of inviting you here. Upending my life.” Kane’s words rushed me from where he was standing on the third step of the staircase, hand on the railing as he gazed down at me .
A wicked king ruling his lair. A sweet, gentle soul who’d never committed a crime. I couldn’t tell anymore.
Wearing a fitted tee, colorful designs rolling out from the sleeves and exposing the power that shouted from the bristling muscles underneath. Worn jeans that still appeared expensive.
Feet bare.
Casually cool and completely ruthless.
Enthralling.
Captivating.
What I needed was some space from it before I completely succumbed to his unabashed stares and brazen touches.
To his hands and his body and the weight of his eyes.
Before it was too late, and I became his .
I should go.
Permanently.
I knew that Maci was safe and loved, so what was the point of my staying here?
Every molecule in my body revolted against the idea.
I could rationalize my staying here since he hadn’t even told her who he was yet, and she thought we were merely staying here for a while because he was my friend, not because this was her home.
Though we’d been using that terminology more and more.
Home. Home. Home.
Whispering of its permanence so it would be embedded in her psyche.
But I’d be a liar if I said it was the only reason.
“Stay with Maci. I’m sure she would be happy to swindle you into playing memory or something of the sort.”
A rough chuckle escaped him. “Doesn’t take too much convincing.”
No, it didn’t.
Because he was an amazing father.
A natural.
I’d accepted it.
I dipped my chin, needing to get out of there before staring at him convinced me of something else .
“Good. It will give you two some time alone.”
“Think I can speak for both of us when I say we like it better when you’re with us.”
Another flush.
I swore, the man could set me aflame with a glance.
“Be careful,” he said when I didn’t respond.
“I will.” I pulled the door open and hurried out to the SUV sitting in front of the porch. The same expensive SUV we’d taken to River and Charleigh’s yesterday that Kane had insisted was mine for as long as I stayed here.
I clicked the fob to unlock it and slid into the driver’s seat. I pushed the button to start it and the engine purred to life.
I backed out, tires crunching on the gravel as I turned around in the circular drive and started down the dirt lane.
Rays of afternoon sunlight slanted through the leaves of the statuesque trees, sending flickering shadows across the windshield as I traveled beneath their shade.
I wound through the dense foliage, heading toward the main road that would lead into town.
I didn’t know what it was. What caused my attention to jerk to the left. But I caught a glimpse of something metallic glinting between the trees.
Slowing, I peered deeper into the woods as the hair at the nape of my neck lifted.
Spikes of awareness prickled through my consciousness.
That same sickly feeling I’d gotten for months gliding through my senses.
Paranoia fluttering along the fringes of my being.
God, why was I doing this?
Conjuring things?
I shook it off and accelerated.
It was time I stopped being ridiculous. Time I stopped allowing the beasts to rule my heart.
To rule my mind.
To rule my body .
It was time to allow myself to heal.
Face it.
Acknowledge it.
Put it all out in the open if that’s what it took.
Inhaling a cleansing breath, I hit the main road and drove through the quaint town of Moonlit Ridge.
Its pace slowed. An easiness billowing through people who strolled along the sidewalks in front of the trendy businesses that lined Culberry Street.
I took a right at Broadway then made a left onto 9 th .
Affection rippled through me as I passed by Moonflower Floral Shop. Still unable to believe the young woman who’d made such an impact when we’d met her in front of her store would become such a fundamental part of Maci’s life.
Unable to believe the way she and Charleigh had welcomed me into their lives as if they’d known me forever.
I had to admit, it made me feel comfortable and safe.
As if I might be able to trust them with anything.
Harder to believe was how grateful I’d been that they did.
How I’d let go and allowed myself to feel a part of a group in a way I hadn’t done in all of my adult life.
Following the GPS, about a half mile down, I pulled into the parking lot of Moonlit Ridge Grocers. The supermarket was smaller than any that you’d find in a city, set in a building with a pitched roof and exuding a cozy cabin vibe.
Surrounded by the gorgeous woods of this small town.
I found a spot on the right side of the parking lot, and I eased into the space, shut off the engine, and climbed out. I grabbed a cart, went inside, and began to move up and down the aisles.
Trying to force Kane out of my mind but unable to as I shopped, grabbing the things that I’d learned that he liked.
Fresh cherries and organic whole milk and Oreo cookies. The man’s taste in food as contradicting as his personality.
A small smile tugged at my mouth when I moved through the frozen aisle and found the Cherry Garcia ice cream that he’d told Maci was his absolute number one favorite when she’d been grilling him on the subject over breakfast this morning.
The whole time, I picked all of her favorites, too, my time away from them not even close to being that since the only thing I did was think of them every second.
I’d been away from them for less than thirty minutes, and I was already yearning to get back to them.
Satisfied I’d loaded the cart with everything we needed, I went to a register, paid, then pushed into the warmth of the summer day.
I headed for where I’d parked the SUV on the far side of the lot, clicking the button to open the tailgate as I crossed the space. It glided open, and I angled the cart to the side and began to pile the bags into the back.
A sudden sensation slicked through my being.
A sticky awareness that sent my heart thrumming wild.
And I realized it wasn’t just because I was anxious to get home.
It was that sense again.
The skitter of spider legs that crawled across my flesh.
A shiver rolled through me, and I slowly shifted to peer over my shoulder and into the parking lot.
Across it, I saw a woman with two children loading groceries into a minivan and a man carrying one bag opening the door to his truck.
Irritation rolled through me. There was absolutely nothing to be worried about.
I whipped back around and finished loading the bags into the back, and I turned around so I could return the cart to the corral.
Only I gasped when a blur came at me from out of nowhere. A rush of maliciousness that flew up from behind.
A hand clapped over my mouth, and a thick arm locked around my waist, pinning me against the horrid wall of wickedness.
Evil oozing out and blackening my sight.
Terror ricocheted through my body as the deviant began to drag me backward where we were almost completely hidden from the lot by the angle of the car. Toward the dense copse of trees that surrounded the store and lot.
No.
No, no, no.
Flailing, I kicked and jerked. A frantic, desperate bid to break free of the painful hold.
My nails raked at the only bare flesh I could find on him—a sliver of it at his wrists where the long sleeves of his black tee didn’t meet the leather gloves that he wore.
“You bitch,” the ungodly voice hissed in my ear. “You want me to make this hurt? Stop squirming, and maybe I’ll make it easy for you.”
He meant make it easy for him .
That was not going to happen.
I gripped onto the wrist of the hand that covered my mouth, causing him to release it for a fraction of a second.
It was enough time to release a scream. A scream full of rage and anger and all the fear I’d kept contained for too many years.
And I fought, tearing and ripping at his hold as he tried to pull me into the forest where there was no question I’d be forever lost.
I rammed an elbow into his ribs.
He grunted out in pain, though it rebounded in indignation.
“You fucking whore. The things I’m going to let them do to you.” He grated the threat at my ear.
Horrors spun. A thousand of them that hit me in a torrent of appalling flashes.
Things I’d suppressed.
Three days of agony.
Three days of torture and hell.
A lifetime of it that Jana had lived, however short that was likely to have been.
And the fury of that all came rising to the surface. Erupting in a strength that I didn’t know I possessed.
Little Warrior .
Kane’s murmured praise echoed through my mind, and I fought the monster with everything I had.
Refusing to let this happen again.
Kicking the heel of my shoe back, I struck him in the shin. It was enough to make him stumble a step. I used it to my advantage, jerking the arm he had bound around my waist.
It set him off balance, and I threw my weight forward and fully broke out of his hold.
A rabid growl of frustration heaved out of him.
I started to run.
I had to get away. I had to. I had to.
I made it two steps when a violent hand fisted in my hair and yanked me back.
Agonizing pain seared across my scalp.
I screamed, but the pain wasn’t enough to stop me.
I still tried to run, willing to endure the torture of ripping out the mound of hair from my head if it meant getting away.
“Shut the fuck up, you cunt.” He jerked hard.
I lost my footing, and the soles of my shoes scraped along the ground as he dragged me toward the woods.
Fear spiraled.
Consuming.
Stifling.
The memories penetrating.
No.
God, please, no.
I battled with everything I had all while hopelessness taunted at the edges of my narrowing sight.
“Hey, stop right there!” Another man’s voice cut through the air, far across the lot. “Hey!”
A pounding of footsteps clamored in the distance.
A shout of a man and then another. “Someone stop that creep! He’s trying to drag that woman into the forest!”
“You little bitch.” The monster spat it at my ear. “Looks like you get one more day. ”
Without warning, he tossed me to the side, and my body flew without will, no way to stop myself before the top of my head slammed into the front-passenger door of Kane’s SUV.
Pain splintered with the crack against the metal.
Rushed and overcame.
Blinding.
Deafening.
No way to stand as the ground came up below me.