Chapter 12 #2
“Mind your own fucking business.” He pushed Lina behind him, as if he needed to protect her from me.
I was closing in on them, my long strides taking me to her.
“Get. The. Fuck. Away. From. Her!” I gritted each word out from between my teeth. My knuckles popped and cracked, I was clenching them so hard. Fear and murderous rage boiled up in my throat. I instinctively reached for the gun at my waist, but I’d left it in my bag.
“We’re just going back to my trailer. Huh, baby?
” He threw over his shoulder where I saw Lina’s head loll slightly, but she didn’t say a fucking word.
Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong about the way she was sluggish and not speaking.
There was no way she would go silently with this guy.
I took my final steps to close the distance, my fingers flexing, readying to strike.
My momentum carried me as I cocked my arm back and sent my fist right into his face.
His nose crunched under my knuckles. He cried out, his hands going to his face.
I didn’t wait to see if he’d respond with his own hit. I wasn’t about to let this guy leave.
“What the fuck—” He barely got the words out before I went in for an uppercut beneath his chin. He bumped into Lina as she sagged behind him and then stumbled back against a nearby truck.
I glanced at her, her glazed eyes going slightly wide, but her face was so slack. Yep, something was definitely wrong with her.
“Did you drug her, you fucking creep?” Blood was dripping from his nose and down his chin.
I gripped him by the shirt collar, sending my left fist into the side of his head and throwing him to the ground. “I’ll ask you one more fucking time. Did you roofie her fucking drink?” I kicked him in his side as he crumpled up into the fetal position. He moaned and coughed.
“Reed?” I heard Lina ask, as if she just realized I was here.
I kicked him again before bending to land another punch into his bloody face. I grabbed his shirt, pulling him up to look me in the eyes. “Who the fuck are you?” I shook him, his head rolling loosely on his neck. “Who the fuck are you?” I spat out.
“Reed?” Lina asked again, her hand settling on my arm, stilling me. I looked over my shoulder at her, quickly assessing her up and down to make sure she wasn’t injured. Maybe there were no physical marks on her, but she looked confused … like she wasn’t sure if she was actually seeing me.
“Yeah, it’s me,” I told her, turning back to the asshole who was now a rag doll in my grip. “What the fuck did you do to her?” I seethed in his face. “What did you give her?” I shook him.
His brows pinched, his eyes rolling, attempting to focus. It looked disconcerting with his bloody grin, as if he thought this was fucking funny. “The slut wanted it.”
I saw fucking red. Enraged, murderous red.
“That was the wrong fucking thing to say.” I reeled my arm back, wanting to finish this guy, but by the looks of him, one more hit, and I was going to put him to sleep.
I gripped his shirt harder, drawing him closer until we were nose to nose.
“Stay the fuck away from her. If I see your ugly ass face again—or if you so much as approach her—my fist in your face will feel like child’s play compared to what I will do to you. ”
And with a final punch and another crunch of his nose, I let his head fall back and dropped him to the dirt.
I didn’t waste any time, stepping over his body and gathering Lina into my arms. I ducked my head into her hair, breathing in her sweet floral scent, assuring myself that she was safe.
She was trembling. Maybe out of fear, a chill, or the drugs coursing through her system.
Just the thought of it made me want to turn back around and end the unconscious asshole on the ground for good, but it was time to take care of her.
She needed me right now. Using the feeling of her pressed against me to center me, to cool my fury, I released a heavy breath.
“Come on. Let’s get you back to the trailer,” I said, picking her up.
She may have been able to walk, but I wanted to get us out of here as quickly as possible.
Not just because I didn’t want us to be found beside a dude beaten to a pulp, but because I needed to make sure she was okay and as far away from him as possible.
I carried her to the bed in the front of the fifth wheel, laying her down on the mattress.
My fingers encircled her leg below her knee to pull off her boots. Her skin was like silk. I couldn’t resist letting my fingers linger on her calf while I removed one boot, then the other, leaving her socks on.
She stretched out like a damn cat with her arms over her head, arching her back, pressing her tits in the air while her dress hiked up her legs until it was bunched at the apex of her thighs, giving me a peek at her panties.
Fuck me. Black. I was right.
Focus! Not the time for this.
“Stay right there,” I told her, heading toward the kitchenette to pour her a glass of water.
“This feels––feels funny.” She started giggling behind me until I was back by her side with the water.
“Here, drink this.” I helped her sit up while she leaned on her elbows, tipping the glass to her lips.
Her eyes fluttered up to mine, taking me in while she sipped. She plopped back on the pillow without warning, making the water slosh over the edge. Her teeth scraped across her full bottom lip, now wet from the glass.
She released a big sigh, as if exasperated. “You shouldn’t come to the bar with me.”
“We’re not going to the bar, baby,” I told her. “We’re back at the camper.”
Her brows pinched in confusion, and her mouth curved into a frown. “I’d never make you come with me if I knew, but I didn’t know. You should have told me.”
“What are you talking about, sweetheart?” She wasn’t making much sense.
“You don’t drink, and I forced you to be around all that alcohol.” She waved her arms around to emphasize the amount of liquor being poured at the bars, and I had to bite my lip to keep from smiling.
“Don’t worry about that.” I shook my head. Her arms plopped back onto the bed. “It’s a boundary I set for myself after my poor judgment hurt you. I’d follow you through hell, even if it meant fighting my demons to get to you.”
Her face softened at my words.
“You came after me,” she whispered, her thoughts seemingly skipping around. The moon cast light through the window, bathing her in the white glow, shining off her warm locks fanned out across the pillow.
“I told you I would.”
The serene look on her face turned into a scowl. “Is that why you followed me home?”
It was my turn to frown. “What do you mean?”
“Why you showed up at my ranch.”
“I didn’t know it was your ranch, but I’d hoped,” I told her honestly.
“Fucking Reed.” She said it like she was used to saying it to herself. Like it was a common curse coming out of her perfect, rosy mouth. She stretched again, licking her lips. “Why is everything spinning? Didn’t you lay me down? I feel like Jell-O.”
“I know, baby. He put something in your drink. You’re not going to feel very good in a little bit.”
I slipped my cell out of my pocket, shooting Christian a text that I found her and she was safe.
“Who did? What drink? I don’t have a drink.” Lina held out her hands, turning them in the air as if she was magically going to find a beverage in her grasp. She sat up and tried to swing her legs over the edge of the bed.
“Whoa there, sweetheart.” I gripped her shoulders, steadying her. “Just one of the many douchebags I keep trying to tell you about.”
“I have a fucking stalker, Reed,” she whined, plopping back onto the mattress.
“Not for much longer.” I’d make sure of it.
She sluggishly lifted her arm, resting her palm on my cheek. Her warm, brown eyes smiled at me. “You came after me, cowboy.” She repeated herself.
“I’ll always come after you.”
Her hand felt so warm against my face. I wanted to lean into it, brush my lips against her fingertips.
“Do you believe in love at first sight?” she whispered, as if talking to herself.
“I think I do.” Because God, the pain in my chest right now seeing her like this, the pull I felt whenever she was near, like we were two fucking magnets, and the ache in my heart whenever she was gone, made me feel things I’ve never felt before.
I thought I’d been in love with my ex-wife, but it never felt like this.
The closest I think I ever really knew of true love was what I felt for my daughter, but this was different.
This feeling of slowly dying not being able to touch her, to claim her as mine, hit me like a tidal wave the moment I saw her in the Saddle Room over a year ago. And I was still drowning.
“I thought I did, too.” She frowned again, dropping her hand from my face. “The moment I saw you across that bar. I thought you were the one. I’d never felt so instantly attracted to someone before. It was like our souls were begging to dance while I watched you.”
I sucked in a breath, the air freezing in my chest. “You did?” My words felt weak, shriveled, yet desperate with hope.
She nodded her head against the pillow. “I loved you, you fucking asshat.” Her face crumpled as though she was about to cry.
“Lina.” I said her name on an exhale, slicing me right through the heart.
“I’m so, so sorry. When I took you back to the house, it was to piss off my ex.
But when I saw your face and how hurt you were, I knew I would do anything to make it up to you.
From that moment on, you never left my thoughts.
I didn’t know how many times I would have to apologize, but if it meant every day for the rest of my life, I’d write it on my fucking tombstone. ”
“I think I’m going to be sick,” she said, slapping a hand to her mouth. I grabbed the trash can, taking a seat beside her on the bed while I pulled her hair back and she puked it all out.
“That’s it. Get it out,” I soothed, rubbing a hand along her back while she continued to retch.
“Ugh,” she moaned, wiping the back of her hand across her mouth. “This is terrible.”
I helped her drink another sip of water, and she groaned in pain while she lay back down.
“I know, baby, but I’ll be right here the whole time.
” Helping her strip off her dress, pulling one of her T-shirts over her head, I shed my boots and jeans and crawled under the covers beside her, ready to help her if she needed it.
Even though she was safe, her warm body beside me, I knew this was going to be a long night.
My whole body was on fire now being so close to her, but I wouldn’t allow myself to touch her while she was in this state.
There was an inferno of rage burning inside me, begging to be let out and unleash on that asshole, whom I left bloody and unconscious.
A concussion and a broken nose was too good for that fucker.
Between my throbbing cock and my body buzzing like a live wire, ready to protect her, there was no way in hell I was going to get any sleep tonight lying beside Lina Larsen.