Willow
Jerking up, I moan, my stomach twisting and turning, heaving.
My eyes open and widen. I can’t see a thing. It’s dark.
“How long was I asleep?” I whisper. I can hear a car. An engine. The crunch of a dirt or gravel road. I try to sit up but my hands are limp. I fight through the nausea and sit up again, my head bumping the roof when I attempt to sit up.
It’s obvious I’m in a trunk. Which means that I’m on my way to a secondary location.
Which is bad. Very bad.
I wince and grab my stomach, heaving again. If this damn car doesn’t stop moving, I’m gonna lose all that delicious fair food.
I push all that down and try to think. My head feels like cotton wool and my tongue feels furry. I feel sick and tired.
Obviously I was drugged.
But I need to get my shit together. I know that Jasper will find me. I feel it in my bones. But I can’t sit and wait. I need to help myself too. That’s what went wrong the last time. I didn’t help myself.
This time is going to be different. I don’t care if I need to poke this guy’s eye out. I’m not sitting here and waiting for the man I love to save me.
I’m getting home to him.
My brain freezes and I smile slowly. I love him. I love Jasper Lockhart. The Sheriff Of Whispering Pines.
I’m in love with that huge snack of a man. I pause.
I need to get to him.
My brain scrambles and I can’t remember what you’re supposed to do to get out of a car trunk.
But then I remember the latch that’s supposed to release the trunk. My fingers feel around in the dark and I growl under my breath. Cursing under my breath I finally find something that feels wrong and I pull at it, feeling the trunk fly up and dust and dirt chokes me. Sun blinds me.
Then the car slams to a stop and I jump out on unsteady feet. This is my last chance.
“Let’s go, bitch. You need to find him.”
I turn and run even as a roar of anger erupts behind me. “Dammit, Willow! Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
“Anywhere you aren’t,” I mutter under my breath, slipping and siding into the woods and running wildly. Branches whip into my face and I push down the screams of pain. I roll my damn ankle and tears spurt to my eyes.
But I’m not giving up.
I have something to go home to now. And I’m not letting somebody take all that away from me.l
I want the romance, the fairy tale, the happy ending. I want the grumpy prince charming with a badge and a gun.
The guy that only loses control with me.
I hear crashing off to my right and I head to the left, slowing down and making myself be more careful.
I can hear him really fucking well. So if I race around here, he’ll be able to track me in a heartbeat.
I’m not letting him win this time.
I duck behind a tree and then put my hand over my mouth when something big crashes right by me, heading past me at a run.
The crashing disappears and all I hear is my panting breaths. I slip out of the shadows and duck my head, running silently through the woods.
It feels like I’ve been running forever but then I hit the edge of the woods and poke my head out, not sure if I should go or stay.
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” With that pithy little statement I drag myself out of the woods and down the trail. I think I’m heading down the mountain but I’m not sure.
So I jog slowly, keeping one eye peeled at all times for that idiot or for Jasper.
A car appears and I freeze, not sure if I should run into the woods or not.
Until a huge, familiar figure steps out and jogs towards me. “Jasper!” I holler.
I throw myself into his burly, muscular arms and finally take a deep breath, tears in my eyes. His scent is all around me and I breathe even deeper, sucking the spicy, clean, masculine scent of him into my lungs. Like fresh air and the mountains around us.
“Dammit, woman. You scared the fuck out of me,” he mutters into my hair, holding me tight.
“I didn’t mean to. I didn’t get a chance. He snuck up behind me.”
“Same guy,” he growls.’
He nods my head. “Good. This time I’m gonna make sure that fucker goes away for a long fucking time.”
Smiling into his uniform shirt I let the happiness wash over me. “I love you, Jasper.”
He jerks away from me and just for a minute I wonder if I should have told him that.
But then I see the absolute joy on his face. The smile on his lips, the peace in his eyes. “Yeah? Guess what, little sprite? I love you too. And you’re not getting rid of me anymore. I’m gonna chain your little ass to me as soon as I can. You’re never gonna get away from me.”
I smile. “That sounds like the best thing I’ve ever heard. Chain me, hold me, keep me. I don’t care what you do. Just never let me go.”
I swear the big lug has tears in his eyes. “I absolutely will not. Where do you want to live? I have some issues with Maggie and her arthritis but if you want to live out there, we’ll make it work. I know she’s always loved that house.”
“Well, since I’ll be there all the time with her and Claudia, I think it’s perfect, don’t you? A big house for a big family.” I can’t believe I’m going to have a family. “ You know I’ve never had a family before.”
“You’re going to be sorry that you wished for that.”
“Never,” I huff.
He helps me into the car and then turns to stare at me, his fingers on my cheek, cradling it gently.
“Fuck. I love you so much, Willow Wilder. I promise you right now that I will be your wall from now until the day I die. Nobody will ever get near you that isn’t someone you want to see.
And if they try…well, they’re gonna regret it.
Because nothing and nobody messes with my girl. My heart and soul.
She opens her eyes and smiles at me. “I love you too.”
And then we head back to town and he holds my hand, his fingers cradling mine across the seat.
We hit the town limits and I smile when I see another cop sitting there. He grins and waves his free hand. But his other hand is cuffing the man who’s been chasing me for so long that I thought I’d never be free of him.
We hit the town and I’m stunned to see that the festival is still going strong. It feels like forever since he grabbed me, the man who will not be named.
“Gerald Witmer. Well, well, well.” Jasper chuckles and waves at his deputy. “Good job, Cal. Get him to a cell and keep an eye on him. He’s a slippery one.”
I’m not even mad that he said the name. I didn’t shiver, didn’t cry. He doesn’t have any power over me anymore.
His cold glare slices into me but I don’t feel the fear anymore. I glance over at the dark giant of a man next to me.
“I’m not afraid of him anymore, Jasper. He doesn’t control me. I’m free.”
He glances over at me and smiles as he parks his car at the edge of the festival. His fingers settle on both sides of my cheeks and he holds me still, steady. I feel safe, loved.
His warm eyes caress me. “You will never have to worry about anything again. I am your sword, your shield, your everything.”
Smiling, I pat his arm. “And I love that. But for the first time in my life I don’t feel like a little mouse hiding from the cat. I feel strong. And it’s all because of you. You’re my rock.d When I’m with you, I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
“I hope to god this is going in a book, Willow Wilder. Because that shit is romance gold!”
Livvy stands in front of the car, her arms crossed. “And perhaps you’d like to explain to me why that man is here again and what the hell has been happening around here since the other day!”
Maggie walks up and jumps at me through the window, hugging me tight and almost choking me. She whispers, “I knew you’d be back. I knew Jasper would find you.”
My eyes meet his and we both smile. “Actually, I found him.”
“But I’m keeping her,” he says with a smile and kisses my knuckles softly.
“Thank heavens,” Claudia grins. “Fred thinks that she’s perfect for Daddy. He’s never wrong.”
I choke on a laugh as Maggie pulls away, tears in her eyes, chuckling. “Heaven forbid you cross Fred.”
Livvy stares at all of us and mutters under her breath. “Nobody is going anywhere until I hear this story.”
I glance over at Jasper and grin. “Sorry. I’ve got a date. We can talk tomorrow.”
“A date? Since when do you date?”
But Jasper doesn’t say a word. Just backs out of the parking spot and heads out of town.
“I don’t know about you but I think I’ve had enough people for now.”
I lean over and rest my head on his shoulder, feeling the ball of muscle shift. “I think that sounds perfect. Take me wherever you are and that’s where I want to be. Forever.”
He grins. “What a fantastic ending, Miss Romance Writer. I’ve always wondered about all those sex scenes in those books. What’s your inspiration?”
“It’s hard to tell you. Why don’t you just let me show you?”
His foot hits the floor and the car jerks forward with a throaty roar. I throw my head back and laugh.
So much for Mr. Control.