Chapter Fifty-Two
Jo
H e’s absolutely not fine.
The misery is evident on his face as he grimaces, but he doesn’t slow down or hesitate for a moment when Hayes reverses back to the pole and jumps off.
“Let’s go!” He yells, saddling up next to Lochlan.
Jackson and Jordy are there, standing on the back of the side-by-side, and I hardly have a moment to prepare before Hayes nods at Lochlan, and they both start lifting me into the air.
If I wasn’t on the verge of death, this would be my worst nightmare.
They lift me until Jackson and Jordy can grab my arms, pulling me along the post as Lochlan and Hayes steady my legs.
It’s not comfortable, but they’re maneuvering me off the post relatively painlessly as the fire crackles all around us.
“You’re almost off, Jo. You might feel like you’re falling once the chain slips off, but Jackson will catch you,” Jordy informs me, holding my shoulders steady.
“Oka–” I don’t have time to finish my word before it feels like gravity is cut off, and I scream as my body tumbles off the end of the pole.
I land with a thump, safely in my brother’s arms.
Not really the family bonding I was hoping for, but I’ll take it.
“Thank you,” I breathe out.
“You really scared me there for a minute,” he huffs in relief, handing me down to Lochlan on the ground.
“Just making up for lost time.”
“No more near-death experiences,” Lochlan growls, cradling me to his chest.
“Let’s get out of this one first,” Hayes says, as we load into the side-by-side.
Lochlan keeps me in his lap while Jackson and Jordy sit down in the back.
Hayes guns it, driving directly towards a wall of fire that is our only way out.
I curl into Lochlan’s chest, squeezing my eyes shut as he holds me firmly against him.
I don’t see when we’re free, but I feel the shift as the air clears of smoke.
We barrel down the path towards the barns and pass firefighters running towards the fire.
It’s too narrow in the wooded area for the trucks to get through, and I have no idea how they’re going to fight it.
But my job is done, I survived.
The professionals can figure out the rest.
Hayes drives straight to the bunkhouse, but we go through the back door so I can’t see what’s going on with the rest of the property.
I also don’t think I have the capacity to see all the damage that was inflicted.
“Do you need a medic?” Jackson asks me, and I shake my head.
“You?” He asks Lochlan, who grimaces as he’s still holding me.
“No,” he grunts, taking me over to the couch and sitting down.
A strangled moan escapes him as we settle onto the cushions.
“You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine.”
“Lochlan, we’re safe. You can go get checked out.”
“I’ll be fine,” he breathes.
“Let me off, I’m making it worse.”
“Don’t you fucking dare leave me.” He wraps his arms around me tightly, grunting as he does.
Stubborn, sweet man.
“I won’t leave, I promise.” I scoot off his lap, and he’s in too much pain to stop me.
I leave my legs draped across his thighs so he doesn’t fret, and hold onto his arm.
His hands are bloody and destroyed, making me gasp.
“Lochlan Dane. You need a medic!”
“I’m fine.”
“Alright, fill me in,” Jackson says, sitting down on the coffee table in front of us.
“From the beginning, Jo.”
“It was Jerry from the junkyard, I thought he was a volunteer firefighter. He lured me into the woods because I thought he had found Emory.” I gasp, looking around.
“Where’s Emory?”
“She’s fine. She’s asleep upstairs,” Hayes says from the other side of the couch, holding bolt cutters.
“Becky and Tessa are with her.”
I nod, gathering my thoughts as he comes over to snip the chain from my waist.
It takes a few attempts, but he gets me free after about a minute.
“He admitted that he was paid to start the fires. He was also paid to get rid of me so Lochlan would be forced to close the sanctuary.”
Lochlan grumbles deeply beside me.
“I pleaded with him and told him that I wasn’t really Lochlan’s fiancée. It was all fake, but he wouldn’t let me go.” Lochlan’s grip tightens on my legs as I continue talking.
“He wanted me to be mauled by the bears per his brother’s orders. I don’t know who his brother is.”
“I’m going to fucking kill him,” Lochlan grunts as he tries to stand up but I press on his chest, stopping him.
“Don’t leave me.”
“Yeah, let’s not make death threats out loud,” Jackson mutters, and Hayes laughs.
“Your word is all I need, Jo. I’ll get a hold of the judge and get the warrant for his arrest.”
“Just like that?”
“Jerry the junkyard owner will be in cuffs before dawn, and I’ll find out who his brother is,” Jackson confirms earnestly.
“What about Curtis?”
“He might not make it, Jo. I’m sorry. He lost a lot of blood, but he’s on his way to St. John’s Hospital.”
“Oh my God,” I cry, covering my face.
“He was trying to help me. He tried to fight him off but…” I can’t even utter the words out loud.
“He’s a good man. He was a soldier. He knew what he was doing when he tried to save you. He wouldn’t regret it,” Jackson promises.
“Seiver and Arizona went with him to the hospital,” Hayes adds.
“What about the bears? The fire?”
“They’ll run from the fire. They’ll be fine. If it gets too bad, we’ll let them loose. ”
“Loose?”
“Better than burning alive,” Lochlan utters, kissing my head gently as if we weren’t in jeopardy of that only moments ago.
“Are you sure you don’t want to see a medic?” Jackson asks Lochlan as he stands.
“No, I’m fine.”
“Alright, you guys hang tight inside. I need to go check on the crews.”
Once he’s gone and everyone else around us makes themselves scarce, I burrow into Lochlan’s neck, letting the weight of the situation finally hit me.
“Is there any chance Curtis will be okay?”
“He’s a tough son of a bitch. If anyone can pull through, it’s him.”
I nod, silently letting the tears flow free that I’ve been trying to hold back.
Lochlan’s arm anchors me closer, eliciting a sharp intake of breath as he moves.
“Thank you for staying with me out there and comforting me when I thought I was going to die,” I hiccup through my sobs.
“I told you I wouldn’t let that happen.”
“You told me a lot of things,” I murmur, resting my hand over his heart.
“And, I meant everything I said.” He closes his hand over mine, pulling it up to kiss my fingers.
“But you still want me to leave after my birthday?”
There’s a heavy, stagnant pause as I wait for his answer.
“My feelings towards you don’t change anything.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, but there isn’t a thing that will stop the onslaught of fresh tears from escaping my eyes.
He loves me, but he wants me to leave.
The pain of that is worse than nearly dying.
* * *
It’s dawn, I can see the light creeping in the window through my swollen eyelids, and I’m in Lochlan’s bed, but I’m alone.
I check the room with his drawing table but it’s empty and when I go downstairs, I check the lower level and don’t see him.
The only thing I see is a pink sticky note stuck to the inside of the front door.
Needed to help the guys.
Keep the doors locked until I get back.
As I’m reading the note the door knob jiggles and a squeak escapes me as I jump back, but it’s just him.
“I thought you’d be asleep,” his voice is low and gravely, he’s almost whispering.
He looks exhausted, and he’s still covered in the grime from last night.
His blood.
He hasn’t been to bed at all.
“I was looking for you.”
He’s standing in front of me, staring at me silently like he’s unsure of what to do.
But he looks so tired and sad, I can’t put any distance between us.
Not when I’m one day closer to my birthday.
“Shower first or straight to bed?”
“Shower.”
I grab his wrist because there’s still dried blood in the lines and cracks of his hands, and I’m not sure how badly they might hurt, and tug him slowly up the stairs.
I help him peel his clothes off before I drop mine on the floor beside them.
His eyelids flutter heavily as he watches me, but he doesn’t say anything as I pull him into the shower .
The bruise on his side from the tow cable snapping is black and blue, and bigger than a softball.
I don’t touch it, but I run soap over him everywhere else, cleaning yesterday away.
“Rinse,” I instruct, but he doesn’t move back.
He steps forward, wrapping his arm around my waist and backing me into the shower wall where his other hand pillows the back of my head.
His lips take mine in a desperate attack of sorrow, terror, passion, all the pent-up emotions that he bottles in so well.
He kisses me like this might be the last time, but I’m determined not to let that happen.
He’s hard-headed, but I’m stubborn.
My hands trail up his chest to his neck, careful not to put any weight on him, and I slip my tongue between his lips, feeling his moan against my hands.
His cock grows harder, bobbing against my stomach as I make love to his mouth.
I’m so in love with him, it hurts inside because it doesn’t seem to matter.
It seems as if we’re destined to go our separate ways.