Chapter 28
MADISON
After unbinding my wrists, Pierce rose to stand over me.
Another spark of lightning brightened the sky behind him. The grim halo of light backlit him so only the outline of his jaw and shoulders showed against the sky as he reached out his hand, palm up.
I ignored the gesture and tried to rise on my own, pushing my skirt back down and pulling my torn shirt closed. My knee hit a rock as I collapsed back onto the cold ground.
Pierce wrapped his strong fingers around my upper arm and dragged me to my feet.
Before I could move away, he pulled me close.
His free hand closed around my neck. I hated the warmth of it against my chilled skin.
He tilted my head back, angling my face toward the gray light. "Say something," he commanded.
I locked my teeth together. His fingers tightened their grip and his stare sharpened. He bent close. His breath was hot against my bruised and swollen lips. "Your stubbornness will only get you into more trouble."
Still, I said nothing. His mouth grazed my ear, his hand running through my hair, raising the fine hairs along my arms. "Or give me a reason to spank that pretty ass of yours."
"I want to go home."
"I'm taking you home."
"My home, not yours."
He shook his head. "Not an option."
"You're a real bastard, you know that?"
He chuckled without mirth. "If that were true, sweetheart, we wouldn't be in this predicament."
Of course. The exalted Worthington name. No matter the cost.
"All kneel before the almighty Worthingtons, right?" I sneered.
I pulled my arm back, shrugging off his grasp.
Turning my back on him, I attempted to cover myself by stretching my torn blouse over my chest. The wind picked up, cutting through my soaked clothes, rattling my teeth together.
Pierce settled his warm hands on my shoulders and turned me back to face him. Curling his finger under my chin, he forced my gaze up. He brushed a wet lock of hair away from my cheek before cupping my face. "At this moment, there is only one person I want on her knees before me."
My cheeks burned. Visions of me on my knees, opening my mouth in supplication as I gazed up at him, taunted me. The memory of what he tasted like flooded my senses. I pushed it away.
He swallowed my fiery denial, covering my lips with his.
The rain drove into my back, each drop a cold sharp point against bare skin, as I pressed into his kiss. His tongue swept against mine, both of us refusing to yield.
When he finally ended the kiss, I dropped my forehead against his shoulder.
His arms came around my body, and he dropped a chaste kiss on the top of my head.
My hands were flat against his bare chest, soaking in his warmth. I could count his heartbeats. They were fast. Faster than a man this controlled should allow.
I almost lost his harsh whisper in the wind. "I can't promise everything will be okay, but I can promise I won't let anyone hurt you again."
I pulled back and stared at his face, trying to read the truth behind the lies in his eyes. "You hurt me."
The corner of his mouth rose as he stroked my bottom lip with his thumb. "Anyone else but me," he corrected, not even pretending he'd try not to hurt me again.
A small part of me almost appreciated his honesty. Almost.
My only consolation was the rain would hide my tears. I whispered, "What happens now?"
He traced my cheek with the backs of his knuckles. "Now, my beautiful girl, I take you to Ravenscroft."
Strange how in my head, it sounded like he said he was taking me to his lair.
I backed away. I was still close to the cliff's edge. I hadn't tracked the distance. My foot slipped, dislodging several rocks and sending them spiraling down the cliff face.
Pierce lunged and snatched the front of my shirt. He yanked, pulling my shivering body flush with his. Twisting the wet hair at the nape of my neck in his hand, he bent close. "No, babygirl, you won't escape me. Not even in death."
The cold was cutting right through me. Giving me one last hard look, Pierce firmly gripped my neck and marched me across the rain-soaked grass of the clearing to the trail that cut through the forest.
We were barely under the trees when a peal of thunder shook the ground, punctuating every step.
He bent low and swept me into his arms.
I objected, but a hard glare from his pale gray eyes quelled any rebellion in me.
"Put your head on my shoulder," he murmured against my forehead.
My head fell against the crook of his neck, my cheek pressed to the wet hollow above his collarbone.
The protective canopy of the forest evergreen trees shielded us from the worst of the rain. The thick branches of pines, red cedars, and magnolias broke the downpour into a steady drip that muffled the storm. We were surrounded by the earthy scent of damp moss and decaying wildflowers.
The forest closed behind us. Every few steps, a branch groaned under the weight of the rain, and the canopy shifted, spilling cold water down the back of my neck.
I flinched, and Pierce's arms tightened.
He didn't speak. Neither did I. There was only the crunch of wet ground under his boots and the low, constant breathing between us.
No one would come looking for me out here. No one ever had. That was the particular cruelty of being an orphan. You could vanish from the world and the world just kept turning.
No, that wasn’t true. I had friends. People who cared about me. I wasn’t truly alone. Hailey would care. Eventually she would learn about what happened at the courthouse and that I wasn’t safely behind bars and come looking for me.
But for now I was alone with him. In a forest. In a storm. Being carried toward a house I'd never seen by a man who had destroyed my life and then saved it in the same breath.
It would have been so easy to close my eyes and pretend he was something other than the most dangerous man I'd ever known.
Every detective story I'd ever shelved, every criminal profile I'd ever devoured in my 221B nook, had taught me to recognize when I was being played.
Moriarty never looked like a monster.
He looked like a gentleman carrying you out of the rain.