My eyebrows jolted up, and then I gasped as my body jerked forward. I caught myself on the island. “That was really . . . strong.”
His eyes gleamed as he strode toward the front door and extended his hand. “Let’s try it in the warehouse.”
The T-shirt I’d borrowed from his closet twisted against the tops of my bare thighs as I followed him into the night and into the cavernous building that smelled of sawdust and wood varnish and home.
After turning on a row of industrial lights, he said, “Stay here,” then padded down one of the aisles. When he reached the farthest shelving unit, he turned and concentrated on me.
A moment later, I felt a hard tug that had my bare feet shuffling over the cool concrete. Unlike in the apartment, he didn’t let go of his hold. He reeled me in.
“Dig your heels in, Ness. I want to see how much strength I can exert.”
“I am digging my heels in,” I called out.
He pulled my body halfway across the warehouse before slackening his magical grip, and then he strode toward me, a new spring in his step.
“At least I can keep you safe tomorrow.” He locked his arms around my waist and rested his forehead against mine. “This way, you can concentrate on keeping Liam safe.”
My thundering pulse beat against the delicate, knitted skin of my neck as his hope enveloped me.
“Good thing I desire you so much, huh?” Even though his tone was light and no blame limned his words, I couldn’t help but sense his underlying sadness.
He still believed I didn’t reciprocate the intensity of his feelings.
After the duel . . . once my mind was clear and my heart didn’t beat with trepidation . . . I’d show him just how much I desired him.
August and I spent the night lying in his bed, talking about the past, about the present, but not about the future. Whenever he’d venture into the unknown territory of the days ahead, I’d steer the conversation back to the here and now.
I feared what the next few hours would bring.
I feared all it might change.
At some point, I drifted, but a nightmare had me springing awake with a gasp.
August’s heavy arm anchored me to the warm mattress. When I shivered, he pulled me closer and whispered, “You’re safe, Dimples.”
Dimples . . . I no longer minded when he called me by his favorite nickname. Perhaps it was the alluring tone with which he spoke the word, or perhaps it was because I no longer doubted how deeply he craved me.
I turned in his arms. “I should get up. I need clothes. And my car.”
August combed a lock of hair off my forehead.
“Your truck’s at my house, too.” Shoot.
“How about you relax here while I go get one of our cars?”
“Relax?” I snorted.
He flicked the tip of my nose.
“Hey,” I chided him.
Smiling, he kissed the spot he’d flicked. “You grunted.”
“You did just tell me to relax.”
Meaning to be reassuring, he said, “It’ll be over soon.”
It was the absolute opposite of comforting. His words made my stomach writhe with more nerves; they made my heart thump with more anguish.
“We should really get going,” I said, scooting out from underneath his arm to crawl off the bed and down the ladder. “Can I borrow a pair of boxers? I feel a little naked.”
He climbed down the ladder slowly, every muscle in his back roiling alluringly. I’d put on muscle in the past two and a half weeks, but I had nothing on August. Not that I wanted his body. Well, I did, just not-What was I rambling on about?
I added a pair of boxers underneath the T-shirt that tented around my body, then gathered my phone and bag while he got dressed in his fatigues and an oatmeal Henley that hugged his upper body.
He leaned over and kissed me. I savored the sweet interlude, sensing that once I walked out August’s front door, there would be no more sweetness to this day.
He called a cab, which took us back to my house. As the cab bumped up my cracked driveway, I thought about how I needed to get the road fixed, and then I stopped thinking about asphalt and seized up. I must’ve gasped because August’s attention jerked off the wad of cash he’d taken out of his pocket to pay for our ride. He trailed my line of sight, his jaw hardening when he saw what I was looking at.
“Whoa. Wild party?” the cabby asked.
Stuffing a bill into the driver’s hand, August kicked the door open and got out. “Yeah,” he answered gruffly.
When I still hadn’t moved, he leaned over to pluck the fingers I’d balled into a hard fist and towed me out. I stumbled, because my joints had locked as tight as my knuckles.
Last night, in our haste, we’d left the front door wide open, and someone-more than one person from the looks of it-had let themselves in.
Anger fired through me. I ripped my hand from August’s and stalked inside my home. Smells assaulted me-sweet metal, charred dust, sour urine. The white walls had been smeared in blood-deer blood, from the loamy odor of it-and acrid black ash. Puddles of ochre piss glistened on the plastic tarp and browned the baseboards August had so painstakingly painted.
This was payback for Aidan’s death. The Creeks must’ve seen my uncle working on the house and assumed it was his and Lucy’s.
“I will kill whoever did this,” I whispered.
I started down the hallway to inspect the extent of the destruction, but August caught my arm and held me back. “Let’s go.”
“I want to see-”
“You’ve seen enough. Let’s go.” When I didn’t move, he added, “Now.”
Gritting my teeth, I turned around and headed back out of my stinking kingdom.
How. Dare. They.
“I’ll follow you in my-” He froze by the truck’s bed.
Two eviscerated deer carcasses haloed by black flies had been heaped inside. A slew of words that would make his mother’s curse jar overflow spewed from his mouth. He unlatched the tailgate, then seized the hooves of one creature and yanked hard. The animal landed on the grass with an awful thud. As he wrenched the second one out, I peered through the windows of his car.
“August!” I gasped.