Page 11 of Wild Life

On a random one-night stand, what lay behind that loin cloth would have been more intriguing, but on a kidnapper, not so much.

“Who are you?” I pressed the blanket to my chest and pointed the stone blade in his direction. I had no idea how to fight with a weapon, but I was confident I could learn on the fly.

His expression remained stern. Perhaps he was one of those untouchable tribesmen...the ones who hadn’t had contact with the outside world for their entire existence. The type thatkilledintruders.

I swallowed another pool of saliva that had settled in the back of my mouth.

I flinched when he leaned forward, his dense body crowding the space between us. “Don’t come closer or I’ll cut your dick off.” My eyes flashed from his glare to the loincloth and then, much slower than intended, back to his face.Enough with his dick, Maris.

Angular jaw and stone expression remained frozen, as if I hadn’t just threatened his manhood.Shit.Maybe he didn’t understand English.

“Why. Did. You. Bring. Me. Here?” I slowed my speech, enunciating each word in hopes that he’d understand at least one of them. His prominent brows only drew closer. I huffed out a breath, sending my bangs flying up.He’s not hard of hearing, Maris!I couldn’t have been less politically correct if I’d tried.

Maybe if I used a normal cadence, I’d somehow get through to him. “Where are my clothes? And why am I here?”

Without warning, the giant marched forward, the distance between us shortening quicker than I could measure.Jesus.This is how I die.

I listened to way too many true crime podcasts not to know how this shit ended. Possible episode titles would include but weren’t limited to: “The Curious Case of the Missing Reclusive Scientist,” “When No One Could Save Bat Girl,” and the potential fan favorite, “Revenge of the Caveman.”

The shadow of his heavy torso descended over me. My brain blipped, and I swung the shard in my hand.

Please let the judgy cloud dude in the sky take pity on my soul and protect me from the hot-but-scary naked lumberjack about to eat me. Amen.

I couldn’t imagine that God had ever heard a prayer where a woman didn’t want a ripped lumberjack to touch her, but hey, there was a first time for everything.

A sharp hiss seared my ears, yet my skin never registered his touch. I blinked one eye open and found Cryptid clutching his shoulder. When he moved his hand, I could see a light tinge of red through a thin slit of flesh. It was quite a ways from needing stitches, but it was still a wound.

Hot damn! I wounded him!My insides fluttered with pride. This was probably how boxers felt when they landed their first punch in a match.

Unfortunately, before I could dart to freedom, his hand caught my neck, pinning me to the headboard. The pig squealed from the commotion.

The stranger’s grasp wasn’t painful, yet it was tight enough to partially compress my vessels, depriving me of sufficient blood flow to my brain. I clawed at him, trying to pry him off, as my limbs tingled woozily like my head.

My vision clouded. The stranger bent over, picking something up from the nook between the bed and the nightstand while his other hand still held me in place. Wavy locks of onyx hair covered part of his face as he righted himself. Phantom helium filled my head. The lack of blood had a hypnotizing effect, and all I could see was him in my trance. Thick lips, the rosy color of redwood bark, parted and a hugewhooshof air blew hair out of his line of vision. I was transfixed by his mouth now, the way the flesh joined together at the corners, forming the most perfectly wet and supple—

With a jolt, he released my neck, sending blood rushing up my neck to be greedily absorbed by my brain. I coughed as too much air rushed to my lungs at once.

A heap of neatly folded cloth was now in front of my face.My clothes.

I examined the pile of expertly folded items and wondered how the fuck this guy knew how to fold like he was the manager at a clothing store. Furthermore, this was proof he had understood my words because he had retrieved my clothes after I asked for them.

My train of thought crashed when I realized what was staring at me from the top of the stack. My cotton panties were perfectly folded, like they were on display in the lingerie section, with my bra draped over them. Heat flamed my face.

I clutched the garments to me, hiding my underwear. Cryptid continued to stare at me, not moving a muscle.

“Um…thanks,” I muttered, desperate for the burn to leave my cheeks.

Perhaps he wasn’t a kidnapper. He would’ve tried to assault me by now, right? He’d had ample opportunity to, especially while I’d been unconscious, but although I was naked, nothing felt different and there were no new marks marring my skin.

My hoarse voice scraped my throat. “Can you go so I can put my clothes on?”

He let out an exasperated sigh and turned on his feet, trudging toward the door. At least he was respectful enough to listen this time, despite crossing a line by stripping me while I was out cold.

Assuming it was him who did it?

Or fuck…maybe he had help from another one of his scary friends.

The pig batted the side of the bed with his hooves, preparing to jump up onto the mattress.

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