Page 16 of Burn it Down

He stopped, shoulders tense. “Don’t start something you don’t want me to finish, Lakynn. You’re not prepared for any of this.”

“You don’t get to control my life like that,” I said. “If you don’t want me, the right thing to do is stop playing bodyguard.” I didn’t mean what I was saying. I would have been devastated if he did stop protecting me, but I needed more from him. So much more.

He turned back, glowering. I could see the fury behind his eyes, but it wasn’t about Wyatt. Not really. It was because he knew he couldn’t do what I was asking of him.

Riven is frustrating. Maddening. Cold one second, burning the next.

As he stalked toward me, I felt my pulse spike.

And I ran.

I took off across the back field with a nervous laugh, not thinking he’d follow.

But he did.

God, did he follow.

He caught me by the waist, and we tumbled to the ground together. I landed flat on my back in the tall grass, breath stolen from my lungs, and when I looked up…

There was something feral in his eyes.

Riven’s hand went to my throat. Not hard. Just enough pressure to hold me still. Just enough to make my heart pound in a way that terrified and thrilled me.

I expected him to finally kiss me. I was sure he would.

But instead, he closed his eyes. Shook his head like he was banishing some terrible impulse.

And then he climbed off of me.

Riven lifted me gently to my feet, like he hadn’t just looked at me like he wanted to ruin me.

He didn’t say anything. Just walked away, fists clenched at his sides.

We never spoke about it, but I know that he realized I saw something in him that night that he tries to hide from me. I think what surprised him was that I liked it, matched it, practically begged him with my eyes to give me everything he hides from the world. I haven’t stopped wondering what would’ve happened if he hadn’t stopped himself.

I burst out of the field, and onto the old dirt road that leads home. To the Kozlov farm. To the place I should be running away from. Somehow, I feel like this is exactly where I need to be. This is exactly where he’ll come to find me.

I think I’m right when I hear an engine hum behind me. I freeze because instinctively I know it’s not Riven following me.

Tires roll slow and deliberate. I turn to see the slick black luxury car roll to a stop beside me. The window glides down and I see his face.

“Need a ride, sweetheart?”

I step back instinctively. My stomach drops.

It’s Matthew.

“No, I’m good,” I say, already turning away. “Bad luck to see the bride…ever. Isn’t that the saying?”

He opens the door and climbs out and I know that after all the running I’ve just done, I don’t have a shot at getting away unscathed. I just need to hold him off until Riven gets here, because that’s my only shot. I shouldn’t have run from him, I know that’s what he’ll say. But he shouldn’t have disappeared and then popped back up to rip my dress off. I guess we’re even.

“Oh, come on now. No need to be skittish,” he says, sauntering around the front of his car. "I was actually headed to your father’s house for an impromptu meeting, but the universe has other plans, I suppose. I didn’t think I’d get you alone until the wedding night."

I sidestep to the right. He follows.

My heart kicks up.

He lunges left. I dart back and he comes so close to grabbing me that his fingers brush my forearm.

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