Page 50 of Risky Passion

“Okay. Okay.” His voice was calm, but his gaze stayed locked on the trail behind us. The dread in his expression sent a cold spike of fear through me that was sharp and paralyzing.

My breaths hitched as I fought to swallow the lump rising in my throat. The air felt too thick, and my lungs too tight.

“We need to hide.” He pulled me upright with one firm motion. “Come on.”

Onyx let out a low, uneasy whine as she pressed her nose to the ground, sniffing furiously.

Jaxson’s eyes darted toward the twin divots of the car tracks stretching ahead, scanning them with laser focus. “We need to get off this trail,” he muttered. “They’ll follow these tracks straight to us.”

He tugged me sharply to the side, pulling us into the dense thicket of bushes.

A couple of feet in, he paused. “Stay here. Hold her.”

He guided my trembling fingers around Onyx’s thick leather before I could protest.

“Where are you?”

“Shh.” Without another word, he crouched low and snatched a fallen branch off the ground. Then he was gone, sprinting back the way we’d come.

My heart pounded as I watched him through the gaps in the foliage. With the firelight flickering in front of him, he stood out like a storm cloud on the horizon as he kept running. But just as I was about to lose sight of him, he stopped, pivoted, and started moving backward, sweeping the branch over the sand in long, deliberate strokes.

He’s covering our tracks.

The realization didn’t ease the tight knot of fear in my chest. Iclutched Onyx’s collar, trying to keep her still as she sniffed and shifted beside me with her eyes never wavering from her master.

Jaxson repeated the movements, methodically erasing traces of our footprints until he finally returned to my side, breathing ragged breaths.

“Let’s go,” he whispered. “That way.”

He nodded with his chin toward the darker undergrowth ahead.

Clutching Onyx’s collar, I stumbled forward as the coarse sand beneath my feet gave way to tangled roots and wiry grass. Low shrubs clawed at my uniform pants like cat claws as I forced myself to stay low.

My cats!

The thought of Oscar and Stella struck me like a bolt out of the blue. Oh God, they were probably tearing up my place by now, yowling at the walls, staging a feline rebellion.

Who am I kidding?They probably haven’t even noticed I’m late. It’s me who misses them.

I could already picture Stella sprawled across my favorite sweater, shedding like it was her life’s mission, and Oscar perched on his favorite windowsill, staring at the world like he dominated it. At least I’d filled their feeder and water bowls before I left. They would be fine for a week.

Hopefully, I wouldn’t be gone that long.

Behind me, Jaxson trailed in silence, sweeping the branch in precise arcs to erase our footprints. Each step forward felt like a battle, and every movement was fueled by fear and sheer determination.

The faint glow of the fire behind us cast jagged shadows across the trail, just bright enough to reveal glimpses of the burning wreck in the distance. I couldn’t see the men who had started that fire, but I knew they were coming. My stomach churned, and a wave of nausea rose in my throat. Swallowing hard, I forced it down, clenched my jaw, and kept moving.

Jaxson stooped low, his movements quick and deliberate as we scrambled deeper into the bushes, weaving through the thick vegetation. Finally, with a sharp exhale, he dropped the branch.

“This way,” he said, grabbing my hand.

He led me farther into the undergrowth, and the bushes grew denser with every step. The twisted branches of coastal scrub treestangled overhead, forming a canopy that swallowed what little light the moon and stars provided.

Onyx growled softly beside me, her ears pinned back as she sniffed the air.

“Onyx, quiet,” Jaxson whispered, his voice low but firm. He rested a steadying hand on her nose, and when she looked at him, something passed between them, like a silent understanding. She lowered herself to the ground, yet her body remained coiled as if she instinctively knew we were hiding.

Jaxson yanked me down beside him as he crouched behind a fallen log. The rough bark scraped against my arms as I pressed myself against it, trying to shrink into the shadows and make myself as small as possible.

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