Page 6 of Bad Cowboy, Tennessee

Washe really an online stalker, who’d already found out where I lived?

I let out a frustrated growl.

Guess being good at talking to people doesn’t matter when you’re dealing with a monster.

I tried to feign relaxation for a moment, loosening my muscles to try to surprise him when I bolted into action. I moved in a flash, attempting to spring up from my locked position.

But he moved quicker than I did.

Again.

“Enough of that,” he said. “I want to look at your face now.”

I cursed under my breath as I felt his arm shift positions against my neck. He moved again, then slid out from under me quickly.

My spine connected with the cool wood below us.

His hands were on my wrists now, nailing them to the porch on either side of me. His ass came down on my hips, locking down my movement.

I was fully pinned.

Checkmate.

As if I wasn’t already in that position since the start.

He loomed above me, my view filled with his silhouette, and I got my first good look at his face.

A dark swoop of thick hair, framed in a halo of moonlight. His cowboy hat must have been what fell to the side of my porch, because it was gone now. Hard contours of muscle came out from the rolled-up sleeves of his black collared shirt.

I registered the details of his body as if I might need them again one day for a police lineup.

He was tall.

Ungodly strong.

Built to fight.

He brought his arm up and I noticed a few long, thin scrapes he’d gotten along his forearm.From my fingernails?

His tongue came out as he licked the area. I could see a flash of metal in the low light, only for a quick moment.

He had a tongue piercing.

Just another thing to memorize for when they lock him up.

After watching me for a moment he moved lower, getting down close to my face.

He stayed there, inches above it, hovering, and I saw the most arresting feature he had: his eyes were emerald green and bright, rimmed with dark around the edges.

“Are you going to calm down now?” he said, his voice more like a command.

My heartbeat thumped beneath his grip on each of my wrists.

He was stunning. In his build and his face. One of those psychotic people who happens to look like a movie star, though he’d made it plain to see how ugly he was inside.

I snapped back to reality, white-hot anger and disgust flaring in me all over again.

“Fuck off,” I growled, the words coming out strange.

---