Page 82 of Trusting Skulls

How long have I been unconscious? My heart beats so fast, I worry I might pass out again.

As my mind races, Graham sits quietly in the driver’s seat, his eyes never leaving the road.

“Please take me home. I have a boyfriend now. I can’t play your games anymore.”

The smirk on his face makes my stomach sink.

“Boyfriend?” He shakes his head in disbelief, shrinking my ego even more. “I don’t think any of the guys you hookup with are close to being your boyfriend.”

I bite my tongue. Maybe it’s better if he doesn’t know about Ash. I don’t know if Graham is capable of hurting him, but I’m not willing to take the risk.

“Please take me back to my car. I don’t want to play today.”

“Oh, but it’s going to be so much fun. I’ve rented a house in the mountains, so we’ll have no interruptions. The wilderness will be our playground.”

A shiver runs straight up my spine.

“Are … are you mad at me?”

“No. Why would I be mad at you?” he asks, finally taking his eyes off the road to look at me.

“I don’t know. Because I turned down the job?”

His jaw clenches as he pulls onto a dirt road, but he doesn’t respond. He’s clearly angry with me. He doesn’t say anything for the next thirty minutes as we curve round and round, getting farther away from the main road. A big house eventually comes into view. When he parks in front of it, I know we’ve reached our destination.

He shifts his body toward mine, leaning into my space. “You’ve never denied me.”

He chases my gaze as I squish myself against the door, avoiding his eyes. His fingers dig into my face to hold me still. “You. Denied. Me,” he grits out, terrifyingly annunciating each word.

My teeth cut into my cheek as he increases the pressure, and tears sting at my eyes. I’ve never seen him so angry. He’s scaredme in the past, but this is a level of fear I’ve never experienced with anyone.

His eyes bounce over my face for several minutes before he removes his attention from me. He doesn’t let go as he glances around our surroundings, keeping me held in his painful grip.

A smile curls his lips upward. “This is perfect.”

When he looks at me again, he asks a question that makes me whimper in his hold. “How are your survival skills?”

He laughs, pushing my face away so harshly that my head smacks the window.

“Get out,” he orders, unlocking the doors.

I rub my hand over the back of my head and step out. The breeze instantly teases my senses with the scent of pine, taking me back to Dirk’s cabin, but I can’t think about that right now. I’m going to need to keep my wits about me. Who knows what Graham has planned for me this time?

He pulls a bag from behind his seat … and then a gun. A fucking gun!

My eyes widen when he points it at me.

“Get inside.”

He’s going to kill me.

“Graham, please, you’re scaring me …”

“Get. Inside!” he barks.

It frightens me enough that I scurry ahead of him as quickly as I can.

He follows close behind, the gun poking against my back.

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