Page 31 of Touch Her and Die

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Old rotting fence posts were the only thing to count until we turned off the main road. The gravel cracked under the tires, and I looked in front of us, ignoring the vast expanse of more nothing.This place was what murderer’s dreams were made of.

“Are you going to murder me then? You know, if I say no?”

He chuckled, and I wanted to be angry at the fact his laugh made me not angry. Damn him.

“Princess, if I was going to murder you, you’d know. Besides, I went through a lot of trouble just keep your sweet little ass alive. Don’t you think?”

I humphed at him.

“I guess.”

The driveway went on forever and the closer we got onto whatever this property was, a very specific scent hit me.

“Are there animals here?”

He smiled and nodded towards what might have been a barn in the distance.

“Pigs, a few chickens. I think she got a goat and then said the goat was lonely and bought a horse?”

That had me sitting upright.

“She?”

There was that damn laugh again, but this time it made my body feel light. At least this was similar to the old Parks. Somehow the further we got from the city, the more he relaxed. Almost. I hadn’t brought back up his sham of a proposal or the fact he wasn’t free to make that choice regardless of my feelings.

My feelings. Strange little word, feeling. It didn’t matter. They were on high alert, and it wasn’t just because I’d had sex. My cold heart was betraying me.

The sky seemed bluer out here than in the city and even with the stench of animals, I took a deep breath and could almost taste fresh air. I stole another glance at Parks. How was he so beautiful? Worse. How was he the only thing in the world to make the numbness go away??

I wanted to hate him for being engaged. Or maybe I wanted to hate him for having had girlfriends before me. But I couldn’t.

When the hell had I just decided to trust him? Even if I was pissed, it wasn’t at him. It was the situation. One I couldn’t control. Yet.

“Yes. She. But calm down there, princess. The she is my cousin. She was exiled here. Long story, one for another time. But that being said, Emilee is really excited to have a friend. I’m sure she’ll explain everything. But for now? It’s the only place I can keep you safe. No one comes out here, except to dump the bodies.”

I pulled down the shirt, thinking the bloody red dress might still have been better than being in Parks shirt. Nothing screamed whore like wearing an engaged man’s shirt.

“Does she have clothes?”

He reached behind me and grabbed a bag that I hadn’t noticed before. This wasn’t the same small backpack thrown at us as we left Nate’s.

“What the hell? You couldn’t have mentioned that I had clothes earlier?”

I swear he was smiling under his scowl.

“You were too busy being a brat. That, and you decided to distract me mid drive. Personally, I like you in my shirt. Blood and all.”

I glanced down.

“Ah. Yeah. You can take the blood out of the person, but you can’t seem to take the blood out of the shirt.” I wiped my hands on the shirt again. If only I’d had the strength to wash my hands before we got the hell out of dodge. I’d complain about being drugged again, but what was the point? “Can I burn it here?”

I watched him lift a finger, pointing towards a barrel in the middle of the field.

“Yeah. It’s already burning and ready.”

As we pulled up to a small but cute little house, I watched a woman come strolling out. Well, maybe it was more like skipping.

“Halle? Two rules. No killing locals. And two? No killing my cousin, although I think you’ll like her.”