Page 2 of His Secure Embrace
“My name is, um, Brielle.” I mentally rolled my eyes. The man had me fumbling over my name.
“Don’t tell me you shy now, beautiful.” He smirked.
“Never that,” I replied, finally gaining a bit of my confidence back.
“Good. I finally got a break. I was wondering if I could spend my break with you.”
My pussy jumped with excitement. My bead throbbed with arousal. All the man had done was ask me to spend his break with him and my whole body heated like he was asking to eat mefrom the back. My panties would be done for if he kept talking to me in that low, deep voice. He was driving me crazy.
“Y-yeah. You can come back to the section me and my girls are at, or we could go over by the food trucks. Either is fine with me.”
“Fa sho. I ain’t ate in a minute. We can hit the food trucks.”
I nodded, and we walked side by side toward the food trucks. His hand brushed mine slightly which made me feel like a giddy little schoolgirl from back in the day. I was a grown ass woman—twenty-five years old with butterflies in my tummy.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
I paused as the loud sound of gunshots filled the air, and screams followed soon after. Most people ran toward their cars. I, however, was pulled into a firm chest and damn near tackled onto the floor. I blinked in confusion before I allowed my eyes to adjust to the situation. James had become my human shield. One of his arms was behind my head while the other was planted firmly in the grass to keep him from crushing me with his weight. I should have been more scared than I was, but being in his arms made me feel like I was in the safest place on Earth.
BANG! BANG!
More shots pierced the air. It felt like whoever the shooter was had an extended clip on his gun and wouldn’t release the trigger until the mag was empty. I clung to James for dear life. I prayed continuously until the sound of sirens grew closer.
“I got you, Brielle. I got you.” James repeated those words over and over until Cade’s Cove Police Department pulled up to the scene. He slowly sat up and held his hand out for me to grab. He helped me up off the floor and dusted the grass off my clothes.
“T-thank you.”
“No problem. Let me go assess the situation. I can walk you to your car.”
I frowned as I looked past him toward the section I’d left my friends at. I couldn’t see Tava or Lynae. My eyes scanned the seats, one by one, until I saw her.
“No. No. No.” My voice was barely above a whisper as my body moved as fast as it could.
This couldn’t be happening.
“Jana!” I cried out as I ran as quickly as my legs could move. I pumped my arms and moved toward her body.
“Brielle, wait!” James called from behind me, but I ignored him.
The closer I got, the clearer the situation became. Blood covered her body as it lay across the seat.
“Jana!” The cry was louder than the sirens. I fell to my knees as I pulled her body into my arms. “Don’t you do this to me, bitch. Jana, please. Somebody help me, please!” I patted her cheeks to wake her up. She must’ve passed out. Yeah, that was it. She was shot and the pain was too unbearable that she passed out. Right? Right!
My vision blurred as I buried my face in the crook of her neck and sobbed.
“Brielle.” James spoke softly beside me.
“She’s okay. She has to be okay.” I rocked with her in my arms.
“Brielle. Let the officer check for a pulse. An ambulance is on the way.”
I looked up to see James standing with a female officer. She offered me a gentle smile before she leaned down and placed her hand on Jana’s neck. She waited for a few moments before her eyes revealed more than her mouth had.
“No. No. No.” I could physically feel my heart break as the officer shook her head.
“I’m so sorry, ma’am. There’s no pulse.”
“Shock her back! CPR or something. Please. She can’t be gone . . .” I cried.
