Page 79 of Wicked Chains
“Getting tired yet?” I call out.
There’s a pause, and then his laughter rings through the air.
Then silence.
I wait. Maybe too long, because when I finally decide to move again he is right there.
I run, but it’s already too late. Ash’s arms lock around my waist from behind, pinning my arms. I try to jerk away but he just lifts me clear off my feet, crushing my back to his chest. He’s not even breathing hard. He leans down, his lips so close to my ear that I feel his warm breath. “Got you.”
I twist, kicking back at his shin, but he only laughs, catching my foot with his own and using it to pivot us around. My back slams against a rough tree trunk, and Ash pins me there with his hips. He cages me with his body, one hand on the trunk next to my head, the other wrapped tight around my wrists, holding them above me.
"Let. Go." I buck my hips, fully aware that if he wasn't holding me up, my legs might stop working.
He shakes his head, dark hair falling into his eyes. “You want me to catch you.”
"I want you to fuck off." I'm breathless, and the words are lies. He knows it. I know it. Even the tree knows it.
He nudges my chin up, forcing me to look him in the eyes, and I’m sure he’s about to kiss me. My heart leaps into my throat, beating wildly as his lips get closer to mine.
But he doesn’t.
Ash puts a finger to his lips, head tilted as if listening.
At first I hear nothing but the rustle of squirrels in the dry leaves. Then, footsteps. Coming this way.
My heart stops when I see who it is.
Helena, striding purposefully through the forest, followed by two men I recognize as Blood Moon Coven members. They're talking in low voices, but their faces are serious.
His eyes meet mine, intense and commanding. "Go—back to campus."
Ash lets go of my wrists, but he doesn’t step away. Instead, he leans down until his lips brush my ear. “Oh, and Rose? The next time you run, if I catch you, I fuck you.”
My jaw drops.
“Go,” he commands quietly.
I turn and slip through the trees, moving as quietly as I can back toward campus. When I'm a safe distance away, I glance back.
Ash has stepped out onto the path, directly in Helena's way. I can't hear what he says, but his posture is casual, as if he just happened to be taking an evening stroll. Helena looks annoyed at the interruption, her face pinched and cold even from this distance.
I don't wait to see more. I turn and run back toward the academy.
Thirty-Six
Rose
I wake up on Monday with my entire body feeling like I've been run over by a train. My muscles complain as I roll over, memories of running through the woods flooding back with every ache. Ash's words are seared into my memory.
'The next time you run, if I catch you, I fuck you.'
I feel a flood of wetness between my legs, soaking my panties, my body not caring that we’re supposed to hate this man.
"Don't look at me like that," I say to Hank, pulling my pillow over my face. "I know it was stupid."
But was it? The memory of being pinned against that tree, Ash's body pressed against mine, the way his eyes darkened, it sends a million butterflies to my stomach that have no business being there. I'm supposed to hate him. He owns my magic, controls my life, humiliated me in front of everyone. And yet, I can’t stop thinking about how he towered over me, how his handsome face was a mere breath from mine, how his arms were strong enoughto lift me like I weighed nothing. And how he protected me from Helena.
"Nope. Not going there." I throw the pillow aside and force myself to sit up, wincing at the pain in my thighs. I really need to work out more.
