Page 31 of Better Run
“Well, when you’re running from two devilishly handsome men,” he throws me a smirk, “who make you question everything in your safe, boring life, I think you’d be surprised.” He’s walking up and down the bank. “She must have walked the stream a bit.”
“She’s going to get frostbite.”
I follow him upstream for a bit until he gives a grunt of triumph. “Got her. She’s getting tired.” He points at the half-frozen ground. “Slipped right here.”
“Hurry,” I growl at him.
We pick up the pace. Cole points out places she’s getting sloppy. Broken branches and slip marks in piles of leaves. We are getting close. It makes my adrenaline spike.
By a large boulder, Cole motions for me to be quiet. We’re up a hill and can see down into a small gully. The area is covered with tall, sparse trees and patches of dead undergrowth. A small stream runs downhill.
There! A flash of movement and blond hair. She’s close.
I smile. It’s time to play, little kitten.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Mary Jo
The darkness creeps me the fuck out. The shadows that the moon casts hide so many alcoves, overhangs, and brushy areas. Perfect for wildlife—or people—to hide in. I keep thinking about coyotes and bears, and every time I see a big shadow, I think the gig is up. I almost wish the moon wasn’t out.
I trip on another stick. Cole’s socks are soaked, and my feet are numb. His shoes didn’t fit and were only going to slow me down. The rest of me is staying pretty warm. I wonder for the hundredth time how long I’ve been out here. I plan what I’m going to say when I find a road. Help, two men kidnapped me and have been holding me hostage in their cabin. Description? Tall. Tattooed. Hot, really hot. Fuck. I’m fucked up.
A stick cracks on the hill to my left. I snap my head that way and freeze. I don’t see any movement in the night. My heart hasn’t stopped racing since I cut the monitor off.
It was nothing. A squirrel. I slow my breathing and keep going.
A voice sing-songs, “Kiiiiiitteeeeeeen.” It’s deep and close as fuck.
A scream rips through me and I take off. Terror burns through my veins. Holy shit how did they find me? I’ve never been more scared in my life.
“Someone’s been a bad girl.” It’s the same voice, Jayden, on my left. I veer to my right. Where’s Cole?
I reach the end of the gully, and there, in a small clearing, stands a shadowed, hulking form. I scream again. The sound is loud in the crisp air. I skid to my right, turning to go back the way I came. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I scramble for Cole’s knife in my pocket.
A hard body slams into me, and I’m snatched up into the air.
“Oh kitten,” Jayden’s voice purrs in my ear. “You shouldn’t have run.”
I get the knife in my right hand. Cole appears in front of me, then the world blurs, and I’m pressed up against a tree. Strong arms wrestle to get mine. I slash with the knife.
“Shit, watch her.”
An iron grip locks around my wrist and cranks. I cry out, pain blazing through me. I realize I’ve dropped the knife. Fuck! My arms are yanked behind my back and I’m solidly pinned.
I scream again. Cole groans beside me. “Stop that, little one. I’m going to come in my pants, and we haven’t even started.”
“Let me go! Fuck you! Help! Someone help!”
Jayden leans what feels like his whole body weight into me.
Cole flips the knife. “I didn’t know you liked knife play, little one. Kinky.”
I keep fighting, bucking, and squirming against the tree. “Let me go, you sick bastards.”
Jayden groans.
Cole leans close to me. “Were you going to use this on me? Cut me with my own knife?”
