Page 68 of Carry Me Home
Her lips parted as she stared up at me with blown pupils and flushed cheeks. “What happens if you don’t catch me? I don’t want to watch the parade alone.”
I laughed. “Be serious.”
That triggered her competitive streak like I knew would. Her eyes narrowed. “I want a thirty-second head start.”
“Baby, you can have a whole two minutes.” My muscles were already waking up, ready for the hunt. I hadn’t felt this alive since I’d almost died.
“You’re on.” She was as gleeful as a kid on Christmas morning. Walking backward, she taunted, “Call me when you’re ready to admit defeat.”
Then she spun on her toes, preparing to run.
She made it two steps before I caught her with an arm around her chest and hauled her back against me. Her whole body tensed, ready to fight. This was going to befun. I nuzzled her hair. Breathed in her scent.
“One more thing, Janie. I’m going to fuck you where I find you, so don’t stop running until you want to be caught.”
26
JANIE
Aspen Springs loved a parade.The whole town was here, lining the one-mile stretch of First Street to watch the parade go by. Everything was red, white, and blue. The overflowing flower baskets hanging on the iron lampposts, the bunting decorating the storefronts, the middle-aged dads in their Uncle Sam hats. It made it hard to get my bearings on the congested sidewalk.
But I didn’t need to get my bearings. I was perfectly safe. Jack was not going to fuck me in the middle of a literal parade on First Street with all of our friends and family in attendance. He’d hunt me, always letting me stay one step ahead of him, and then when I was ready, I’d lead him home and let him catch me.
What we were doing, it was just a game.
But, god, it was fun.
Excitement shivered down my spine as I weaved through the crowd. All the familiar and unfamiliar faces blended together until it was all a blur. Four rows of men in kilts playedAmerica the Beautifulon bagpipes as they marched down the middle of the street—half the families of this town had Scottish and Irish ancestors that had come to Colorado during the gold rush, and even those that didn’t often claimed they did.
I squeezed between a man holding a sign that said NO KINGS SINCE 1776 and a woman rocking an American flag bandana as a top. My two-minute head start had ticked down to a minute.What if he can’t find me in this mess?The thought drew me up short. I twisted, trying to see over the throng. Where was he?
Thirty seconds.
Maybe I should go back, just to make sure he didn’t lose track of me. The noise of the crowd pitched higher as the float with the Golden Nugget rolled by. Mr. Willis waved from the front, decked out in his best suit, tossing beaded necklaces like it was Mardi Gras on Bourbon Street. The float paused. A knot of people surged into the street, taking me with them.
Twenty seconds.
I ducked under the outstretched arms and retreated to a doorway. My shoe was untied, and I needed a second to plan my next move. Keep going, go back, shelter in place?
Time’s up.
After a quick glance around—still no sign of Jack—I dropped to the ground to tie my shoe, my back to the store door so at least he couldn’t sneak up behind me. Like he could even find me in all this chaos. Sure, he was ex-special forces, but what did that mean, really? It wasn’t like?—
A prickle of awareness on the back of my neck made me look up suddenly. All the air froze in my lungs as I tried to make sense of what I was seeing underneath the float.
Jack.
There he was, across the street, his big body crouched on the ground like he was mimicking my posture, just waiting for me to notice. Our gazes locked. A slow grin spread across his features, and he tipped his chin like a predator scenting its prey. My eyes widened as the truth banged in my chest.
Oh.
Oh,shit.
That man was going to catch me, and he was absolutely going to fuck me right here in the middle of a parade on First Street with all our friends and family looking on. How had I believed for one second that Jack was safe? He had promised to fuck me where he found me, and since I had as much will power when Jack’s hands were on me as Cookie Monster at a bakery, I was in very real danger.
Run, my brain screamed.
But instead I froze like a scared little rabbit.
