Page 51 of Sweet Doe
The helicopters are close enough now that I can see figures moving inside them, scanning the forest below.
And suddenly, desperately, I don't want to be found.
"We should go inside," I say, surprising myself with the steadiness of my voice. "Before they see us."
Relief floods his features and his shoulders relax slightly.
I'm also not ready for this to end.
He doesn't need more than that. His hand finds mine, fingers intertwining as he starts leading me back toward the cabin at a pace just short of running. Behind us, the search helicopters continue their sweep of the forest, looking for a woman who doesn’t want to be found.
Chapter Sixteen
ASHER
She said she’d stay.
Said it with blood on her hands and that look in her eyes—the one that cracked something wide open inside me. A promise whispered through lips still shaking, standing over the body we dumped like garbage beneath the snow. Maybe she meant it. Maybe she didn’t. It doesn’t fucking matter. The second she said the words, something shifted.Locked in.
She chose me.
That’s it. That’s all I’ve ever fucking needed.
Now we’re tearing through the cabin, shoving what’s left of our life into duffel bags, adrenaline still ripping through me like a goddamn chainsaw. I move fast. Grabbing weapons, food, spare clothes, all the shit we might need. Stuffing it into the back of the SUV like we’ve got minutes before the whole mountain catches fire. Maybe we do. Doesn’t matter. This is it. Our reset. Our scorched-earth beginning.
And I can’t stop watching her.
She’s pale, shaky. Hair a tangled mess, hands trembling as she zips up a bag. But she’s still here. Not crying or trying to run. Not looking at me like I’m the monster that tore her life apart.
No. She’s looking at me like I’m the only thing she’s certain of in the world.
She is the fucking storm now, andfuck, she’s never looked more like mine.
“You grab your meds?” I ask, voice like gravel as I yank open the bottom drawer, pulling out the last of the stash. “Gravol, painkillers, the stomach shit? What about your hair stuff? Books?”
She nods. Quiet. Barely.
I slam the drawer shut and stalk across the room to her. Two steps and I’m in her space. “Don’t go all silent on me now.”
Her head lifts slowly. Lips parting like she wants to say something but can’t get the words out. And that expression—fuck, that expression. It’s like she’s caught between ‘what the hell am I doing’ and ‘I’d burn down the world if you asked.’
That’s the look that kills me.
That’s the look that says she’s finally fucking mine.
I reach for the gun on the mantel. Cold steel. Fully loaded. And then I slide it into the waistband of my jeans and glance back at her. “They’ll be looking. Cops. Neighbors. Search teams. We won’t get another clean chance.”
“What if we don’t get far?” she asks softly.
I cock my head. “We will.”
“But—”
“Sloan.” I close the distance again, eyes burning. “You don’t get to flinch now. You said you’re mine. That you’d stay. That means we leave together. No questions. No second thoughts.”
She swallows hard. Her bag slips down her shoulder.
“Choose me completely,” I say, voice low and raw. “Or I’ll end this for both of us.”
