Page 651 of One More Kiss

Chapter5

Every last muscleon her body felt loose and at ease. After they woke up from their night of passion, Brandon made sure they had breakfast and enough logs to get through the next day of cold weather.

They had one conversation about the safety of the sex they had last night, and both of them confirmed that the other was indeed clean. Something that surely should've been done beforehand.

The weather had broken the night before, and Brandon was sure that they'd be able to make it down the mountain if that was something she still wanted to do.

Though her normal state was to be attached to a man and Brandon had proven even in this short period of time that he was nothing like Rich, Vana still needed to go out on her own and find out who she was without the fear hanging over her.

"I've already called Waylan," the owner of the general store. He'll let me use his ATV to get you to the main road and then down to the town. " Brandon crosses his arms over his chest. His bare abdomen drew her eyes with every movement.

He laughed, which caused Vana to jerk her eyes up to his face.

"Keep looking at me like that, and we're not going to get out of here at any point today."

Her face burns a bright red, and she looks away, but that doesn't mean she isn't open to the idea.

Lucky whines loudly and paces back and forth in front of the door. "I'll be in the back letting him take care of his business. He's going to start crying if I don't give him some attention too." Vana jokes.

"Go on, I'm not a jealous man. What's mine is mine." Brandon shoots her a wink and she squirms as the butterflies roll in her gut.

Vana shakes her head and follows Lucky out to the back of the small cabin where there's a large open area. He takes off running in every direction, only stopping to use the bathroom. She laugh at his energy and just his joviality. Even Lucky knows how much of a gift finding Brandon is. It's been less than forty-eight hours and this man has become more of a gift to Vana than anyone in her life.

"Lucky, come on boy. You've been out here for a long time. " Vana calls out to her companion, though not in a very loud voice. She may or may not be enjoying the peaceful mountain outdoors just as much as her dog.

She tilts her head back and lets the sun shine down on her body. Starting a brand new life is a heady feeling.

After a few seconds, Lucky stopped running back and forth but instead planted himself right in front of her. She peered down at the dog before she realized that he was in his protective stance.

Something was in the trees.

Rich had found her. She wasn't...

She was safe.

Just as Rich took one step out of the treeline, Lucky growled loudly, barking every few seconds for effect.

"You stupid bitch. Did you think a fucking river would be enough to get away from me." Rich snapped at her, but this time she already knew she didn't need to reply. There was no need.

Brandon was already inching his was closer to her ex-husband.

"What the fuck is funny? You think I won't kill you because I gave you my last name?" Rich screams at her taking another menacing step in her direction.

That's close enough for Lucky because he takes off towards Rich at the same instant Brandon does.

Vana jerks back with a start at the sheer violence both her dog and her savior bring down on Rich.

Rich tries to fight back. He has a long hunting knife but as he lifted the knife to swing at Brandon, Lucky latches onto her ex-husbands wrist, pulling him backwards.

Brandon takes the knife and jams the long blade on the opposite side of Rich's neck until the hilt of the knife was poking out of one side and the tip shined with fresh blood on the other.

Vana watches in shock as Rich hits the ground motionless and both Brandon and Lucky stand over him, bloodied and out of breath.

A hysterical laugh bubbles out of her throat until she falls to her knees and cries. All those years of fear and oppression are finally over.

Both Brandon and Lucky walk over to her and wrap her up in a cocoon of love and support. The greatest gift anyone could give a woman like Vana.

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