Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 66962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Carlo had looked fucking gorgeous in the sunlight, holding a hay bale like he belonged on the ranch. He might be a rich kid playing cowboy, but he looked hot as hell doing it.
I stayed at the barn for a while, then went back to my cabin for some lunch. After I’d eaten, I dressed in camo and started working out how to track down Carlo. I could have asked someone where he was, but it had been a while since I’d used my tracking skills, and I didn’t want to lose my abilities, even if I wasn’t sure I could ever use them for anything but hunting for food.
Besides, treating finding him like a game would make the anticipation of locating him and luring him away even better, and it would give me ammunition against the rest of them the next time they tried to bribe me into something. If I could lure their client away, they weren’t taking their jobs seriously, and I would be sure to remind them of that.
I hadn’t been searching long when I found Carlo working on a pasture fence. I stayed hidden, enjoying seeing him try to figure out what he was doing. He paused to pet one of the horses who’d wandered up to check out what was going on. Then he froze with his hand on the horse’s side. A moment later, he turned and looked directly at me.
He shouldn’t be able to see me. I knew I hadn’t made a sound, but I had no doubt he knew I was there. He wasn’t simply looking toward the tree line.
He looked behind him, then jumped the fence and headed my way. I realized how insane this was. I was encouraging him to sneak away. I should have just told Grant he was coming to my cabin. I had every right to see him, but I didn’t want to have to talk about it. Things with Carlo just happened. It wasn’t going to do me any good to analyze it.
Carlo stopped a few feet away from me. He glanced back one more time, checking to see if anyone had noticed his escape before saying, “Before I saw you at the barn, you hadn’t talked to me for days. I don’t want you hiding from me anymore.”
I raised my brows, trying to remember how to look threatening. It had been easy that first night when I hadn’t known who he was, but now it was like he’d put a spell on me. I was powerless to move, to take control. That should scare the shit out of me, but right then, it felt good. It felt like destiny, like something I deserved. “I’m used to hiding.”
“You don’t need to hide from me. You’re not afraid of me, are you?”
I looked him up and down. “No, I’m not.” Not physically anyway.
“Because you could snap me in two with your bare hands?”
I shook my head.
“Because you can easily subdue me?”
“No.”
“Because you know I won’t hurt you?”
He wasn’t talking about hurting me physically. He meant something much deeper, and he was right. From the moment I’d first touched him, my instincts had told me he was good for me. Before my capture, I’d always trusted my gut, but afterward—since my instincts had failed to save me that day—I’d ignored those little feelings I got. I’d started to assume everyone and everything was a danger to me. Now Carlo was making me question myself again. Maybe my instincts really were trustworthy. Since meeting Carlo, I’d been able to hold my knife, to feel pleasure, to talk freely. Of course, it was also possible I was finally losing the last of my sanity.
Instead of answering Carlo, I grabbed his shirt and pulled him to me. He gasped into my mouth as I kissed him. There was nothing gentle about it. I was taking possession of him again, and it felt so fucking good. He was tense at first, but a few moments into the kiss, he relaxed against me. I shifted my grip to his hips and pulled him in so our bodies pressed together.
When I pulled back, desperate for air, Carlo whimpered, gripping me tightly. “Please don’t stop. I’ve been thinking about you constantly. I’ve wanted you every second since the last time.”
“Me too.” The admission came far more easily than I would have expected. “How did you know I was out here?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I felt someone watching me, and there you were.”
“You shouldn’t have been able to see me.”
“I will always see you.”
Because I’m exactly what you need. I couldn’t bring myself to say that out loud. “I hope you weren’t out in the pasture alone.”
“I keep telling everyone that I am capable of taking care of myself.”
I raised my brows. “Then why are you at the ranch?”