Total pages in book: 174
Estimated words: 172061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 574(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 172061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 574(@300wpm)
I shifted on my bare feet, uncertain of exactly what had pulled me from his room but one hundred percent sure it was him.
His spirit a call that clamored and shook and whipped as if he were wrapping me in chains.
But I’d always been that way when it came to him.
In chains.
Hooked and held.
Forever prisoner to everything I once felt.
I always believed the years would deteriorate and tarnish it, but I realized then it had only been twisted and reformed. It was raw and riddled with wounds, but the pulse that beat through the middle was just as strong.
“Cash,” I whispered into the lapping night.
He slowly stepped the rest of the way inside and locked the door behind him, pressing a button on his phone to reengage the alarm.
Then he carefully turned his focus back to me.
My eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light. The corners creased as I struggled to make out what was smeared across his face.
My stomach dropped when I realized it was blood.
“Oh my goodness, Cash, what happened?” I rushed forward, and when I got close, I could see a gaping cut on the left side of his forehead that also oozed red. My attention raced, taking in the rest of him.
He was covered in leaves and dirt and his shirt was torn on the side.
It also became clear that he was guarding his left side.
“What happened?” I demanded again, my voice ragged and my knees going weak.
Fury blistered across his strong, obscenely handsome face. “Tripped out in the woods and rolled down a hill.”
Every word was gritted.
Surprise jetted from my lungs. Probably a little too close to a screech. “What in the world were you doing out in the woods?”
“Runnin’.”
Confusion bound, and he blew out a sigh when he realized his answer didn’t make any sense. “Thought I heard something, so I went to check it out.”
Fear lifted in a billow. One that felt like it would swallow me whole. I hugged myself across my middle.
“Did you find whatever it was?” The words were thin.
Rage boiled with the regret that swam through his expression. “No. Never actually saw anyone. Something just felt off.”
My attention skated to the darkened window. Heaviness thickened my throat.
I’d felt so safe here over the last two weeks. As if we’d been elevated. Removed. Like maybe I truly didn’t have to worry because Ethan couldn’t find us here.
A fool who’d sank into the security of Cash’s home.
“Do you…think someone is out there?” It came out timorous.
The set of his jaw was both staunch and grim. “No. If there was, I ran him off. Could have been an animal, for all I know.”
But with the ferocity that burned through his features, I knew he didn’t actually believe that. He was only trying to give me comfort. Assure me we were safe.
I wondered if he knew that even if someone was out there, as long as I was with him, that’s what I felt.
Safe.
I blinked, trying to put the churning emotions away so I could focus on him. “You’re hurt.”
His head barely shook. “It’s nothing.”
A scoff ripped free. “You have a really bad cut, and your side…”
I dropped my gaze to where I could see there was a tear in his shirt. The area was saturated with blood.
Tears blurred my eyes. I hated the idea of him being injured. That he was out there alone while I was behind the security of his doors. “How far did you fall?”
Hot air puffed from his nose. “I don’t know. Maybe twenty feet.”
A different sort of fear pelted me, my brain spinning through a million different scenarios.
Him hitting his head and losing consciousness. His body broken and mangled at the bottom of a cliff. Me having no idea that he was lying out in the forest in pain and in need of help.
“Oh God.” Horror blazed through me, and I flung my hands out as if I could shake off the sensation.
You know, just generally freaking out since I was struck with the truth that the care I held for Cash was so extreme it caused me physical pain.
It didn’t matter the things he confessed or the intimidation that shrouded him or the grunts that continually fell from his mouth.
To me, he was still the same boy who had taken a broken girl and breathed faith back into her.
It didn’t help that I spent the entire evening he was away staring at the ring he put on my finger. My mind getting away from me. Fantasies invading that were only going to ruin me in the end.
“I’m fine, Daisy.”
I looked up to find his expression twisted in emphasis, as if he’d witnessed every worry play out in my mind.
“I—”
He reached out and set his hand on my cheek. Warmth spread through me like the rushing of water.