“Go to hell, asshole!” I shout back, my earlier façade completely cracking as I put distance between us.
I hate him. I actually hate him. Just like I did before we came here. I should never have stopped. He’s just another person in my life who thinks they know what’s best for me. Who’s trying to make decisions for me.
“Sinclair!” he thunders. “You don’t go anywhere without me! Come the fuck back here!”
I ignore him, pumping my arms and legs as hard as I can as I race through the gaps between the trees. I’m wearing a dress, but at least I have my sneakers on. And this time my laces are done up tight in a double knot.
Take that, jerk.
I keep running until my lungs burn and my eyes sting. I hate him. Stupid giant muscly asshole.
Footsteps moving fast behind me make the twigs on the forest floor snap with a loud urgency.
“You’d better run, Princess,” he calls from somewhere closer to me than he was moments ago. “Because when I catch you, I’ll spank that ass of yours until it wears my handprint. Don’t think I won’t.”
“Fuck off,” I holler back, gasping for air as I run faster.
I break through the trees and skid to a halt meters away from the edge of a river.
“Shit,” I mutter, spinning back into the trees and running in another direction.
Everything is quiet except for the pounding of my blood in my ears. I slow down to a walk, fighting to keep my breath steady and quiet so I can listen.
Nothing.
I must have lost him. I’ll have to go back to the cabin, I know that. But I just need some time away from him. He might be willing to forget about what’s happened between us the momentwe leave here, but I’m not. I can’t go back to the city like nothing ever happened. Go back to him working with my father and barely looking my way. Not when the way he’s looked at me since we’ve been here has made me feel more alive than I’ve felt in years.
I’d feel like such an idiot. I wouldn’t be able to stand being in the same room as him.
I stop and rest my hands on my hips, breathing deeply. Sweat prickles my hairline and runs down the dip between my breasts.
I listen again.
Nothing.
“Stupid jerk,” I mutter.
Strong arms grab me from behind, coiling around my torso and pinning my arms to my sides. I’m lifted from the floor like I weigh nothing.
“Get off me!” I screech, kicking my legs out. But it’s no use, he’s got me held in the air like a doll.
How can he creep up on me like that? Stupid giant hulk with his special ops training.
“You’re an asshole!” I snarl, throwing my head back, trying to hit his nose, but missing.
He walks forward and pushes my front against a giant tree, pinning me between it and his body that’s burning like an inferno against my back. My tiptoes dance against the floor as I try to get free.
“I told you not to run from me,” he whispers, his breath hot and menacing against my ear.
“And I told you not to follow me,” I spit back.
I struggle some more, but all it does is make the bark of the tree snag my dress.
“What am I going to do with you?” he grits, taking one arm from my torso, but still easily pinning me in place with the remaining one.
I gasp as he pushes my dress up around my waist. His large, warm palm slides over the curve of my ass and his breath grows ragged as he grabs a handful of my flesh and squeezes.
“Don’t ever fucking run from me, Sinclair,” he breathes, kissing my neck beneath my ear.
