She smashed her palms to his ears.Hard.Wanting—hoping—to shatter the bastard’s eardrums.
A howl of agony tore the hot air in the van and McCoy’s body arced backward, his head thrown back, his face scrunched in pain.Regan lifted her feet and punched them into his gut, launching him through the open doors behind him.
Go!
She scrambled into a frantic crouch, stare locked on McCoy’s falling frame.His mammoth bulk cut through the summer heat, a wild arc of growling rage before, mid-plummet, he twisted into a fluid spin and landed on his feet and hands.Glaring at her from all fours with burning golden eyes.Wolf’s eyes.
Regan’s throat clamped shut.Oh, shit.
He bared his teeth in a silent snarl, teeth no longer human.“You are a little minx, aren’t you?”he growled, unfurling into a menacing stand, the guttural words spitting from a mouth now more a blunt wolf muzzle.
“Come at me again and I’ll rip your balls off.”
“Rip them off, no.Suck them…” McCoy dropped her a lurid wink, his face more distorted and animalistic by the second.“Absolutely.”
He lunged, a great black blur, ramming into Regan’s chest and driving her against the metal floor.Claws ripped at her shirt, her shorts.His mouth sank into her neck, his teeth into her flesh.Her wild blows seemed to matter little to him.He reared up, the split-second moment of freedom allowing Regan to see what he’d become—part wolf, part man—before grabbing the front of her shorts and shoving them down.He snatched at her wrists, almost popping her shoulder joints as he yanked her arms above her head and dropped back on top of her, his weight immovable.Inescapable.He pinned her legs with one of his and imprisoned her wrists in one cruel fist.
“No!”Regan screamed.“Get the fuck off me.”
With grunting chuckles, he tore his hand from between her legs and yanked open the fly of his jeans.“Now this is gonna hurt, lassie,” he panted, wolf’s eyes boring into hers.“Quite a lot, in fact.”He flattened his hand to her shoulder, nailing her completely to the van’s floor.He dropped his head, the contorted length of his muzzle-nose pressing to her ear.“Feel free to scream as loud as you like.”
Regan clenched her fists.“You first.”She lashed her head to side and, fury consuming her, sank her teeth into his stubble-covered jaw.Fur and flesh and sweat filled her mouth.He yanked back, leaving part of his skin behind.A maniacal light flared in his eyes and he wiped at the bloody wound she’d made, grinning.“Such a wild bonnie lass,” he murmured.“Ireallyneed to say thank you to O’Connell.”
“Not thank you, ass-wipe,” a deep male voice sounded behind him.“You need to say goodbye.”
And with that, Declan rose up behind McCoy, grabbed his head with clawed, bloody hands and snapped it to the side like it was a bottle top.
A sharp crack shattered the air.McCoy’s body went limp and Declan yanked it backward, flinging it from the van in a savage throw.
He turned to Regan, silver wolf eyes steady.He held out his right hand, wrist still encased in a now dented steel shackle, the wicked claws at the end of each finger retracting until they were but blunt human nails.“Did he…?”
Regan shook her head, colder than ice.She felt sick.Sick and angry and numb.“No.You stopped him.”She stared at him.Wondering if he really was there.Blood splattered his body and numerous gashes littered his face, neck and chest.The black shirt he’d procured from the mansion back in Sydney was now a tattered rag, hanging from his shoulders in strips, barely intact.The wound in his side seeped fresh blood, his chest heaved with each ragged breath he drew and his hair was a stringy, tangled mess.
Ignoring his hand, she climbed from the back of the van.Her stare slid to McCoy’s inert form, lying prone in the long, dry grass.Sick contempt flooded through her.She swallowed, turning back to Declan who watched her with such intent her skin prickled.“Is he dead?”
He looked at her with human eyes once again, their grey depths swimming with concern and anger.And something else.Something shadowy.“We have to go.”
She hugged herself, the hideous memory of McCoy’s touch on her flesh like acid eating her skin.Her muscles ached, like her body had been through a senseless war.But the ambiguous shadow in Declan’s eyes…It made her scared.“Is he dead, Declan?”
Without a word, he skimmed his hand down her back and she flinched.“Don’t,” she murmured, hugging herself tighter, returning her stare to McCoy once again.The ice encasing her limbs cracked and suddenly, boiling, savage rage roared through her.She spun around.Fixed Declan with a hard stare.“Is.He.Dead?”
Declan shook his head.“Regan, you’re not ready to?—”
She snapped.Fear, fury, helplessness and shame erupted in her soul.Devoured her.“Don’t tell me I’m not ready!”she screamed.“Don’t tell me I won’t understand!”She hammered his body with her fists, glaring at him through hot, stinging tears, hating herself, hating him.“Don’t.”She struck his jaw.His chest.His shoulders.“Fucking tell me…” He stood still.Took it all.Every blow.Every screamed word.Watching her.She thumped at him.“I’m not ready!”She stared at him, blinded by tears and agonized grief.“He almost raped me!”She smashed her fists against his chest, choking on the air.Tears ran down her face, burning trails of inexplicable shame.“He almost raped me,” she sobbed, and suddenly she was burying her face into the chest that only seconds ago she’d been punishing.
“I know, Regan.”Declan slid his arms around her body and held her, his breath soft and warm on the top of her head, his presence as solid as the ground on which they stood.“And I will never forgive myself for not being there.”
For a still moment, he did nothing but hold her, his heart beating against hers, his lips pressed gently to her forehead.Before, with infinite care, he scooped her up and carried her to the driver’s side door, the feverish heat of his body a furnace against hers.More comforting than anything she could imagine.He lowered her into the seat, buckled her in and placed a soft kiss on her forehead, brushing the strands of her hair from her face.
Regan curled her fingers around his wrists, stilling his hand.“I’m sorry I chained you.”
He chuckled, the sound low and soothing.“Apologize later.”
Empty numbness still holding her like a shroud, she watched him walk around the front of the van, following his every step.Heavy guilt unfurled in her stomach, cold and fierce.Jesus, he was hurt.Hurt so bad he could barely walk.
He climbed into the cab, a stretched tightness around his eyes, his skin slicked with sweat.
“Declan, you’re hurt.I need to?—”
