“Please, Chris. She didn’t take Sprocket with her and she’s also not in a good place. Plus, if something happens to her in the storm, no one is there to help her. I need some peace of mind and to know she’s okay.Please.”
Damn. Looked like he had a reason to go after her afterall.
“Yeah. I’ll check onher.”
Chapter 9
Denise heldthe trembling dog away from her as anxiety caused it to empty its bladder. It was the second dog that had done that. She hadn’t been quick enough with the first dog and now she reeked ofpiss.
Blowing out a breath through clenched teeth, she set the dog down in the pen and it ran to the corner to curl up on the mat with the other two dogs already huddledtogether.
On a positive note, most of it should wash off in the torrential downpour she had to walk through to get back to herapartment.
Perfect fucking ending to a perfect fuckingday.
The dog seemed to calm down as the others welcomed her and she arranged herself on the pile. Even the damn dogs had someone to comfort them. She had…her. Her nose began to sting and her bottom lip trembled. Turning on her heel, she headed to the barn door. Setting the lights on low, she stepped through the smaller man-door, making sure to lock it behindher.
The sheets of rain drenched her within moments. A few steps into the yard, thunder crashedoverhead.
“Fuck!” Mother Nature’s violence fed the anger roiling inside her, primer on the detonation cord waiting for an inopportune moment to set off the explosion she was desperately trying to keepcontained.
But it wasn’t fucking fair. Sarah was loving and kind and forgiving and had finally been in a good place in her life. She had two smart, beautiful kids who didn’t deserve to lose their mom tocancer.
Denise was halfway across the yard when lightning split the sky and struck a tree in the field next to thebarn.
Fists clenched at her side, she screamed into the storm. Everything came crashing down—the anger, the pain, the fear, and uncertainty pressed mercilessly down on her and she couldn’t bear the weight of it any longer. Her knees buckled and she sank to theground.
Violent sobs forced their way out of her chest. The storm raged and crashed around her, echoing the one inside her. A small, rational section of her brain told her to get her dumb ass up and out of the rain, but she couldn’t make her limbs move. Couldn’t find the strength to keep pushingforward.
“Denise!Denise!”
Hands grabbed her upper arms, jerking her out of herstupor.
Surging to her feet, she fought the person holding her, pushing away fromhim.
“Denise, it’sChris!”
She didn’t care. She needed to lash out and hurt something—someone. Use her fists to transfer this pain and anger away from her onto someoneelse.
Her fist connected with a hard wall of flesh, followed by a muffled, “Oomph.”
“You wanna let it out?” he shouted. “Have atit.”
“Fuck you!” She threw a left jab, followed by a right hook to his jaw, snapping his head to theside.
He turned his head back and laughed. “That’sit?”
“Fuck! You!” She shoved him and forced him back astep.
He took two forward, crowding into her space. The thin material of his t-shirt molded to his chest and abs while water dripped from his face. He held his arms out to the side, daring her to hit him again. “Come on, Denise. I know you can do better than that. Give me yourworst.”
Something inside her broke. Shattered. She didn’t want to do her worst. She didn’t want to keep feeling this way. Taking a shuddering breath, she closed the distance between them and grabbed the sides of his face, pulling his mouth down tohers.
He flinched and, for a few heartbeats, she worried he wouldn’t respond. As she made the decision to pull away, his arms banded tightly around her and he opened his mouth, his tongue thrusting intohers.
Thank God.This was what she wanted to feel. Comfort and care from another person, in the touch and caress given by a lover. Given by Chris. Pressing her body against his, she wrapped her arms around hisneck.
Pulling back slightly, he said, “Up”, then sealed his mouth back to hers. He bent slightly and hefted herweight.
