Puddles gives a whine, her head resting in Remi’s lap in an effort to offer some comfort in what is obviously a fucked up situation. I can’t stand this. This isn’t us. We don’t just abduct people. I get that he’s worried about being infected, but surely there has to be a compromise. I want to fix this and erase the look of betrayal that’s showing all over Remi’s features. I get into the back seat and automatically reach over so that I can pull the gag from her mouth.
“Don’t, Theo,” Madix says harshly. “We need to get out of here as soon as possible, which won’t happen if we wreck because she’s having a fit and can’t accept reality. She’s pissed, and I get that, but we need to go, and we can’t do it safely if she’s going to attack me while I’m driving, or threatening to jump out of the car.”
I shoot him an incredulous look and start to untie the gag anyway. “Fine, she can stay tied up until we’re out of the area, but I’m not going to fucking gag her. We can just listen to the abuse until she’s tired of dishing it out,” I say. “We deserve it anyway,” I finish with a mumble.
“Shit,” I hear Brant mutter as he hops in the front seat and slams the door shut. Puddles moves to try to get closer to him. I navigate around the big ass dog and pull the bandana all the way off Remi’s face. I’m ready for her to start laying into all of us, but when I pull the cloth away, she’s quiet, which feels more unnerving than if she would just read us all the riot act.
Madix pulls away from the house, wasting no time getting us the fuck out of here. Mud flies up behind us as he punches the gas, and I bite down on the,“slow down”comment that wants to crawl out of my mouth. He’s worried that Remi’s tantrum will cause an accident, but I’m worried thathistantrum could get us stuck in the mud just like that other car.
I fidget under the weight of the tension oozing around the car, not liking the chasm that’s opening up and separating us right in front of my eyes.
“We grabbed your rats, but we couldn’t find Coon,” I blurt, unable to take the silent treatment any longer. “When things quiet down and it’s safe to venture out again we can come back for her,” I offer, but Remi doesn’t acknowledge me at all.
“Jesus, Remi,” I plead. “We just want to make sure you stay safe. Those people could be sick.”
“I am not some child you can order around and toss over your shoulder like a damn sack of potatoes!” she spits, turning her fury on me.
“You already agreed to go with us, we just had to move up the timetable,” Brant defends, making her burning gaze move onto him.
“So you think your ridiculous need to ‘up the timetable’trumps everything I say?”
Madix’s shoulders tense, and his voice comes out like a growl. “It fucking does when your location is compromised. It does whenyou’redicking around to smoke fish for a fucking wild bear that’s perfectly capable of fishing for itself. It does when we have been more than patient, trying to get you to see reason. And it sure as fuck does when your actions could get you or us killed! Do you not get that? Your dad asked us to come get you. We are risking our fucking lives to do that. This isn’t a fucking joke, and your fetish for animals doesn’t trump our need to stay the fuck alive!”
Madix’s knuckles grow white on the steering wheel, and his breathing is hurried as a result of his rage-filled yelling. I don’t know if Remi recognizes that he’s completely lost it, or if she just doesn’t have anything else to say, but she stays quiet. I doubt her silence is because she’s mulling over the points Madix just made, because for whatever reason, she’s been resistant to anything we’ve had to say from the minute we stood on her porch.
I think about it as we make our way further and further from Remi’s house, but I can’t decide if her outlook is a good or bad thing. Is she sticking her head in the sand and refusing to deal with reality, or is she just not stressed about the fucked up virus situation because there’s nothing that can be done about it?
I watch her as she stares out the window, her face blank, her hands still tied up. I don’t like to see her restrained, and even though I can tell Madix didn’t make it too tight, I can see her skin has turned red from where the rope has rubbed against her. Frowning, I reach around Puddles and start undoing the knots around her wrists. This just feels wrong, and I can’t sit here like a creeper, okay with her being tied up and taken against her will.
“Theo...” Madix warns, but I ignore him as I work to release her.
“It’s not fucking right, Madix. I’m not going to sit back here and just be okay with this.”
I turn to find his brown eyes glaring at me in the rearview mirror, but before I can say anything else, a fist lands in my throat and I’m suddenly choking for air. I grab my neck and turn wide eyes towards Remi, just in time to see another fist flying right for my face. I bring up my hand to grab it before she can hit me again.
“What the fuck?” I wheeze, but I have to block an elbow coming for my forearm.
Remi lunges for me, but her feet are still tied up, so it’s more of an aggressive lean and doesn’t pack the punch that she clearly wants it to. I twist and maneuver myself on top of her, wrestling to pin her arms down onto the seat and keep her from taking any more cheap shots.
“I was trying to help you, what the hell was that for?”
“You stood by and letcro magnon manover there do this to me in the first place!” she huffs.
I stare down at her, our heaving breaths mingling as we just lay like that for a second, with her pinned between me and the seat. She starts to squirm against me, and I try hard to ignore how she feels underneath me, but her body presses against mine in all the sweet spots, and I can’t stop my dick from getting hard at the contact. Puddles whines again from her place on the floor against the car door.
“Let me untie your legs before you hurt yourself,” I grunt out as I take an elbow to the ribs.
“Stellar idea T,” Madix snarks from the front. “Yeah, go ahead and untie her legs so that she can hitandkick at the same time.”
Without moving my gaze away from Remi, I reply, “Fuck off, Madix. Just pull over so she can get out and go home if she wants to. I’m not going to force someone to do something they don’t want to do.”
“I can’t fucking pull over. We could get stuck in the mud and never get out!”
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Brant interjects with a sigh. “If we just let her run home, then what was the point of us coming out here? What’s sheriff going to say when we show up sans daughter?”
“We’ll just tell him that his daughter was too fucking dense to understand she was safer with us,” Madix grumps.
“Stop talking about me like I’m not here, you assholes!” Remi finally cuts in, her voice like a whip across the car. She glares up at me. “I know I’m all irresistible and shit, but get off of me,” she demands. I can’t help it when my lips twitch upward. I know she’s raving mad, and has every right to be, but she’s fucking cute as hell.
