Clawing at the long grass, Helen scrambled back onto her feet and headed toward the river, which eventually led to a bridge and road. But her foot gave away again and she toppled.
Jaxon was at her heels, grabbing at her T-shirt.
She whirled round to punch his jaw but she couldn’t put enough power behind it. Jaxon hit her across the face. Once. Twice. The burning pain left her stunned.
He pinned her to the ground.
“Get off!” Helen flailed beneath him. Trapped, she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t find her strength, her face stinging, stones digging into her back. “Get off me!”
Then the weight lifted from her chest.
“She said get the fuck off.”
Sebastian?
Helen’s vision blurred against the sunlight, its brightness like a bullet to her brain. She must be seeing things! But Sebastian’s silhouette was unmistakable. Jaxon flew in the air, then crashed back to the ground—Sebastian’s powerful right hook the last thing she registered before it all went black.
Police were already swarming the cottage by the time Grice slammed on the brakes outside. They’d confirmed it empty, with signs of a disturbance, and had been about to search the surrounding area when a streak of blue flashing through the apple fields caught Seb’s eye.
“Leave it to us, Clarke!” Grice had tried to pull him back, but Seb knew his way through the fields and was faster than any of the police officers who’d begun to give chase—and nothing would stop him from protecting Helen. He’d sprinted after her, and when he’d seen the man—Bates—sheer fear and rage propelled him faster. Seb could tell by Helen’s stride that she’d been injured and that son of a bitch was gaining ground on her every second.
But not as much as Seb was gaining on him, and when he’d seen the fucker backhand her, he’d leaped forward, desperate to tear him apart—until Seb saw Helen’s limp body in the meadow and nothing else mattered.
Leaving Bates writhing in pain on the ground after the blow he’d given him, Seb took Helen into his arms and ran a shaky hand over her face.
“Wake up, honey. Wake up.” He kissed her forehead as police officers piled into the area, cuffing and hauling Jaxon away. But Seb didn’t move. “Please wake up.”
Her cheek was wet with his tears as he pressed his face against hers. “Did I ever mention I’m an idiot, like areallybig fucking idiot?” He stroked her hair. “And did I mention I’m in love with you? That’s the idiot in me, see. I should’ve told you. And yesterday, I should’ve stayed. I should’ve listened. God, I wanted to. I wanted to do all those things, but I didn’t.”
Someone placed a hand gently on his shoulder. “The ambulance is here, Clarke.”
Seb squinted against the bright sky.
Grice knelt down beside him. “She’ll be okay, mate. Let the docs see to her now.”
Paramedics pulled Helen away, his arms cold and bare without her in them.
“Try not to worry,” Grice said. “When she wakes up, I’ll tell her you saved her arse.”
But it was Helen who’d saved him.
Only Seb had been too much of a fool to realize it.
Until now.
Chapter 34
X-raysonHelen’sanklerevealed no broken bones, but her concussion and shock were bad enough for doctors to want to keep her in the local community hospital overnight.
Seb sat beside her now while she slept off the pain meds and post-adrenaline slump. She’d regained consciousness in the ambulance but had been very confused and emotional. He’d had to keep out of the way while doctors patched her up and the police took down her statement but now, three hours later, he was finally alone with her.
He stroked her hair. The cut on her forehead, held together with neat white strips of tape, was already bruising in deep shades of purple and green, as was her split and swollen lip. Helen’s injuries had Seb clenching his fists, ready to strike something hard—preferably that son of a bitch’s jaw again—though not all of his anger was directed at Bates.
Seb was also to blame, and he’d spend his whole life making it up to her.
“It’s not your fault,” Grice had said when Helen was being examined by paramedics on the grass. He’d then told Seb that something had gone wrong with police surveillance and Bates had slipped under their radar.
But knowing the details didn’t make Seb feel any better.
