Page 6 of Into The Green

But Jasper seemed unperturbed and undeterred by the signs and was busy kicking various spots in the fence to, presumably, find weak spots. Finding one, he knelt down and peeled back the cut-open fence, slipped through and languidly stood up on the other side. Turning, he looked at me, giving me a brow raise that seemed to ask why the hell I wasn't following.

"You're trespassing," I informed him, waving at the sign.

"There's nothing on this property. They're just keeping squatters and teens out. Just come through. We're almost there."

I looked over my shoulder as if cops were lying in wait to nab me if I slipped through. But I hadn't seen a single soul for blocks and blocks. If there was nothing on the property, then why were we going there? But I had already gone that far, if we were close, I owed it to Jade to go all the way.

I knelt down, trying to figure out a way to get through without flashing him in the dress. But Jasper's attention wasn't on me, it was watching the tree line aptly like he could see something beyond it. What, I wasn't sure, because it was dark enough that I couldn't quite see more than a few feet in front of me. I ducked low and quickly moved through the hole in the fence, feeling a sharp wire scrape across my thigh as my skirt hiked up.

"Damn it," I hissed as I straightened, wondering if it had been ten years since my last tetanus shot or not.

Jasper took a deep breath and turned back and, as if somehow knowing what happened, reached down, snagged the hem of my skirt and hauled it up to reveal my thigh. Surprised and mildly embarrassed about my ladybug panties, I quickly tried to push the material back down again. But his hand was in the way, gently stroking over the bleeding scrape in a way that made my sex clench involuntarily.

"Just a graze," he said, dropping his hand and yanking the skirt down himself.

"Yeah, well, dying of tetanus might actually be preferable to spending any more time in your company," I snapped and it drew a laugh, deep and throaty, out of him before he suddenly turned away and walked straight toward the woods.

With night heavy on us, the moon hidden behind clouds, and the lights of the city well off, it was the darkest kind of blackout and if I didn't rush up and stay barely a breath behind him, I would have lost track of him entirely.

Then, as if I had predicted it, a few moments later, I did. Lose him, that is. How? I wasn't sure because I had literally been within arm's reach of him a mere moment before. I had glanced over my shoulder and then he was just... gone.

The panic welled up fast, making my skin feel electric and my chest tight. Had he just... left me? Alone in the woods? He did sort-of seem like that big of a tool to be honest. I should have known better. Maybe it was all some sort of twisted prank.

"Jasper," I called out, barely more than a whisper really as if I might disturb all forms of wildlife if I raised my voice and they would all come charging and rip me limb from limb.

Okay. I was being paranoid.

But could there be wolves?

Or, worse yet, bears?

There must have been bears in a place as desolate as the woods I was facing. What the hell were you supposed to do during a bear attack? I was pretty sure I'd read something about laying on your belly and putting your hands around your neck. Then you kinda just let yourself be half-eaten.

Yeah, sure, that seemed like the cherry on the pie of my week.

Cece Cooke, bear food.

That was just lovely.

But then all the thoughts of bears and wolves flew away as hands suddenly reached out and grabbed the lapels of my jacket, ripping them open. I screeched loudly, stumbling backward and trying to pry the hands away desperately.

So not bears then. A psycho rapist killer.

Yep. Even better.

I cocked my arm back and swung out, hoping to make contact with something despite my night blindness. I felt and heard a satisfying crack that reverberated pain through my hand and up my arm. There was no indication that I inflicted any kind of pain except the kind throbbing across my knuckles. The hands pulled harder at my jacket and I shoved forward at the figure's chest as hard as my hurt hand would allow. The impact made the hands leave my jacket and the lack of contact left me on unsteady footing and I felt myself falling backward, flailing helplessly to try to grab something that would stop my fall. But there was nothing and I hit hard enough to knock all my air out of me. But, airless or not, self-preservation had me scrambling backward desperately, feeling my skirt bunch up around my waist.

But then a weight was pressing down on my pelvis as someone straddled me, the hands yet again reaching for my jacket, dipping inside as I struggled.

"Stop," I tried to yell, but it came out strangled.

The back of a hand brushed across my breast, sliding across the cold-hardened nipple and making me jerk almost violently at the intimacy of the touch. But then the hands were out of the coat and the light of my cell phone illuminated the dark, giving me a clear view of my attacker's face.

Jasper.

"I told you no phone," he growled, taking the device in question and hauling it off far into the distance.

"Hey!" I yelled, feeling for the first time the cold ground against the whole of my legs and butt. I was practically naked near the woods with a stranger and no cell phone to call for help.