Page 76

The shadows close in on me, and my heart rate spikes. London saw me with Naomi; she must have. She saw what Naomi was trying to do to me, what I let her do to me, when all along it was London I needed—the one I obsessively craved.

“London, come out. We can talk this through.”

Silence. No London, no ghost, no figure peering from the woods, and for a moment, I wonder if my mind is playing tricks on me. My paranoia is finally catching up with me. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve seen things I shouldn’t have in these woods.

I hang my head low and listen. Really listen… This island is so quiet that if they so much as move, I will hear them.

A few moments pass, but I’m patient, keeping my focus.

Then a muffled wind echoes from the trees, bringing along a faint cry that has my ears perking up. The shadows are messing with my sense of direction. In my mind, I can hear her as clear as day—her sweet voice calling my name, so low that I wonder if it’s real. It could be my mind recalling the entire winter when I had her pinned down, teasing her with my tongue. I recall the soft skin of her thigh as it brushed under my fingers while I made her squirm and squirt, bruising her with my lips as she lay fully under my control.

Her final cry when I abandoned her.

My heart falters from the pain in that cry and her last words to me before I left, foolishly dismissing them as an outburst.

“Don’t fucking hurt her,” I say in no direction in particular, but I can imagine Ezra is with her and Nigel is somewhere close, watching me. Enjoying this.

Naomi bites down on my hand, marking my flesh with her teeth, and I drop her.

“Fuck. Micah,” she coughs out, grabbing her neck and touching the red marks I left on her. “No one is here. You’ve lost your damn mind.” Tears flow out of her eyes as she chokes on her breath and keels over. I had no clue how hard I was holding her. I flex my jaw and blink, coming back to reality, then smile.

My dick isn’t so enticing now, is it, sweetheart?

I ignore her scowling and continue to scan the forest as we edge toward where I think I heard London. Or someone…

Naomi waits and crosses her arms while every hair on my arm stands on end. “She’s here, and I don’t think she’s alone.”

“No one is here, Micah,” Naomi scoffs.

I stare at the thickest part of the woods, where her cry echoed from. I heard them flee after Naomi bit me. My instinct is to chase London, but I won’t. I’ll hunt her instead… I’m better at that.

I nudge Naomi forward. “Move.”

She frowns but nods and takes a tentative step into the darkness.

“Good fucking girl,” I mutter under my breath, watching her, making sure she listens. Her blonde ponytail swings as she faces me. Her eyes flash slightly and a brief twinge appears on her lips before she turns away and struts forward—every ounce of pep back in her step.

Fuck me, this girl loves the abuse.

They all seem to with me.

I take one final glance at the cabin, wondering if I will ever make it back here or if I’m turning my back on it forever. My eyes are drawn to the footprints, and I falter.

The snow has melted, so perhaps there were no footprints, or perhaps they were ours all along. I recall my last steps just an hour earlier. I came back from the woods and walked around the cabin to the cooking site. Naomi was here the whole time. She could have left those footprints.

So why are my senses screaming at me?

She is here.

Five fucking days, and I promised London I’d only be gone a few hours.

“Micah, I can’t walk that fast,” Naomi whines as I set an intense pace toward the airplane and she struggles to keep up. “Can you please just take me to the others? I’ll tell you where Ezra is if you let me go. Please, Micah. Please. I don’t want to go with you back there.”

I whip around to face her, my knife flashing in the moonlight. “Nope. Keep up, Naomi. And stop fucking whining. I’m trying to think.”

Naomi’s strength is back—she proved that to me when she pushed me down and straddled me. If she has the energy to take my cock down her throat, then she can keep up to help me find my girlfriend. In fact, I think she has been better for a while now and was just pretending to not feel well because I’ve been doting on her.

The fear in her eyes is real now… finally. She sees me for what I am as her hands keep drawing up to the bruises on her neck. I’m not proud of it, but it’s time she knew what I am. Now she can stay the fuck away from me and, hopefully, keep her life intact.