“Fuck.” When he body froze, my panties still around my knees as he looked down to me, a new wave of heat engulfed me. If he doubted my hunger before, it was gone in one look. I was soaked for him— I was soaked for just the thought of him. His breathing hitched as he tugged my panties off completely, one thumb brushing over my slit while the other hand grabbed at my thigh. “You’re this fucking wet for me already?”
“Yes.”
The heat in my voice was rewarded with a growl, a growing need. Rough hands spread my thighs further apart, and when my obedience earned the first lap at my clit, a shiver ran through my entire body. I’d never wanted anything the way I wanted Michael. I’d neverneededanything the way I needed Michael. My hips tried to grind against his expert tongue, but before I could hear the growl I needed the most, the world darkened again.
Something is wrong.
From our place in the haze, the outside world wasn’t something I was even aware of— not until that urgent knocking filled the house, at least. Michael shot upright in a second, panting and looking between me and the bedroom door. The fear that etched into his face was something I’d never seen before. It was something I never wanted to see again. Adjusting my dress, I tried to lift myself onto my elbows, but Michael pinned me back to the bed. When the banging filled the house again, my questions were drowned out with a hungry kiss. Strong hands held my jaw in place, my hips to the bed, but neither of us would truly breathe until his forehead rested on my own.
“What’s happening?”
“I would never hurt you.” The spit came with such urgency that my jaw trembled in his grip. “You understand? I stayed away from you because I thought—” A shout from the front of the house squeezed his eyes shut.
“Michael.”
“Just tell me you know that,” he hissed. “I need to know that you know that.”
“Mick!”
I wanted the scream of a stranger to pull my gaze, but with Michael’s dark eyes overtop of me, I couldn’t look away. I’d never look away.
“Tell me you know I wouldneverhurt you, Birdie.”
“I do.”
“Then stay here.” The command sent him flying off of me, and as the man adjusted his clothing, he snarled one last time. “Just stay right here.”
I hardly remember his name tumbling off my lips, but I’m sure it did. I tried to grab out for him, tried to hold onto the last pieces of him I had left, but when a crash filled the front of the house, Michael was gone. Someone was throwing their shoulder into his front entrance, and fear gripped my every muscle.
If it was Josh, wouldn’t I recognize his voice?
If it was the man from the woods, wouldn’t I sense him?
“Mick!” The banging only stopped with the opening of a door, and I threw myself to my feet. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” The hiss pulled me closer to the door, but with a hand on the wall, I refused to move forward. Until that awful cry came, at least. Until my stomach knotted. “Bridget!”
“Keep your fucking voice down.”
“Fuck you!” The sound of stomping boots filled the house. When the path forward was halted with a grunt of pain, the shuffle of feet, the stranger’s groan was replaced with another deafening call. “Bridget!” Once more, the scuffle of feet could be heard from the mouth of the hallway. Michael was stopping him from getting any closer to me. “Youpromised me,Mick.”
“I didn’t promise shit,” Michael snarled. “Some half-baked investigation isn’t enough to—”
“Investigatewhat, Mick!?” When the quiet filled the air, my stomach tensed. “Just tell me where she is.”
I’d never really know why I did it— whether the step forward came from guilt or from the awful truth that lived in my chest. All I really felt was fear, the eyes that burned into me as I stepped out into the hallway. When I finally locked eyes with Michael, though, I knew his disappointment would be the emotion to cloud this memory forever.
At the end of the hall, the cop stood firm. Seeing me hadn’t done anything to soften his stiff shoulders, but it wasn’t the 6’ frame that knotted my stomach. It was the same cop that had showed up before, that Michael said he was working with. I was certain the officer was here as some kind of favour to Michael, but when his face twisted, I wondered if anything was that simple. Friends didn’t hurt friends like this, did they?
The man forced a look of authority, and a wave of his hand beckoned me forward. “Let’s go.”
“She’s not going anywhere.”
When Michael stepped in front of me, I felt the floor shift again. His eyes drifted between the two of us, and when the realization finally dawned over him, the cop’s anger faded into something darker. Something only Michael seemed to bring out in people.
“Mick, what the hell did you do?”
“I did your fucking job.” The snap raised his shoulders. Confusion lowered my brow. “What I’mdoingis your fucking job.”
“I thought—” My squeak pulled the attention over to me, and I cleared my throat. “I thought you two were working together.” Once more, the stranger’s shoulders lowered. Confusion brought a gentle tremble to my muscles. “Working together to find out who did this.”