“Come on!” He finally reaches me, pressing his forehead to the muzzle. “Do it, then! Shoot me if you’re gonna shoot me, you fucking coward!” His eyes are wild, unhinged. Simply terrifying. If I don’t pull the trigger now, he’ll kill me today.
Still, I can’t do it.
I’m just about to drop the gun, when the door flies open hard enough to send it rebounding off the wall. Hunter steps into the room, sizing up the situation in one glance.
I lower the gun, not because I’m scared or outnumbered… because I want to.
Because I don’t want to kill him.
Hunter stalks toward us and stops behind Ryker. Putting his hands on both of his shoulders, he pulls him away from me. “Come on. Cool off. Get out of here.” He shoves Ryker out of the room before closing, then locking the door.
“That was a mistake.” He takes the gun from me and I don’t bother trying to fight him because I lost my opportunity, if there ever was one. “And it’s obvious we’ve been too lax with you.”
“What are you doing?” I ask when he drops to one knee and reaches into his back pocket. I know soon enough when a cuff snaps around my ankle.
The other cuff goes around his. “Making sure you don’t get any other cute ideas.” It takes effort, but we climb into bed—I don’t bother fighting as he helps me over a little more roughly than he needs to—and lie down facing each other.
I keep my eyes shut to avoid looking at him as he stares at me. Soon enough, sleep rescues me from consciousness.