I came to a dead stop, squinting through the trees. I barely made out a form. My heart cramped and seized as Shiloh came into view. So damn beautiful. So damn strong.
Then my world went sideways as Howard Kemper lifted a knife to her throat.
47
SHILOH
The blade pressedinto the skin of my neck as Howard held me against him, my back to his front. “I told you not to move.”
“I’m gonna pass out.” It wasn’t a lie. Spots danced in my vision as I struggled to stay upright. “You’ll slice my neck without meaning to.”
Howard moved the knife lower, right over my chest. “Don’t think I can’t do damage here.”
I wasn’t an idiot; I knew he could. But at least this way, I could take a full breath. With each inhale, my lungs burned. I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d broken a rib at some point. Or maybe that run through the woods had been more than my body could take.
Everything in me hurt, but my soul most of all. Because I didn’t know if I had much fight left in me. All I wanted was Ramsey. To feel his arms around me in the safety of our haven in this world. I swore I could feel it even now, that glimpse of our everything. I would’ve given anything to have just a single moment of it now. Of him.
Howard shook me, the blade biting into my chest. “Got nothing to say for yourself? There’ll be punishment for this.We’ll have to live in the woods for a while until the heat calms down.”
He said “we” as if I were a part of this grand plan, like we were on the run together. Nausea rolled through me as he pressed himself harder against my back. I could feel him hardening even now.
Howard chuckled. “Good thing you can do your wifely duties anywhere.”
Bile surged in my throat, and fear locked my muscles, but I found my fight again. I would never be Howard’s victim, not again, especially not in an even sicker way than before. I just had to find my next opening—and it would come.
“Where are we going?” The words were barely audible, spoken through gritted teeth. It took everything in me to hold back my screams of fury. I’d rather him end me than know what it was like to have his hands on my skin.
Howard urged me forward, moving the knife to my ribs. “We’ll find a cave. You’ll be able to rely on me. Unlike my son, I take pride in being able to live off the land. I’ll provide for you and our children.”
The bile was back, burning my throat and cutting off my air. I coughed, struggling to get a good breath.
“You won’t trick me into thinking you’re weak. I know you’ll just run again. You’ll have to stick close until you can prove yourself trustworthy.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from throwing some choice curses in his direction. Instead, I put one foot in front of the other, looking for my next opportunity to run. The trees here were thick, not making escape easy. I prayed for a river that I could jump into and be carried downstream without having to run, but there was no such luck.
My breathing became more labored as we walked, and I slowed my pace and then stopped altogether. “I just need a minute. Those drugs—”
“Were necessary. Because ofyou.” Howard pressed the knife harder into my ribs.
I cried out as the blade pierced my skin.
“Lower the knife and step back.”
My head snapped up at the voice, one so sweet to my ears that I swore I was hallucinating. Ramsey stepped out from between the trees. “It’s over. Lower the weapon.”
Howard grabbed hold of my hair with one hand as he pointed the knife directly at my stomach. “Y-you’re not supposed to be here. She doesn’t belong to you. She’s mine.”
“She belongs to herself,” Ramsey said calmly, moving closer. “And you have to let her go.”
“Stop! Stay where you are, or I’ll gut her right here.”
Ramsey froze. His gaze jumped from the knife to me, and I saw so much pain in those eyes. There was nothing he could do. He had a gun but no shot. Howard was too close. Any direction he came from could end with a bullet in me, too.
“Love you, Ramsey. Love our everything.” I didn’t know if I would get another opportunity to give him those words, and I wasn’t taking the chance.
Howard’s hand fisted tighter in my hair, shaking me hard. “Shut up! You don’t speak to him.”
The knife slipped a fraction in his anger. That blade was the only power Howard had. The only control.