“It’s me. We’re gonna help you. Where’s Addie?”
Her eyes opened wide, panic streaking through them. “Brandon. He took her.”
43
ADDIE
Brandon pulled me back harder against him in the saddle. “Don’t drop those reins.” The tip of a blade pushed against my side as if to punctuate the point.
“I’m not.” Nausea swept through me at the sensation of his body against mine. I could feel a hardness I didn’t want to think about.
He ground his erection into my backside. “I wish we had more time. I’d show you your fuckin’ place. On your back.”
Bile surged in my throat, but I swallowed it down.
“Cora used to have a sweet body until she birthed that kid. It’d be nice to feel tight and sweet again.”
I closed my eyes for a brief moment as the horse’s footsteps made us sway. I inhaled through my nose, trying to wash away Brandon’s vile words with the scent of pine. It didn’t work. Between that and the memory of Cora’s fallen form on the floor, all the blood, I felt like I might throw up. I squeezed my eyes tighter, praying for a miracle—for Cora, for me.
My eyes opened, and I surveyed the space around me. I had no idea where we were. Nothing was familiar. Cora’s home was a few miles from where I’d grown up, and I didn’t usually venture in this direction because the falls had been the opposite way.
It didn’t matter that I had no idea where I was. I would still have to run. The mountain wilderness was better than whatever Brandon was taking me to.
I ran through one of the moves Beckett had taught me in my mind. If I reached up to stroke the horse’s neck, I could get some leverage to send an elbow into Brandon’s gut. I had to hope it would be enough. The forest was thicker around here, and we wouldn’t be able to bring the horse to a gallop or even a canter. The foliage was too thick.
I slowly inched my hands up the gelding’s neck, shifting in my seat so I’d have an angle that would be just right.
“Quit moving around. You’ll make Butch shy.”
I didn’t wait. I slammed my elbow back into Brandon’s gut. He let out a grunt and a curse, but I was already moving, sliding down the horse’s side and taking off for the trees.
The cursing intensified, and I heard the pounding of footsteps behind me. I pushed myself harder, my muscles and lungs burning. I dodged one tree and then another. The incline increased, and my toe caught on a tree branch.
I hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of me. I scrambled to my feet, but it was too late. A hand fisted in my hair, yanking me back.
“You think you can run on me, you bitch?”
White-hot pain bloomed on my stomach as Brandon’s blade sliced across my flesh. The world went fuzzy around me, and my knees buckled. Brandon sheathed his knife. “Get up.”
I was struggling to get air into my lungs, let alone move. My hand curved around my belly. There was wetness where my blood flowed.
“I said, get up.” Brandon sent a swift kick to my side.
I cried out in pain, rolling to my back.
Brandon let out a stream of curses. “Hell, you’re bleeding everywhere.” He pulled me up by the arm. “Walk.”
The sharp burning sensation worsened with every step, but soon, shock set in, numbing everything. Pain cut through that haze as Brandon hoisted me onto the horse, but then the world around me went blissfully blurry again. I didn’t know how much time passed before I started to come back to myself. The bleeding had slowed, and the landscape around me began to look familiar.
“W-where are you taking me?”
“Back to where you belong. Bet your father might buy you back. He thought the Molotov cocktail would be enough to scare you home, but you stayed put. He was thinking an explosion next. Maybe kill off that boyfriend of yours, make it look like an accident.”
A deep tremble rattled my bones. Beckett. He was going to hurt Beckett.
“If your dad doesn’t want you, I know plenty of men who would pay for a woman.”
I couldn’t stop it then. I leaned over the side of the horse and emptied the contents of my stomach. Each heave made white-hot pain rip through my belly.