“We should get the hell out of here,” I said hoarsely. “I need to talk to that girl.”
It was a hike that took forever.
My muscles were a mess already just from the endless crouch in the tree. It wasn’t anything I hadn’t had to do before, remain motionless for hours on end, but I wasn’t bred for hiding in a tree and it had taken a toll.
On top of that, remaining unseen was hard. It was meant to be done for short periods of time, not for hours on end. I almost felt like I had a hangover, but I hadn’t had the fun of getting drunk first.
And then, of course, half of my brain was trying to think about what had happened earlier—especially the part of my brain that was controlled by my long-unused sex drive…and maybe some other part of me that was stupid enough to be drawn to the bastard. The other part of my brain was in furious denial.
All in all, I was in no shape to be hiking through the Everglades National Park.
I needed food. I needed a bath. I needed sleep.
What I didn’t need was the exposed root in the middle of the path that tripped me up and sent me sprawling. My exhausted body just couldn’t react in time.
Damon, obviously, didn’t suffer that problem and a microsecond before I planted my face in the dirt, hard hands caught me, one gripping my arm, the other snagging the backpack. He had me back on my feet with a speed that left my head spinning and I groaned, burying the heels of my hands against my eye sockets and praying for oblivion.
The pounding at the base of my head increased.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I did not want to talk to him. I did not want him being nice and the tone of his voice was too close to nice right now.
Swallowing, I willed myself to think past the pain. I bullied myself into moving. I made it another twenty steps before I stumbled again.
“All right, damn it,” Damon snapped. He’d been hovering at my side despite my attempts to keep some distance between us and I hadn’t gone down, but I felt like I was moving through quicksand, each movement agony and it was getting harder to stay upright. “What in the hell is wrong?”
His hand closed around my neck when I tried to turn my head aside.
Oh…there he was. Dominating, pushy bastard.
“Nothing,” I lied through my teeth. Then I smiled.
He snarled. The sound that came out of his throat wasn’t the kind of sound that should come out of anybody’s throat when they still wore human skin.
Arching my eyebrows, I said, “Sorry, cat. You’ll have to do better than that. Hey, I know…you can try wringing my neck again. That’s your favorite threat, anyway.”
“How about this…you either tell me what is wrong with you, or I’ll throw you over my shoulder and haul your cute ass back to the car.”
I sneered at him.
Then I found myself plastered against him for the second time that night. Thoughts fizzled away and I was having a hard time breathing. That was bad, too, because my heart was beating so hard and all that blood rushing to my head…now I was getting light-headed.
His hand stroked down my back, rested on the curve of my hip with his fingers gripping my butt. “Here’s your last chance, kitten. You can tell me…or I’ll just assume you want me getting that up and personal with your anatomy.”
“Fine.” I drove a fist into his stomach.
He let me go, but it was more to humor me than anything else, because there was absolutely no strength to it.
I didn’t have any left. It was nothing short of a miracle that I was able to stay upright. Stumbling backward, I sagged against one of the gnarled trees and glared at him through tangled, sweaty hair. Damn it, I needed a bath. Scratching at one of the numerous mosquito bites, I thought about just heading on down the path another fifteen feet until I tripped over the concrete blocks that had replaced my feet. But I was pretty sure he’d do exactly what he said and I wasn’t certain my pride could handle it. Maybe if I rested for five minutes…just five minutes.
Slipping off the backpack, I rooted around through it but I’d gone through all the water. And the granola bars. All