“Holy shit,” I hiss under my breath when I see her. She’s surrounded by flames. They’re closing in on her position fast. She’s minutes away from being a burnt little marshmallow.
“Over here!” I shout as I wave her over.
She spots me and starts running. She takes about three steps before she trips on some underbrush and falls to the ground with a scream.
“Shit,” I mutter as I run toward her. The tree next to me is engulfed in flames. The flames lick at my skin as I sprint past it.
“Come on,” I grunt as I grab her arm and yank her up to her feet.
“The birds!” she says in a panic as she looks into her jumpsuit. She’s not thinking clearly. Maybe the smoke inhalation has gotten to her—talking about birds at a time like this. Something’s wrong.
There’s no time to argue with her, so I scoop her up in my big arms and carry her away.
I’ve been out here for hours doing hard physical labor and my arms are already like mush, but I cling onto her as I run, pumping my legs as I sprint away from the flames.
She’s burying her face into my chest as I run past a burning tree, the flames brushing my bare arm and singing the hairs off.
“I got you,” I tell her when I hear her whimper. “I’m taking care of you now.”
She whimpers again as she feels the heat. Something about those sounds brings out the protective side of me. I want to shield her from all the heat, from all the pain. I don’t just want to save her life. I want to save her from everything.
I take a breath of relief as we get far enough from the flames that we can’t feel the intense heat anymore. It’s still hot, but not burning hot.
“You’re safe here,” I say as I put her down next to my gear. “Stay with me. I’ll make sure nothing happens to you, but I can’t leave right now. I have to protect my home.”
“You live near here?”
We make eye contact and my heart nearly stops. She’s… she’s… indescribable.
I’m speechless and blinking rapidly as I try to process the beauty standing in front of me. Her spirit… her essence… it’s crushing me…
It’s gripping me. It’s taking all of my attention as I stand here in stunned silence.
All I can do is stare in awe.
Stare helplessly in awe as my obsession for her takes root.
She’s the one for me.
I don’t know what the fuck is happening, but I do know that. She’s it.
The one I’ve been waiting for. The only one I want.
Creases appear on her forehead as she looks at me with worry. “Are you okay?”
Am I okay? I’ve never been less okay. I’m broken. I’m… fuck, I don’t know what’s wrong with me…
She’s staring at me with these bright green eyes that are filled with worry. They’re hauntingly beautiful.
I swallow hard as I peel my eyes off of hers and look at the rest of her. She has the sweetest plump lips I’ve ever seen. My mouth waters just looking at them. I wonder what they’d feel like against my lips. I wonder what they’d feel like wrapped around my…
No. Stop.
She’s too angelic of a creature to be perving over like this. She must be worshiped and adored. I can feel the sweet innocence radiating off her and I want to step in and feel it up close. I want to drink it down. I want to be engulfed in it. Consumed by it.
I look at the rest of her as my heart pounds. Her straight black hair is tied up in a ponytail and my hands tremble with the urge to pull out the elastic and let it loose. I want to see her with that gorgeous hair down, framing her stunning face and driving me crazy with every movement it makes.
She’s wearing a bright orange… what the hell… is that a jumpsuit?!
I check out the writing on her chest and, holy shit, she’s a convict.
Dunham Correctional Facility - Level 5 Maximum Security State Prison.
It’s right there written in big black letters across her chest.
There must be some kind of mistake. Some reason for this.
There’s no way this angel in the flesh could be guilty of a crime so heinous that she gets transferred to a maximum security prison.
She covers the words when she sees where I’m looking.
Her face drops when I look at her.
“It’s not what you think,” she says in a low voice. She drops her head in shame and I gently touch her chin and raise it back up until she’s looking into my eyes once again.
I feel powerless with her eyes on me. Like she can control me. I know I’d do anything she asked.
I can feel the obsession growing more powerful as it spreads through my body, infiltrating every cell as this intense need for her only deepens with every passing second.