Tremors rushed over my skin and seeped into my bloodstream.
He curled my arms tighter around his waist. “I have you.”
My legs were cinched up close to his hips, my chest smashed to his back. Our hearts raced at warp speed.
In sync.
Out of order.
In a perfect, chaotic rhythm.
Anarchy.
This man who had crossed into vengeance for me.
The slit of my dress rode up as I hugged him, and I trembled and shook and clung to him with all my might. A big palm spread out over my bare thigh. “Hold onto me, Salem, and don’t fuckin’ let go.”
Frantically, I nodded against his back, understanding the command for what it was. And I wanted to. For once in my life, I wanted to rely on someone else.
Not to be afraid.
To trust.
But trust was such a precious, precarious thing.
His bike faced out, and he kicked the stand and slowly eased through the lot. He took to the street that ran the front of the club, his movements fluid and confident, as if the man and the bike were one, this massive, fierce, grumbling force that blazed through the night.
I didn’t care where he was taking me, just as long as it was away from there.
He made a few turns then he slowed and eased his bike onto the path hidden under the cover of trees just on the outside of town.
My heart sped faster when I realized where we were going.
The bike bounced down the familiar bumpy trail, and I squeezed him tighter as he guided his motorcycle out into the meadow where he’d taken me before. When I’d seen a part of Jud that I didn’t want to see.
But tonight, I wanted him to show me everything.
How could I even allow myself to think it? Consider it? But I couldn’t seem to keep from slipping into him.
Coming to a stop, Jud stretched out his boots to keep us upright.
Remnants of the panic sent me scrambling off the back and stumbling into the meadow. My heels sank into the soft earth as I took two steps back like I could protect myself from the direction I could feel myself tumbling.
He killed the engine.
In an instant, silence whispered and swam.
The beauty shouted back.
The branches of the high, towering trees swished with the short gusts of wind that blustered through while the babble of the creek murmured its peace.
Wildflowers had sprung up through the soft bed of grasses, the purples and pinks subdued in the murky rays of moonlight that glowed through the clouds that built.
A low roll of thunder quavered in the distance, and the coolness of the approaching storm raced across my heated flesh.
“I’m sorry.” The apology fumbled out. The truth that no matter how far I tried to stay away from him, I still dragged him into my disaster.
Into my mess.
Guilt and grief clutched.
Was I putting him in danger?
Overcome, I blinked into the forest.
He rumbled a disbelieving sound. “What the hell are you apologizing for?”
My tongue darted out to wet my dried lips. “I warned you my life has been a mess for a long time. I think tonight is proof that I’m barely holding it together. I should go. Pack my things and leave before something happens that I can’t take back.”
Jud swung off his bike and rose to his full, towering height.
“No.” It was the grumble of a command.
Dull moonlight fell over him, casting his stunning face in shadows. In hard, devastating lines that whispered of goodness.
Of darkness.
Of horror and light.
He took one step in my direction.
The ground shook beneath my feet.
“No,” he said again.
“Jud, I have no idea what I’m doing here. My life—”
“You’re worried about your life, Salem? About what you’re bringing to the table?” He lifted his arms out to his sides. “Did you see me tonight? That’s just a glimpse at who I really am. Told you, I’ve done horrible, horrible things, and I have no fuckin’ clue how to contain it when I’m with you. I want to break every rule I’ve ever made for myself for you.”
Visions of his face blinked through my mind.
It was pure savagery.
I gulped for air, trying to find my footing. But I’d stumbled onto dangerous, treacherous ground. Where nothing was solid and the world was slipping away.
Quicksand.
“We’re a mess.”
Jud chuckled a rough sound. “A beautiful fuckin’ mess.”
He kept edging forward. Aggression rippled beneath the surface of his flesh, but it’d shifted and found new focus.
A tremor rocked through me when he reached out and set his massive hand on my face. His thumb traced along the scar on my jaw. “Who is he?”
“Jud…” It was a whimper.
“Tell me, Salem. Trust me with this.”
“He was my husband. He did this the first time I tried to leave.” The admission floated on the breeze.
Every muscle in Jud’s body tensed.
“And he forced you to go back to him? Did this to you as a warning?” They weren’t really questions. They were vicious razors cutting from his mouth.