Page 30 of Ready Or Not

He crumples. As I watch the blood pool into the ground near Pup, I feel my dick get hard.

I growl, “I’m sorrydoesn’t fix things for Riley.”

By the time I drag Pup back to the house, it’s dark. I’m hot and sweaty, but I get to work digging a hole under the tree. The grass is rough and sunbaked, and getting the spade in is hard.

This is ridiculous. Animals are leeches of energy, and the only purpose of a burial is not to get caught.

But, for some reason, this creature meant something to my little pain.

So I dig.

When I’m done, I go to dispose of the neighbor the right way.

Riley could have learned a lot. I’ll teach her to ignore me. And in the future, I’ll never give her another chance. If she ignores me, I’ll take everything that she cares about until it’s only me that she sees.

14

LALALAND - Kami Kehoe

I take Rachel to my place, which is just around the corner from Manson’s. Almost all the cars from the corn maze are gone, and the sky is just turning gray.

I get Rachel out to my barn, which I’ve transformed into a workshop. I’ve even installed an old garage door where the main doors rotted out. The barn is full of junk and empty stalls, but I mostly stay in the front, where I’ve cleared out a space. I wave my hand at the old couch I keep in here, complete with a blanket. “Sleep.”

Rachel is stuck staring at my setup, her eyes wide. Probably tasting colors at this point.

I shake my head and guide her to the couch. “Sleep it off, girlfriend. You’ll feel better in the morning.”

“Why do you have a bed in your shop?” She looks around at my workbenches, buckets, hoses, tubes, and tools. “Wait, I’m not your girlfriend.”

“It’s not a bed; it’s a couch, bambi. It’s for sleeping. And sometimes fucking.”

Rachel’s face turns red, which makes me smirk. As much as she pretends not to like it, she loves it when I touch her.

And I love it, too. That pretty little body is so responsive. So tense and hungry. It makes me wonder how long it’s been since someone has touched her.

At that thought, a strange anger fills me. Who else has touched my little deer?

Loud chirping outside the barn doors breaks me out of my haze. It’s morning already, but I’m not tired. I’m wound up. I need to work with my hands. Go hunting. Do something. But I can’t leave her. Now that Rachel’s on Manson’s radar, he’ll do anything he can to fuck with her. Which just puts me in a mood.

How dare he mess with me, and what’s mine after killing Pup? I’ll kill him for what he did.

Rachel wanders to the couch, but she just stands there, staring at it.

“It’s green,” she says softly.

“Yep. Gold star for you.” I move up behind her, pick her up, and toss her gently on the couch. She screams softly, then hisses.

I glance down. Her leg has clotted up, but it looks nasty.

Fuck.

Gathering the first aid kit, I drop it on the couch. Rachel scoots back and eyes me like…well, like a wounded animal.

I sigh. “Please don’t make this hard for me.”

She blinks slowly. I could tie her down, and I might, but that could turn her trip bad, and I don’t want to deal with a screaming woman for the next few hours.

I hold my hands up. “I’ll be gentle.”