Page 73 of Belle

“True. But do you think that’s why I’m the way I am today?”

“Maybe. You were forced to grow up quickly. You’ve been through a lot,” I point out.

She doesn’t respond, just walks around Chet’s body and grabs his feet. “Can we agree this is the last body we dump?” I ask, grunting as we pull Chet through the large, dark field.

“I’m okay with that.”

It takes longer to get Chet to the creek than it did the others. I slowed the pace because I feel bad that she’s even doing this to begin with.

“Can I have the honor?” she asks, gesturing towards his body.

I watch her kick him with all her might into the creek. His body splashes in the water with impact. We don’t speak for a while, both of us just staring into the water.

“Thank you,” she whispers in the dark.

“For what?”

“For letting me do this. I needed it.” I grab her hand and pull her close to me. My hands grab her cheeks and I run my thumbs over her skin.

“Maddox,” she warns, like she always does when I make things intense.

“Just give me this minute. We can go back to whatever it is we are, just give me this minute.” I close the distance between us, pressing my lips to hers.

She relaxes against my body. For one small second, it feels like all is right in the world. It feels like she’s mine and it feels like I broke down those walls she always has up.

“Let’s get out of here before the sun rises,” she says, looking up towards the sky. It’s getting dangerously close to morning, and we need to be out of Deadhorse before the first light hits.

The walk back to the car is much faster when you’re not dragging a dead body. We make it to the car in record time and get back on the road.

“I hope I never see this place again,” she whispers against the window.

* * *

I nudgeher awake when we get back home. She slept the entire ride. I think her body finally gave in to the exhaustion she must be feeling.

“Are we home already?” Her sleepy voice is so sexy.

“Yeah. I stopped and got you a pregnancy test.”

She glares at me. I should have seen this coming. “Don’t get pissed. Just take it and then we’ll go from there.”

“Fine. But I’m not happy about this.” She grabs the bag from my hand and stomps towards the house. “You should have woken me up. Let me decide if I was ready for this or not.”

“That’s rich coming from you. You told me you were pregnant when there was a dead body on our bedroom floor.”

“Fuck off.” She stomps towards the stairs.

“Don’t walk away from me. I put up with a lot of shit from you. You can at least do this for me.”

Before she can argue some more, I push her against the wall and crash my lips to hers.

Something about angry Belle just turns me on. “Get the fuck off, Maddox.” She pushes, but I grip her arms.

“Not a chance.” I plunge my fingers into her, and her head rolls back against the wall.

“Fuck,” she groans.

“You drive me fucking crazy, woman,” I growl as she squirms against my fingers.