Page 106 of Untamed
His hardened eyes level me. “The hell you can’t. Get over here and finish what you started back in the bar.”
I don’t want to look at him, but I do, and I know I’m in trouble. He’s going to force me to do this with him. The idea makes me want to puke. My stomach rolls, the blood pulsing in my cheeks with the beat in my chest. Fire is ripping through my veins, clawing at my lungs, suffocating my heart. He grabs me by my necklace. It gives and unravels like my heart spilling years of memories to the floor boards of his truck.
“No. I don’t want to—” My words are cut short by a loud thump and the breaking of glass from the driver's side window. The sound causes me to immediately jump. My hands fly to my ears as tiny shards of glass fill the cab, exploding around us. Glass covers my bare legs and hands.
It takes me a moment to comprehend what’s happened and my mind to catch up with what happened.
“What the fuck, Grayer?” Henry shouts, flinging his door open. It hits Grayer who’s standing there, eyes trained on mine.
Henry buttons his jeans and then jumps from the truck.
Grayer’s eyes dart from mine to Henry, and then he’s shoved backward into another car. His head snaps back at the force and into the window. “What did I tell you? I told you to leave her alone.”
What is he doing out here?
The shouting outside grabs me and I see Grayer laying into Henry. He’s delivering punch after punch, intent on one thing, inflicting pain that’s coursing through him.
My shaking hands reach for the handle. I have to do something before he gets in trouble, or worse, hurts Henry too badly. Running around the back of the truck to where they’re fighting, they’re both bleeding, neither willing to give up. Grayer sees me, his eyes completely despondent as he wipes blood from his mouth with the back of his hand and then rushes Henry again.
“Grayer! Stop!”
He doesn’t.
He can’t.
“What’s your problem?” Henry shoves him back, staggering from the blows but still meeting him head on. “You left her alone. What’d you expect to happen with a girl like that?”
That’s not what Grayer wants to hear. It’s obvious he’s ready to bleed to death to defend whatever it is he thinks he’s defending. Dropping his right shoulder, he draws back and delivers another crushing blow to Henry’s stomach.
Henry grunts in response and hunches forward in obvious pain. Grayer then grabs his shirt, fisting the fabric between his hands and then raises his knee to Henry’s mouth.
“Please stop! Please!” I cry, watching his fist, the fire in his eyes and the blood on his hands. He’s not going to stop.
His bloodshot eyes meet mine, his fists gripping Henry’s shirt. “That’s the problem, Maesyn. I can’t when it comes to you!”
Henry falls forward against the pavement, slumping against the side of his truck in obvious pain.
“You touch my girl again,” Grayer spits blood at him, “and I’ll fucking kill you! Do you hear me?” He grabs a fistful of his hair, snapping his head back. “Do you fucking hear me?”
Well, no, he can’t when you’ve knocked him out, Grayer.
“Grayer!” I scream, unheard, lost in the harsh battling storm and Grayer’s adrenaline. “He’s hurt!”
“Fuck him. Get in the fucking truck.” He jabs a finger to his truck parked on the side of the road. “Now! If you don’t, I’m going to put you there myself!” he snarls, but I hear the torment in his voice. I jump, having never heard him so angry with me. “I told you to fucking leave!” He explodes at me, hands shaking. “This is why!”
This is why? What does that mean? Rage fills my mind and words. “Fuck you.” I shove him hard.
His back hits his truck and then he smiles, slow, condescending, but his eyes soften. He knows he pushed too far. “Get in the goddamn truck, Maesyn.”
Henry coughs and moans in pain on the ground and despite feeling bad that he’s hurt, I should be relieved because had Grayer not come, I know what would have happened. Grayer steps forward and delivers a hard, crushing kick to Henry’s midsection.
“Jesus, Grayer, was that necessary? You didn’t have to hurt him like that,” I yell until my voice gives and my tears blind me.
“He’s fine. And yes, it was fucking necessary!” He throws the door to his truck open and then my back hits it. Not hard but my eyes draw to his. “I’m not going to tell you again. Get inside that truck. Now.”
“No!” I cross my arms over my chest, demanding I stay right here. No way I’m going anywhere with him now. Fuck that. He’s a lunatic. A madman.
His eyes flare with aggression, hatred, and disbelief that I’m questioning him. He doesn’t wait and lifts me up, setting me on the seat. I go to get out and he glares at me. “Stay in the truck, Maesyn.”
