I scowled at her. There was no way I was leaving her out here in the darkness alone and crying. “Nina, I'm not just leaving you out here in the middle of the woods crying.”
“Why? Because you still have more to humiliate me with?”
I stared at her, confused. “You think I was part of that?”
Her not answering was an answer. I felt my shoulders sink. “You honestly believe I was part of that.”
She shook her head. “Frank, just leave me alone.”
I scuffed. “I'm trying to help you, so why are you yelling at me?”
“Because I want to be left alone! I'm going home! You can go back to your stupid party and enjoy it.”
“I can't enjoy it knowing you're out here looking like this.” I waved a hand at her.
Her eyes narrowed, and I quickly realized how badly that sounded. “That's not...”
She stepped forward toward me, quickly getting into my space. “Fine, you want to pick on me, go for it, Frank. Do your worst because I can assure you, I will be perfectly fine.”
The smell of lavender hit me as she was just an inch from me. She shrugged. “I'm just the biggest joke in town. Go ahead. Do your worst.”
I stared into her eyes, seeing the frustration swirling with fear. I hated it. I hated seeing her trying to act like she was perfectly fine when clearly, she wasn't. A wave of want hit me, and I tried so hard to ignore it like I had every other time, but I couldn’t.
I grabbed her face, pulled her against me, and kissed her roughly. I felt Nina tense up in my arms, her hands flat against my chest as she tried to push herself free. But I held her even tighter. She pushed, and we fumbled against the tree, and I pinned her there, refusing to let her go.
Her lips were frozen against mine at first, and I gripped her chin and tilted her head up. A moan quickly slipped from her, and as she opened her mouth, I ravished hers. Her pushing quickly stopped as her fingers gripped onto my shirt, pulling me closer.
She tasted like champagne and sweetness. I didn't realize how badly I had wanted this, wanted to kiss her like this. But the way she was pulling at me told me she wanted me just as badly.
I tightened my grip on her, wanting more of her. I could feel her curves under my hands, wanting to know what she looked like when she was bare.
But darkness covered us, and Nina froze. I broke the kiss, feeling my stomach drop, and looked to the right of us. A shadow had covered us, but I saw the darkness coming at us.
“Shit,” I cursed, yanking Nina forward. The darkness was rushing at us, and I managed to yank both of us to the side as it smashed into the tree.
“Oh my god!” Nina shrieked as I pulled us both up.
“Move!” I yelled, grabbing her hand and pulling her with me. We took off down the way I went, and I felt Nina's fingers tighten around mine.
“My shoes,” Nina said.
I looked at her, seeing she was running barefoot at this point. She had lost her other shoe as we moved.
I stopped us and pulled her up, carrying her as I ran. Nina's hands held onto me tightly as I carried her out of the woods into the clearing. I looked back over my shoulder, seeing that the darkness wasn't following us.
I paused, scanning the trees quickly, searching for it, but I couldn't see it. It was like it just disappeared.
Chapter 11 - Nina
My heart was still in my throat when we arrived back at home. I had showered and changed into a fuzzy robe. I found Frank pacing in the hallway as he spoke on the phone. His eyes were focused as he moved, shaking his head. “No, I'm telling you, it came at us, and then it just disappeared. I looked all over, but I couldn't find it.”
I tightened the robe around my waist, watching as he stopped leaning against the railing. I could see the concern lining his face. I always knew that Frank was protective, but I'd never seen him so worried before.
“No, we're both fine. Nina just finished a shower, so we should be heading to bed now. I'll talk to you later.” Frank hung up and looked over at me. He pushed off the railing with heavy eyes. He looked like he'd aged a couple of years, with bags under his eyes.
“Who was that?” I asked softly, rubbing my fingers together.
“Henrik. I was talking to Jay while you were in the shower, and Henrik called me right after asking if anything had happened.” He sighed, looking outside the windows and staring at the town. “I don't like not knowing where it went.”
