Page 39 of Hunting for her Heart
He wraps an arm under my ass and lowers us so only myhead is out of the water, then he uses his other hand to start rubbing down my arms. Once they’re clean, he moves his hand to my stomach, waist, and back before working on my legs.
“Have I missed any?” he asks, his fingers blazing a trail up my thigh.
I shake my head. “I don’t think—Ah!” I scream, launching myself against his chest tightly when something touches the back of my thigh. “Something touched me!” I tell him as he quickly turns us away, and all but runs toward the others.
“What is it?” Bo asks, looking past us as Ronan steps out of the pond.
“I’m not sure. She felt something touch her.”
“It might have been a fish,” Hawk suggests. Ronan sets me on my feet, and I turn back to face the pond. Nothing looks out of the ordinary, but when I turn back to face the other three, they’re all staring at me with so much intensity I have to take a step back.
“W-What?” I ask nervously as I start to look down at myself. Was there something on me?
“Your skin…” Bo says, taking a step closer. “It’s beautiful.”
I frown at him in confusion before I realize what he means. I lift the arm that had the fingerprint-shaped bruises on it and see that they are completely gone now.
“Do you feel better?” Hawk asks, his eyes moving all over me and making me feel exposed. I nod and he bends down to his pack and opens it up, pulling out my dress. “Would you like to get dressed?”
Relief fills me at being able to wear clothesagain. “Yes, please.”
“We’ll hold it up for you, then you can slip off your leaves and tell us when to lower it,” Bo tells me as he and Hawk do just that, holding it over my head. Ronan turns away as the other two close their eyes.
“Lower it,” I tell them once my leaves have dropped to the ground. I quickly get my arms in the sleeves, feeling good to be covered again. It’s easy to feel safe around these guys, but I know there are other men out there, hunting me. Not to mention creatures like the trolls.
“Let’s find a spot for you to relieve yourself,” Hawk says, guiding me into the trees. He points to a large one and hands me some of the toilet paper leaves. “You can go behind that trunk. I’ll stand on this side.”
“Do you have to be so close?” I ask, feeling embarrassed about him hearing me.
He frowns at me, as if contemplating other options, before he lifts his gaze and glances around. “I don’t want to go too far and risk leaving you exposed.”
“Why don’t you go over there?” I say, pointing to another large tree about thirty feet away. “And I’ll stay on this side of this one.” He presses his lips together, not liking the idea, but in the end, he concedes, nodding his head as he moves in that direction.
The second he disappears behind the tree, I quickly take care of business. It’s a little hard holding up my dress, but since I still don’t have underwear, it’s not too bad. I use the soft leaves he had given me to clean myself up, then readjust my dress as I step away, making sure I’m properly covered as I glance down at my bare feet.
Suddenly, a large hand covers my mouth, silencing any noise I might make as I’m pulled back into a hard, unfamiliar chest. I struggle, trying to yell and pull away, but I’m liftedoff my feet, and someone else wraps their arms around my legs. Silently, they jog into trees, carrying me away from Hawk, Bo, and Ronan.
Panic races through me, and I dig my nails into the back of the hand holding my mouth, but he doesn’t let go. He doesn’t even speak, as if fully aware that any noise will bring my Vikings down on him.
My hand is pulled away from his, and they hold it against my side as they keep moving. My strength wavers, and I stop fighting. It’s been over ten minutes and I haven’t managed to escape yet. I may as well wait for them to stop. The entire time, my panic and fear grow, worried that the further away we get, the harder it will be for my Vikings to find me.
They will search for me? Won’t they?
It feels like an hour passes before they finally slow, then set me on my feet and release me. I jump away from their hands, my back colliding with a large rock wall as I stare at them with wide eyes.
Fear races through me when I see seven men standing before me.Seven.I had thought there were two, maybe three, butseven?How will I ever get away from so many of them? They form a semicircle in front of me, caging me against the wall as they all stare at me with varying degrees of delight and amusement.
“I’m Calder,” the tallest man says as he steps forward. “These are my brothers.” He points to each as he speaks their names. “Milo, Warren, Ellis, Valen, Rhydian, and Declan.”
All seven of them are brothers? My fingers dig into the rock wall behind me, unsure what to do or say.
“What is your name, precious one?” Warren asks as he steps forward beside Calder.
I bite my lip nervously, not wanting to tell them anythingabout myself. When I don’t answer, they exchange an uneasy look.
“We’re not going to hurt you,” Calder says, but the look in his eyes makes me feel like he means the exact opposite.
“You are very lucky we chose you,” one of the others, Valen, I think, says with a smirk. “We are seven strong. You will want for nothing as our mate.”
