Page 47 of Wicked Lord

One of the slats snapped beneath my foot.

I dropped the last few feet and landed hard in the middle of a flower bed, pain shooting up my tailbone and knocking the breath from my lungs. Dirt filled my mouth, and thorns tore at my calf.

Before I could even curse, Axel hit the ground beside me, stumbled once, then hauled me up by the arm.

A window flew open above us.

“There! By the driveway!”

Shit.

Stone gravel crunched beneath our feet as we tore across the driveway, way too loud in the quiet, manicured perfection of the neighborhood. Behind us, voices erupted from the house. Another light snapped on, then another.

“Axel,” I gasped, nearly tripping over the edge of the lawn.

“I’ve got you.”

He tightened his grip and dragged me faster, cutting across the hedges instead of taking the path. Branches slapped my face, and my lungs burned. My pulse hammered so hard I could barely hear anything except the blood roaring in my ears.

Headlights swept across the street. We both froze behind another hedge as a security SUV rolled slowly past the end of the driveway.

Axel yanked me against him, his chest heaving against my back. I could feel his heart pounding just as violently as mine.

The SUV paused.

A radio crackled.

For one unbearable second, I was sure the guard had seen us. Sure I’d be dragged out from the bushes with dirt on my knees,scratches on my legs, and stolen evidence lodged under Axel’s arm.

The SUV turned toward the house.

“Run,” Axel breathed.

We bolted across the street the second its taillights swung away, sprinting down the next block until my legs felt like they were coming apart. Axel’s Jeep sat tucked beneath a dark canopy of trees, exactly where he’d left it, and I had never loved anything more than that beat-up piece of crap.

I threw myself into the passenger seat, slamming the door as Axel dove behind the wheel. “Go,” I panted.

He didn’t need to be told twice. The engine growled to life, too loud, too obvious, and he peeled away from the curb with the headlights still off.

Only when we turned the corner did I finally suck in a full breath.

“That was close,” I whispered, my entire body trembling. Once I’d stopped panting, I dragged my hand through my hair and spun at my fake boyfriend. “What the fuck was that, Axel?”

“Nothing, just stupid fraternity shit.”

I glanced at the sleek laptop wedged between his thigh and the car door. “Well, either someone set you up or your fraternity has really bad intel. That house was not empty.”

“Just drop it, Lore.” He kept his eyes trained straight ahead, his jaw so tight a tendon flickered beneath the light stubble.

“Don’t you want to know why someone set you up like that?”

“I already know!” he growled and slammed his fist into the steering wheel. “I fucked up, Lore, I fucked up so badly.” His expression shuttered, the warm, funny guy disappearing beneath a mask of pure darkness. “And those sins will follow me to the grave…”

An unexpected emotion tightened my chest. My hand moved of its own accord, finding Axel’s shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Hey, it can’t be that bad.”

“It’s worse.”

“Listen, Ax, I know evil, fucked-up men, and you’re not one of them.” I trailed my hand down his bicep, and his muscles strained beneath my touch. Tension radiated from every inch of his body.