Text (Take It Off #4)(47)
Author: Cambria Hebert

“It’s probably time for your pain meds.”

“Probably,” I agreed, making no move to get out of bed.

“We’re supposed to stay at my place tonight,” he reminded me.

“I don’t wanna get up.”

“I have to work in the morning. My uniform is at my house.”

The thought of seeing him in his uniform gave me a little motivation to get moving. “Fine,” I sighed and sat up. My ribs protested and I bit back a wince.

Nathan made a knowing sound and placed Lucy in my lap. “Stay there,” he instructed.

Lucy rolled onto her back, showing me her rounded belly, and I began scratching her as she wiggled all around.

After Nathan made a quick stop in the bathroom, I heard him out in the kitchen, and a few minutes later, he came back with a glass of water and my pills. He was also carrying a plate full of pie.

I grinned and took my pill as he shoveled the pie into his mouth. “We’re almost out of pie,” he said around a huge bite.

“Heaven forbid.” I gasped and set the water on the nightstand. “I guess I’ll have to go to the store tomorrow and stock up on pie supplies.”

He paused. “What do you do all day long anyway?”

I snorted. “I’m a writer. I write.”

“I don’t like the idea of you being home all day alone all the time.”

“I’m not alone. I have Lucy now.”

He grunted and stuck the fork with a bite of cinnamon-covered apple in my face. I took it and chewed while Lucy climbed up my chest, licking at my lips, trying to get a taste.

“I should go feed her,” I said, getting up and opening the closet doors.

“We’ll head to my place after.”

I pulled on a pair of pink sweatpants with the word Aeropostle down the leg, a white T-shirt, and a grey hoodie. In the bathroom, I ran a brush through my tangled hair and pulled it up into a messy knot on the top of my head. I couldn’t help but notice the way certain parts of my body tingled and how I felt slightly stretched and swollen in my panties.

Just thinking about that made me want him all over again.

Nathan came in the bathroom behind me, his jeans pulled on but still unbuttoned. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and his dog tags dangled between his pecs. I turned from the counter and ran my hands up his sides and looped them around his neck. He gave me a quick kiss, then pulled away.

“Are you trying to seduce me?”

“Is it working?”

“Hell yeah, it is.”

I grinned.

Lucy began barking from on top of the bed.

“Easy there, Killer,” Nathan called, and I smacked him in the stomach and went to gather her up.

In the kitchen, I put out plastic bowls of food and fresh water and called Lucy to come eat.

She was standing at the sliders, staring out into the darkness. All the little hair on her back was raised into a line.

“Lucy?” I called, motioning to her food. “Come on, girl.”

She growled, not pulling her attention away from the darkness. A little tingle of fear traveled down my neck. I peered out where she was watching and, of course, saw nothing but darkness.

Lucy growled again and then started barking her head off. For such a little puppy, her growl was surprisingly aggressive.

This creepy feeling of dread washed over me and images of being attacked and thrown into the hole assaulted me. I did my best to push them away, not wanting to scare myself more. Suddenly, Lucy fell quiet. I breathed a sigh of relief and squatted down beside her food again and called her over.

But she still wasn’t paying attention to me. She was still staring out into the darkness. The house creaked a little with a gust of wind, and I laughed lightly. “It’s just the wind, you silly girl.”

Lucy cocked her head to the side like she was listening, all her attention still on the darkness. I sighed and stood up, stepping toward the puppy. She let out a low growl and then started barking some more.

“Lucy, no,” I admonished, reaching down to pick her up.

I hated to tell her no, but she was creeping me out.

Just as I wrapped my arms around her and straightened, something struck the thick glass of the door and it splintered loudly. I shrieked and spun, watching as a huge crack climbed its way up the window.

I stumbled backward, opening my mouth to yell for Nathan, when the sound of a shot outside reverberated through the night. The bullet slammed into the already fractured glass and it shattered. I felt the heat of it as it whizzed past my cheek and pain bit into my thigh.

Something heavy and hard hit me from behind, tackling me to the ground and smothering me into the tile. Beneath me, Lucy barked and whined as shards of thick glass rained around the room.

The sound of crushing glass and the bullet slamming into a nearby wall echoed through the room, and I cringed.

“Stay down,” Nathan murmured in my ear, using his body like a shield to protect me.

“He’s out there,” I said as my hands began to tremble. Lucy whined and licked my cheek.

“Good,” Nathan growled as his muscles locked and rage simmered beneath his surface. He wrapped his arms around my middle and then half-crawled behind the set of cabinets lining the wall. I sucked in short gasps of breath, my ribs screaming in pain, and my palm where my stitches were throbbed.

Something else hurt too… but my mind was swimming. It was trying to formulate a plan, trying to come up with some sort of way to fight back. It was really hard to think when adrenaline pumped through your limbs at an overwhelming rate.

All I could think was, He’s going to throw you back into the hole.

Nathan rolled off me and crouched low, helping me sit up. Lucy was trying to rush off (likely scared to death), and I was gripping her tiny body, trying to keep her still.

“Shh,” I told her and went to stroke her white fur.

But it wasn’t white anymore.

It was red.

I let out a sharp cry and Nathan looked down, a string of curse words flinging from his mouth. “My puppy,” I cried, running my hands over her, trying to figure out where she was injured. Rage like no other consumed me.

It was one thing to come after me, but it was something else entirely to come after a defenseless baby animal. The anger shoved away the fear, and determination flooded my brain.

“Lucy,” I murmured, my voice breaking.

Nathan had stilled and was looking down.

“What!” I cried. Frantically searching her. “Where is it?” I demanded.

“It’s not her,” he said, his voice flat.