The Colt & The Cobra - THE SPECTER SERIES [book six]

Chapter TWENTY FIVE

Mikki De'lucca

-BANG-

The deafening crack of a gunshot shatters the silence, ringing in the air as a warning.. The big cat takes off like a bolt of lightning, slinking away into the darkness of the surrounding woods..

"Are you fuckin' crazy, Mikki! You're gonna get ya'self killed out here!" The echo of The Cowboy's fury reverberates in the tall pines as he slings a shiny black rifle over his back and stalks towards you with a glacial glare on his handsome face..

The wind whips at your hair as he reaches you, wrapping both hands around your waist before hoisting you up over his shoulder, carrying you 'hostage style' as he begins doubling back through the trees towards the clearing of the laneway.. "Fuck me, how'd you even get so far out in this storm?"

You smack at the ripped muscles of his back and shoulders wildly, wriggling to escape his heated hold as frustration ripples through you like the currents of an electric pule.. "Hey! Put me down-- motherfuu-- oof!" You huff as he drops you to your feet, moving forward to cage you up against the trunk of a winter-scented pine tree, his firm grip pulling and pressing at your hips, driving your body backwards while simultaneously drawing you closer to his heavenly sculpted form..

"Enough of this shit, Sugar.. You're gonna shut that pretty mouth and hear what's good for ya!" The Cowboy growls the low commanding drawl, water cascading down his chest, the fabric of his shirt clinging to the diamond-cut muscle beneath.. You can't move, you can't breathe or think, all your thoughts stick on the way his mouth shapes around the word 'pretty'..

Oh god, his mouth..
His delicious, kissable mouth..

"Why should I?" You spit, like a petulant child, trying to regain some element of control, some semblance of the upper hand.. But it just comes out as weak..

"Cus I don't see nobody else runnin' around, riskin' their ass out here.. I don't see nobody else who gives a fuck 'bout what happens to you.. Ain't nobody here but me, Sugar.." His pressure increases and he grips to squeeze you tighter, as though it takes all his willpower not to grab you and shake you, just to snap you out of your selfish insanity.. "Shit, why do you think I brought you to Riverland?! To my fuckin' home.. And you go and put out a call to the mob! What in the fuck?! What about Juliette, what about Clint, or the fifteen other people that work here?! Okay, so you don't give a fuck about me, how about my family?! How fucking selfish do you gotta be to pull that kinda shit!"

He flicks the dripping golden locks away from his face with a frustrated twitch.. "Goddamn.. Do you got'a death wish or something woman?! Tell me, Mikki.. Why do you keep going back?! WHY DO YOU KEEP PLACIN' BETS WITH THE DEVIL!"

You suck a shaky breath between your teeth, as the realisation of what you had done begins to dawn.. You had endangered his family.. Without even thinking because you had been so worried about your own family, your cousin, you had inadvertently placed him and all the people he loves in danger... "Oh.. I-- C--Colt.. I--I didn't think--"

"No shit! Seems to me you ain't never fuckin' thinkin'!" He bites dryly as he finally relinquishes his hold on you..

An inexplicable emptiness can be felt in your chest when he lets you go.. As if a wash of ice has suddenly consumed your heart..

You open your mouth to argue back, but on the inside everything he is saying rings true.. You are so incredibly selfish and a danger to everyone you know..

But faced with Colt's fury, your instincts are in overdrive, and you've exhausted your flight options.. You can't run away.. So really, all that's left to do is fight.. "F-Fuck you! That's--That's not fair! You put a gun to my head and shoved me in your truck! I didn't ask for this Cowboy.. I didn't ask for a bodyguard, or to be abducted or any of this-- and you don't tell me anything!"