Above Protection (Imperfect Heroes Book 1) by C. J. Pinard

to turn cool and crisp. It was a nice
break from the stifling humidity of Florida that I was so used to.
I’d grown up there and would never live anywhere else. That got me
thinking about my parents. Supposedly, the government had sent them
a vague message about how I was being taken into protective
custody, but the Justice Department hadn’t even let me make one
last phone call to them to reassure them that I was safe. Which in
turn made me worry about their safety. Would this maniac who had
been threatening me with horrific things go after them now? I
wasn’t sure, but something deep inside of me knew they’d be safe,
but I still worried. I was glad my only sibling, my sister, and her
husband were in Hawaii visiting my cousin for the next few weeks.
If I knew anything about criminals, I knew they were lazy. I didn’t
think anyone would spend the time or money to fly to Hawaii to harm
my sister just to get to me. That’s if they could even figure out
who she was. She obviously had a different last name than
me.
    As I trudged through the leaves and
trees, a movement from the corner of my eye caught my attention.
Whipping my head around, I saw a small brown jackrabbit hopping
through the trees. He was perfectly camouflaged against the forest
floor, and I smiled at the little creature. It stopped briefly,
parking itself on its haunches and staring at me with its beady
little black eyes. Its nose twitched in curiosity and I inched ever
so slowly toward it, hoping to get a closer look. When I got within
five feet, he hopped away, disappearing behind some
trees.
    God, what was wrong with
me? Was I so deprived of any sort of interaction that I was talking
to flowers and hoping to touch a wild rabbit? I felt like
Snow Freaking White.
    I kept strolling, laughing at my own
silliness. With the flower still clutched in my hand I continued to
twirl it, looking down at it as I walked. I marveled at the yellow
that spotted the inside of its petals, and began dreaming up ways I
would display it in the drab and outdated kitchen of that little
cabin I now found myself staying in with Duke.
    Smiling a little to myself, I checked
the delicate wristwatch I wore and could see I’d been out here for
20 minutes. I’d purposely walked in circles, making sure I didn’t
lose sight of the little rustic cabin and wondered if the caveman
had noticed that I was gone yet. With my mind once again on Duke, I
continued to walk until my legs started to tire. I spotted a tree
up ahead that looked thick and sturdy enough to sit down and take a
rest against and I headed toward it. I kept my eyes fixated on its
trunk. It looked strong and impenetrable to anything. Smiling at
how I was obviously messed up to be attracted to something so
strong-looking, I shrieked in terror when I felt a set of warm arms
envelop me from behind.
    “What the fuck do you think you’re
doing, Blondie?” I heard a gruff voice breathe into my
ear.
    My calm, melancholy mood turned to
infuriation at the sound of his voice. “Get your hands off of me!”
I screamed.
    Without saying another word, Duke
lifted me off the ground and threw me over his shoulder in a
fireman’s carry. My face was now quite literally bouncing up and
down against his rock hard ass. The one I said I’d love to bounce a
quarter off of. But now, I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to find
one of those thick wooden paddles with all the holes in it like we
had in elementary school and paddle him with it.
    “Put me down, you ogre!” I yelled,
beating my fists against his hard butt that was definitely as solid
as it looked. I slammed my fists against his thighs and then his
back, which did absolutely no good. I even thought I heard him
chuckle as he carried me the short distance back to the
cabin.
    My screams of protest went unheard. I
doubted the birds, flowers, rabbit, and deer gave any shits about
me being dragged back to my outdated cabin prison against my
will.

Chapter 13
    Duke
     
    With one hand