SWNOVELS Chapter Billionaire One 193
Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Three BARTLETT
BARTI
I drew as many of the male hunters as I could deep in the woods and now it's time to circle back. I can hear Domonic some odd feet to my right. His growl is deep and menacing as he finishes his kill. The snap and crack of bones breaking behind his janes the only sound heard since the man beneath him stopped screaming. His hunting rifle never even got to fire one round which is pretty sad.
On my left, it's almost the opposite. A human male is heard screaming and crying like a virgin at the brothel, Rainier silently ripping him to shreds as he waits to die.
There's one more guy out here. I hear him whimpering each time he heads for a new hiding place. At present, he's up in the trees above. Crazy, really, because it takes an insane amount of strength for a human to climb one of these giant western hemlocks. He left his ride lying in the brush right next to his perch. He's probably watching my brothers tear apart his friends. Good From up there he has on incredible view. I'm sure. Maybe he'll live then. Maybe he's learned his lesson.
Just as i complete that thought, Goose races past me, I can't help but pause to watch as he rumbles a growl and sinks his claws into the bark of the largest pine. Five seconds later, the third hunter can be heard wailing like a banshee as Goose climbs up the side of the hemlock's trunk like the mountain cat he is.
Well, okay. I guess he won't live.
Turning away from the bone crunching symphony, I race hack toward the RV camp. Rifle fire pops in the distance, echoing and scattering through the trees. The distinct rumble of a lioness roar pounds across the landscape and I'm instantly afraid. Why? I don't know. But the cloud of gloom that suddenly descends on me threatens to stop my heart. A wash of sadness stutters my steps and the closer I get to the campsite, the stronger it hits.
My body is slowing down, my limbs growing heavy, and I snarl in confusion as 1 creep toward the back of the hunters" RV.
A bloodcurdling scream vibrates into the night and the sound puts the fear of God in me.
What's happened?
Fighting through the mysterious impairment from a moment ago, I grow and push myself to move faster. In a burst of taxing breath andy speed, I explode out of the trees to find Quinn atop the RV with his head lowered as if he's disappointed. The sound of an animal gurgling catches my attention and I push forward only to come to a grinding half when I spy Gayle's tail sticking out from under the RV.
What the fuck is going on?
I race toward the other side, to somewhere- anywhere that I might get a better look. Pain explodes in my chest the moment I round the rear of the trailer and air is suddenly impossible to get. But then, my eyes fell on what lay struggling on the ground beneath the camper It's Gayle..... with her jaws locked around the female hunters neck.
Somewhere inside, I begin to panic. The girl, whomever she is, hasn't got much time left. Her face is flashing from red to purple, growing darker and darker beneath the lioness grip. Ignoring the pain in my chest, I rush forward, snarling and growling at Gayle as I snap my jaws at her face.
An internal growl escapes her throat, but she doesn't release the girl. I give one more warning, one more growl, and when she refuses to move again, I fucking move her.
My jaws open and close over the top of Gayle's face and I don't hold back, sinking rey fangs deep enough to puncture bone. She yowls, her body jerking and spasming, claws lashing out as she tries to dislodge my teeth. Too bad her body is flat to the ground and under a trailer. she gets no leverage and ends up banging her head. I release Gayle's fate just to snap right back again and this time I bite down over her eyes. Gayle cries out, her jaws going slack as she retreats from me, backing away with her face a bloody mess. My chest heaves as I draw in a few breaths and then give my attention to the girl at my feet. Her throat is bleeding profusely, and her eyes are closed. She's not moving at all and before I even realize what I'm doing, I shift back into my human form.
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My body still aches as I drop den over her and press my ear to the Her heartbeat weak that it hardly registers, but at least it is
still there.
"Quinn!" I scream, scrambling
the ground for anything I can tie ard her throat and attempt to stop the bleeding. "Quinn?" I shout again, but he's suddenly at my side holding out a t-shirt and a pair of parts. Flinching, I shake my head. "Get me something I can te around her neck,"
Without a word, he rips the t-shirt he'd been offering me and hands me the longest strip. Wrapping her throat, I do my best to tie it off lightly. I don't want her to choke, but I need her to stop bleeding.
"I'm going to check and see if she has a phone on her." Quinn says, patting down her pockets in front and then reaching under her when
Before I even realize what I'm doing, I'm slapping his hands away. "Ill check," I snap brutishly and Quinn throws his hands up in "Fuck! Sorry!" he says
Reaching behind her back, I mold my hands over her back pockets, squeezing and kneading to see if they're just as empty as the front. They are. "Sr." I curse softly. Then I notice the front pocket of her jacket right over her left breast punches out slightly in the shape of a square and I close my hand over it, then peel the velcro open and pull out a phone. "God I hope it's not locked."
"It doesn't matter. Emergency services are still available.
throw it up to him and turn back to the girl, leaning down once again to listen to her heartbeat. When I don't hear anything, my throat constricts with fear. "No." I say. "No. This is not happening sweetheart. You re not gonna die out here." Quinn steps away to rattle off the address to the campsite and instead of waiting for him to return, I get to work
Tilting her head back and opening her mouth to clear her airway, I lean in to start CPR. Sparks zing across my body where I touch her skin and although that fact registers, I ignore it. Blowing into her mouth twice, I watch her chest rise, then I start the chest compressions As I work, I'm catologuing things about her in the back of my mind, just in case I never get another chance to do so. The first thing is that she smells like sugared coconut and chocolate. Two of my most favorite things. Her lips are also incredibly soft and plump and suckable. She's chubby, with abundantly ample curves and long maple syrup colored hair. Her eyelashes are like painted crescents. Dark brown, th and impossibly long, but I hate that I have no idea what color her eyes are and I'm not going to stop pumping her chest to find out. She has the face of an absolute angel... but she's still not breathing.
The pain that I felt in the woods. The weakness. It was hers. I think I felt her dying.
This can't happen to me. To her.
"Come on baby." I whisper after blowing into her lungs again and starting the compressions. "Come on, please."
"They're too far away, so Logan is sending the chopper," Quinn says, handing me another set of clothes that I ignore. "You should be dressed when they get here or they won't let you go with her.
I still don't stop. "Take over," I tell him. "Thirty compressions, two breaths. I'm about to be at thirty when I'm there, you take over starting with the breaths"
"I got it, Bartlett. We took the same class," he says amused.
We switch almost effortlessly and I'm dressed in some fucker's clothes before he even hits compression fifteen. The sound of the helicopter whirring above us means nothing and I kneel down to switch out with Quinn just as he dips into the hunters trailer and comes out wearing the same thing he just gave me. Sweats and a t-shirt.
When the helicopter lands, I'm surprised to see that Logan is with the EMT team. His eyes are wide with shock as he and a group of four men race toward us bearing an open stretcher and breathing machine.
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Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Three
"Werve got her," of
me away to place mask over her face,
I almost shove him back out of anger, leit decide against it. Leaping to my feet, I speak to Quinn, Bring her phone to the hospital when
The flashes a wide smile and pockets the device and I nod, then race for the helicopter right behind the nameless female that smells like sugared coconut and chocolate.