Reviving Bloom (37 page)

I scoot myself further up on the bed, getting as close to the head board as possible. My legs
a
re bent at the knees and I cross my ankles and gather my legs close to my body. He watche
s
me struggle to get away from him and the more I d
o
the larger his grin g
e
t
s
. He hook
s
his thumbs into the waist band of his boxers and I slam my eyes shut. I d
o
n’t want to see his naked body. He laugh
s
at my action and sa
ys
, “I’ll save that for later. Right now I want to play with my little flower.”

I fe
el
the bed give way under his weight as he crawl
s
up the bed to get to me. He grab
s
one of my ankles and pull
s
me out of the protected position I’
ve
put myself in. I kick and buck trying to get loose of his grasp, but he
’
s larger and stronger. He pin
s
my legs down by straddling them.

“Pike, please hurry
,
”
I beg through our connection.

“What’s going …”
he
start
s
to ask but stop
s
when he cat
ches
my thoughts and growl
s
,
“That bastard is going to die!”

Trace
’
s hands climbing up my thighs t
ear
me out of the connection. His fingers
a
re skimming the hem of my dress and his voice
i
s vibrating with pleasure when he whisper
s
, “So beautiful.”

I c
a
n’t take any more. I c
a
n’t allow him to do this to me. I jerk on my cuffs over and over screaming, “No, get the hell off of me.” On the fifth or sixth yank
,
I fe
el
the light fixture come out of the wall. It
’
s still attached to my cuffs so I sw
i
ng it at Trace’s head. It connect
s with a loud crunch.
I t
a
k
e
advantage of his surprise
and
push him off of me. I scramble off the bed and back away from him.

He
’
s holding the side of his head that
’
s now oozing blood and cusse
s
, “Fuck Bloom. What the hell?”

I
s he serious? I glare at him, “You fucking kidnapped me and was planning on raping me you sick bastard!”
I advance on him and sw
i
ng the light fixture at his head again. I kn
o
w I should be bolting out the door, but my anger ha
s
gotten the better of me and now I c
a
n’t see pass wanting to cause him bodily harm.

The fixture connect
s
on the opposite side of his head as the previous blow and he cusse
s
me again, “Damn it, Bloom, stop!”

“Bloom, Bloom, BLOOM?” I scream
my voice getting prominently louder with each repetition
. “What happened to my little flower, huh?” He ha
s
both of his arms up trying to protect his head from any more damage as I continue swinging my make shift weapon and ranting.

“Your fucking flower isn’t as weak as you hoped is she?” I sneer as I t
a
k
e
a shot at his stomach. I
’m
so wrapped up in my revenge that I d
o
n’t hear the door being busted in or the wolves that
a
re piling in behind me. I just kept taking swing after swing at my kidnapper.

Traces arms f
a
ll away from protecting his head and his mouth f
a
ll
s
open as he gasp
s
, “What the hell?” His surprise g
i
ve
s
me the shot I want so I slam the light fixture into his head again knocking him flat on his back.

“That’s what you get you fucking asshole!” I scream at his prone body.
Blood
i
s seeping from the wounds
on
his head, but I ignore it and decide he need
s
kicked for good measure. I land one kick to his side before I fe
el
strong arms circle around my middle. I beg
i
n to struggle and tr
y
to swing, but Pike presse
s
his lips to my ear and whisper
s
, “Darlin’ that’s enough. I’m here.”

I sag with relief in his arms. He turn
s
me so I
’m
facing his chest and h
o
ld
s
me close as
I
bawl. He kisse
s
the top of my head then twist
s
his neck and order
s
, “Tuck, check to see if he’s still alive. Price, see if you can find the key to the handcuffs.”

I’m not sure if they nod or just g
e
t to their tasks because my face
i
s buried in Pike
’
s chest, but I know they
a
re doing as ordered. Tucker move
s
to pass by us, but stop
s
at my side to place a kiss
on
my temple. Then
he
lean
s
into my ear and whisper
s
, “I’m glad you’re safe, sis.”

I turn my face from Pike
’
s chest so I c
an
look into my brother
’
s eyes and whisper back, “Thanks for coming to save me, little brother.”

He look
s
over at the still unmoving form of Trace and sa
ys
, “Looks like you saved yourself. Next time maybe you can save some of the fun for us.”

“Tucker,” Pike growl
s
making me giggle.

“Ok
ay
, no next time geez.” Tucker laugh
s
then
goes
to check out Trace.

From behind us Price holler
s
, “I found them.”

“Good lord, no need to scream just bring me the damn keys
,
” Pike grumble
s
sticking out his hand for the keys.

“Sorry Alpha
,
” Price sa
ys
dropping the key into Pike
’
s hand.

“It’s ok
ay
, Price
,
”
h
e
t
ells
him then gently t
a
k
es
hold of my wrists and remove
s
the cuffs. “How
d
o they feel, darlin’?”

I massage my right wrist with my left hand as I answer, “Much better.” With the handcuffs off and the adrenaline leaving my body I finally t
a
k
e
notice of my mate. My eyes g
e
t large as I scan him from head to toe, “Tennessee, you’re
…
you’re naked!”

Price and Tucker laugh and Pike grin
s
at me. “That’s very observant of you, darlin’.”

“Were you holding me naked?” I kn
o
w my face
is
turning ten shades of red, which
is
making his grin grow impossibly wider.

“Yes.”

“Why they hell are you naked?” I demand.

“Calm down darlin’
,
”
h
e trie
s
to step closer but I step back and grab the blanket off the bed closest to us and threw it at him.

“Stop coming closer and put that on, geez, you could take an eye out with that thing.”

Pike wrap
s
the cover around his waist and laugh
s
, “We’re shifters darlin’, you’re gonna have to get use to nudity. We don’t shift back fully dressed.”

“We’re designating a shifting zone in the pack house! I don’t want to see a bunch of naked shifters running around all the time
,
” I demand which g
e
t
s
me more chuckles from the three shifters in the room with me.

“We’ll talk about it at the next pack meeting, darlin’.” Pike trie
s
to placate me.

“I’m serious, Tennessee!” I stomp my foot to get my point across.

He pull
s
me into his arms again and sa
ys
, “I know, darlin’. We’l
l talk about it later. Now, let’s get you out of here and back to the house.”

“Ok
ay
, but shouldn’t we call the law
?
” I ask turning my attention back to Trace
’
s body. He ha
s
n’t moved or made a sound since the last time I connected with hi
s
skull.

“Price, go get
Louie. Tell him to take over the scene and he can come to the house when he’s done here to get Bloom
’
s
statement
,
” Pike order
s
.

I look up at him and then at the door
as
Price exit
s
and ask, “Who’s Louie?”

“He’s the sheriff and he’s part of the pack.
” I let it sink in that the town
s
heriff
i
s a shifter also and I c
a
n’t come up with a suitable response. Pike g
i
ve
s
me a squeeze, “Don’t worry darlin’, Louie isn’t gonna to cover this up. You killed him in self defense and that will be put in his report.”

“I killed someone
,
” I
say
softly trying to bury my face in his chest.

He t
a
k
es
hold of my shoulders and h
o
ld
s
me back so he c
an
look at my face, “You protected yourself.”

“But
…
” I beg
i
n.

“No darlin’, I won’t let you blame yourself for something he brought on himself. Twice he
kidnapped you and attempted to
….” He t
a
k
es
a moment to rein in his emotions then he continue
s
, “He attempted to rape you. I won’t let you feel bad for defending yourself.”

I place my hands on either side of his face, “Pike.”

He cover
s
my hands with his own and cut
s
me off, “No, Bloom. I won’t let you.”