Wicked With You by Stacy Reid

Author:Stacy Reid [Reid, Stacy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Darkan Press Inc.
Published: 2022-10-22T18:30:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

Henrietta’s heart pounded with dread as she watched Simon struggle up the incline with Zeus clutched against his chest. The earth beneath his feet was precarious, and he slipped. His virulent curse reached her ears when he started to tumble backward.

“Simon!” she screamed, petrified.

Below him, the drop was terrible. Should he fall, he would suffer several broken bones or even death. She lunged forward, intending to help him.

“You stay there,” he roared, something wild flashing in his eyes. “By God, I will tan your backside if you come down here.”

It was not the ferocity of his snarl that stopped her but the echoes of fear in his voice for her. Dear Lord, please, allow Simon to come up safely.

Simon surged up the steep hillside, the earth crumbling beneath him as he ran. The stones that clattered to the bottom of the hill landed with an ominous crack. Suddenly he was there and he was safe. Zeus trembled in the cage of his arms, and Simon handed him over.

“Why would you take such a risk,” she cried on the verge of tears, stroking Zeus until he calmed. “You almost died!”

“Nonsense,” Simon said gruffly. “I was perfectly safe.”

Henrietta thumped his chest, painfully aware that her heart still pounded with fright. “Why would you take such a risk, Simon?”

“Did you want to lose Zeus?”

“Never,” she breathed. “Do you think I could have born it if you were hurt from such a fall?”

He touched a loose tendril of hair on her cheek. “I lost Apple, and for weeks I was numb. I could not damn well sleep or eat. I cried without shame.”

Her heart pounded and she asked, “Who was Apple?”

Simon released the wisp of hair he curled around a finger and used that finger to tenderly trace the lines of her cheekbone and her jaw. Her heart ached so badly that she found it difficult to breathe. Henrietta was unsure if she should lean into his tender touch or step away. Every time his gaze met hers, her heart turned over in response. Only it was a reaction she did not fully understand.

A hot ache grew in her throat, and she once again asked, “Who was Apple?”

“My collie,” Simon murmured, his eyes darkening more toward blue. “She was loving, tenacious, clever, plucky, and loyal. We…she was my best friend for sixteen years. When I dove after Zeus, the thought that drove me was that I could not bear for you to feel a similar grief.”

He touched the corner of her eye tenderly with his thumb. “I did not want to see these beautiful blues well up with tears.”

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