In The Darkness (Project Artemis #1)(29)

“Don’t be. It was nothing more than if I pretended to want to hit you. It was a show for their benefit to make them see they shouldn’t touch you or they’d have me to deal with.”

She lifted her head, and her beautiful mouth turned down into a frown. “I’m not sure that makes it any better, to be honest. But thanks for trying.”

He hadn’t meant to make it seem like having sex with someone was on the same level as someone pretending to want to hurt them. His mind raced with some way to explain what he really meant, but nothing came to him. Christ, how did anyone explain forcing themselves on someone to protect them?

“I know it sounds wrong, but I did it to make sure they knew I’d claimed you. It’s how people like them think. If you belonged to me, then they would think twice about touching you. I just wanted to keep you safe from them.”

She turned her head to look at him with confusion in her eyes. “Belong to you?”

He knew how ridiculous it sounded to say someone belonged to another person. He didn’t think like that, but that group of militia assholes did. They saw no use for women other than as sex toys for them to play with every so often when they weren’t fucking around with guns or trying to kill zombies.

“I just wanted to make sure they understood that if they touched you, they’d have to deal with me. If they thought you were mine, they likely would keep their hands off you. It’s who they are. They have the mentality of animals, so I staked my claim.”

It all sounded so clinical and at the same time barbaric, so he stopped for a moment and then said, “I’m sorry I did that. I didn’t have a choice, but I didn’t mean to hurt you like that.”

Fighting back tears, she nodded. “Well, in medicine, you sometimes have to remove a part of the body to save the person. Maybe if we look at it like that we won’t both feel bad about it someday.”

Thinking about forcing himself on her as like amputation probably wasn’t going to help him feel any better about it now or in the future, but if that worked for her, he could handle it. As long as she knew that he had done it to protect her and not hurt her.

He smiled and nodded, but just then a noise outside drew his attention. Jumping to his feet, he stepped in front of her. “Stay behind me.”

As his heart raced, she stood up and they backed up away from the window. Nick pulled his gun and prepared to shoot whoever was out there. He’d protected Persephone before, and he’d do it again.

And he didn’t give a damn how many of them he had to kill.





Chapter Ten





The sound of someone jiggling the handle on the back door of the cabin made Persephone’s blood run cold. She’d foolishly convinced herself that she and Nick had gotten away from those crazy militia guys and this cabin was a safe place for them.

Even after all she’d been through, hope still insisted on making a fool of her. So much for wishful thinking.

Nick pressed the back of his body against hers and whispered, “If someone comes through that door, don’t worry. I’m not going to let them get to you.”

Terrified, she pressed her hands to his back and felt the muscles in his shoulders coiled tightly together as he waited to see if whoever was outside would try to come in. For the first time, she saw him holding a gun. Part of her couldn’t help be thankful he had one, but another part of her worried if the person outside came in shooting, they’d all end up dead.

“Please don’t get killed, Nick,” she whispered behind him.

He didn’t respond. A second later, the door opened and she saw a figure she recognized standing there. The light from the lantern barely showed his face, but she’d know those horrible tattoos anywhere.

“You should have run farther, man. It took nothing to find you,” Drist said in his usual terrifying tone that made her feel sick to her stomach.

“Turn around and leave,” Nick said flatly. “There’s nothing for you here.”

Drist closed the door behind him and waved his gun in front of his face. “I’ll tell you what. I don’t have to kill you, Nick. I get it. You fucked her and now you want to protect her. I don’t get why you give a fuck about this one, but I guess I get it. But she’s got to come back. We need her. You know that.”

Nick stuck his arm behind him to squeeze Persephone’s hand. “You can’t have her. Go now or you’ll end up with a bullet in your head.”

For a moment, Drist looked surprised to find a gun in Nick’s hand. Then his eyes narrowed and he shook his head. “I had a feeling you were too good to be true. You’re not one of us, are you? Her daddy sent you in to get her, didn’t he?”

Persephone clutched onto Nick’s shirt and felt his body expand beneath it as he took a deep breath. “Leave now or you’ll be leaving in a body bag. Whichever, but you can’t have her.”

Drist took a single step into the cabin and aimed at Nick standing in front of her. Instinctively, she closed her eyes tightly as the sound of the gun going off was met with another from the gun in Nick’s hand.

She didn’t know how long she stood there cowering behind him, but when she opened her eyes, he was still there standing in front of her, protecting her. Had he been shot? Had Drist been shot?

“Nick! What happened?” she cried out as she clutched tightly onto his shirt, afraid to let go.