Crowed (Team Zero #2) by Rina Kent

There’s nothing more I want to do than yank off those trousers, take her against the wall, and show her exactly how to be alive.

But not when she’s confused out of her mind. If I push her too far, she might break and never put herself back together again.

And I want her to put herself together. No idea why the fuck would I care, but Eloise has been unexplainable ever since I met her. All I know is that I’ll take her hand in this. Whatever the fuck this is. Because I’ve seen snippets of the woman lurking underneath the numbness.

That woman deserves to come out.

Instead of indulging in my fucked-up fantasies, I let her go and stride towards the door. “Meet me outside in five.”

She remains rooted in place. “W-why?”

I whip my head back. “You’ll find out.”

This time, she nods, her expression screaming uncertainty. Uncertainty is good. Uncertainty will keep her on the edge of her seat.

I cast one last look at her wet shirt and the creamy breasts teasing from beneath. The decision to walk away from that luscious body seems so fucking wrong right now. I shake my head and start down the hall.

As I put on a T-shirt, a small voice whispers that this is none of my business. No attachment, remember?

However, I can’t even begin to think about abandoning Eloise in this state. Not when I pushed her to bare herself to me.

With that resolution, I descend the stairs.

I expected Eloise to chicken out and to have to drag her kicking and screaming, but she’s pacing the porch in white flip-flops. Tiny jean shorts hug her hips along with a plain black T-shirt.

No wet transparent shirts. Bummer.

But those shorts are revealing sublime legs so the lack of the wet shirt is almost bearable.

Almost.

Upon noticing me, Eloise stops pacing and crosses her arms under her chest. Her foot taps on the floor. A habit she does whenever anxious. “So, what is it?”

There’s that tiny hope in her voice again. The unknown is making her antsy.

I fucking love how she looks on edge.

That in itself is life.

I stride to my bike, retrieve the helmet and toss it towards her. She yelps but still catches it. Her questioning gaze shifts between me and the helmet as I straddle my bike.

“No.”

“What?”

“No. I’m not getting on that... thing!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Nurse Betty. Of course you are.”

Her expression morphs to pure panic as she gives me back the helmet. When I don’t take it, she tosses it to the ground and makes a run to the house.

Her castle.

Her fucking safe place.

Well, not today.

Abandoning my bike, I clutch her arm and pull her back until her chest flushes against mine.

Eloise thrashes, her palms hitting in all directions. I imprison both her wrists behind her back, effortlessly subduing her.

“Forget what I said in the bathroom. It was a mistake.” She wiggles in my grasp. All her soft curves brush against my slowly growing erection.

Fuck me.

“You need to stop running.”

She relaxes a little, her chest rising and falling at a quick pace against mine. Before I know it, she leans close and bites my bicep. Hard. Like she’s planning to feast on my flesh.

“Fucking hell!” I release her wrists. She attempts to dart out of reach, but I pick her up by the waist and plant her in front of me on the bike. She’s facing me, chest inches from mine and her legs on each side of my thigh.

Panic surges into her eyes as she frantically searches left and right. Probably trying to find an exit. When that doesn’t work, her expression becomes terrified, appearing more and more like a trapped animal.

Like any trapped animal, she leans forward, attempting to attack.

I stifle her mouth with my palm. “Are you a fucking dog?”

Even Cheerio doesn’t bite as much as her.

When Eloise tries to bite again, I remove my hand and push her down hard until she stops moving. “Bite me again and I’ll gag you.”

“Just let me go.” Desperation laces her words and the ardent green of her eyes. “I won’t ask anything of you again, please.”

My hold almost falters at hearing her beg. Just imagining her beg while she’s naked beneath me causes my trousers to strain. But no. There are more important things to take care of.

The engine revs to life. Eloise goes stiff.

We start moving, and I try to go slower to not alarm her. “Hold on—”

I don’t even finish the sentence before Eloise is glued to my front. Her arms encircle my neck and her head buries in the crook of my shoulder.

Well, the plan had been to show her the forest, not to have her hide, but fuck if this position isn’t messing with me.

To make things worse, her legs tighten around my waist, caging me in a steel hold. Add the lilac or apple or whatever her natural scent is and my concentration nearly evaporates.

I try to focus as we weave through the forest’s narrow dirt road. Rays begin to light the early morning sky, and I want to get Eloise to the top before the sun appears over the hill.

“Open your eyes and look around,” I say.

She shakes her head, still hiding her face in my neck. There’s this unfamiliar need, an urge to have her like this. Which is weird as fuck. I never coveted anything enough to want to keep it.

But again, I’m beginning to think that Eloise and weird are different names for the same bloody thing.