Delicious - Page 22

Yeah, I should definitely look into cardio when—if—I get back home. There’s no way I could improve my stamina in the next few days, and where am I going to run? Through the woods?

I’d trip and break an ankle for sure. No, I need air conditioning, a treadmill, and high-quality reality TV to even consider doing strenuous physical activity for my health. Especially running, which is easily the most painful, most boring, physical activity I can think of.

“Shit,” I wheeze, willing my lungs to chill out. It takes a few minutes, and belatedly I remember hearing somewhere that I shouldn’t just stop completely. Instead, I should start walking, trying to cool down and not just stop dead. But that’s easier said than done.

At last, I force myself to resume walking. The cabin is in sight and thankfully Jed is not. If I’m willing to believe something other than the worst, then I’d like to think that Jed is giving me a while to cool down. To stop freaking out over what happened.

To stop obsessing over what his lips had felt like on mine. Or his mouth on my arm as he’d licked the blood from my cut. I know I should’ve made him stop. I know that I shouldn’t have been enraptured by the sight of him licking my blood off my skin.

I know I shouldn’t have enjoyed the sharp tang of my blood in my mouth, mixed with the taste ofJed.

And fuck, that’s the problem. No matter how much I want to freak out. No matter how much I want to say that it was the worst thing that’s ever happened to me…it wasn’t. And way too much of me wanted him to continue. Iwantedhim to keep going, to see what he would do. Iwantedto feel his mouth and tongue and teeth on my skin. Especially on other places of me instead of just my arm. Though, the way he’d started to devour my mouth had certainly been a nice teaser as to what might come.

“You’re fucked up, Saylor,” I mutter, tilting my head back as I walk and trying to convince my muscles to stop throbbing. My feet scuff along the gravel, and I fall into a comfortable silenceas I walk, listening to the sounds of the breeze in the trees and things I can’t see around me.

It should be creepy. And maybe when the sun goes down, it will be. But for now, the near-quiet is comforting, and I wish I could see the animals that call this place home. Hell, I wish I’d brought my camera to the bridge. I could’ve lost an entire day there, looking for the perfect pictures. The perfect angles. The perfect…everything.And if Jed had been there? Staring off into the woods with his ethereal blue eyes and that look of near-longing on his face?

Yeah, I could’ve made an extra day out of just having Jed there. To have someone in a perfect place for photography who might be open to all the stupid, creative, and weird ideas I have?

I’d even shoot him there, covered in blood, for the gorgeous contrast between him and the surrounding nature. If that’s not messed up, I definitely don’t know what is.

My fingers itch for my camera, and for a few seconds I consider going back with it in my hands. Except for the fact that I’m not sure I can face him, it feels like a great idea.

I stop at his Jeep, peering into it for any sign of my phone or anything else that might get me out of here. Kiss or not, gorgeous charm or not, I need to get free. I can have these moral dilemmas when I’m at home, in the comfort of my own apartment, when there’s no one around with a chainsaw.

Unless I want him to be around, anyway.

Sighing, I realize that not only is there nothing of use glaring up at me from inside the vehicle, the doors are locked. Naturally. Jed’s thorough and thoughtful. He doesn’t miss any details, and seems to think of everything. In any other situation, it would be inspiring.

Now, it’s just frustrating.

I should walk back into the cabin. I could go collapse on the bed and daydream about escape, or do something productivelike think of a plan. But, true to how the last few days have gone and my actions during them, I don’t. Instead, I walk around the cabin, looking at the windows and minimal landscaping that Jed still manages to keep up with.

This is one area I enjoy as well. I like taking care of plants, or designing little gardens. Though for me, it’s indoors instead of outdoors. My gardens are all in pots and hydroponic hangers. Not actually planted in the ground like the flowers and bushes around the outside of his cabin.

I follow the straight wall of the cabin around to the back, and I’m surprised to see another parking area, with another driveway that winds through the trees. A good half mile away, I see a gate as well, crossing over the driveway and attaching to a fence that disappears into the line of trees.

Oh.

I blink once. Then again. That’s why Jed was never concerned about me going down one of the two paths on either side of the front door of the cabin. I’d never once thought to actually walk around the house, instead of just accepting what I could see. It makes a lot of sense that this more cared for gravel road would be the way back to civilization. Though that only helps me partially, since I have no idea how long this particular road is.

Yesterday I’d been sure that anywhere would be better than here. But today? Well, I don’t want to be lost in the wilderness, on a gravel road in the middle of nowhere, when I’ve proven to myself how bad at hiking and running I am in general.

This road is a problem for another day. Probably tomorrow, when I can grab my camera, look a little harder for my phone, and take off at a sustainable fast-walk. I’m too worn out to do anything other than collapse or trudge around for a few more minutes, at most.

Which is how my eyes land on the shed. Or rather, the small dirt path that leads to the shed peeking through a few big trees on the other side of the cabin. I know I shouldn’t. After all, curiosity killed the cat, and no amount of satisfaction would bring me back after getting a chainsaw through the chest.

But….

But I’ve always been a mess. Why stop now?

My feet take me across the gravel, rocks scuffing under my feet, and I give one more quick look to my surroundings to make sure Jed hasn’t miraculously popped up out of thin air. That would be my luck, honestly. That he’d appear like magic and see me doing something that I really shouldn’t be doing.

Like investigating the little shed in the woods.

It never occurs to me, not even once, that I might regret this for other reasons. The only thoughts that go through my head are about sating my curiosity, the ache in my muscles, and making sure Jed isn’t around. After all, what else is there to worry about out here?

The answer hits me square in the face when my hand curls around the handle andpulls. I’d half expected the door to be locked. Especially given that Jed locks or hides away everything of value around here. But instead, the door pops open in my hand, causing me to stagger back from it.