LOGINThe soft mechanical whir of the drone settled over the lean-to like a second rain. Elara lay on the packed dirt with Jax still heavy between her thighs, the heat of his release still wet inside her. The broken roof above them framed a dark circle of sky. In that circle the small machine hovered, red light blinking, camera lens already turned down toward their tangled bodies.She felt the violation land harder than any bullet. Strangers had watched her come apart under him. Strangers had recorded the soft broken sounds she made when he filled her. The knowledge sat in her stomach like spoiled milk. Tears mixed with the rain on her face and ran into her hair.Jax pulled out of her in one careful motion and dragged her jeans back up her legs. His hands were steady but his jaw was locked so tight the muscle jumped. He yanked his own clothes into place, then reached for the gun on the ground beside them. The drone drifted lower. The red light blinked faster.“Stay flat,” he said.He raised
The camera shutter sounded again, closer this time. Elara felt the sound like a slap across the face. She lay half naked under the fallen log with Jax still inside her, the heat of his release still pulsing between her legs. Rain dripped through the branches onto her bare shoulders. The voice from above the ravine floated down soft and pleased.“That one caught the way you look at him when you come. Beautiful work.”Jax pulled out of her in one sharp motion and dragged her jeans back up her legs with rough urgency. She shoved her arms into the wet shirt he had tossed aside earlier, fingers fumbling with the buttons. Her heart slammed so hard she tasted metal. The knowledge that strangers had watched them, had recorded the private sounds and the way her body had clenched around his, made her stomach turn even as leftover pleasure still flickered low in her belly.Jax grabbed her hand and yanked her out from under the log. They ran downhill through the dark, ferns whipping their legs, m
The polite knock on the van door landed harder than any gunshot. Elara felt it in her teeth. Jax sat rigid on the narrow bench, gun already raised toward the rear doors. Rain still tapped the metal roof in a soft, relentless rhythm. The air inside smelled of rust, wet clothes, and the heat they had just shared.She pulled her shirt back over her head with shaking hands. The fabric stuck to her skin. Between her legs she still felt the thick evidence of him, warm and slick. The memory of how she had ridden him only moments ago sat in her chest like a second heartbeat, heavy and forbidden.“Last chance,” the voice repeated from outside. Calm. Almost kind. “Open up and no one else has to get hurt tonight.”Jax’s eyes met hers in the dim light. He gave one sharp shake of his head. She stayed silent. Her pulse hammered so hard she could feel it in the cut above her eyebrow.A heavier impact shook the van. The whole vehicle rocked on its springs. Jax moved fast. He grabbed her wrist and pul
The radio voice followed them through the trees like a second set of footsteps. Elara ran with one hand locked in Jax’s and the other pressed against the stitch in her side. Rain misted her face and turned the ground into black glass. Every time her foot slipped, Jax’s grip kept her upright.They moved north because there was nowhere else left to go. The forest grew thicker. Low branches slapped her cheeks and left thin stinging lines. The cut above her eyebrow had opened again. Blood mixed with rain and ran into her eye until she had to wipe it away with the back of her wrist.Jax slowed only when the radio static faded behind them. He pulled her into a shallow depression between two massive roots and pressed her back to the damp earth. His body covered hers while he listened. For a long minute the only sounds were their breathing and the soft drip of water from the leaves above.“They are boxing us in,” he said against her hair. “North is what they expect.”“Then we go east.”He nod
The spotlight pinned the ferns like a white fist. Elara felt the wet fronds press against her cheek and the cold ground soak through her clothes. Jax’s body covered hers, heavy and still. His breath warmed the side of her neck. The footsteps coming down the slope were slow and sure, as if the men above already knew exactly where they lay.A twig snapped ten yards away. Then another.Jax’s lips touched her ear. “When I say go, you run left down the slope. Do not stop.”She gave the smallest nod. Her heart beat so hard she was certain the men could hear it. The leftover heat of him still lingered between her thighs from the frantic joining behind the log. It felt wrong and necessary at the same time.A boot crushed a fern near her shoulder. The light swung closer.Jax exploded upward.He fired twice toward the spotlight. The beam shattered in a spray of glass and sparks. Darkness slammed back over the slope. Shouts erupted. Jax hauled Elara to her feet and shoved her left as more shots
The voice on the porch slid under the door like cold water. Elara felt it settle in her bones. Jax stood with his back to the wall beside the frame, gun raised, every muscle locked. The chair braced against the handle shifted another fraction of an inch under the pressure from outside.Rain still fell on the cabin roof in a steady whisper. Inside, the air smelled of dust and the lingering heat of what they had done on the narrow mattress only minutes before. Elara’s clothes clung to her skin. She could still feel the phantom stretch of him between her legs.“Elara,” the voice called again, almost gentle. “We know you are tired. We know he has been using you. Open the door and this ends clean.”Jax’s eyes met hers across the dim room. He gave a single sharp shake of his head. She stayed pressed to the far wall, heart slamming so hard she felt it in her throat.A heavier impact hit the door. Wood cracked. The chair legs scraped across the floorboards. Jax moved fast. He grabbed Elara’s
The sun beat down mercilessly on the manicured lawns of the Beverly Hills cemetery, turning the black dresses and suits into ovens. Elara Voss stood beside the twin caskets, her legs threatening to give out beneath her. The air smelled of fresh flowers and expensive perfume, but underneath it all l
The motel room smelled like old cigarettes and damp carpet, the kind of place Elara Voss had only seen in movies about people running from their lives. Jax locked the door and shoved a rickety wooden chair under the handle with a sharp scrape. He pulled the thin curtains tight, blocking out the fli
Elara Voss froze in the doorway of her parents' luxurious Beverly Hills bedroom, her bare feet rooted to the cool marble floor. The coppery stench of blood hit her first, thick and nauseating, before her eyes could fully process the horror. Her mother lay sprawled across the king sized bed, designe
Rain hammered the thin motel roof like it wanted to drown the whole world. Elara sat cross legged on the edge of the bed, staring at the greasy Chinese takeout containers between them. The black envelope from the funeral still burned in her mind. That photo of her sleeping in Jax’s arms felt more v







