Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 145088 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145088 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
She shook her head and rubbed her unusually smooth forehead. “Fine. God knows I might need the help. I’ve got a sick animal, and I’ve been paying through the nose for his vet visits and meds. Money I didn’t have. Unless you’ve got seventy grand laying around, I could use a man with a gun. I’m sure you’ve got one on you. If you’re not afraid to use it, you can stay as long as you want to.”
Hammer squeezed her shoulder, going tense. “Is someone threatening you?”
This was a side of Hammer Dex hadn’t known about. He’d always seemed like an impenetrable rock ready to crush anything in its way, yet his concern for Cora felt genuine. Then again, what did he know? He’d believed Hammer wanted a gay experiment with his jailor.
Cora nodded with a sigh. “I borrowed money from the wrong people, but it was for Bandit. I couldn’t let my baby suffer.”
Hammer exhaled and squeezed both her shoulders. “You can count on me. And maybe once I get some rest, I could have a word with those people in your name.”
She freed herself from his comforting grip, leading them into a midsized room with wood covering it from floor to ceiling and framed photographs of tigers mounted on the walls for decoration. There was a shoe rack, and a wooden wardrobe too, but Dex was only interested in the other door, which would lead them into the house. Cora closed all the locks behind them.
“I can’t express how infuriating it is to deal with those maggots, but there’s only one of me, and they’d been attempting to intimidate me for two weeks now. Maybe if they see people staying with me, they’ll be more willing to negotiate. If they don’t... there are no laws forbidding self-defense in one’s own home, are there?” she said with a flash of malice in her eye.
Hammer shook his head and stepped toward the wardrobe, which he opened as if he’d done so many times before. “We’ll see how things go.”
Dex’s face tingled when he spotted his phone sticking out of a pocket at the side of Hammer’s jacket, and he reached for it, hoping neither his abductor nor their host would notice. Paws stampeded over the wooden floor and Hammer spun around, leaving Dex to retreat empty-handed, but when a pale puma the size of a German Shepherd pushed past the other door and faced them with interest in large green eyes, he hid behind Hammer with a loud yelp.
“You didn’t tell him?” Cora asked with a chuckle and approached the massive cat with thick paws.
“Nah, I thought it would be funnier if he found out for himself,” Hammer said and winked at Dex as their host kneeled next to her pet and scratched it under the chin, as if it were a regular, if overgrown, house cat.
“Look at that, Baby, we have guests!”
“It’s not funny at all!” Dex said but didn’t have the guts to step away as his heart rattled. Why was he being mocked if he’d done as told and acted like a good little submissive?
But when the puma purred, shutting its eyes in response to long fingers caressing its jaw, Dex couldn’t help but smile.
Cora stroked Baby’s head behind the ears. “She’s a rescue. I took her in when her original owner discovered she had heart issues, and I had her since then. She’s harmless, but treat her with respect or she’ll claw your eyes out. We’re soulmates, she and I.”
Dex’s heart was still rattling, but when Cora made space by her pet and smiled in encouragement, he scooted down and extended his hands to the animal. He wouldn’t be missing out on an opportunity like this just because he was here as a hostage. “That’s so cool.” He glanced up at Hammer with a smile.
Warm fur pushed against his fingers, and he froze in awe as Baby smelled him, moving her muzzle along Dex’s wrist. He would have lost his balance if Hammer wasn’t there to hold him upright.
“Because of her, never open one of those doors before making sure the other’s shut. Cora forgot to do it today,” Hammer said with a little grin, which prompted her to groan.
“It’s not even six in the morning, and you decided to knock on my door uninvited. I should have left you to wait in the car. Maybe my heart just got too soft.”
Dex barely kept himself from squealing when Baby tasted his sweat. This animal could kill him if it bit through his throat, but it was so cute. Jag would have loved this—or would he? He had claimed to have killed a jaguar in the past, so Dex wasn’t sure if his encounter with Baby would have been as friendly as this one. When the puma yawned, showing off her massive teeth, Hammer pulled on Dex’s nape, urging him up.