Chapter 49 Hunting III
Heaven sat on Rosalia in stiff silence, the gun strapped to the side of her saddle swaying with every step.
The woods swallowed them slowly.
Tall trees loomed overhead, their shadows stretching long and cold. Maverick rode ahead on Baximus, his broad shoulders tense beneath his dark riding jacket.
Every slow, rhythmic stride of his stallion made the air around him pulse with something heavy.
Controlled.
Barely contained.
The tension.
The anger.
And something else he couldn't name, it that prickled beneath his skin and made his chest tighten.
Leaves crunched beneath hooves. Birds scattered overhead. The deeper they rode, the quieter the world became, as if even the forest knew it was witnessing two people walking straight into danger.
Then Maverick did something completely unexpected.
He stopped.
Abruptly.
Baximus spun with sharp precision, and before Heaven even understood what was happening, the massive stallion pressed right into Rosalia’s path. Maverick reached out.
His hand clamped around her waist.
Heaven gasped as her body was lifted clean off Rosalia. The world tilted trees spun and in the next heartbeat she landed against a solid chest.
Baximus beneath her.
Maverick in front of her.
His grip burned through her riding jacket.
“M-Maverick…”
She didn’t finish.
His mouth crashed into hers.
A deep, desperate kiss, one that ripped straight from somewhere raw and hidden inside him. It tasted like fear. Like rage. Like a man who had almost lost something he didn’t even realize was dear until terror squeezed his heart minutes ago.
Heaven pushed against him a weak attempt that lasted only a second.
Because Maverick kissed her harder.
Her anger at him, her hurt from last night all of it wavered beneath the intensity of him. His jaw was tight, his breath uneven as he dragged her closer, crushing her as if proving she was alive, warm, here with him.
Her fingers curled against his shoulders.
Her body betrayed her first.
Her lips followed.
Their mouths moved desperately tongue against tongue as they stole breath from each other. Heaven melted into the kiss she swore she didn’t want, a soft moan escaping her and disappearing instantly into his mouth.
Maverick’s hand slid beneath her shirt, up her spine.
His other hand gripped the back of her neck, anchoring her to him.
He kissed her like a man unraveling.
Shaken.
Desperate.
Breaking in the places he never let anyone see.
Heaven felt it, the kiss was different from all the others.
Something was wrong.
Terribly wrong.
Maverick wasn’t kissing her out of desire.
He was kissing her out of fear.
Fear of losing her.
Right as he pulled back, their foreheads touched, both of them breathing hard. His voice came out rough, scraping the air between them.
“Don’t ever stand in harm’s way again…”
He pulled her into a tight embrace, fierce, protective, almost painful.
And when he finally let go, moving back just enough to look at her, the wild fear in his eyes vanished.
His expression snapped back into the unreadable mask she knew too well.
Cold.
Controlled.
Maverick again.
Killian rode with Eva at his side, their horses moving in steady rhythm through the thinning woods. But his mind wasn’t on the hunt.
It kept circling back to what he’d seen earlier.
The way Maverick looked at Heaven. A look a man should reserve only for his wife or his lover.
And Killian had also seen it ,the blue ribbon Maverick already held in his hand before he dipped his hand into the bowl.
He hadn’t been paired with Heaven by chance.
He had wanted her.
Killian’s jaw tightened, his eyes slid to Eva, they softened.
She sat straight in her saddle, her fitted riding jacket hugging her small frame, her binoculars raised as she scanned the distance. Completely unaware of the storm brewing around her.So trusting.
“What do you plan on catching today?” Killian asked gently, watching her like she was the only soft thing in the forest.
“An antelope,” Eva answered brightly. “If I get one, I can make any request I want. Maybe Maverick will finally take a leave from work so we can go on our honeymoon.” She smiled, eyes scanning the distance eagerly.
Killian’s heart squeezed painfully.
If a man loved a woman, she shouldn’t need a kill to earn a honeymoon.
Her husband should have taken her without being asked.
Without conditions.
“How’s… your relationship with him?” he asked quietly. “The marriage, I mean.”
Eva paused.
Her smile faltered, just for a heartbeat before she forced it back into place.
“Fine,” she answered lightly. “He promised he’d come with me to see my pieces at the art gallery last night…”
She gave a nervous little laugh.
Killian lost his composure.
“You don’t have to cover for him, Eva. I saw the way he…”
“You saw nothing.”
Her voice cut sharp as a blade.
“Eva, if a man loves you, you shouldn’t need to kill an antelope for a honeymoon. He clearly doesn’t…”
“Don’t speak about my husband like that.” Her voice trembled with anger. “You should know your place.”
Silence crashed between them.
The wind rustled the grass.
Their horses huffed softly.
Killian lowered his head.
“I’m sorry, young miss.”
Eva’s lips parted. Regret flickered across her face.
“I… I’m sorry, Killian. I didn’t mean to say that.”
“It’s okay, young miss,I should have known my place” he murmured, though his voice carried a quiet ache.
Before either could say more, a rustle broke from a nearby bush.
A small brown baby rabbit darted into view.
Without hesitation, Eva lifted her rifle, aimed, and fired.
A clean shot to the eye.
The rabbit fell instantly.
Killian looked at his brows creased, her eyes glinted with a sudden coldness