Bearilicious - Collection by Ashley Hunter Read Free Book Online

and she could see just well enough to pick her path. The ground quickly turned into a slope, and she ran from tree to tree, her hands out in front of her, using the trunks to stop her momentum on the way down.
     
    There was a crack of wood snapping behind her, and Daniel cried out in surprise. His body tumbled past her on his way down.
     
    If he was going to be down there, than she wanted to be up at the top! Maybe he’d left the keys in the ignition? Could she be that lucky?
     
    Kelly pushed against the tree and tried to climb up the hill, but her foot slipped. It wasn’t detrimental, but when she tried again, it happened again.
     
    She tipped over on all fours and tried to climb, grabbing a nearby bush at the base near the root, but that came free of the dirt and she nearly tumbled after Daniel.
     
    The hill was too steep for her to climb back up. Kelly stood and balled her hands into fists as she spat some very unladylike words.
     
    She stopped and listened, but didn’t hear any sounds of Daniel struggling to climb up to get her. Either he was lying in wait to ambush her, or he was unconscious.
     
    Either way, she couldn’t stay here. He had passed her on the right, so she descended the slope at an angle to her left in the hopes that, if he was waiting to ambush her, she’d be too far away for him to take her by surprise.
     
    There was no way to go down quietly. Some things were just out of her control. So, since she couldn’t be stealthy about it, she made sure to be as steady and quick as she could.
     
    When she finally reached the bottom, a little bruised and scraped, but in one piece, there was no Daniel waiting to kill her. Either he was too far away, or he was unconscious. If she was really lucky, he was dead.
     
    Kelly couldn’t run anymore for the moment, her sprint earlier and then the hill having taken all of her energy out of her.
     
    Dress torn, the hair a mess and getting in her eyes, the only thing she was glad for was wearing flats to the charity dinner. Even though she couldn’t run, Kelly kept her pace up, wanting to put as much distance between her and that psycho as she could.
     
    “Kelly,” the night echoed far in the distance.
     
    She swore, but made sure to do it in a whisper. He was too far away to be an immediate concern. As dark as it was, there was the chance he didn’t know which way she’d gone.
     
    She could get away.
     
    Kelly kept walking quickly, conserving her energy in case she needed to run again. Daniel’s cries grew fainter as the night stretched on, and soon she didn’t hear anything.
     
    There was a moment of relief before she tried to think of what to do next. Yes, she’d gotten away from Daniel, but now she was lost in the forest, alone, in the middle of the night. Should she try to find her way back to the road?
     
    Kelly looked around and tried to orient herself. She had no idea in which direction the road laid. If she just went in one direction, she’d find something eventually.
     
    Right?
     
    The trees and brush seemed to grow darker and closer around her. Branches tripped her, thorns snagging on her dress, the whole forest turning against her.
     
    Kelly became so engrossed in fighting her way through the wilderness, she didn’t see the large man until she bumped face-first into his chest. The smell of sweat and male struck her just before her face met flesh, and she screamed.
     
    Losing her balance, she almost fell back, but big strong hands grabbed her at the arms. Still in fight-or-flight mode, Kelly flailed her arms to try and free herself and run from the psycho killer, but the hands didn’t budge.
     
    She tried to drop, to make her considerable body weight pull her from the man’s grasp, but he just held her up.
     
    This wasn’t like Daniel’s crushing grip when he had her hands. Whoever had her knew his strength, and was careful not to hurt her.
     
    It wasn’t until she stopped struggling, stood, and looked up that the man