Free Honeymoon from Hell IV by R.L. Mathewson Page A

exactly what would happen once the words slipped
out of his mouth, but he couldn’t help it.
    He really couldn’t.
    He’d known what to expect after seeing
her back, but nothing could have prepared him for this. Absolutely
nothing, he thought numbly as he stared down at the beautiful body
that he loved holding at night, the one that brought him joy and
pleasure as well as the one that created his children, the only
people on this earth could rival Elizabeth for his
heart.
    Swallowing hard, he reached out with a
trembling hand, prepared to remove the first one marring her skin
when he realized that she was screaming. It took him a few more
seconds to realize that his still-screaming wife was now sitting up
and slapping somewhat hysterically at the black blobs covering her
body, but it was useless.
    The little bastards refused to give up
their treat quite so easily.
    “Get them off!” Elizabeth screamed,
startling him enough to move his ass and grab her hands before she
could make it worse.
    “Stop!” he snapped, pressing her hands
down by her sides and holding them there when all he wanted to do
was to tear the little bloodsucking bastards marring her skin off
and throw them as far away from her as possible, but he couldn’t do
that. One of them needed to remain calm and unfortunately for her,
it had to be him.
    “Minx!” he snapped, giving her a little
shake, just enough to get her to stop screaming and trying to fight
him. “You’re okay!”
    Her scream ended on a gasp as she
forced herself to stop fighting him. It was probably one of the
hardest things that she’d done in her life, besides taking a chance
on him that is, and he was proud of her. He leaned in and pressed
his lips against her forehead as he kept his hold on her arms,
terrified that she would try to remove one of the leeches and end
up tearing her skin open and exposing her to an infection that
could take her away from him.
    “I’m going to get them off, sweetheart,
but I need you to stay still,” he whispered, praying that she
wouldn’t argue with him for once and thanking God when she actually
listened to him.
    With a little nod and a little sob that
nearly killed him, his brave minx closed her eyes and lay back down
on the cold, muddy ground, completely trusting him to take care of
her, to do his job. Closing his eyes, he slowly exhaled, praying
that he could do this without losing his fucking mind. Knowing that
he couldn’t put it off any longer, he opened his eyes, picked up
the small twig that he’d sharpened and set to work, using the trick
that his brother had taught him when he was a child and had made
the mistake of trying to use a leech as bait, thinking that it was
easier to use than a worm.
    It hadn’t been.
    If it hadn’t been for his brother he’d
probably still be running towards Scotland, screaming and trying
his best to tear the large black leech off before it could devour
his arm. Before he could make it fifty feet, James had him pinned
to the ground and was calmly using the tip of a small stick to
remove the leech. He never thought that trick would come in handy
and he sure as hell hadn’t thought that he would need to use it on
his wife one day.
    Then again, he never thought he’d be
married and hopelessly in love with the little girl that had once
dubbed him Robert Lemonade, he mused with a sigh as he set to work
on removing the large leach attached to Elizabeth’s hip.

Chapter 9
    “Elizabeth-”
    “Don’t,” she said, pausing
to lick her lips as she tightened her arms around herself, taking a
slow steadying breath as she turned her head away, not caring that
her eyes were already closed and that she couldn’t see him, she
just needed to look away, “ just
don’t .”
    “Sweetheart, they’re gone,” he said
softly as she felt his hand touch her arm, making her flinch as the
memory of what had covered that arm only moments ago flashed
through her mind.
    They weren’t gone.
    They would never be gone, but