Free I Will Not Run by Elizabeth Preston

it all . It took all my strength to keep my hands by my side. My fingers were tingling, because they wanted to trail themselves along his leg.
    He pressed the start button on the iPad and his movie jumped into action. “As you can see, I produced, directed, and starred in this work of art.”
    The rifle range came into focus. “I’m impressed.” It wasn’t an exaggeration. Everything he did impressed me.
    “I knew you would be.”
    Turn your head and kiss me, damn it.
    His film jumped around a bit making me giddy but I watched it anyway. What else could I do? I would have much rather unbuttoned his shirt but he wasn’t offering that option. So, I tried to tell my flooding hormones to cool it.
    Dom had always been hard to distract. He was single minded and determined about everything he did. He was the type that refused to lose. Sometimes I wondered if winning was what mattered most to him.
    Bullets hitting targets flicked onto the screen. This little film clip had the potential to be traumatic for me. I could feel my anxiety levels rising, my heart picking up tempo, the first flush of sweat pricking my skin but I took a deep breath and forced myself to watch. Another deep breath . The moment when I’d have to look away was fast approaching. Then Dom came onto the screen and waved at me. I laughed and waved back.
    In his film, he chatted away, showing me how to hold the rifle and how to stand correctly. I watched and nodded and even tried to smile because I knew the real Dom would be spying on me, sneaking peeks from the corner of his eye.
    I didn’t listen to a word he said though, not really. My mind kept wandering, noticing other things like how well he filled his jeans, no old man stomach there. I love his wavy dark hair. It’s too cute the way one of his curls keeps falling over his forehead and he has this habit of brushing it aside. I don’t know why he bothers because it only falls right back into place. I started to smile, genuinely amused, watching that curl flop about. I counted the seconds, between the curl falling and the hand swiping it away. I wanted to laugh and cheer when the curl came back.
    I could have watched his movie a second time, but only because of his starring role. Sitting pressed together on that rug helped, especially now that our thighs were touching. I’d forgotten how good it felt to butt up to someone you cared about, someone you wanted against your naked skin.
    “Winter, gorgeous girl,” he said, switching the tablet off, “I need to talk to you about something else important now.”

Chapter 9
    Winter
    Monday, 21 st July
    I had no idea what Dominic was so determined to talk to me about. I wasn’t worried though because I figured it would be another of his Bruno’s-a-madman speeches.
    “I need you to pay attention to this baby,” he said, throwing a best-buds arm around me, hugging me tight. Wow, the blood-rush, it flooded my whole body.
    “You’ve got to listen to this, okay?”
    I’d listen to anything, even him ranting on about my bad-ass husband, as long as he kept squeezing my body like that.”
    “It’s about Buttercup.”
    I flinched, dropping from a great height. Those few words sobered me up; three words that felt like three policemen with warrants knocking at the front door. Somehow I managed to stay put on that rug and not run.
    His tone was serious. The fun of the afternoon clearly over. I inched my body away from his.
    “I heard that Buttercup’s death was an accident.”
    I shook my head but couldn’t bring myself to answer.
    “There was nothing more to it than that, apparently. You do understand, don’t you, darling?” He grabbed my hand, then brought my fingers to his mouth and kissed each tip, one by one.
    Okay, so now the shock was abating. This tactic of his was working pretty well. I was beginning to float. His soft full mouth sucked each fingertip, long and slow, moistening and warming the ends. I sat in silence, taking what he was giving,