The Gender Game 2 by Bella Forrest (audio ebook reader .TXT) 📕

his head and wrapping my arms around his neck, squeezing. He made a surprised sound, his hands going over my forearms to try and pull me off. I had leverage though, and the superior position.

Viggo tried to jerk me over his shoulder, but I wrapped my legs around him, holding firm. I was careful not to choke off all his air—I was angry, yes, but I didn’t want to hurt him.

It turned out that was a mistake on my part. He managed to work a few fingers under my arm, and, in a feat of incredible strength, he pulled my arm straight out. I released one leg I had wrapped around his waist, and planted it in the back of his knee. He buckled, dropping down.

Viggo managed to pull me around to the front of him, using my freed limbs as an opportunity to unbalance me. He used his moment to try to push me into the ground, but I rolled with it, curling my back and using my knees to push his weight over mine. I landed on top of him, my hands trapped behind his head, his body under my body.

We paused there for a moment, staring at each other, when Viggo reached up, grabbing me gently by the back of the neck, and pulling me flat against his chest. His other arm wrapped around the back of my shoulders, and I felt his chest rise in a deep, heaving sigh.

“I missed you, Violet,” he breathed, holding me closer.

“I missed you too,” I admitted, savoring the feel of his arms around me. I pulled away, looking him desperately in the eye. “Viggo, please. You have to believe me. I didn’t kiss you because it was part of the plan. I kissed you because I… I couldn’t stop myself. I kissed you because I wanted to. I didn’t want to carry out Lee’s plan. He gave me this pill, and it made it so I couldn’t feel anything.”

“It’s times like this that I really hate these masks,” he muttered.

I looked at him inquisitively.

“I could kiss you to shut you up,” he added with a small grin.

I smiled, but it was bittersweet. “Do you believe me?”

Viggo gave a heaving sigh, his chest contracting under me so I could feel his heartbeat, strong and steady, where our torsos touched. He reached up, moving a lock of my hair off the visor. “We should go,” he said, avoiding my question. But I could see it in his eyes, the suspicion that I was playing him.

I sighed and placed my head against his chest, wishing that I could do something to make him believe me.

“What are you going to do with me?” I asked.

There was a long pause. “You have to go back, Violet. There’s no other way.”

I sat up, shaking my head. “They’ll kill me,” I whispered as I pulled my cuffed hands from behind his head.

He reached up and held my face, or rather the helmet. “I’ll protect you,” he whispered, his eyes sincere.

I shook my head at him, tears pricking at my eyes. “You can’t. You couldn’t even protect your wife.” I flinched as I said it, but now was not the time to mince words.

Viggo flinched too, and I hated myself for even saying those words, no matter how honest they were. But I could see it in his eyes—as much as he wanted to believe he could keep me safe, the truth was that neither of us could control what would happen if we returned to our homelands.

Viggo opened his mouth to reply, when something grabbed me, yanking me off him and into the air.

15

Viggo

I bolted frantically after Violet, my legs pumping like pistons as I tore after her. Samuel raced alongside me, his body surging in and out of the undergrowth. Violet’s shouts were disappearing in the distance, and I could no longer see her or her captor in the canopy.

What the hell?

Running, I pulled the handheld from my pocket, and pulled up Violet’s signal. I felt relief wash over me as it focused in on her dot, moving away from me rapidly. I kept the handheld on, and pushed after her, leaping over downed logs and weaving among trees.

Sweat was pouring down my face as I ran, and my breath was coming in ragged gasps. I was in good shape, but I wasn’t going to be able to run like this forever. I needed to pace myself if I was going to have any energy to deal with whatever had grabbed her and ripped her away from me.

And if whatever it was hurt her… a surge of panic hit me, giving me a burst of energy that I poured into speed.

I tried to wrap my head around what I had seen grab Violet, but everything had happened so fast. It had swung through the trees, using vines to carry her away.

My heart lurched at the thought of some unknown creature. If it bit her, and was venomous, I doubted any of the medicines I had brought would save her. Not to mention she was still weak from her last bite. She might not last long.

Though if whatever took her was going to eat her, it wouldn’t waste time. It was likely dragging her back to its lair.

Fear fueled another burst of speed in me, and I raced through the trees, barely having time to register them before having to react. My pace was relentless, even Samuel was having trouble keeping up.

I continued to run, leaping and dodging obstacles. The problem with running so fast, however, is that unless the environment was perfectly level and flat, it would eventually force me to slow down.

Which is essentially what happened—only it didn’t slow me down—it flat out stopped me. I miscalculated a step, and when the spongy ground gave more than I expected, and I went flying through the air into a chasm. I fell, maybe ten feet, before hitting the ground.

I lay there for a second,