Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 90268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Until the forest stopped breathing, and then my smile quickly faded. Growing up in the Peruvian Amazon, I learned this before I even learned how to walk or talk. It was instilled in us.
The sounds of the jungle were never to be feared. It was only when they disappeared, replaced by an unnatural silence, that you knew it was a warning. My body stilled on instinct. Every one of my muscles tightened, every sense I had sharpened to the point of pain.
Something changed. I just didn’t know what yet.
I remained perfectly still, not moving an inch. The music switched to another Afro-Peruvian melody, bleeding through my phone speaker. This one only held sounds, not words. The cajón grew louder, filling the silence the woods had abruptly abandoned. That was when I saw it. It moved with an eerie grace.
There in front of my eyes was a copperhead snake.
It rested under the moonlight, its copper bands blending almost perfectly into the grass. Completely still like me. My lips parted as I slowly shifted my weight, careful not to crowd it. It was maybe two, three feet away from me.
It was watching, listening, waiting…
Exactly like me.
Neither of us moved. My breathing slowed until it matched my heartbeat. We studied each other, waiting to see who would make the first move. Its head lifted, and my pulse steadied, expecting what came next.
It struck toward me, and I instantly stepped back, far enough for its fangs to hit air instead of my flesh. Then it recoiled, settling back into its protective stance.
Before I could consider what I had to do, I heard a familiar voice order in a slow, stern, steady tone from behind me…
“Move.”
Onyx
The smoke caught my attention from my bedroom window before the fire did. Thin layers curled around our tree line against the evening sky. It was impossible to miss. Someone had built a fire, and I didn’t have to wonder who the hell that was.
I grabbed my crossbow without thinking. I was the captain of our university team. I had perfected its use by the time I was eight. It was in my bloodline. Around here, walking into the woods unarmed was unheard of. It was a death wish, especially at night.
On my way out of the garage, I grabbed the keys to the golf cart, not bothering with walking. It was safer this way.
The path grew darker the farther I drove in, the golf cart bouncing over the ground, until, out of nowhere, I heard music. I killed the engine, not wanting to be heard. Grabbing the crossbow and flashlight, I made my way toward it.
I knew the woods better than I’d known most people. The beats led me the rest of the way. Branches brushed my shoulders as I silently made my way through the trees, not wanting to make a sound and startle whatever she was doing.
I saw the fire first, then I saw her. She was barefoot, dressed in clingy white clothes. Her shorts barely covered her ass cheeks, riding up higher with every sway of her round hips. Her top had also risen, showing off all of her stomach and the bottom of her tits.
She had no idea she looked like that, which made her extremely dangerous to a man like me.
Her long, curly hair was framing her face wildly. I’d been in ballroom galas, debutantes, charity performances, and strip clubs, but I’d never seen anyone dance like that.
Dance like her.
I’d never even heard this song. I stood there, hiding behind the trees, watching her with curiosity as she whipped her body around in perfect symmetry. It was such a sensual dance that I couldn’t look away from her, not even for a second.
She was no longer in my Connecticut woods, but more like she brought her Amazon with her. I should’ve walked away. Instead, I watched her for longer than I should have, utterly captivated by the woman who was sinfully dancing only for me. I was never meant to see her, yet you couldn’t pull me away from her.
For as long as the dance lasted, I allowed myself to get lost in her, forgetting why I’d come out there to begin with. I didn’t check the clearing like I normally would out here in the darkness. That was my first mistake.
The second was letting myself get consumed by her, when all she was doing was dancing. That mistake nearly got her killed. The silence hit me first. It wasn’t loud; it never was. Not unless it was coming out of my own mind like a fucking lunatic.
Once the silence hit me. there were no birds, no insects, no noise other than quiet stillness… I fucking knew. My gaze swept the clearing the way it should have the moment she came into sight.
Fuck…
The copperhead rested perfectly among the grass, near the bushes. It was when she finally noticed what was a few feet in front of her. In seconds, it struck her, and I didn’t hesitate.