don’t stand a chance fighting against a trained unit of steroid-injected soldiers.
He’s blocking the safer spot to get out of the river. There’s a gargantuan rock behind him that reaches not far from where I’m hiding. If I could climb it unseen, I could get back to where my clothes are and escape. The only other option is to swim to the other side, where the current is too strong. At this moment, my only advantage is my knowledge of the hiding places in this river.
The soldier frequently submerges and emerges for several minutes. My eyes open wide when I see that Sasquatch’s leonine face looks incredibly sad. Sadness isn’t an emotion I associate with soldiers.
When he rubs his face with foam and closes his eyes, I silently approach the lower part of the current and climb the rock.
I put my foot on the base of the rock. It’s smooth and slippery. There are few places to put my fingers and climb on, but I manage to climb my way up.
When I’m almost at the top, I toss my knife over the rock to free my hands. From here I see the soldier is all by himself.
The higher I climb, the less visible I become to him.
Sasquatch is back under the water now and hasn’t resurfaced for a while. In spite of the danger, I gawk, impressed by his lung capacity.
He finally emerges to take air, but I hide until he goes back under. I’m close to my goal when my feet become slippery traitors.
I fall to the water below me.
Butt first. Straight toward the soldier’s head.
Chapter 2
My butt hits what I think is the soldier’s face, and I rebound directly into the river’s current.
Something pulls me to the surface. The soldier, blinded by soap and startled by my sudden appearance, is already in defense mode.
One of my thigh razors has disappeared. I try to get away and reach for my only weapon, but strong arms catch me from behind, suffocating me.
He doesn’t have a weapon other than his powerful body, but he has the advantage of drug-induced strength and military training.
Our naked bodies are slippery as I writhe to escape his hold. I use my wet skin and shorter height to my advantage and free myself from his embrace. I disappear under the water.
Adrenaline and terror make me faster. I swim to the other side against the current. Disoriented by murky waters, I don’t get too far.
The soldier finds me, grabs my feet, and suddenly I’m struggling with him again in the same position this started. This time, the water doesn’t cover my torso.
As we struggle with each other, one hand finds my left breast and squeezes it. He freezes for a second, as though surprised. That second is all I need to launch for a kick in his groin. But before I reach it, he grabs my arms violently and forces me to face him.
If the Sasquatch-like soldier finds my nude body tempting, his face doesn’t show it. He seems to care for nothing except winning this fight.
“You …” His voice is menacing and accented. The scent of alcohol radiates from his mouth, and his nose bleeds. “Why do you stalk me?”
I pant, unable to respond.
Stalk him? What’s he talking about?
He loses his temper at my silence. “Talk. Or I’ll kill you,” he yells.
My mind works at full speed. Unarmed and drunk. That’s all I need to know.
I kick him in his balls that are hard as steel. I do little damage. He’s inhumanly resistant. Although he bends in pain for brief seconds, he keeps one of his hands on my wrist and squeezes it hard.
I cry out in pain. I lost the opportunity to knock him out while he was bent over. He grabs my other wrist and avoids the kicks I throw at his groin.
Sasquatch realizes he has the advantage here, and his grip on one of my wrists relaxes a little bit. Then, as though he has just become aware of my nakedness, his eyes travel all over my body. For a brief moment, I see the shock in his blue eyes as they melt into an entirely different expression.
His eyes darken. I can see something inside them that makes me blush. I