“Shit, sorry,” he rasped into my ear as he used every inch of himself to hold me securely to the tree.

Tears stung my eyes, and the fight left me as pain clouded my senses.

“Hey, you still awake?” The Parker boy jostled me, nudging his shoulder into mine when I went slack. “Oh, fuck. I didn’t kill you, did I?” His concern sounded strange since he’d been the one to shove me into the tree in the first place.

I bucked against him once and almost freed myself, but that was all I could accomplish before the fight seeped from me again.

He huffed out his surprise and tightened his grip. “Yeah, she’s definitely alive.” His breath fanned my ear and the side of my cheek, stirring something hot and moist in the base of my stomach.

Maybe the knock to my head had muddled my senses, or maybe it was something else, but the boiling tingle in my abdomen began to swirl out and into my veins until every inch of my skin felt prickly. It made me think about how close he held me, how good he smelled, how warm he felt. I wanted to burrow into his heat and let it soothe away every aching tingle inside me.

My resistance slipped.

“I would never hurt you on purpose.” The words sounded sweet and genuine. They made me catch my breath with shock as I felt...I don’t know, flattered maybe, by his sincerity.

Then his boy fingers gently stroked the scrape on my elbow as if trying to caress the wound better. Again, things deep inside me clenched with a sensation that had my skin buzzing with full-body awareness.

“You know that, right? You’re safe here.” His hushed voice coaxed more from me than he probably intended. “Just...please stay still with me for a couple minutes longer, until they’re gone, okay? Then, maybe give me a head start before you scream as loud as you want.”

All I heard was, stay with me, and please. And oh my word, I was tempted to give him anything he wanted.

But when I lifted my gaze to his, his chocolate brown eyes met mine, and he looked so...Parkerish.

Parkers were the enemy.

Crap, what was happening to me?

Horrified because I’d let a Parker momentarily drug me into his captivating spell, I struggled a little, just to let him know my answer about helping him wasn’t yes. But I didn’t put much effort into it, because honestly, he still affected me. I didn’t want to be anywhere else on earth just then. I’d never been this close to a boy I wasn’t related to before. It was thrilling. Kind of daunting but also...amazing.

My heart thumped in triple time, and I caught my breath when I realized I could feel the erratic beat of his heart, too, as his chest heaved against mine. I liked knowing he was as scared as I was...or as scared as I’d been. I wasn’t really scared any longer. I was captivated.

His smell, his warmth...they got to me. I lifted my gaze to his hair; the flyaway dark locks matched the color of my favorite trees’ trunks. I wanted to touch each strand, run my fingers through them, then bring them to my face and test how they felt against my cheek.

“Just who’re we looking for out here?” a third person asked, sounding like Tad, Garrett’s best friend. He was even closer to us than either of my brothers had been.

I tensed. If we stayed here, we’d be spotted within seconds. And I wasn’t ready to be discovered just yet, not with the Parker boy so close to me.

Acting quickly, he crouched behind our tree, bringing me down onto my haunches with him. He didn’t even seem to realize I no longer struggled as he kept his hand loosely over my mouth. His touch felt more protective than it did ominous, as if he were trying to shield me from trouble instead of imprison me into it.

“The hell if I know,” Garrett called back. “But I walked into my room to find some fucker with a dirty diaper, smearing baby shit on my bed. And when I find him, he’s dead.”

This time, the Parker boy sank closer as if seeking shelter from me. I almost touched him in reassurance. But I stopped myself, because that probably wasn’t what I was supposed to do for the enemy.

“I bet it was one of them Parkers,” Tad answered. “Still trying to claim their newest brat was yours?”

Garrett let out a derisive snort. “If you ask me, it was probably that filthy bastard Bruce Parker himself who knocked up his own girl.”

The Parker boy’s muscles coiled, and the vibration of his growl deep in his throat echoed through my bones. His eyes gleamed hard with vengeance as he clenched his teeth and curled his top lip into a snarl.

I grabbed his wrist to stop him from acting. And at my touch, his surprised gaze slashed to me. I shook my head, begging him with my eyes not to react. I’d seen Garrett mad before. From the sound of his voice, he was the kind of mad you didn’t want to mess with. He tortured cats and small animals for the pure pleasure of it.