Desire Me If You Can Novel - Chapter 25

The punch landed squarely on Grayson’s face, and his tall body swayed violently. After a few seconds of silence, birds startled by the sudden noise flew up all at once. As the sound of their flapping wings faintly disappeared, Grayson, who had stumbled backward, slowly turned his head.

When his face returned to position, Dane froze for the first time. The deep violet eyes were emitting an eerie glow. They intermittently flushed gold, returned to violet, and then mixed with gold again.

“Heh… hehheheh.”

An unusual laugh flowed from Grayson’s mouth. Simultaneously, an enormous amount of pheromones spread from his entire body. It was clearly overflowing regardless of his will, due to extreme excitement. Dane involuntarily felt goosebumps and took a step back. He looked truly insane.

“Ahahahahaha, haha, hahahaha!”

He was laughing. As if he was so happy he could die. As proof, Grayson, who trembled violently once, slowly but forcefully clenched both fists.

“Now it’s self-defense.”

Following that, he lunged with surprising speed. Right toward Dane.

More time had passed than they had expected. Wilkins glanced anxiously between his wristwatch and the low mountain.

“Isn’t this taking too long?”

Someone asked, and another replied.

“I know, right? Even with the maximum time estimate, they should have been back by now.”

“It’s strange that Dane is late, too. Nothing could have happened, right?”

“Come on, would a firefighter need rescuing? Especially if that firefighter is Dane?”

Amidst their back-and-forth chatter, unable to conceal their worry, DeAndre nervously chewed on his thumb. A long time had passed since Dane and Grayson disappeared behind the mountain. DeAndre could more than adequately predict that his request was being fulfilled up there. The problem was that it was taking too long. What the hell was happening? Surely nothing happened to Dane, right…? That’s ridiculous. Dane is our ace. There’s no way something could happen to Dane because of a Miller.

But still, just in case…

He anxiously kept looking in the direction they had disappeared. I hope everything is fine.

Whack! With a loud sound, Dane staggered violently. Yikes! A startled groan escaped his lips. He almost tumbled down the slope. The spot, which had a considerable gradient, led to a deep drop, a cliff that made him shudder just by looking down slightly. If he rolled and couldn’t stop in time, he would fall below, risking a fracture at the very least, and potentially his life if he was unlucky.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have chosen this spot.

He questioned his choice for the first time, but there was no time for deep thought. Grayson immediately kicked out. Contrary to expectation, he was quite flexible and used his body exceptionally well. Perhaps he had met a reputable master and learned several martial arts. Of course, that wasn’t true, but Grayson was no ordinary opponent, enough so that Dane, who didn’t know much about him, could easily make such a guess.

I thought he was just a spoiled rich boy who played around.

This was a blunder. He had no choice but to admit his mistake. He regretted it belatedly. If he had known the situation would escalate this much, he should have demanded at least $100. He had already earned more than the $38.25 worth of work, but now the fact that he had to expend his energy just to get out of here annoyed him intensely. The thing he hated most in the world was wasting time and effort on useless endeavors like this. I shouldn’t have agreed to participate in this idiot’s nonsense in the first place!

Regret flooded over him, but there was no time for self-pity. Dane quickly bent his upper body to avoid Grayson’s attack and simultaneously braced himself with his hands on the ground, swinging his leg wide to catch the man’s ankle. Grayson, who had been attacking while standing on one leg, easily rolled onto the ground, and Dane did not miss the opportunity to take the superior position on top of him.

For a while, the two tumbled on the dirt, exchanging dominance. When Dane punched Grayson in the face, Grayson would grab Dane’s neck and wrestle him to the ground, and Dane would escape the chokehold by crossing his long legs over Grayson and applying an armbar. As he continued to put pressure on Grayson with his legs, the man flailed his arms from below and tried to choke Dane again.

He has a good physique and strength, so his skill is quite decent for a civilian. But not nearly good enough. Dane scoffed at him, even as blood dripped from his nose. He hadn’t been in the military for three years as a joke. What could a man who was merely a civilian, no matter how skilled, do against an ex-soldier with professional training?

The outcome was as good as decided. Dane planned to knock Grayson out and head down first. Dane had already done more than enough work. If he explained the situation, the others would either come up to haul him down, or the bastard would regain consciousness and come down alone in the meantime.

Honestly, I just don’t have good luck with this guy. Of course, even if he offered a good relationship, Dane would decline, but this was already the third time he had knocked the guy out. Maybe leaving this neighborhood entirely was truly the right call.

He didn’t believe in fate or destiny. But repeatedly running into this guy and getting entangled with him like this was not a good sign at all. Moreover, the opponent’s character was terrible. A crazy psychopath who was rottenly rich, who smiled while using pheromones to crush Omegas, even when handcuffed in a burning mansion—and he had ended up putting him on the ground three times with pheromones and fists. Of course, since this current situation was an accepted request, he had no room to complain, but…

Damn it. Listing it all out made him even more irritated. Ever since this guy arrived, nothing had gone right in their peaceful workplace. He might have to seriously talk to Darling about leaving this neighborhood soon.

He was thinking that far when he applied the final pressure. Suddenly, Grayson grabbed Dane’s arm. Is this his final struggle? he thought, but the event that followed was completely unexpected. Grayson pulled Dane with enormous force, and in a moment of distraction, Dane tumbled down the slope along with Grayson.

The test, which started in the bright daylight, hadn’t ended even as the sun began to set. Everyone gathered was anxiously watching the mountain. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Ezra spoke urgently.

“Shouldn’t we go check? What if there was an accident?”

Starting with his words, concerns followed from all directions.

“It’s taking way too long. Something must have happened! There’s no way Dane would be this late.”

“If someone’s hurt, the faster the rescue, the better. Even if it’s Dane, if he’s unlucky, anything could happen, right?”

“Miller can take care of himself, but we have to save Dane!”

Wilkins was troubled by the outcry. He was just as worried, but it wasn’t easy to move himself, as he was the one who had started this in the first place. However, appeasing the employees by telling them to wait a little longer was reaching its limit. There was no more time to waste. Once the sun set, searching would become difficult, even in a small mountain. Better to move quickly. He was pondering this, still looking for the right moment, when an unexpected voice suddenly rang out.

“What are you all doing here? If you have free time, you should be doing fitness training, not gathering here and chattering!”

At the stern admonishment, they all turned around in unison. As expected, the chief was standing there, watching them with a thoroughly angry face.

“Um, well, Chief…”

Ezra tried to make up an excuse, but it wasn’t easy. Seeing him fluster, Wilkins took responsibility and stepped forward.

“I apologize, we were conducting Miller’s physical fitness test.”

“A physical fitness test? Miller? Without telling me?”