Page 8 of Captive Wilderness
With mother nature taken care of, my mind went to more important things. Like, where the hell was I? Was my sister okay? My mom? How could I get this collar off my neck? Who had come out off the plane after me? Sabrina or someone else? The guy with the cowboy hat?
The thought put me on alert. He could be out there right now. I glanced around, looking through the trees for movement. The contented sounds of the birds made me believe I was safe for now. But I hadn’t told the big guy I was in danger. I hadn’t told him anything. With my mind racing, the wilderness pressed against me, overwhelming, and made me feel so very alone. I didn’t want to be alone.
On a pathetic whimper, I started down the path. The cold air made my legs tremble. My hands began to shake and wouldn’t stop. I limped one step at a time, careful to avoid the roots and rocks in the ground. Pain shot up my leg every time I used it.
He found me that way, hobbling, hurting, and scared. I stopped and stared as he walked up the path. The rapid staccato of my breaths slowed as he neared. Sunlight highlighted his features better than the light in the cabin had. His hair was almost red; not ginger, more auburn. Jeans hugged muscular thighs, his black T-shirt clung to wide shoulders and thick arms. He didn’t seem to feel the cold like I did. Even with his jacket, I kept shivering.
The daylight made the scars on his neck more pronounced. I stared at them a moment when he stopped in front of me. How had it happened? My eyes flicked up to his. They were an arresting shade of brown, cognac, but like they glowed from within. And when they were focused on me like this, my breath caught in my throat.
“I need help,” I said when he continued to stare.
With a nod, he stepped forward and swept me up into his arms without ceremony.
I’d been talking about the bigger picture, about needing to get to a town, but I couldn’t fault him his logic. A shot of embarrassment went through me before I relaxed into his embrace, his warmth chasing the chill away. My one arm curled around his back to hold on tight, the other laying useless against my chest. Muscles bunched and moved beneath my hand through the thin material of his T-shirt. Since he wasn’t wearing his jacket this time, my cheek rested against the firmness of his pectoral muscle.
It took no time at all for him to carry me to the cabin. He set me on my feet beside the table, shut the door, then crossed to the kitchen area without saying anything. Bracing my hand on the back of the chair, I watched as he ran water from the tap into a kettle.
Feeling awkward and unsure, I wrapped my free hand around my middle. “I need to find my sister,” I said when he plugged the kettle into the wall. He paused and turned his head. “I need to make a few phone calls,” I went on. “I’ll need to rent a car or something, but I have no money. I’ll pay you back for everything as soon as I can. Will you help me?”
He faced me, his full attention on me now. My fingers tightened on the back of the chair as I waited for a response. Then he shook his head.No.
I swallowed. He wasn’t going to help me? A nauseous ball climbed through my stomach and into my chest. What was I supposed to do if he wouldn’t help me? With a frantic feeling threatening to claim me, I glanced around the cabin. There was a computer in the corner, but I couldn’t see a phone. Who could I email for help? He had to have a cell phone. Why wouldn’t he help me?
Another, more disturbing thought made me stiffen. I was trapped here with a stranger. He was refusing to help. There was no one else around. He was bigger than me, stronger, and I had a fucked-up foot. All I’d been thinking about was getting away from whoever came out of that plane after me, but what if this guy was worse?
He’d gone back to puttering in the kitchen, and I backed away toward the door while keeping my eyes on him. My ankle screamed at me, telling me to rest and put it up for a while, to ice it, but I ignored the shooting, throbbing pain. Survival had become more important.
I had no qualms about stealing a car from a psychopath. I even knew how to hot-wire one thanks to running with a shady crowd in high school for a while. I’d take his vehicle and run, follow the road until I found a town. There had to be a town somewhere.
He didn’t turn around as I grabbed the doorknob. Holding my breath, I yanked it open and escaped.
5
KANE
I heard the door open,heard the squeak of wood planks as she walked across the porch, then silence. Turning, I blinked at the exposed slice of wilderness. Where the hell did she think she was going? She could barely walk.
Leaning over the sink, I peered out the window. After three heartbeats, her head came into view, bobbing up and down as she hobbled around the side of the cabin. Even in her disheveled state, her beauty shone brighter than the morning sun. Her elfin features and wide eyes made her look vulnerable, but also ethereal in this rugged terrain. It was hard to take my gaze off her. I didn’t understand why she insisted on walking around on her injured foot, but I wasn’t going to stop her either.
I lost sight of her as she rounded the back. Shaking my head, I poured hot water over the coffee grounds in the French press, the aromatic scent wafting up in a steamy swirl. When I leaned back on my heel to look out the window, she’d stopped by the flat rock where I chopped wood. Her arms lifted in a “what the fuck?” manner. Was she muttering to herself? I couldn’t hear from inside, but it looked like she was.
Abruptly, she spun around, then hobbled and winced her way farther along, toward the other side of the cabin. She disappeared beyond the windowless wall.
Setting the lid on the French press, I waited until her limping form crossed my line of sight at the door, then grabbed two coffee mugs from the cupboard.
Oh, she is definitely muttering to herself. Since the door was still open, I could hear her now. She’d stopped on the bottom of the path toward the outhouse. I stepped to the side to see her better. She lifted her arms and dropped them in that same hopeless manner. My shoulders tensed. The animal in me didn’t like her feeling hopeless. Hell, neither did the man.
She turned and limped out of sight, toward the lake. When she passed by the window, I pushed down the plunger of the coffee press. The fragrant scent wafted up to me, stronger than before. Her head didn’t bob up and down outside the kitchen window this time. I poured the brew into the two mugs, took the powdered creamer and sugar out of the cupboard, then went to see what the hell she was up to.
I found her near the dock, staring at my canoe and aluminum fishing boat. Both were upside down. I hadn’t gone fishing since last fall. The ice on the lake had only fully melted last week.
Her shoulders slumped forward. I walked closer, wanting to help. The socks I’d given her were covered in dirt and pine needles. She spun around when she heard me coming. Fear shone in her wide eyes. I stopped. They were tawny in color, luminescent.Stunning.If it wasn’t for her shifter scent, I would have known she was a cat by her eyes alone.
A long silence passed between us with me not wanting to scare her, and her looking like she was about to lose it.
Finally, she threw her hands in the air. “Where the hell is your car?” she shouted to the sky.
I shook my head. I didn’t have a car.
