Page 9 of The Outpost (Jamison Valley 4)
The darkness of night settled into my bones. The moon was blanketed by clouds and the only thing lighting our way was the truck’s high beams. I’d never experienced such an empty night. There wasn’t a light to be seen, not in the distance and not in the sky.
Beau navigated through a maze of county roads through the prairie, inching us closer to the mountains in the distance. We hit the tree line like a wall. The forest didn’t slowly blend into the flatlands but instead drew a harsh line between the tamable and the wild.
As we eased into the forest depths, my anxiety reached new heights. Every muscle in my body was taught as my eyes darted between the trees, searching for signs of movement. At any moment now, the boogeyman was going to jump out from behind the wall of evergreens and attack us. We’d be completely at his mercy, unable to veer off our two-lane road due to the walls of thick, brown trunks at our sides.
“How much longer?” My knee was bouncing up and down as my fingers drummed on my thigh. The towering buildings of the city had never made me feel as trapped as the looming trees in this dark forest.
“About two and a half hours if we don’t hit any roadblocks.”
Hours? Where was he taking me, Siberia? And what did he mean by roadblocks? “What kind of roadblocks?”
“Fallen trees mostly. There are a couple places where the road runs along a creek. It flooded this spring and I don’t know if the road was
washed out.”
I crossed my fingers in my lap, praying we didn’t hit a roadblock. It was a sad fate that I actually looked forward to our arrival at the outpost just to get off this creepy road.
But since we had hours, I took in a fortifying breath, willing myself to relax as I counted down from one hundred. It was starting to help, my nerves settling with every number, but when I got to thirty-four, I saw a pair of yellow eyes peek out from behind a tree in the distance.
Was it a wolf? Or a grizzly bear? Maybe a cougar waiting to pounce on our truck as we passed? My entire body froze when the eyes disappeared. I searched frantically for signs of other animals hidden behind the veil of darkness. The swaying bushes had me jumping with every movement.
Oh my god, I hate this. Every cell in my being hated this. My heart was racing and my hands were gripping my thighs so tightly I’d have bruises tomorrow.
“That was just a deer,” Beau said, sensing that I was on the verge of a panic attack. “We’ll probably see a bunch of them as we go. They’re nocturnal, raccoons and owls too, but totally harmless.”
“What about the ones with big teeth and sharp claws? The not-so-harmless ones?”
“They aren’t going to come anywhere near this truck.”
“Are you sure?”
He chuckled. “I’m sure. You’re safe with me, Sabrina.”
That statement, coming from his soothing voice, settled some fears. “Will you talk to me as we go? I’m way out of my element here and, as you can probably tell, freaking way the fuck out.”
He laughed again, the warm tone calming my erratic heartbeat. “What do you want to talk about?”
Before I could answer, Boone shifted from Beau’s side to mine, laying his head on my lap. I stilled, unsure what to do, until he looked up at me with gentle eyes. Relaxing my frown, I hesitantly placed one hand on his neck. Okay. Not horrible. And at least he didn’t stink. Instinctively, my fingers stroked his soft coat. It was kind of nice, petting this dog, but I’d still be washing my hand at the soonest opportunity.
“How long have you lived in Prescott?” Maybe asking questions would help occupy my mind.
“My whole life,” he said. “I left for college but came right back after graduating.”
“What do you do?”
“I run the U.S. Forest Service office and the Jamison County Search and Rescue team.”
None of this was surprising. If I’d had to guess at his career, I would have picked an outdoor occupation. The rustic scent of pine filled the inside of the truck’s cab, and it wasn’t coming from those little Christmas-tree air fresheners.
It was all Beau.
Oddly enough, it was remarkably appealing. An hour ago, I would have said a salty ocean breeze was my favorite natural scent. Now it was a toss-up.
We sat quietly for a while, me gently stroking Boone while stealing glances at Beau from the corner of my eye.
His large frame fit well in his oversized green truck. I was swallowed up by the large seat but I doubted Beau would have been able to fit comfortably in anything else. His square and angular hands made the steering wheel look like a child’s toy, spanning three-quarters of its entire diameter. I tried to force my inappropriate thoughts aside but all I could imagine were those big hands on my curves.
I had always worked hard to maintain my trim figure but my preference for pizza and beer meant there was always a little extra around my hips and tummy. I thought it was damn sexy when a man’s hand roamed those areas and explored my softer places. The idea of Beau’s mammoth, calloused hands spanning and kneading my ass created a dull throb between my legs.
