Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 90769 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90769 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
“Guns at my feet,” Cal said quietly. The barrel of his rifle didn’t waver even a millimeter as he spoke.
The guards looked at one another. Then, one by one, they pulled out their handguns and tossed them towards Cal’s feet.
“Take your boots off and walk back the way you came,” Cal told them.
The three guards pulled off their boots and backed up into the trees. “You got no idea what you’ve started,” said one of them. “The people we work for, they’ll come for her.”
Cal’s voice was like iron. “You give them a message. These are my woods and she’s under my protection. Anyone comes here and tries to take her, they’ll regret it.”
He kept the rifle pointed at them until they’d retreated into the darkness...and then he slowly lowered it and turned to me.
8
Bethany
HE SLUNG his rifle over his shoulder and squatted down so that he was almost at my eye level. “You okay?”
That voice again. Words you could cling to, like huge, heavy rocks. And then he extended his hand, and I slipped my freezing fingers around his big, warm ones and was hoisted up, just like the first time. And I felt it: that feeling I’d gotten just a hint of when I first met him, like something solid under my feet after hours of treading water. I felt safe, and it felt so good I almost cried. I nodded. “Thank you,” I said.
He looked away as if embarrassed and gave a quick, dismissive shake of his head. As if it was nothing, as if he would have done it for anyone. But when he met my eyes again, there was a protective heat there that warmed my entire body. “What happened?” he asked. “Why were they after you?”
I swallowed. “They were holding me. I escaped. This guy was going to—” My throat closed up and I couldn’t say it. “I need to call the cops. Can I use your phone?”
He shook his head. “Don’t have one. No signal out here, anyhow.”
I blinked at him. Who doesn’t have a phone? “Is there one around here I can use?”
He considered. “Nearest phone’s at Tucker’s Gas Station. But that’s about five hours’ hike.”
“How can we be five hours from a phone?!”
“This is the deep woods. Nothing out here but wild forest.”
I thought of the vast blackness I’d seen from the limo and my stomach flipped over. Rufus butted up against my legs, comforting and warm, and I stroked his head. “What are you two doing out here?”
“We live here.”
In the wilderness? Why would anyone choose to live here? “And the nearest phone is five hours’ walk?”
Cal nodded. “It’s that or go back to the road, but….”
I followed his gaze towards where the guards had disappeared. But that’s where they are. ‘Where are we?” I asked. “What state is this?”
He moved closer, looming over me, his eyes widening with concern. “You don’t know which state you’re in?!” He stared at me and his voice became gentle. “Idaho. You’re in Idaho.”
Idaho. My head spun. The limo had taken me east, not south. This was a part of the country I’d never been to. The few times I’d left Seattle, it had been to visit other cities. I looked around, turning a slow circle, and my brain went numb. It was just forest in every direction. There were no signs, no buildings arranged in neat, sensible grids. Even if I knew which direction to head, if I veered off course even a little, I could wander out here for days or weeks. I could actually starve to death out here.
I wasn’t in my world, anymore. I was in his.
I turned back to Cal. “Could you please...show me the way?”
9
Cal
I STARED at her, unable to speak. Then I looked away: at the trees, at the ground, anywhere except those big brown eyes. A war was going on in my mind.
It’s fate. If she hadn’t saved Rufus in Seattle, he’d never have recognized her scent.
Bullshit. I didn’t believe in fate. And the last thing I wanted was for her to think I was some sort of hero.
I had no choice, though. I couldn’t leave her out here. But, dammit, why did it have to be her? I’d spent years putting myself as far from people as I could and now I’d have to spend five solid hours with a woman I already couldn’t stop thinking about.
A woman I could never have.
I opened my eyes. Goddamn, she was beautiful. The moonlight was lighting up her dress, making it almost glow. It was like something a medieval princess would wear, all gauzy, thin enough that when the breeze flattened it against her legs, I could make out the lush curves of her thighs and ass. And up top, it had a square neckline that made me hold my breath every time I looked at it. The upper slopes of her breasts were revealed almost down to the nipples, the soft flesh pressed together and lifted as if I was cupping them in my hands….