Live It Up (2 page)

Before she could tense even more he sat up, supporting her body’s weight until she half-straddled him. She gasped and brought her hand to her head. “Ohh.”

“I know. Here.” He made her lean against him and smoothed his open palm over her back. “Do you think you can drink some water now?”

She nodded and went to grab for the bottle. She missed, water splashing them both.

“Let me do it for you.”

She was shaking her head by the time he had the bottle against her lips.

“Come on, drink.”

“But—”

He didn’t give her a choice. Water trickled into her mouth then down her chin. He frowned. There was something wrong; he could feel it. There! “What’s wrong with your eyes?”

“Glued. Blood. I think.”

He hadn’t wanted to hurt her by rubbing at them, but he clearly should have. “Fuck, I’m sorry. Let me help.”

“Why are you helping me?” she asked as he reached for the pack of tissues. “Who are you? Where are we? Where is she?”

“We haven’t moved from where she took you earlier. We’re in the woods, about two miles from the nearest road and your car. And she’s…dead.”

“Oh God. You killed her!” She tried to move away from him, but she was so weak she only toppled to the ground instead.

“Careful!” he admonished, grabbing her hands to pull her back up. She batted at them, but she couldn’t even see him. “I killed her, yes. It was you or her.”

“Oh God. Oh God!”

Fuck, she was getting hysterical. “Calm down, kitten. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“You killed her!”

“She was crazy!” He watched as she started rubbing at her eyes. “What are you doing? Use some water at least. You’re gonna hurt yourself.”

She ignored him and when she blinked moments later, her eyelids all red and swollen, he was taken aback by the look in her dark eyes. She stared at him then whispered, “But you look normal.”

He smiled. “I
am
normal.” Well, nearly enough. She didn’t need to know the whole truth right away. He had to think about what to do with her now that Mary had gotten to her and she’d discovered their existence. “I’m Andy. What’s your name?”

She frowned, clearly taken aback. “Sunny.” She looked around them, her gaze stopping on the body he hadn’t yet had time to make disappear. “I don’t understand.”

“What?”

She looked back at him. “You saved me but…I was sure…” She rubbed at her forehead.

“You’re still in pain, Sunny. Maybe it’s better if you leave the thinking for later. We should really get you home.”

She blinked. “I don’t have a home.”

It was his turn to be rendered speechless. “Hmm, right. Well, I guess we should still, uh, take you somewhere.”

“But my car’s dead.”

“That’s right. Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of everything.”

He just hoped he was doing the right thing.

Chapter Two

Sunny wasn’t too sure what’d happened. One minute, she’d been lying on the cold ground in the middle of nowhere; the next, she was in a stranger’s arms as he easily carried her through the forest. She glanced up at his face and blinked.

He looked like a warrior from an ancient time, his face stark, his eyebrows drawn together. She’d never liked the shaved-head style on men, but she had to admit it suited him.

He rounded a tree, the movement making her jiggle in his arms. She gasped and closed her eyes. Yeah, looking at him was a good diversion, but it still wasn’t enough for her to ignore the various pains and aches in her body.

And the more she thought about it, the more she was pretty sure the crazy woman had slashed her limbs just to lick at her blood. Who did that? Had she stumbled upon a freaky horror movie full of vampires and ghouls? So what did that make him? Her savior? She opened her eyes and looked up at him.

He had a good foot on her and would tower over her own petite frame. He was carrying her as if she weighed nothing too, which she knew wasn’t true. Could he really be that strong? He didn’t appear to even breathe heavily, and he’d been walking with her in his arms for a while now.

Uneasiness coursing through her, she felt her eyes widen when she noticed he was looking at her. She licked her dry lips. “Wha-what?”

“Stop worrying. I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”

She frowned. “I… You don’t have to do that.”

“I do.” As if his word was final, he looked back up and plowed on, neatly avoiding another fallen tree.

“Who are you?” she heard herself ask, her voice barely a murmur.

She felt him tense. The arms wrapped around her tightened, his hold becoming nearly painful. She winced and cursed herself inwardly.
Do not anger the strange man!

“Ignore that I said anything,” she quickly added.

He kept on walking, his gait even, but she could feel the tension permeating the air surrounding them.
Crap!

“Where are we going?”

“Nearest town. You need medical attention.”

“How far is it?”

“Five miles.”

“You can’t carry me that far!”

“Of course, I can.”

“No, really. You should just head back to the road, and we’ll flag down a car and…” She stopped talking when she realized that’s exactly what Mary had done, and look where that had gotten her.

“While they’re taking care of you, I’ll go back to your car and grab your luggage.”

“Huh, okay. Thanks.” He seemed to have thought of everything. As her eyelids closed and a strange lethargy took over her, Sunny wondered why she felt so at ease with someone she didn’t even know. Someone who, for all intents and purposes, she should be terrified of. He’d killed a woman after all, so why wasn’t she running away instead?

Darkness beckoned, interrupting her meandering thoughts.

* * * *

Sunny was in and out of it over the next couple days. She remembered being laid down on a bed and someone taking off her clothes. She remembered trying to protest, but then pain had taken over and she’d forgotten what she’d meant to say.

The next time she’d woken, darkness had fallen and there had been a strange shadow looming over her. She’d opened her mouth to scream, but a palm had cupped her cheek, soothing her without words.

When the fogginess finally lifted, Sunny was still lying on a bed under a thin sheet, but no one else was around. She blinked and tried to stretch. Aches and pains made themselves known in the next instant.

Her limbs were so sore. She clasped a hand over her stomach and winced when she felt the heavy bandage covering it. She let her palms drift over her upper thighs, back up to her chest. She was covered in bandages. Damn…

A door squeaked open to her right. She turned at the sound and was greeted by the sight of a very tall, very naked man. He had a small white towel in his hands and rubbed it over his bald head, the cotton playing peek-a-boo with his blue eyes.

Wow
. That was the only thing that her feeble brain could come up with. She’d never seen such a nice male specimen before.

Almost as if he’d heard her thoughts, he jerked around, his gaze finding hers. “You’re awake!” He hurried to the bed and sat down, making the mattress tilt to the right.

Sunny slid down toward him and barely avoided smashing into his side, but only because he clasped her hip and stopped her in time.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, bending over her as if he had every right to.

She felt the weight of his hand on her and realized he must have been the one taking care of her, the one she’d felt tenderly cleaning up her body. Her
bare
body.

“Eeek!” She jerked away from him.

He frowned and moved toward her. “What’s wrong? Are you in pain? What can I get you?”

“I’m… I’m fine.” It was true too. She felt okay. She still felt pain on the edges of her brain, but she tried her best to ignore it. Which was getting easier by the second considering he’d moved one knee on the mattress and she could see all of him.
All
of him, she repeated inwardly.

His cock wasn’t hard, but it was bigger than any she’d ever seen. His balls weighed heavily under it, drawing her attention to his muscled thighs and the soft hairs covering them.

He sniffed the air and reared back, his eyes darkening as he stared down at her. “You… Ha, I should get dressed.”

She watched him nearly run to the nearest chair and the pile of clothes there, and she wondered if she’d really been that transparent. Lying back, she closed her eyes and gave him privacy, something she’d really need soon too.

She needed to pee. Badly. That and she was dying for a shower. And her toothbrush.

She grimaced. Right, time to move then.

She leaned up on her elbows then struggled to sit up, a harsh sound escaping from her parted lips when she managed to lean back against the pillows. Eyeing the brown-carpeted floor, so close and yet so far, Sunny wondered how on earth she’d walk to the bathroom.

Maybe she should eat something first, get some energy back. Her bladder protested that option. Right, no time like the present. She slid her legs to the side and grasped the edge of the mattress in both hands.

“I can do this,” she murmured as she put her feet on the floor.

“What the hell are you doing?”

By the time she’d processed the roar, he was there, one arm sliding under her thighs and the other clasping her to him as he stood up with her in his arms.

“I need to go to the bathroom. Let me go!”

“I’ll take you. You’re too weak to do it yourself. Why didn’t you just ask me?” He shook his head as he shouldered open the bathroom door.

The tiny room smelled of sandalwood, and she wondered for a brief second if she could borrow his shower gel. Then she realized something else. “I’m naked!”

He looked down at her. “Well, yeah.” He plopped the toilet seat down and sat her on it. “There you go.”

She looked up at him and blinked. He wasn’t moving. “You can go now.”

He shook his head. “No. You might faint again and hurt yourself.”

“I am not peeing in front of you!”

The corner of his lips twitched. “What do you think has happened over the past three days?”

She felt her cheeks redden as images assaulted her mind. No, no, no. She didn’t even know the guy! “Please. Just…go. I’ll call you if I need help.”

He sighed. “I’ll let you…do your thing, but I’ll help you wash up afterward. There’s no way you can have a shower on your own.”

“I can take a bath,” she answered immediately then watched as he cocked an eyebrow and tilted his head. She looked around the room and noticed there was only a shower stall. “Right. Fine. I’ll call you.”

“I’m not closing the door. Just call my name,” he added as he stepped back into the motel room.

What has my world come to?
she asked herself as she fumbled for toilet paper moments later. She was so weak she could barely move, and by the time she’d finished, she leaned against the seat panting as if she’d run a marathon.

She opened her mouth to call him then she realized something else. She couldn’t remember his name.

She groaned, and he was beside her in mere seconds. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

She looked at him kneeling beside her and winced. “Uh, what’s your name again?”

He stared at her in silence for a moment then started laughing, the sound so wild and exuberant it filled the room. “Andy. My name’s Andy.”

“Oh.” She felt herself start to blush again, redness creeping all over her body. “Sorry. I guess I forgot.”

“That’s okay. You’ve had a traumatic few days.”

And just like that, tension filled the room. It brought her back to that moment in the woods when she’d been so sure she would die, Mary’s insane cackles echoing around her, the woman’s tongue lapping at Sunny’s slashed skin.

“Shhh, I’m here, little kitten. I’m right here.” Andy’s voice curled around her just as his arms wrapped around her, making her lean against his wide frame.

He made her feel safe, she thought to herself, too shaken to protest when he stood up and carried her to the shower. She clung to his neck as he unwrapped the bandages covering her then turned the water on, steam rising fast.

“You’re getting chilled. Do you think you can stand and lean against the wall while I wash you?”

Wash me? Say what?
“I can wash myself.”

He gave her a disbelieving look. “Careful,” he advised as he let her down.

She hissed a little when her back met the cold wet tiles, but as soon as the shower spray hit her, she started to relax. She barely batted an eyelid when she felt him brush past her. Except something niggled at the back of her brain. She felt so good though she didn’t want to move.

She had her eyes closed so it took her a little while to realize what the problem was. She’d felt bare skin against hers. His bare skin. She cracked an eye open and gasped.