Snowbound with a Stranger (7 page)

He was in one hell of a lot of trouble.

What had it been? A day? It was patently ridiculous to feel this strongly about a woman he had known for one day.

But the fact was that something like a primal urge was beginning to take over. An almost caveman urge to drag her to his lair, permanently, and make her belong to him. To take care of her.

Goddamn it, he could take good care of her, if she’d let him. He was pretty sure he’d proven exactly that last night. The thought made him hard all over again.

Dannie, in the bed, with her arms up over her head. Her teeth on his earlobe.

For the love God.

The thought of leaving the cabin and losing her to the stupidly mean streets of Brooklyn made him want to punch a hole in the wall.

Where the hell was she anyway?

He threw the blankets off and went in search of her.

Outside in the living room, the cabin was eerily quiet. He called Dannie’s name.

No answer.

Then he heard a sound that made his blood run cold.

A low growl. From the porch. Outside.

“Dannie!”

He ran to the door and flung it open.

God knows what he was expecting to find. But it sure as hell wasn’t Dannie in pajamas and hiking boots, caught in the fog of a bear mama’s breath, about to get her whole damn head bitten off.

She turned at the sound of the door, and the fear in her eyes made his heart drop clear out of his chest. The bear snarled, then roared, and Lee stopped thinking altogether. He grabbed Dannie hard around the waist and dragged her inside. He slammed the door shut, bolted it and yanked her deeper into the room.

Her knees gave out and he caught her up in his arms.

“Are you all right? Oh God. Dannie?”

Her face stone-white, she nodded.

Outside the bear clambered up onto the porch. They couldn’t see it, but its heavy movements were loud enough to hear six counties away. Its bulk slammed against the doorframe.

“What’s he doing?” Dannie buried her face in Lee’s chest and swallowed a shriek.

Lee’s hands shook, but he forced his voice to remain steady. “She, by the looks of it.”

“She?” From outside came the sound of a rhythmic banging.

“She’s pregnant.”

“What?”

“Last hurrah. Before hibernation.” The bear’s pink mouth appeared, snuffling wetly against the windowpane.

“There’s no food out there.”

“No. But she may have smelled something when you opened the door.”

“Oh, God. I’m sorry.”

“Hush.” He eased down her hood and ran his hand over her hair. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Can she get in?”

“No.”

Outside the window, the bear paced back and forth.

“How do you know?”

He searched for the words to reassure her. Above all he needed to convince her they were not in danger.

Even if they were.

“The house is built strong. We’re safe.”

“No!” Dannie punched him none-too-softly in the chest. “Don’t lie to me, Lee. We’re not safe! I’ve seen stories about bears breaking through the…through the glass, getting into people’s kitchens—”

She was terrified beyond reasoning. He registered that. But he needed to persuade her somehow that she wouldn’t be hurt. That he wouldn’t let her get hurt. “That’s only in the suburbs, where they don’t prepare for—”

“We’re not safe, Lee! Don’t you see her out there? She has babies she’ll need to feed. She’s getting ready to hibernate. It’s only a door, for God’s sake, between her and us!”

“Honey.”

Dannie fell down to her knees. “Don’t call me honey!” She was losing it and clearly couldn’t stop herself.

Lee gathered her against his chest. He searched for the words to comfort her. If he could only find exactly the right words.

“We’re not safe!”

There was nothing he could say. Nothing at that moment that she’d be able to hear.

The truth was, he was scared himself. Chances were the bear would satisfy her curiosity and, finding no food on the porch, shuffle away. But you never could be sure what a wild animal would do. It was late in the season for a pregnant female to be out wandering. She might be desperate.

He wouldn’t let anything happen to Dannie. No matter what. He couldn’t. He’d throw a fucking refrigerator at the bear before he’d let Dannie come to harm.

“I’ll protect you. Dannie—”

She shook her head mutely against his chest.

For endless long minutes the bear shuffled around the porch. The sound of her sniffing echoed into the cabin, along with the shrill crack of her claws against the glass windowpanes.

Lee huddled on the floor, gripping Dannie’s hands. He was wearing shorts and, absurdly, he noted that he didn’t feel cold. The heat from Dannie’s body kept him warm. He closed his eyes and smelled her hair. If he was going to die, he considered, there were worse ways to go. That is except for the part about being torn limb from limb. That he probably wouldn’t enjoy so much.

Mentally he calculated the distance between them and the knife stand on the counter, to the cast-iron pans hanging above the stove. If he had to, he would shove Dannie into the back room and use them. He would take out the bear before it could get to her.

For long moments there was silence.

Then, heavy footsteps sounded against the porch stairs. To Lee’s ears it sounded like a freight train receding.

He rose and cautiously crept to the door. What he saw there sent a shock of relief flooding through his body. “Come here.”

Wiping her face, Dannie approached the window.

“See?” A mass of black fur crashed through the snow, away from the house. “She’s leaving.”

“Oh, God.” Dannie sat down on the floor, leaned against the door and covered her face with her hands. A sob rose from her throat, followed by semi-hysterical laughter.

Lee sank down beside her and tried to take her hands.

She pushed him away. “Don’t you start.”

“What?” Lee pulled back, confused.

“Don’t start taking care of me now, for God’s sake. Enough.”

He held up his hands. “I’m just trying to—”

“You think I don’t know what you’re doing?” Dannie got up from the floor and brushed herself off. The coffeepot stood waiting on the counter. She went to the kitchen and grabbed two mugs.

“Dannie.” She was going to push him away now. He could see that. A moment ago she had been lying in his arms, clutching him. He had been protecting her, and she’d allowed it, and now she was going to push him away.

Well, he wasn’t going to let her do that.

“Listen to me—”

“No. You can’t kid a kidder, Lee. We all do this. Nurses, teachers, social workers. We take care of other people so we don’t have to take care of ourselves. You must be in your glory up here, trapped in a cabin with a wounded bird like me.”

“What are you talking about?” Lee’s voice was a fraction too loud. He tried to check his anger, to remind himself that she was hurting. But it rubbed him the wrong way, what she accused him of. She was the one with the problem. She was the one who couldn’t accept help. Who didn’t have the faith, deep down, to let anyone in.

“Am I hitting too close to home?” Dannie’s face was alive with fury. “What was last night about, anyway? I lie back with my arms practically tied while you perform your service? I’m surprised we didn’t do a therapy session afterward.”

“You didn’t seem to mind.” He stared into her face.

Dannie stared back. The color in her cheeks rose to a flaming red. “What woman—” she shrugged off her parka and let it fall to the floor, “—would
mind
a thing like that?”

“So what are you complaining about?” He took a half step closer to her.

“This shit is gonna stop now, Lee. Okay? I might be having a hard time up here on this stupid mountain. I might be…I don’t know…reexamining some things in my life. But I’m not a woman who needs to be taken care of. I take care of myself.”

“You mean like you did with that bear out there? You practically peed your pants.” It was a cruel thing to say and he knew it, but at that moment he wanted to hurt her. He wanted to get back at her. For what, he couldn’t quite say.

“So?” Dannie kicked off her boots and threw them at the door. “I’m not allowed to be scared with a six-foot animal breathing in my face? I
was
scared, okay? I still kept my head when it mattered. I might be…feeling things right now, but it doesn’t mean I can’t handle myself.”

“That’s just what you need to see.” Lee crossed his arms over his chest and smiled, filled with a sudden and deep satisfaction.

The bear was a test. A psychological test. And she’d passed it. She was going to learn something from it. She was going to have a breakthrough, a real one, and he was going to help her do it.

She could handle herself. She was strong enough. She could let people in.

Let him in.

“Oh, my God.” Dannie looked ready to punch him in the face.

Unconsciously, Lee backed up a step.

“You’re doing it right now, aren’t you? You asshole!” She stepped toward him. “No way, dude. This is not happening. You are not taking me on some fucking walkabout out here in the woods. What, did you hire a man in a bear suit? To teach me about embracing my wild side?”

Lee backed up against the kitchen counter.

Dannie’s eyes were on fire, full of rage and energy, and then suddenly, the barest hint of humor.

Despite himself, Lee laughed. It was ridiculous, all of this. But like the rest of this lost weekend, it was deadly serious too.

Dannie closed the distance between them and dropped to her knees.

She ran her hand up his bare thigh.

Lee sucked in a breath.

She looked up at him with those dark eyes, breathing hard, her hand on the inside of his leg.

He felt himself shake inside and tried to force a stillness into his body. A rigidness. A resistance.

But he was already hard. That fact zinged through his system like an electric charge.

To resolve an argument like this with sex was the kind of thing other people did. Not steadfast, reliable Lee. Not the doggedly cheerful social worker he knew himself to be.

Somehow the basic truth of that didn’t make him stop her from lowering the waistband of his pants and taking his dick in her hand.

He gasped. Slowly, she took his hands and settled each of them against the counter, so he had something to lean on.

“Dannie—”

“Shut up, Lee.” She grasped him with one hand, while the other wandered. Down the length of his cock, to the base where it met his body. Her fingers trailed over him, up the inside of his thighs, over his taut sack, up again to the tip. She lowered her mouth over him and his breath rushed out over her hair.

She unbuttoned her shirt and let it fall. Her breasts against his knees made every inch of his skin come alive. She did for him, to him, what he had done for her, to her. Her mouth was silky and wet. She held his hips and ass in her hands. She drove him in deep, and then pulled back. Drove deep, and pulled back.

Lee’s legs nearly gave out under him.

He felt her smile. She pulled away and trailed her tongue over him, and he shuddered. “You’re going to come for me, Lee. Okay? You’re gonna come on me. On my skin.”

He struggled to breathe and she took him back into her mouth. She licked and sucked him, moved her mouth over him and then she withdrew, and stroked him fast until he came—hot and quick—on her chest, all over her. Like she’d said he would.

Dannie looked down at herself, and then up into his eyes, triumphant. “Take care of
that,
buddy.”

Chapter Eight

“Do you think she’ll come back?”

Lee’s belly pressed against the length of Dannie’s bare spine. He cradled her against him, his face in her neck. Before them, the fire burned through its last dry logs.

“I don’t know. It was pretty weird that she was out at all, actually. Pregnant females usually hibernate early.” Lee shifted, nearly knocking her off the couch.

Dannie caught herself and turned to face him. “Maybe she was on the way to her den?”

“That’s what I’m hoping. They usually don’t need to eat much at this point in the year. Maybe that’s why she gave up and went on her way.”

“We’re not going out on the porch again. I hope you know that.”

“Dannie, we have to go get more—”

“No, we don’t.” She placed her forefinger against his chin and pressed down hard. “I strongly prefer not to be devoured by a large mammal before my fortieth birthday. I’d rather be cold.”

“Without a fire, we’ll be—”

“Hush.” She wound her arms around Lee’s neck. “We’ll find a way to keep warm.”

“Oh ho. Listen to you.”

Dannie leaned back against his biceps and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Ugh.” For a fleeting second she imagined how jacked up she must look. Nothing much she could do about that here. It was wilderness couture or nothing. But still.

“Is there a cloud of dirt swirling over my head? I feel like Pigpen.”

Lee smiled. “I can heat some water, you know, in a teapot. You could wash your hair in the sink.”

“Seriously?” Dannie sat right up.

“Better yet—” Lee unfolded himself from the couch and stood. “I can do it for you. Come on.”

Dannie stayed behind on the couch for less than a minute. “Only if I get to wash yours.”

“What there is of it.” Lee ran a rueful hand over the top of his head. “I’ll grab the shampoo.”

* * *

Dannie poured bottled water into the battery-operated teapot and waited by the kitchen window for it to heat up. Outside, between the trees leading up to the side of the cabin, bear tracks were visible in the snow.

She had been kneeling by the fireplace, gazing into the flames while the bear made her way to the house. There was no way Dannie could have known that. Like everything else, the danger had come upon her suddenly, quietly, and there was no way to prepare for it.

When Dannie was little, her brothers had called her Mouse. She hid in corners at family parties, inside the oversize tires on the school playground, under tables at restaurants. When her mother went shopping she’d have to search for her inside the racks of clothes. Dannie had loved to worm her way into the rows and rows of silky dresses. It was warm in there, and dark, and safe.