Stranded but not Alone (Midnight Moanings Collection) (7 page)

Seth came through the door, shaking off snow.

“Two sets of footprints, about twenty feet out. They’re in the woods. Good you got everything packed. A few animal tracks as well.”

She watched him put the logs out before ushering her behind the door.

She stood at his right shoulder in the dark room. “Whatever you do, don't grab my right arm. That's my fighting arm. Stay to my left. If I tell you to go into the bathroom and lock the door, just do it.”

In the dark space, she whispered, “Seth, I’m not going to run and hide like a scared cat.” Certain he’d argue with her resistance to run, she waited.

He tossed a wicked clinched-teeth glare over his shoulders. “Then stay back,” he warned and she brushed a hand over his waist, patting his pants belt.

“I’m here when you realize you’re not alone,” she muttered, eyeing his furrowed brows. His nod was brief and the quick glance he placed on her lips told her he felt their attraction as much as she had. She wouldn’t be surprised if he leaned back and…

Seth pressed a kiss to her nose. “I promised to get you outta here and I will,” he told her.

It was hard to breath with his eyes on her. Seth wasn’t sex on the beach—he was foreplay in the forest. She needed to put some distance between them or take her hand off the muscles roped across his ribcage. She took her hand back.

“I think I hear someone.” He added with a wink, “Be good back there.”

She allowed him to angle her farther behind him, closer to the wall. It felt so much more personal than it should have. More possessive than it should have. Sweeter than it should have.

~~~

As the door swung open, Seth turned into a blur of movements. She stayed clear of the blade in his hand as he hit the intruder in the temple with the heavy handle. The man hit the floor with an audible thud. Simone clamped her mouth shut to stifle a scream. Seth turned an eye on her, shook his head, reached down, and dragged the man farther into the room. The intruder had a rifle in one hand and a crossbow hung from his shoulders. No mistaking the whacky curve of the crossbow in the dark. Her weapon of choice when camping and hunting with her family. Would she ever see hers again?

Her attention returned to the present when another figure followed close behind the first. The long shadow fell across the wood floor under the moonlight. Simone held her breath, praying Seth didn’t need to use the other end of that knife.

“Patrick, you need help in there? Patrick?” the man said, ratcheting a bullet into the chamber of his rifle. Simone knew that sound anywhere, the rifle being her mother’s favorite.

Flattening herself again the wall, she gave Seth the space to slam the door into the man’s arm, causing him to drop the rifle. He bobbed, cursed, and then Seth crossed him in the jaw with his fist. The loud crack made Simone jump. She watched the big guy hit the floor. The two men lay crumbled over one another. Seth took the rifle from the taller man. She patted herself on the back. The screams never left her mouth.

“Come on,” he said, stepping into the cold night ahead of her.

She shot a quick glance at his face, but the moon’s shadows made it impossible to see more than an outline.

As she secured the Ziplocs under her arm, she felt hands locking onto her ankle. The scream burst from her mouth before she could stop it. Bracing a hand against the wall, she jerked her leg and the other man’s hand weakly latched on to her calf but it was still strong enough to slow her down. The large man rose to his knees and tried to pull her down to the floor. With her elbow aimed for his jaw, she swung back hard. Pain shot through her arm when it connected with his jawbone. His hands dropped from her ankle as he slumped down. His arm flopped out and hit her foot. Seconds later, Seth stood, blocking the door, looking at the downed form. . She rubbed her elbow while trying to slow her pulse racing in her neck.

“You did that?”

“Uh-huh.”

“You okay?” Seth held her face like a mother looking for a smudge to wipe off, tipping it and running his thumb back and forth.

“No,” she complained. What was he checking for in the dark? He could barely see her.

“He hurt you?”

Shaking her head, she said, “No. I’ll be fine.”

“I want you on my team. Let’s go and bring that elbow of yours,” he teased, grabbing their jackets from the hook by the door. If she wasn’t still shaking, she would’ve thought it was sweet of him wanting her on his team, kinda cute, like high school. Right now, they needed to get out of there.

“Wait,” she said, wrenching the crossbow from the man’s shoulder before following Seth out the door.

He stepped in front of her. “Simone, grab the rifle,” he said, extending his hand to the floor. “You’re more likely to hit your target.”

“Too much kickback,” she said, jerking her shoulder back for emphasis. “I prefer this.”

“It’s harder than it looks, Sim,” he warned. And she could see a glimpse of a crease on his forehead.

“So am I.” She held it between her legs to slip her coat on. “Keep me alive and I’ll keep you alive.”

“Don’t shoot me by accident.”

“I’ll try not to. Now, what are you looking for out here?” she asked, zipping her coat until Seth came over. He unzipped the coat and removed it from her body.

While turning the coat inside out, he said, “It’s too bright. They’ll spot us in the dark,” he told her, zipping it up to her neck. Her eyes closed under the sensation of his hand bumping over her breast as he kept complaining. “And unless they’re part mountain goat, they drove up here. They didn’t make it on foot.”

The forest closed in around them as she looked for a vehicle, then she spotted something. “Seth, look on the ground over there. It’s our bags.”

Glancing back at the shanty as they scrambled for their gear, then bolted for the cover of the trees. “We can’t stay in the woods without shelter, Seth. Whatever left the tracks around the house will be hunting soon.”

“I hoped they used a car to get up here—maybe set back in the trees. Didn’t get a chance to look real good when you screamed.” He touched her arm. “If you were lying about camping, it’s about to get real uncomfortable,” he said, pulling her behind a thick of downed trees.

She didn’t say anything as she stuffed the Ziploc bags into her duffle.

“Don’t worry about me. I can hold my own out here.”

“Let’s go. We don’t know how many people are looking for us. It’s best if we make it up to the hiking lodge.”

“Wait a minute. We don’t know they want to hurt us.”

“This looks like a bouquet of flowers,” he snapped, holding the rifle he took of the downed man.

“Then it must be you they’re after. They wouldn’t come looking for a woman with a rifle. They’re men. They’ll assume I can’t fight.”

Seth leaned in and spoke low.

“Your camera, Simone. You took pictures all morning in the lobby. Maybe you photographed somebody you shouldn’t have. You’re in a different country now. You can’t just take pictures of everyone.”

“I took landscape pictures. I can’t help it if other guests were in the shot outside of the other hikers. They all stood there while I took the shot. They knew they were being photographed,” she said as he led them farther into the dark woods. “If anyone else got in the picture it’s because they stepped in front of my frame.”

“That hotel is popular with business men. Not every couple going up the elevator is married.”

“What about you, sneaking around in the woods instead of going straight to the house?” His steps crunched closer to her in the dark. She tensed.

“You wanna go back and ask which one of us they’re looking to shoot?”

“Don’t blame me cause they got caught cheating on their wives.”

“Alright, let’s head back and find out.” He taunted her with that ridiculous alternative. Simone started to stick her tongue out but thought better of it. This was Seth. He was liable to do anything.

“You said the lodge is over the hill. How far?”

“A couple hours on foot if we go straight over. Seven or eight otherwise going around,” he said, cupping her arm. “Watch out for the ditch.”

She’d already seen it. “How were you able to miss that big hole earlier?” she teased.

He jerked her arm, pulling her along behind him. The ground with its patches of snow and mud made for a nasty trek. They moved through the bramble and broken branches. With night noises, it was nearly impossible to hear someone following them. Seth pushed her every time they came to a rise in the forest as if she slowed down and frustration quickly expanded inside of her.

“Will you stop shoving me? I’m going as fast as you are.”

“Why don’t you sprinkle bread crumbs, Simone, so they’ll find us faster?”

“What the heck are you complaining about?”

“You break a branch every ten feet.”

She spun around on the soft ground, her bag banging her hip she glared at him. “If you stop poking me in the back and shoving me every time we go up, I won’t have to grab branches to keep from falling,” she said, straightening her jacket. He grabbed her arm, grumbling something in Russian and begun hauling her up the hill.

Jerking back, she pulled free, grabbing on to one of the trees, gaining her balancing on the uneven hillside. “I can walk without you yanking on me. Isn’t that why we’re going through this section so we can have something to hold onto?” she asked him and when he kept walking. “I think you need to apologize, because nothing I’m doing is slowing us down.”

“Come on. There isn’t any shelter from the wildlife,” he said as he pressed farther up the hill.

She didn’t care if they were being stalked. She wouldn’t allow him to take his anger out on her.

He turned on her, his face a dark mask in the moonlight. Before she could get out of the way, he pushed her back against the tree. Snow filtered down over them. His mouth took hers in a hot rush. His tongue pressed in between her lips, encouraging them to open. He slipped in and she wanted to push him away but it was dark and he was warm. How could she not? He tasted of coffee and sugar. She gave in to his assault on her senses, kissing him back, groaning into the pleasure and the fire, and lifting his jacket, her fingers gripped his behind then cupped the firm curve. He brushed snow off her face as he pulled away with more patience than he had come at her with.

He rested his forehead to hers. “I’m sorry I pushed and poked you in the back. Try not to break so many branches though. It makes it easier for them to track us,” he whispered, running a thumb over her parted lips.

Now that he’d blown her mind with that kiss, she shook herself. “If you wanted a kiss that bad, all you had to do was say so.”

“I’ll try and remember that.” His warm breath coated her face. Three loud pops broke through the chemistry between the couple. Seth pressed her to the ground. In one smooth move, he was on one knee, sighting down the barrel of the rifle through the tree. “Damn, they’re on us—here, take this,” he instructed, fishing the knife off his belt. “Get over the hill, Sim. I’ll catch up.”

Her body stiffened. She wasn’t leaving him. They were a team and you were never supposed leave your teammate. Lord, she sounded like her father now.

“Get outta here, Sim,” he barked under his breath.

She fought hard against the urge to argue. Instead, she pushed the knife back into his hands and scrabbled up the hill, grabbing roots sticking out the ground and pulling herself up when she heard a shot; then another one echoed through the trees.

“Shit—he got me in the leg,” a male voice cursed out. Her heart seized, cold air rising from her open mouth as she plunged back down into the forest. Seth could be hurt.

Crouched low to the ground, she crept around downed trees, mud squeezing between her fingers as she crawled around the tree trunks. It dawned on her she could crawl right into a pack of wolves. She prayed she wouldn’t have to kill anyone. Her pulse beat at her temple while pain spread through her head.

Don’t let him be hurt. Please, don’t let him…

Through the trees a huddled form lay motionless. Braced along the wet tree bark, she swallowed and forced back a scream
. Please, Seth, don’t let that be you, please… I’m not ready for another death.

Large hands closed over her mouth from behind, hauling her against a hard chest. She braced her feet to the tree trunk and pushed back into him, slamming into the body now under her back. Jerking her head back, she missed the face behind her as he shifted her to the side. Stomach muscles tightening and heartbeat racing, she slammed her foot into his shin beneath her, scrabbling along the muddy ground for traction. Thinking this could be Seth’s killer, anger poured up through her body. Twisting her hips, she fought to break his hold on her.

“Shit, Sim, it’s me.” He rolled over on her, his hand still over her mouth. “I told you to get over the hill.”

She caught a glimpse of his frowning brows over her shoulder and relief spun through her. Her breathing a ragged mess. She wanted to cry seeing his hard jaw over her shoulder, and then punch his lights out for grinding her into the mud under his weight.

She whispered in his hand covering her mouth. “I thought you were shot. I saw a body lying on the ground on the same path I left you on. God, Seth you scared me,” she murmured and managed to roll back under him. “Is that one of the men from the cabin?” Staring up into his serious face, she realized how scared it made her to think he was hurt. She liked this man more than she wanted to admit. The way his jaw kept clinching above her and his eyes caressing her face something was happening between them and it wasn’t just his arousal stabbing her in the thigh. Inches from her mouth he nodded, his hand still closed over it and his large chest pressing her to the ground.

“They can’t shoot me.” His deep voice teased along her ear. “Somebody’s gotta keep you out of trouble.”

The solid form digging between her thighs stole her concentration. Wiggling her hips, she unwedged him, found her attention again and focused on Seth.

“Is he dead—the guy on the ground?” she mumbled. His filthy, wet glove covering her mouth made her gag. She could feel him looking around, his body grinding into hers as his head moved, taking in their surroundings.