Page 72
Story: Deadly Rescue
Josef glances at me. “Is it?”
“Damned right it is.”
He goes back to carefully watching the road. After forever, we come to a stop, deep in the forest. “It’s up there. Take the path. Follow the smoke from the chimney.” He tosses me a flashlight and a burner phone. “Call me if you need provisions. My number’s programmed in. There’s enough food, water, and wood to last a couple of days. There’s a snowmobile in the shed.”
As soon as I jump from the truck, he’s backing up and turning around. The dim tail lights of the old truck quickly disappear into the heavy falling snow.
Exactly seven minutes later, I’m knocking on the door of a tiny, rustic cabin, praying I don’t get shot and disposed of in the snowbank I just trudged through. “Simona…”
Footsteps make the floor creak behind the heavy wooden door. I realize I may have miscalculated. Maybe the element of surprise would have been better. But I haven’t picked a single lock in my life.
I’ve kicked down a few doors, but somehow that just seems wrong. It is Joseph’s cabin. And she is safe inside of it.
Fighting to keep a growl out of my voice, I call to her. “Simona, open up.”
The latch clicks. When the door swings wide, I’m met with the muzzle of a very big shotgun. I sigh in relief. Never has a gun pointing in my direction looked so good.
“Sprite. Damn, I’m glad to see you.”
Simona’s eyes are brimming with tears. Her throat works. “You found me.”
I push the gun aside and jerk her to me. “Damn right I found you. Again,” I murmur against her hair. “You might as well give up. I’m stubborn. I’m mad too, which makes me even more determined.”
She leans down and sets the shotgun on the floor. Tentatively, she wraps her arms around my neck. “I wasn’t really going to shoot you.”
“I know.”
I steal her breath with a kiss that’s barely restrained. I want to crush her sweet lips, ravish her with all the frustration I’ve got knotted up in me. But I don’t.
She leans back. “Josef brought you?”
“Yes.”
Squinching up her cute nose, she says, “That devil.”
I grin as I rub a thumb across her cheek. Across the mark that’s turned the world upside down. “I’m pretty sure he’s an angel.”
She drops her lashes. “Actually, I have to agree with you on that. How did he know I was here?”
I pull her against me, tighter. Feeling how damned perfect this infuriating woman fits in my arms. “That’s for him to tell you.”
Before she can get away, I swing her up into my arms and carry her to the couch. “Now, you are going to talk. Even if I have to handcuff myself to you.”
She buries her head in my shoulder. “Scotch…”
And the tone of her voice makes all that fear inside of me unspool into a messy tangle. I fight the urge to snap as icy terror drops into my limbs. “What did the doctor tell you?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
He’s here.
Him. The man who saved me. The one who rocked my world and tossed it upside down. The devil who won’t stop pushing his way into every single aspect of my life.
Some part of my mind knew he’d find me. Just not so fast.
I’m not ready.
I’ve never been so scared in my life.
“Damned right it is.”
He goes back to carefully watching the road. After forever, we come to a stop, deep in the forest. “It’s up there. Take the path. Follow the smoke from the chimney.” He tosses me a flashlight and a burner phone. “Call me if you need provisions. My number’s programmed in. There’s enough food, water, and wood to last a couple of days. There’s a snowmobile in the shed.”
As soon as I jump from the truck, he’s backing up and turning around. The dim tail lights of the old truck quickly disappear into the heavy falling snow.
Exactly seven minutes later, I’m knocking on the door of a tiny, rustic cabin, praying I don’t get shot and disposed of in the snowbank I just trudged through. “Simona…”
Footsteps make the floor creak behind the heavy wooden door. I realize I may have miscalculated. Maybe the element of surprise would have been better. But I haven’t picked a single lock in my life.
I’ve kicked down a few doors, but somehow that just seems wrong. It is Joseph’s cabin. And she is safe inside of it.
Fighting to keep a growl out of my voice, I call to her. “Simona, open up.”
The latch clicks. When the door swings wide, I’m met with the muzzle of a very big shotgun. I sigh in relief. Never has a gun pointing in my direction looked so good.
“Sprite. Damn, I’m glad to see you.”
Simona’s eyes are brimming with tears. Her throat works. “You found me.”
I push the gun aside and jerk her to me. “Damn right I found you. Again,” I murmur against her hair. “You might as well give up. I’m stubborn. I’m mad too, which makes me even more determined.”
She leans down and sets the shotgun on the floor. Tentatively, she wraps her arms around my neck. “I wasn’t really going to shoot you.”
“I know.”
I steal her breath with a kiss that’s barely restrained. I want to crush her sweet lips, ravish her with all the frustration I’ve got knotted up in me. But I don’t.
She leans back. “Josef brought you?”
“Yes.”
Squinching up her cute nose, she says, “That devil.”
I grin as I rub a thumb across her cheek. Across the mark that’s turned the world upside down. “I’m pretty sure he’s an angel.”
She drops her lashes. “Actually, I have to agree with you on that. How did he know I was here?”
I pull her against me, tighter. Feeling how damned perfect this infuriating woman fits in my arms. “That’s for him to tell you.”
Before she can get away, I swing her up into my arms and carry her to the couch. “Now, you are going to talk. Even if I have to handcuff myself to you.”
She buries her head in my shoulder. “Scotch…”
And the tone of her voice makes all that fear inside of me unspool into a messy tangle. I fight the urge to snap as icy terror drops into my limbs. “What did the doctor tell you?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
He’s here.
Him. The man who saved me. The one who rocked my world and tossed it upside down. The devil who won’t stop pushing his way into every single aspect of my life.
Some part of my mind knew he’d find me. Just not so fast.
I’m not ready.
I’ve never been so scared in my life.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101