Page 12 of Trapped (Snowbound with a Stranger #2)

Escalation

Eli

Watching the flames leaping around the final log, my mind was made up. We’d run out of time and needed to move, but the encroaching darkness around the cabin insisted we stick it out for one more night.

“Get under the covers.”

I turned to find her perched on the bed, uncertainty flitting in her green eyes.

“We’ll need to trap as much heat as we can once the fire goes out.”

“We should have left earlier.”

Her trembling tone spoke directly to the snide voice echoing within myself, wondering the same thing.

If we’d left earlier, how far would we have got before dusk had fallen?

Staring out into the darkness, there was no way of discovering that alternative truth. We’d stalled, waiting to see if any rescuers would come, and Erin had even sent a second message to another friend, but so far, we’d not seen or heard anything from anyone. The reality jarred, twisting unease inside me.

That was weird, wasn’t it? Not to have had a single reply from anyone? Sure, Baron could have been pissed off and decided to ghost me, but would both Erin’s mother and friend have done the same? I didn’t know much about great relationships, but to me, it seemed unlikely.

“Sir!”

Exasperation rang in her voice.

“Did you hear what I said? We should have gone when the sun was st—”

“I know.”

I didn’t mean to snap at her perfectly reasonable observation, but I’d been silently kicking myself about the delay for more than an hour, sensing the tension furling in my stomach as I contemplated the misstep. I’d gone to the door before night had descended too, checking to see if the wall of ice that had hindered her earlier escape attempt was still inhibiting our departure. Discovering enough of it had melted away to enable me to kick away the remaining ice had temporarily lifted our spirits, but the fire had been burning bright then, and the sky had still been sunlit. The evening had brought a gloomier tone, its morose influence stretching over the cabin while we considered our limited choices.

We should have left, but we didn’t.

Maybe it was just because keeping her there at the cabin had brought me so much joy, or because I longed for more time alone with her, but the hesitation had been mine. ‘We’ hadn’t stalled—the fault lay at my feet.

“You’re probably right.”

I pulled in a breath, hoping it would calm me, but all it achieved was inhaling the scent of embers.

“We should have left earlier, but it’s too late now, little girl. The morning light will come soon enough, and then we’ll leave.”

Once the fire is nothing but a memory, we’re stone-cold from its absence, and practically out of food.

I tensed at the likely outcome of my inaction, mentally reproaching myself. It wasn’t like me to delay, and if he were there, no doubt Baron wouldn’t have recognized my hesitation, but that was what spending time with Erin seemed to have produced; a less certain man. A version of Eli who overthought every scenario and worried about taking risks.

Or, maybe that wasn’t accurate. There had been one other time when my hesitation had proved to be an issue—the same moment that found me standing in front of the court-martial—except that hadn’t really been about me or my mistake at all. My superiors had just chosen to follow Hawkins’ version of events and send me packing.

Balling my hand into a fist, I sucked in the ever-chilling air. The injustice of that moment was tattooed on my soul like a fucking brand. It had colored every decision I’d had to make ever since.

“Please.”

My irritation was cooling as fast as the air around me.

“Just get under the blankets, Erin. I want to take care of you.”

Which is why you should have led me out there long before now. The recrimination never left her tempting lips, but I saw it there, gleaming in her eyes.

“Okay.”

With a sigh, she slid under the covers.

“Will you at least join me, sir?”

Now, that was more like it. The idea of getting into bed with Erin was never going to grow old.

“Of course.”

Kicking my boots off at the end of the bed, I climbed into the bed beside her.

“Sadly, I suggest we leave our clothes on.”

“I know.”

Her smile was wistful as she peered back at me, and reaching for her, I wished I could ease that concern away.

My cock twitched at the idea of consoling her, already full of ideas about how and where it would offer solace, but I urged it to be silent. Much though I craved Erin’s body, it was better that we snuggled close and preserved our body heat and strength for the ordeal awaiting us. If possible, sleep would come and guide us through until the dawn. Without much food, rest was going to be even more important.

“I’m okay with that, sir.”

She relaxed when my arm snaked over her, edging back until her leggings-covered ass grazed against my groin.

“And I didn’t mean to infer this was your fault. I could have pushed to leave earlier, and I didn’t.”

That was a crock of shit and we both knew it. If she’d protested at my decision, I’d have just as likely seen her over my knee for another spanking than I would have heard her out, but I appreciated her willingness to take responsibility. That was rare in my experience.

“This is on me.”

I murmured the words into her hair, amazed that even after all the time we’d been caught up in the cabin, her tresses were still soft and smelled like honey.

“But I promise I’ll make sure you—”

“I know.”

Interrupting me, she clasped my hand.

“You look after me, Eli. I believe you, sir. That’s why I’m still here, playing your games, because, even after everything, I trust you.”

“Playing my games?”

I sighed into the growing shadows.

Honestly, she was too much. How many times did I need to tan her alluring backside before she thought twice about how to speak to me? Yet, holding her closer, I realized I wasn’t entirely sure that was what I wanted. Passive and compliant sounded good on paper, but after years of taking orders, I knew how it went. However good the regime that purported to care for them, people had to learn to think for themselves. Deep down, I knew if she ever acquiesced completely to my will, I’d miss her willful nature.

“You know what I mean.”

She wriggled her ass against me.

“Calling you sir and letting you spank me. I play along because I know you have my best interests at heart.”

“Is that right?”

Grazing my palm along her chest, I cradled the weight of her breast through her clothing.

“That’s right.”

She giggled as though she realized the ice she was skating on was getting pretty thin.

“Get some sleep, little girl.”

I was too tired to take her bait, however fucking enticing it was.

“We’ll see how well you play in the morning.”

***

Eyes open and with my heart pounding, I stared into the gloom. Something was wrong. I didn’t know how I knew or what the problem was yet, but I did know. The creeping insecurity in my gut confirmed what my racing pulse already suspected.

Danger was imminent.

Remaining still at Erin’s side, I strained my senses, reaching out viscerally to try and discover what had stirred me from my sleep. Certainly, I was exhausted enough not to have woken. Slumber had fallen over me like a shroud after we’d said goodnight, and there was no physical requirement to wake, but I’d roused regardless, and for the first time since I’d been in proximity to my wily brunette, lust wasn’t the primary stirring emotion.

What’s wrong?

Craning my head on the pillow, I listened for any clues about what had disturbed me, but nothing was obvious. The air beyond our covers was freezing, but with the outside temperatures tumbling and no heat source in the cabin, that was to be expected. No unusual noises permeated from past the cabin’s walls. If I listened hard, I could just about make out the occasional hoot from an owl or wail of a passing wolf, but nothing that seemed out of place.

Nothing. I inhaled. There’s nothing wrong.

So, why am I awake?

Untangling myself from her limbs, I rolled onto my back and focused on calming my hammering heart. With so much adrenaline coursing around my system, though, quelling its urgency was all but impossible, so I took the opportunity to rest and check my instincts had missed the mark.

It’s okay.

Blowing out my breath, I repeated the mantra in my head, consoling myself in the frozen silence. We’d get more sleep, and we’d leave with the light. Whatever happened, I would get Erin to safety. There was a great comfort in that thought, in knowing I was still in control and everything was going to be all right.

Whatever I thought I sensed, I got it wrong. Maybe I was dreaming, or maybe I—

A stark beam of pale light blazed a sudden strip of illumination through the window farthest from the bed and lit the other half of the cabin.

What the fuck?

Acting on reflex, I swung my legs out of bed and was on my feet in seconds. Only an extremely strong flashlight could create a shaft of light as powerful as that, my mind sprinting through the potential possibilities of who could be there.

“The emergency services!”

I whispered the answer excitedly, thrilled that, in the end, one of our allies had come through for us. It didn’t matter whether it was Erin’s mother, her friend, or good old Baron. So long as someone had alerted the people who could help us, we might yet be able to avoid the bone-chilling hike back to base.

“Sir?”

She roused from the bed, her voice groggy.

“What’s happening?”

“I don’t know.”

I wandered closer to the window.

“Wait there a moment.”

“Why are you whispering?”

She was sitting up in bed then.

“If it’s the emergency services, that’s good news.”

“Yes,”

I concurred, offering her a smile she probably wouldn’t be able to see.

“But let me check.”

Just in case…

I averted from saying the final three words, but I heard them resounding in my head as I peered out of the window still cast into darkness. I hadn’t shaken the lingering sense of mistrust that all was not well in the woods outside the cabin, and the sudden blinding light source had done little to assuage my concerns.

“Check for what?”

Confusion reverberated in her voice.

“We should let them know we’re here.”

“Wait!”

I hissed, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the darkness outside.

“I don’t see anyone.”

“Well, someone must be out there!”

She sounded indignant.

“Unless the local wildlife has discovered searchlights.”

“Quiet!”

Glancing back, I enunciated the word irritably. Trust Erin to choose that moment to erupt into fresh sarcasm.

“I’m not sure it’s the emergency services.”

I edged back slowly in the shadows, crouching as I passed my bag. My gun was in there somewhere—the one thing that might hold off any potential attackers—and I needed to locate it without further enflaming Erin’s concern. She already sounded beside herself with anxiety and had intimated her disdain for my being armed. The last thing she needed was to know I anticipated a need to defend us.

It didn’t take me long to find the weapon. Even in the dark, my mind recalled where I’d kept it. My fingertips grazed over its outline as I switched off the safety, my pulse accelerating as I spun and headed back for the door.

“Keep quiet.”

Turning back to the bed, the weight of my stare landed on the space I knew she was huddled, even though I couldn’t make out her face in the gloom.

“I need to make sure we’re safe.”

Lengthy seconds passed as I edged forward, my senses amplified as I listened for any sign of danger. In that oppressive quiet, I dared to dream that Erin might be right, that the emergency services were just beyond the door, waiting to help us.

My instincts, though, said otherwise, and just when I’d decided to move the unit and check outside myself, the sound of the door being kicked open shattered any illusion about the visitor’s benign intentions. Dread spiraled as the unit in front of the door toppled and the wood smashed back on its hinges, the noise of it yielding a screech around the cold, exaggerated silence. Everything about the latest developments was wrong. Nobody who wanted to help would enter without knocking and calling out first.

Facing the intrusion, I was greeted by gusts of subzero winds before the silhouette of a man emerged from the icy gloom.

“Rosen.”

Any doubt that the newcomer was male was obliterated in that second, his deep, throaty resonance echoing despite the incoming gale. His choice of vocabulary was telling too, informing me he was from an older chapter in my life, a time when I was known only by my surname—a choice I’d purposely avoided ever since being forced out of my career.

A tiny mewl escaped from Erin, the first sign that she finally understood how perilous the latest twist in our tale could potentially be, and the thought of her spurred me on to speak.

“Stay back!”

I warned, waving the gun in front of me.

“I’m armed and more than ready to use my weapon.”

“Oh, I bet.”

The smug tone that met my ears was accompanied by the clicking of another weapon as its trigger was engaged.

“And guess what? I’m armed too, asshole. Ready to play Russian roulette?”

“Who the hell are you?”

I was more than ready to play, but I recognized that if I got shot, I left Erin to the whims of whatever crazy loon had broken into the cabin.

Stepping forward, I was determined to protect her no matter who the idiot was. It was true I didn’t own the ranger’s cabin, but storming it with force in the middle of the night was not normal behavior. Whoever he was, he was a threat.

“How about that?”

The jerk chuckled as though there was an audience there to receive his alleged comedy.

“He doesn’t even remember me.”

And then and there, his voice jolted a memory my brain had held latent for years. A recollection of a man who’d once pretended to be my ally, but who’d betrayed me at the first opportunity he’d got—my old boss at the unit, Miles Hawkins.

“Hawkins?”

Spitting his name into the shadows, I could hardly believe what was happening. The man who’d feigned an interest in my career until he’d decided to let me take the rap for a mistake he’d engineered was there in the middle of the woods, but I couldn’t figure out how or why. The finger cradling the trigger quivered at the uncertainty. Hawkins’ arrival had spun everything out of control.

“Why the fuck are you here?”

“Your message said you were in trouble.”

His dark laughter swirled around me.

“And you know me, Rosen. I always look after my own.”