Page 3 of Trapped (Snowbound with a Stranger #2)

Strangers

Erin

Scanning his profile, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Certainly, the brooding hulk of a man at my side had inspired both emotions and a whole lot more, and I was struggling to get my head around everything that had happened.

He’d seemed so enigmatic at first, his knowledge and authority so damn alluring as he’d led me around the forest, but feeling like a prisoner in the suffocating little lodge hadn’t turned me on half as much as I’d thought it would. It was one thing being overpowered by a strong, dominant man—and I had no regrets about ultimately surrendering to his dick—but quite another to be his captive. I couldn’t survive like that. It was as though his constant orders were sucking the oxygen from the increasingly claustrophobic cabin.

“So, tell me about the man I’m stuck with.”

I shifted to look at him, conscious of his arm around my back where I’d shrugged it from my shoulders.

Staring into his gray eyes, I couldn’t decide if I was really interested in his back story or whether I just needed a distraction from the encroaching threats of depleting wood and food supplies.

“What do you want to know?”

He tilted his head at me.

“I don’t know.”

My heart rate accelerated at his insistent gaze. He seemed to have the ability to see straight past my blushes into the inner reaches of my soul. It was downright unnerving.

“What did you do before you were a park ranger, sir?”

Addressing him that way irked me less than it had before. The truth was, I had relied on Eli’s experience to get me to the cabin, and whether I liked it or not, I would likely need his expertise to get me back home. I respected that, so long as he didn’t try and pull another stunt that saw me face down over his thighs.

Even though I really enjoyed being there.

I swallowed at the knowing voice in my head, squeezing the intimate muscles between my legs. Being disciplined by him had been an outrageous liberty, but I couldn’t deny the way the ordeal had affected me. Instead of producing anger and upset, his palm had managed to evoke slick, hot need, the likes of which I’d never known until then.

“Before?”

He smirked.

“Trust you to ask about that.”

“What?”

Bewilderment resounded in my voice. That wasn’t the reply I’d expected.

“What does that mean?”

“It means you’re prying into a past you might not like, little girl.”

His arm snaked around my middle.

“I didn’t always help people like this.”

Like this?

I bit back on the idea that being hauled over his lap for a spanking had helped me, though I accepted I’d have probably frozen to death out there had he not located the lodge. Eli had saved me, but his care had come at a cost.

Fleetingly, my gaze flitted to the frozen window, an image of Chelle bursting into my mind. My friend had become collateral damage, and I recalled the ghostly dreams I’d had about her with disturbing ease. A manifestation of my guilt, I assumed, but a valid one. There was no way of knowing what had happened to Chelle, and staring at the frosted glass, I didn’t know if I ever would.

“Erin?”

Turning back at his nudge, I sensed my rising emotion. Chelle would continue to haunt me until I knew her fate, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.

I deserve it. I glanced down, my hand rising to catch my initial tears. I let her go alone, and if anything happens to her, then…

“Hey!”

He reached for me, stroking the back of my hand as I heaved in a breath.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s just Chelle.”

I flinched, knowing already how little Eli appreciated the topic of conversation.

“I’m worried about her, sir.”

“I know.”

He edged closer, his silver eyes flashing with concern, and for the first time, I didn’t acknowledge any judgment in his voice. He’d been so annoyed when Chelle had stalked off alone and so irritated whenever I’d raised the subject, but finally, I sensed compassion.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more to help her, too.”

“It’s not your fault.”

I smiled despite the tears.

“She wouldn’t have listened anyway. Chelle was always so strong-willed.”

“Is,”

he corrected softly.

“She’ll be okay, little girl. You’ll see.”

“I hope so.”

I blinked away the burning water in my eyes.

“But the not knowing is killing me.”

“I respect how much you care about her.”

Taking my hand, he squeezed my fingers gently.

“You’re a good friend.”

“Hardly!”

I snorted.

“Good friends don’t let each other walk away into the wilderness.”

“She would have done whatever she wanted whatever you did.”

His thumb drew tiny circles on the side of my hand.

“You said so yourself.”

“Maybe.”

He was right, but the knowledge didn’t make me feel any better.

“Anyway, enough about me.”

I wiped away my remaining tears with the heel of my hand.

“We’re supposed to be talking about you, remember? I asked about your past, sir.”

His lips tugged as I steered the conversation back around to him.

“Yes, you did.”

“And?”

Why did I have the feeling he was holding back.

“What might I not like?”

He glanced at the fire.

“There are some things I shouldn’t say.”

“Shouldn’t? Since when do you take commands?”

“I don’t.”

The intensity of his gaze landed back on me.

“But I used to, and I signed the Official Secrets Act, which technically forbids me from saying any more about it.”

The Official Secrets Act?

I straightened at his answer. Who the hell had he been in his life before he was a park ranger? “Oh.”

“Oh?”

He chuckled.

“Is that all you’re going to say?”

“What more can I say? You haven’t told me anything yet!”

“I just told you I’m not allowed to tell you, and there aren’t many professions embroiled in state secrets, little girl.”

“You were a spy?”

Disbelief echoed in my tone as I followed his metaphorical breadcrumbs.

His smirk stretched wider.

“I can neither confirm nor deny your question.”

He was playing games with me, and I didn’t appreciate it.

“Can you at least tell me if you worked for the secret services, sir?”

My gaze scanned over his taut body, eyeing his musculature. If I’d ever seen anyone so fine before, I’d recall. He was flawless, save for one scar just visible on his other shoulder; a small yet deformed blemish that possibly spoke to the things he’d previously endured. I wanted to ask him about it but hesitated. However much it irked me, he obviously didn’t want to tell me about his past.

“Maybe wink once for yes and twice for no.”

He laughed at the suggestion, tugging me even closer until I yielded to his embrace.

“If I tell you, the authorities could arrest me, little girl.”

Glancing up from the contours of his shoulder blade, I tried to decide if he was being serious. Could I really see the capable, savvy guy who’d rescued me from the storm being a spy? Taking in his high cheekbones and damn near flawless body, he looked more like a model, but the longer I played with the idea, the more the concept of espionage made sense.

He was always so bloody sure of himself, self-aware yet simultaneously conscious of his surroundings. Smart and skillful, with incredible physicality to match; Eli would surely have made the perfect spy.

Peering down at me, his lips twisted when our gazes connected.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? To see me arrested?”

His sarcastic timbre conveyed that he was only joking, but staring into the gray pools of his eyes, I considered the question.

“If you were arrested, I’d be in trouble out here, sir.”

“True.”

His arm tightened around me, and against my better judgment, I sensed myself melting against him.

“But you’d be at liberty to go where you like, and see who you like, when you like.’

“Apart from the snow.”

I mumbled the words against his chest, trying hard not to breathe in his enticing scent as I settled beneath his chin. How could a man who obviously hadn’t showered for at least a day smell so damn good? Eli made sweat and muscle the most tempting combination I’d ever contemplated.

“Ah, yes, the snow.”

His tone was wistful.

“The only thing keeping us together.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

I grazed my lips over his soft chest hair, my hand rising to skim over his scar.

Eli had just the right amount of dark hair covering the expanse of his pectorals and offered a comfy place to rest my head. Settling there, I glanced toward the scar, my fingertips lingering over the disfigurement.

“Something you want to ask me?”

His voice was clipped.

“It’s none of my business.”

Rueful to have identified the wound, I slid my hand south, but his wrist rose to gently capture it.

“Ask.”

His fingers relaxed at my wrist, allaying some of my concerns, and my eyes fluttered closed at his insistence.

“It’s just, this looks as though it might be…”

I could hardly bring myself to say it.

“What?”

he goaded.

“A gunshot wound.”

Naturally, I had no way of knowing, having never encountered anything so horrific in real life, but something about its size and shape seemed ominous. Could the potential spy truly have survived a gunshot?

“You’re so smart.”

Laughing lightly, he lifted my hand to his lips and brushed a kiss over my skin.

“So, it is a scar from a bullet?”

The idea knotted fresh anxiety inside me.

“It is.”

He swallowed.

“This isn’t my first scrape with danger, little girl.”

“I’m sorry.”

My pulse sped up as his words settled over me.

Someone shot him.

I couldn’t even contemplate anything so awful happening.

“It’s okay.”

He placed my palm back on his chest.

“But it means I understand hazards, Erin, and I will take action when you endanger yourself. You were going to leave earlier and I had to stop you.”

“I only wanted to leave because you wouldn’t let me go.”

Though, holding onto him, I could hardly recall why I’d been so hellbent on stalking out into the elements without him.

He was both my captor and savior, holding me back and protecting me all at the same time.

“It’s not safe for us out there.”

He exhaled, as though the answer should have been obvious. Perhaps it should have been.

“And I promise you one thing, little girl. I am going to keep you—”

I shifted before he could finish his sentence, rising to capture his lips. Of course, I knew what he was going to say. He’d given me the same message on multiple occasions—he would keep me safe, but in that moment, I didn’t want safety or comfort.

I wanted something else, something more. Wild abandonment, to feel his skin on mine and know I was alive for more than only fear and monotony.

Closing my eyes, I blocked out his shocked expression and lost myself to the burgeoning intimacy. That was what I needed; the heat of his body and the softness of his lips melding with my own mushrooming need.

It didn’t make any sense to want him—especially when we’d only recently fucked—but I couldn’t ignore the desire. Eli might have been completely maddening with his old-fashioned misogyny, but something about him set me on fire. Dark, strong, and passionate, he was unlike any man I’d ever met before, and in the stark suffocation of the abandoned cabin, he offered me more than only carnality. He was my refuge in the very tangible storm, something real I could rest my head on while I rode out the trauma.

He responded immediately, his hand splaying at my back as I yielded to his exploring tongue. The moan that escaped my throat was possibly the most guttural noise I’d ever heard, but the sound only spurred me on, insisting my legs straddle him as one of his hands rose to cradle the back of my head.

I had no idea if instigating another sensual marathon was the right thing to do, but there was little doubt in that moment; I had no regrets. I needed Eli to make me feel like a woman and remind me why it was worth having survived the sudden snowfall. My life had to be about more than only work and sleep. I needed meaning, and in the absence of certainty, that meant the thrill of his touch.

“Well…”

Pulling away, his gaze scanned my face.

“I must admit, I didn’t see that coming.”

“I’m sorry.”

Why was I apologizing? There wasn’t a single part of me that was remorseful to have kissed him.

“Don’t be.”

His smile was relaxed, quite in contrast to his stiffening fingers in my hair.

“I might be a take-charge kind of guy, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love a woman on top from time to time.”

My eyes flitted closed, responding to the fire his digits were inspiring at my scalp. Who knew how insanely sexy it would be to have my hair pulled? Before Eli, I’d have dismissed the idea as fanciful, yet when he tugged at my tresses, I sensed myself surrendering. Despite every bullish deed I’d countered him with, every bold statement I’d made, in the end, all I wanted was for him to take control.