Fearless

by Marlie May

  She dropped her eyes. When she raised them again, they’d darkened to the richest chocolate. She worried her lower lip with her teeth, drawing my eyes to the movement. Make that eleven points for Ginny. Hell, I didn’t mind losing a round to this woman on any given day of the week.

  Shit, I liked her. More than someone soon leaving the country should.

  “Let me show you how to do it.” She covered my hands and guided me in swirling the pan, tipping it forward to allow a trickle of water and gravel to sift into the river. Her giggle fell between us. Infectious. It pulled out my laughter to combine with hers.

  Something squeezed tight inside my chest, before loosening.

  “What are you laughing about?” My voice held a husky tone that betrayed my growing feelings.

  “It’s hard doing it backwards.” Her laughter slowed, and she peered up at me through her lashes.

  My heart thumped louder than a platoon leader’s marching cadence as I fell into her beautiful eyes. I lifted a shaky hand to finger the tips of her soft, honey hair drifting around her shoulders. Dropping the strands, I ran my palm across the sun-kissed skin on her upper arm. Warm. Smooth. Total heaven.

  Ginny was so close. So touchable. And infinitely forbidden.

  I wrenched my gaze from hers and moved backward, letting my hand drop to my side. Being near this woman shredded my self-control, making it hard to keep the promise I’d made to her brother.

  “I think I’ve got it now,” I murmured.

  Did I ever.

  We panned for gold until early-afternoon, stopping when we’d partly filled the vial and our fingers were wrinkled from being in water. Sitting on the bank to dry in the sun, we ate the sandwiches and the chips Ginny had packed.

  She ate the chips, that is.

  “Dill pickle?” Scowling, I held one up in the sunlight. Was it green or was the light playing tricks with my eyes? I tossed it toward the river. The fish might enjoy it more than me.

  “They’re yummy.” Crinkling her nose at me, Ginny reached into the bag and pulled another one out. She popped it into her mouth and crunched, closing her eyes and moaning while shifting her body as if she savored the finest delicacy in the world. Or a hot bout of sex.

  I had to stop putting Ginny and sex in the same equation. We’d had fun together today. Like siblings—on her part, anyway. The last thing I wanted to do was make things awkward between us by showing my hand.

  But I’d kill to lay her down in the grass and explore every inch of her body.

  It was going to be a torturous afternoon if I didn’t find a way out of the trench I’d dug. As soon as we finished, I stood. “How about a walk upstream?” I nudged my chin in that direction. “We can find another area to pan.”

  She squinted while resting back on her elbows with the sun bronzing her skin. “Is this a case of the gold being sparklier on the other side of the stream?”

  I chuckled. “Maybe.” And maybe things were golden right here. Damn near perfect, in fact. Which was why my body would soon be responding. I grabbed a pan.

  “You go. I’ll stay here.” She twisted around and smoothed out her shirt on the grass. Was it just me, or were her hands trembling? She couldn’t be scared. Not settling in like a cat prepared to soak up sunbeams. She stretched out fully on the ground and wiggled her toes. “I’m going to enjoy the warmth.”

  I’d enjoy dropping to the ground and warming her completely.

  Time to hike this feeling out of my system. Exercise would be the best cure outside of a cold shower. “I won’t go far.”

  Her eyelids jerked open, and her voice rose an octave. “You’ll stay within shouting distance, right?”

  There was more going on here than just below my belt. Eli said something in Ginny’s life was holding her back. I wanted to ask her to tell me what it was, to take on part of whatever burden she carried, but asking would be wrong.

  I’d be gone soon, leaving her to bear whatever haunted her alone.

  7

  Ginny

  Sticks and leaves crackled underfoot as Cooper moved away.

  My heart tripped.

  Other than yesterday, when was the last time I’d been completely alone while outside my apartment? Not since before the kidnapping. The panic scrambling inside me suggested I chase after Cooper, use his presence to bolster my confidence. But the sun felt good. And I was so freaking tired of letting what happened to me rule my actions.

  He said he’d remain within shouting distance, which meant I wasn’t really alone.

  Closing my eyes, I found a comfortable spot on the ground.

  The river’s flow lulled me. Leaves fluttered in the breeze. A bumblebee hummed nearby. The sun’s warmth took hold of me and pulled me down, down, down…

  Rolling onto my side, I snuggled a corner of my shirt beneath my chin. I slipped into a dream where I walked through a field beside Cooper, my fingers brushing the tips of tall, spiky grass. He smiled and said my name in such a sweet voice, I longed to lean into his chest, stroke his face, and pull his essence inside me.

  Ginny.

  I stirred and then drifted deeper. Cooper leaned closer…

  Ginny.

  The whisper pulled at my consciousness and I mumbled, rolling onto my back. The dream. I wanted to go back to the dream, but something deep inside me told me I needed to wake up. My eyes slid open to take in the sun. From the angle of the light slanting through the trees, I hadn’t been asleep long.

  Ginny.

  That voice. It was insistent. And here.

  I sat upright, then jumped to my feet. Spinning, I studied the dense forest. The river. The mountain range looming nearby.

  Nothing. No one. I was alone.

  Or was I?

  “Cooper?” I called. In a normal tone, not loud and shrill like I yearned to do. He said he’d stay close, and I didn’t want him believing he had to rush to my side every other second. I wasn’t a puny, clinging thing who needed someone to save her, like I’d been when I moved home. The determination to save myself had been growing inside me for weeks.

  Ginny.

  The guttural whisper came from behind me.

  I pivoted to face downstream. Anxiety spiked up my back and lifted goosebumps all over my body. I rushed over to where we’d left our things and shoved my feet into my sandals. Grabbing my shirt, I yanked it over my head.

  Ginny.

  “Who’s there?” Turning, I tried to place where the voice had come from. The river churned, and the birds…Wait, the birds who’d chirped earlier had grown silent. Like they did when something moved nearby.

  Or when someone hunted.

  “Cooper?”

  Deep, coarse laughter echoed around me.

  My heart lunged up into my throat. “Cooper!”

  Unable to remember in which direction he’d walked, I ran for the path. My arms pumped, and my sandals smacked the dirt. Brambles raked my legs, slicing my exposed flesh. I darted into the forest, and it hauled me into its smothering embrace. Where the sun never reached, darkness lurked. It waited.

  The leaves quaked overhead, whispering, you’re not safe.

  I’d never be safe.

  A guttural cry burst out of me. Racing forward, I tripped over a fallen branch. My body flashed cold with sweat. As adrenalin sank through me, my leg muscles spasmed.

  Footsteps hit the forest floor behind me. Heavy and persistent. Coming closer. No time to look.

  Go faster! I had to get to the car. The road. I needed to reach Eli.

  “No.” Air wheezed from my lungs. Whimpering, I glanced over my shoulder while pushing for more speed.

  There was no one there.

  Scrambling backward, I smacked into someone. My shriek echoed through the woods, and I blubbered, trying to wrench free.

  “Ginny!” Cooper held me steady, his fingers snug on my upper arms. His worried gaze locked onto mine. “You okay? Your scream…You scared the shit out of me.”

  “Something is…Someone’s after me.”
I spoke wildly, and birds squawked and flew up from nearby trees. My breath coming fast, I could barely speak. A quick look toward the river again showed no one was there. “Someone was calling my name. Chasing me.”

  Cooper shifted me to the side and strode down the path. “Wait here.”

  No way. I crept behind him, blood seeping down my thigh from where I’d scraped it.

  Halfway to the river, Cooper dropped to his heels and stared at the ground. He traced his fingertip along an oval pattern. “Hmm.” Standing, he took my hands and squeezed them. “Let’s get you to the car. You can wait there while I look around some more.”

  “I want to stay with you.”

  “We can lock the doors. You’ll be safe inside.” Terror must’ve stood out starkly on my face, because he pulled me into his arms. “It’s all right,” he said into my hair. “It’s going to be all right.”

  Sunshine had kissed his skin, and I soaked in his heat. His reassurance. And I told my heart to stop racing, my breathing to ease. Because I’d let fear drag me beyond control again. This could be nothing, just my imagination going haywire.

  I shifted away from him and raked my hair off my face, securing it at my nape with an elastic. While my trembling lips might still give me away, I lifted my chin. “I can wait in the car. You’ll go with me, though?”

  “Of course.” Taking my hand, he led me up the path.

  We reached the edge of the forest and emerged into the sunlight. Crickets sang from the deep grass beside the road and in the distance, a lawnmower growled.

  Normal sounds on a day when nothing felt normal.

  Cooper opened the passenger door, and I dropped onto my seat. Though it was hotter than an oven inside, the warmth couldn’t penetrate my shivers.

  “I won’t be long.” Before he shut the door, he leaned in to cup my face and stare into my eyes. “You’ll be okay. I promise.”

  Promises kept were rarer than gold in these hills.

  I knew he only meant to comfort me, to lend me some of his strength, but I couldn’t keep from grabbing onto his words and holding them close. They helped crowd out the fear.

  “Watch out,” I said as he shut the door.

  He gave a curt nod before turning and striding back toward the woods.

  I was left alone in silence broken only by a click when my finger engaged the car door’s locking mechanism.

  8

  Cooper

  Keeping my tread light, I made my way back to the path. I was soon engulfed in heavy woods where the creatures stilled due to my movement. I stopped to listen as they did. Silence greeted me, leaving me no clue as to what had recently gone on here.

  Who the hell was messing with Ginny? Anger and frustration surged through me.

  I cursed myself for wanting to hide my body’s response to her earlier, because it had pulled me away from her side. I’d only been gone a short time, had barely rounded a couple bends in the river. I’d stopped and was thinking about dipping my pan into the small pool I’d discovered.

  When she screamed, my heart flatlined. The thought that someone was hurting her froze my guts solid then sent blood roaring through me. I scrambled over logs and around trees, racing back to where I’d left her. Alone. Without my protection. At a dead run, I hit the area where we’d eaten lunch and found only her pack. No Ginny. As if someone had snatched her up and taken her away.

  Hell, no.

  Cutting through the woods in a direct route for the road, I’d plowed through blackberry thickets and leaped over fallen trees, eventually finding myself ahead of her when I reached the path. Seeing her approach, I’d called her name. As if she hadn’t heard me, she’d slammed into me. It was all I could do to reassure her. Her body…She’d trembled in my arms. Only my anger at whoever had done this kept me from shaking along with her.

  Time to track down the person responsible and demand some answers.

  I came to the place where we collided and slowed. Stopping again, I listened. Only the shuffle of tiny animals further inside the forest and the soothing tones of the river reached my ears.

  With a slower pace, I trailed Ginny’s steps along the packed dirt, pausing to assess for other tracks outside ours. A few bent blades of grass here and a broken stick there, but nothing indicated anyone else had been this way except us. There’d been next to no rain for weeks, though, which made it difficult to find anything on the hard-packed ground.

  I continued down the path, almost reaching the place where we’d put sunscreen on each other. Dropping to my heels again, I studied the ground.

  There. A shoeprint. Lightly pressed into the soil. From today? Not any earlier than yesterday. But sometimes, it was hard to tell.

  Tracking forward, I found another mark where the grass was lightly crushed. Then a spot where the deeper compression showed someone had stood for some time. Ahead, the river glistened through the trees. Someone could’ve watched me and Ginny while we panned for gold. When I stroked her arm and ached to kiss her. When we sat on the bank eating.

  Crap. They might’ve stood here and watched while I left her to walk off my heat.

  We’d passed an old guy carrying fishing gear on the road. These could be his tracks. He could’ve paused earlier in this very place for some random reason having nothing to do with us.

  Which…didn’t sound quite right.

  Why couldn’t I explain this away with the fisherman?

  Ginny was waiting in the car, scared out of her mind. I needed to get back there and reassure her. Make her realize I’d keep her from further harm for as long as I could.

  With nothing more I could do here, I grabbed my shirt off the bank and pulled it on. After gathering up our things, I jogged up the path.

  Ginny’s concerned expression smoothed when she spotted me emerging from the woods. I was sorry she’d been frightened with me gone, but it made more sense to leave her in the car while I looked around. If I’d come across someone, she was safer here.

  As I approached, she unlocked the car and climbed out, wiping her hand across her forehead. “Wow. I was melting in there.”

  “See anyone?” I asked.

  “Nobody but two red squirrels.” Her shoulders relaxed and her eyes brightened, taking on that spark I’d savored on more than one occasion. She pointed to a few maple trees growing on the side of the road. “I think you pissed them off. They threw acorns at your car.”

  Her laugh loosened the limbs I’d held tight as I rushed up the path. The grin I released made my cheekbones throb. “Maybe I should make a citizen’s arrest. Haul them into town for prosecution.”

  She laughed. “Good luck with that.”

  I tossed our things into the trunk, and we got inside the car, where I cranked the AC to high and put the windows down.

  “What did you find?” she asked as I turned the vehicle around and started driving down the road.

  “Not much. A few tracks that could’ve been from anyone.”

  “I heard someone. They called my name.” My glance caught her lowering her eyes to her hands clenched on her lap. She kept massaging her right wrist as if it hurt. “I swear, whoever it was laughed at me.”

  “We saw a fisherman when we drove in.” I pulled out onto the main road.

  Her head tilted, and she squinted at me. “Do you think it was the fisherman? He could’ve come down to the river to fish.” Hope bloomed in her voice. “Maybe I was mistaken about someone calling my name. I’d been dreaming and…”

  I grumbled because I wasn’t sure. But telling her I suspected anything else might make things worse. Before I spoke further, I needed time to analyze the situation. “Who could it be other than him?”

  “I don’t know. Not sure why he’d chase me, though.”

  Valid point. “Did you recognize the voice?”

  She shrugged. “I was sleeping. It startled me awake.” Her voice grew quiet. “I was scared.”

  Reaching across the console, I took her hand.

  “Do you believe me?�
�� The urgency in her tone told me my answer meant a lot to her. “That I heard someone calling me?”

  “I do.” Not sure why I didn’t have doubts, other than I knew Ginny would never make up something like this.

  “Thank you.”

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you, not even to take a walk.”

  “It’s okay.” The defeat in her voice made me want to put the car into park and gather her into my arms. Would she let me? Probably. Only because she’d had the fright of her life.

  I was honest enough to admit I wanted it to mean more to her than comfort.

  9

  Ginny

  I lowered the dish drainer onto the picnic table. “Guys, I think it’s time for a fire.”

  After returning to the campground, Cooper had suggested we call the police, but what could I tell them? While I was napping in the sun, I thought I heard someone calling my name from the woods. But I didn’t see anyone, and Cooper didn’t find any tracks to speak of.

  Oh, and I could tell the sheriff that I’d bolted like a fool, running and sobbing and screaming through the woods like a demented banshee. He’d probably question whether I’d been drinking, which I hadn’t, but still.

  I must’ve been mistaken. Waking from a dream, I’d imagined the entire incident. Panicked.

  It seemed a shame to ruin our weekend over something so silly.

  “A fire sounds great,” Cooper said.

  The sun had tucked itself below the horizon, dragging away the warmth I’d complained about earlier in the day. Shivers rippled along my bare skin. I’d need to grab a sweatshirt from my tent soon.

  Eli had returned from work this afternoon, in time for dinner. His boss’s son-in-law, the third security guard, was going to fill in here and there for Steve, with Eli covering the other shifts as needed. I’d suggested we return to town, but Eli wanted to get what he could out of the camping weekend, even if he had to work.