Lost in Paradise

by Tianna Xander

  Built like a football player, she was certain the man could bench press a small car. She stared at him for a moment. Scratch that. He could probably bench press a mid-sized car. He carried a large, odd-shaped can in one hand, the other held a small cloth bag. It appeared as though the bag held rocks or something else of an equal size and shape.

  “Where am I?” Moving slowly, she sat up and looked around. It was obvious that she was in a cabin, but…where was the cabin? How far did she travel down that river?

  “You’re in a cabin on the outskirts of Paradise.” Moving closer, he knelt next to the bed and reached out.

  Stacia flinched back, She didn’t know this man. Why would she want him touching her?

  “I’m not going to hurt you. I was just going to introduce myself.” He held out his hand again, palm up. “I’m Noah Gibb.”

  “I’m Stacia Naylor.” She still didn’t want to touch the man. She didn’t know a thing about him. Wasn’t she at enough of a disadvantage without giving the man possession of her hand?

  When she didn’t offer her hand, he felt her forehead. “I just wanted to see if you had a fever. There’s a bottle of aspirin in the bathroom if you have a headache. You’ve got a pretty bad lump on the back of your head.”

  “You have a bathroom here?” Stacia sat up with a grimace as her head pounded. The place didn’t look big enough to have a separate room for washing.

  Reaching up, she felt the back of her head. He was right. She had a huge lump back there. “Do you think I could take a shower?” A nice warm shower sounded lovely. Maybe it would ease some of her aches and pains.

  “Of course you can take a shower. We have a generator to run the well, water heater, and a small refrigerator while we’re here.” He grinned. There isn’t much in the fridge. We’d planned to live off the land while we were here.”

  Her gaze shifted to one of his large hands. “Canned ham is living off the land?” She grinned. If he’d wanted to appear macho, he should have lost the ham before announcing his arrival.

  “Well…” He grinned. “We had been eating fish from the river, and wild onions and potatoes that someone had thoughtfully stored in the root cellar last fall. When you arrived, we thought it best to get one of the canned hams someone left down there and make a stew.”

  “Ham stew?” She wrinkled her nose. “Why not slice it and fry it? You could also fry up the potatoes and onions. You could even cook it all in the same pan. It wouldn’t be stew, but I suppose it would be close and have more flavor than something that would simmer all day in a pan of water.”

  “I knew I liked you, the minute I laid eyes on you.” He smiled again. “That’s a wonderful idea.”

  “Great. I’m glad you liked it.” She moved to sit up and frowned. She’d planned to ask him to direct her to the bathroom and the shower. “Why am I naked?”

  “Oh. I should have mentioned that,” he said as he walked away. It was as though it was perfectly normal for him to undress strange women in his cabin on the outskirts of Paradise—wherever that was. “You were wet and freezing. We thought it best to get you out of your wet clothes.”

  There it was again. That we word. It had barely registered the first time he said it. He must have a wife or girlfriend with him. If so, maybe it wasn’t as bad as she thought and that the woman had undressed her. It was unsettling to think of a strange man undressing her.

  “You said we before. Are you up here with your wife?”

  Noah laughed as he dug a large frying pan out of the cabinet next to the sink. “Hardly. I don’t think anyone wants to marry the ass I’m up here with.” Still smiling, he placed the pan on the stove. “We’re up here because it was our turn to stay here for the weekend. We have special…duties while we’re here.”

  “Oh.” Stacia pressed her lips together. That was a mean thing to say about a person, even if he was up here because their boss had ordered them up here to work. “Isn’t kind of mean to assume no one would want to spend time with her?”

  “Her? What?” He frowned as he turned to look at her. “I’m not up here with a woman.

  “Oh, God.” She held the blanket tighter about her. “Your companion is a man?” She looked down at herself, her face burning as she realized it had been a strange man who undressed her after all. “Which one of you took my clothes off?”

  “Oh. I understand now.” He gave her another one of those devastating smiles of his. “I did. But it was dark and I kept the lights off so I wouldn’t see much.” He winked. “I promise.”

  Sure he had. Holding the covers tight, Stacia flopped back on the bed and threw her arm over her face. Could things get any worse?

  At that moment, a loud pounding came from just outside the wall next to the bed. “What’s that?”

  “That’s most likely Ronan. He went to go call for help. With luck, we’ll have you down the mountain and at Doc Martin’s in no time.”

  “You said that we were on the outskirts of Paradise. Where exactly is Paradise?”

  “We’re about fifty miles south of Mason, as the crow flies.” He had just finished slicing the ham when the door burst open, and another god on Earth walked through the door. Taller than Noah, his head almost brushed the ceiling as he walked through the door.

  Dark brown hair hung to his broad shoulders. He wore a tattoo of a snarling cat on his left bicep. Like Noah, he was shirtless. Button fly jeans rode low on his hips. His large, bare feet were dirty, as though he’d hiked down the mountain barefoot. Perhaps he had. They both seemed the mountain man type.

  “I finally got in touch with the sheriff. He’s sending up a rescue unit to take the girl down the mountain. Did you find anything to eat?”

  Chapter Four

  She’s awake. For God’s sake, don’t scare the shit out of her. Remember, she’s human and she knows nothing about us, Noah said to Ronan as soon as he burst through the door. You’ve already scared her half to death, bursting in like that.

  “Our guest has awoken, Ronan.” Noah moved forward and indicated the bed against the front wall. “This is Stacia Naylor,” he added with a smile.

  Stop scowling. She’s liable to think that you mean to harm her. She’s rather skittish. I haven’t had the time to ask her how she made it to the river.

  That wasn’t entirely true. He’d had the time. Noah knew he’d had plenty of time to find out why she was in the river, banged up and bleeding. He just hadn’t wanted to take the time. Mostly, he’d wanted to get to know the woman, though he had no idea why.

  For some reason, finding out about the woman had seemed more important than finding out what happened to her. He still liked the way she smelled, but there was nothing remarkable about her scent.

  The woman couldn’t possibly be their mate. Everyone he’d ever talked to about it had said that they had known their mate almost immediately after scenting them.

  While Stacia Naylor smelled almost good enough to eat, it didn’t make his blood boil with the need to be with her, to make love to her, the way he’d heard should happen with a real triad mate.

  He stared at the woman. Her dark hair was a mess. She would probably cry when she saw herself in the mirror. Dark circles under her eyes told him that she needed rest. Lots of rest.

  When he first reentered the cabin, she’d looked up at him with those strange amber eyes filled with distrust.

  He couldn’t blame her. A lot of things could happen to a lone woman in the mountains, which brought him back to wondering what she’d been doing in the water in the first place.

  “How did you end up in the river?” Noah finally managed to voice the question they had both wondered about ever since they saw her on her knees in the river, throwing up a river of water.

  You haven’t asked her that yet? Ronan gave a disgusted sigh. Maybe you should have made the call.

  Any other time, Noah would have replied to that remark, but Stacia looked up at him, tears in her unusual eyes.

&nb
sp; “Grizzlies. They attacked our camp.” Sniffling, she wiped the back of her arm across her face. “I’d finished setting up my gear first. I remember I was kind of upset at Buffy.” She stared at the floor. “Buffy was Brian, the tax attorney’s girlfriend. She was a greenie. She never should have been there.”

  “A greenie?” Noah had never heard that term before—at least never applied to a woman.

  “Yeah. She wasn’t experienced in the least.”

  “Experienced at what?” Ronan asked as he grabbed two chairs from the table and dragged them over to the bed. He plunked one down next to Noah, sitting in the other.

  “Hiking.” She sniffed again. “We were all hiking. We were supposed to hike from just south of British Columbia to Helena. It was a commercial hiking expedition. At least it was supposed to be.” She bit her lip. “I’m not sure where we were when the grizzlies attacked. I only remember running for the river, hoping that I could lose them if I jumped into the rapids.”

  “Rapids would explain the lump on the back of her head,” Noah said as he looked at Ronan.

  “And you have no idea where you were when they attacked?” Ronan leaned forward in his seat. “Any idea would be better than nothing. We could attempt to send out a search party, if we had an idea.”

  She shook her head. I only know that we were five days out of the area where we started. I know the guide had said something about being a day from Flathead lake, but that’s all I know.”

  Noah met Ronan’s gaze. “The lake isn’t far from here.” Do you think the sheriff could pull together a search party? A group from Mason, maybe?

  Mason would be about a day’s walk from Flathead lake. If Mason had man eaters nearby, he was sure the town’s sheriff would want to know about it.

  “Go call the sheriff and tell him about this new set of developments,” Ronan said as he stood. “I’ll stay here and finish the meal you started. It will still be at least an hour and a half before the rescue workers arrive and I’m starving. ”

  “Okay. I’ve finished dicing up the ham into chunks and washed the potatoes and onions. Just slice it up and fry it all together. I’ll be right back.”

  Chapter Five

  “Noah was just about to tell me where your bathroom is, when you came back,” Stacia said as she yanked the sheet from the bed and wrapped it around her. “Would you care to enlighten me, instead?”

  Standing, Stacia tried not to stare at Ronan. She really did. How would she ever sit across a table from the man and eat when she couldn’t stop staring. She’d be drooling next.

  She took a step forward and grimaced. Her legs ached. Her feet were on fire and she could swear someone had beat her about the lower back and hips with a baseball bat. Yes. She definitely needed a soak in some hot water, though a shower would do.

  “I’d really like to get washed up. I feel sticky and gritty.” It was most likely from the sand and river water. It was okay to wash in the river when there were no other facilities, but Stacia refused to walk down to the river for a bath, wearing nothing.

  It had been bad enough to wash in the river with the group. She never knew if one of the guys had been watching them while they bathed. Of course, had they ever caught the men nearby, they would have said something like, I was only here in case you screamed. I wasn’t watching, I swear.

  Stacia had heard that before, from her ex-boyfriend. The jerk watched her and the three girls they had taken hiking as an underprivileged teen camping trip.

  Not only had she lost her license as a guide because of it, she’d had to declare bankruptcy because the parents had sued. Of course Larry had ended up in jail and as far as she was concerned, it served his perverted ass right.

  It had taken her five years to trust a guide enough to hike with him in a co-ed atmosphere and look at what had happened.

  Maybe Stacia needed to give up hiking altogether. She loved it, but apparently, it didn’t love her. Or, rather, it loved to rake her life over the coals.

  Stacia had no reason to trust this man. For all she knew, he could have wanted to stay behind because he intended to force himself on her. At the very least, he probably intended to make a pass. Men were dogs. All of them.

  “Sure. I’ll show it to you,” Ronan said as he limped over to a doorway just past the stove. She hadn’t seen the door before. She wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because she had a headache from hell and she could barely keep her eyes open because of it.

  Ronan opened the door and ushered her into a room that was quite a bit larger than she’d suspected.

  “Sometimes men bring their wives when they’re sent up here. The women like the larger room.” He smiled and Stacia’s knees went weak.

  When he smiled, his entire face transformed. It was as though the smile lit up his entire face. He resembled a little boy at Christmas who had just gotten the gift he wanted most.

  Returning his smile, she held the sheet tighter. “I’m going to take a bath, if you don’t mind.” She bit her lip then frowned. “Where are my clothes?”

  The last thing she wanted to do was dress up in dirty clothes after her bath, but she didn’t have much of a choice.

  “I washed them this morning before I headed down the mountain to make a call.”

  He didn’t remind her that the reason he’d walked down some mountain trail barefoot was to call rescue workers in for her.

  “You know, I never thanked you and Noah for rescuing me.” She smiled and, taking a leap of faith, she held out her hand. “I’m Stacia Naylor. It’s nice to meet you, Ronan.”

  She stared up into his dark eyes and wondered how a man could possibly be so beautiful.

  Thick, dark lashes framed his masculine face. His nose was a blade, straight. His dark brows arched perfectly over dark brown eyes.

  “There’s shampoo and soap in there. You’re welcome to use it.” He raised his arm and leaned against the door frame. It was all Stacia could do to keep herself from inviting the man to join her.

  What was wrong with her? She frowned. Stacia Naylor was not in the habit of bathing with strange men, no matter how beautiful they were.

  Chapter Six

  Ronan stared down into the girl’s face. He wanted to kiss her, though he had no idea why. She wasn’t his mate. She couldn’t be. Everyone had said that a mate’s scent would drive him wild.

  While he found the woman attractive, he wasn’t crazy about her—not in that sense, anyway.

  Still, she looked up at him through those beautiful amber eyes and he could almost imagine how she would look as a Jaguar. Her coat would be a mottled brown. The darker rosettes on her coat would shine with golden highlights and she would stare at him with those amber, cat-eyes.

  Just the thought made him want the woman more than he already did. His groin ached with the need for release.

  “Thank you for that. I’m sure I’ll wash my hair two or three times to get the sand out of it, if you don’t mind.”

  “No.” He shook his head. Blinking slowly, he had the most incredible urge to make her run, just so he could chase after her. “I don’t mind. Use as much of it as you need.”

  “Thanks again.” Smiling, she shut the door in his face. The sound of the lock clicking into place punctuated the sound of the door shutting and Ronan could do nothing but stare at the closed door for several minutes.

  After what seemed an eternity, he heard Stacia turn on the water and he stepped away from the door with a shake of his head. “What in the hell is the matter with you, Baldwin?” Shaking his head, he stalked into the kitchen to finish their meal.

  The scent of seaweed and river water filled his senses as he stood at the counter and chopped onions and potatoes until they were in tiny cubes.

  “She’s not your mate.” Just saying the words made him growl. Why was he so attracted to her? Why couldn’t he concentrate on his task? He couldn’t concentrate on anything but the woman in the bathroom.

  It didn’t matte
r that she wasn’t his mate. All that seemed to matter was entering that bathroom, climbing into that tub with her and thrusting his cock inside her…repeatedly. But why?

  Turning, he stared at the bathroom door. She wasn’t their mate. She couldn’t be. She didn’t arouse the heat in him. He didn’t feel the burning need of the el calor. He only felt the need to possess her.

  Ronan spun around and faced the sink once more. He concentrated on finishing his task and, when done, scraped the raw vegetables into the pan with the ham.

  Maybe it was this domestic task making him feel this way. He never cooked if he could avoid it. Perhaps the act of cooking, made him want to have a woman by his side. Maybe he was just too damned old to be alone still, or maybe, just maybe, he was tired of having no one but Noah in his life.

  “That’s a lot of maybes,” he said to himself as he stared through the window over the sink.

  Ronan turned their meal one last time before heading outside. He needed a bath himself. Rounding the side of the cabin, he turned on the water and picked up the hose. He’d wash out here. There was a bar of natural soap and he’d dry off well enough in the sun. It wasn’t warm yet, by any means, but at least he’d smell better.

  Why he was worried about it was beyond him. He certainly wasn’t washing the stink off of himself to please the woman. She wasn’t his mate and he wasn’t about to touch her.

  Ronan smiled at that thought. The hell he wasn’t.

  Chapter Seven

  Stacia soaked in the tub as long as she dared. Though the hot water stung her legs when she’d first climbed into the tub, they felt better now. Soaking had cleansed a good portion of the dirt from her wounds and the hot water relaxed her stiff muscles.

  Having almost fallen asleep a few times, she decided it was time to get out of the tub before she passed out and drowned in the tub. She didn’t want to narrowly escape drowning in the river only to do so in a tub.