by K. L. Donn
“We have to get her inside and warmed up,” he replied, looking around them. “We need to come up with some kind of a stretcher first, something to keep her stable.” Passing over a neck brace and survival blanket, he told Ace, “Put these on her.”
Wrapping the blanket tightly around her wet body, he hoped it was enough to combat the cold he was sure had seeped into her bones already. Gently lifting her head, he slipped the cuff of the brace under her neck before strapping it around to protect any further damage to her spine.
Giving a whistle, Roxie ran over from where she was sniffing around a bush. “Down,” he told her, pointing to the woman’s side in hopes the dog’s body heat would help warm her up.
Standing up, he looked to see Nick collecting sturdy branches, so he joined the hunt. Once they had enough, they made quick work building a make-shift backboard by tying the sticks together with the climbing rope Nick had in his bag.
“This should do,” he told Ace. “Roll her to her side, and I’ll slip it under her.” They worked as one, strapping her on the board before he called it in to dispatch, telling them they were going back to Nick’s cabin.
The cuts and bruises all over her face were stark in the sunlight reflecting off the fresh snow as it fell. “Fuck,” Ace cursed, seeing the deep teeth marks in her cheek.
“What?” Nick barked out from his position leading the way down the mountain.
“She’s got a bite mark on her cheek. It’s fucking deep, man.”
A quick look back had Nick swearing up a storm, too. “Motherfucking son of a bitch!”
Shit.
When Nick started cursing like that, Ace knew he was pissed. The man never swore in front of a woman, unconscious or not. His cousin had a firm belief that women were to be respected no matter what. He was an old-school kind of guy, probably because of the quiet town they lived in. A lot of old-timers nosed their way into everyone else’s business. Pushed their old-fashioned rules on the younger generations as well.
“What do you think happened?” Ace wondered aloud.
“Some son of a bitch didn’t appreciate a fucking woman is what.” Nick was taking it personally.
“Calm down, Nick, before you do something stupid,” he said.
“I warned the Kicking Horse not to go global. Bad clientele would come around. I’ll bet my last fucking dollar it’s some greased up city slicker thinking he can come into my town and fuck shit up. Hell to the fucking no.”
Ace had the feeling Nick was more talking to himself than to him. It was a hit to the other man’s ego so he could understand. He was fuming, too. No woman should ever be treated with such brutality, such hatred.
He had to wonder who she was, where she came from, and why this had happened. With the amount of dried blood around and leading up to her, he was concerned about what they weren’t seeing and if there were any internal issues they didn’t know about.
The snowfall turned heavier the further they walked, and by the time they reached the SUV, it was almost a complete whiteout.
“We taking her home?” Ace asked.
“Yeah, won’t be able to navigate to town in these conditions,” Nick replied, looking up to the sky.
Opening the hatchback, they laid her down in the back. Roxie hopped in, dropped her head to the floor, and whined like the mystery woman was a long-lost friend.
“New friend, huh?” Nick laughed at her.
“You wanna ride back here, and I’ll drive?” Ace asks. His cousin stared at her, his eyes roaming her body before nodding.
Sliding in to sit beside their mystery woman, Nick watched her laboured breathing, worried she might have critical or possibly life-threatening injuries and die before they knew her name. With no idea of how long she’d been exposed to the elements, all they could do was hope for the best and pray she was a fighter.
The bruising on her face indicated she was left outside overnight. Grabbing the med kit he kept in his truck, he pulled out gauze, peroxide, and polysporin to clean up the bite mark and the few scratches on her face. He couldn’t begin to imagine what had transpired that led to her being assaulted so badly. The cop in him wanted to hunt her assailant down and make him pay. The man in him wanted to find out everything he could about her.
Despite being nearly translucent from the cold, her skin had a natural warm coloring to it, playing off of her dark hair. She had a quiet beauty about her that he admired. Her cold, clammy, sweaty skin had him worried about pneumonia. Hypothermia they could try to combat with heat, but he had no antibiotics to fight anything more serious. With the weather getting worse by the minute, taking her anywhere other than home wasn’t an option.
“These fucking roads are a bitch, man,” Ace complained from up front.
“This ain’t nothing yet. It’s going to get twice as bad before long,” Nick responded as he finished bandaging the woman’s cheek.
A short while later, they pulled up to his small cabin, opened the hatchback, and he jumped out, gently pulling the make-shift stretcher with him as Ace came around the side, and Roxie danced at their feet. When she started whining and jumping, attempting to get on it with the woman, he barked out, “Enough,” and she finally calmed down.
“Christ, you’d think it was her long-lost owner or some shit,” Ace laughed.
“I don’t know what’s up her ass, but she needs to cool it.” He pointedly looked at the dog, whose body was vibrating with excitement as she fought his command.
Following Ace inside, they headed straight for Nick’s room. It contained a fireplace, so they knew she was better off in his bed. Carefully placing the stretcher on the mattress, they began the slow roll and tug to get her unstrapped. Quietly working around each other, they finally got her settled in the middle.
Standing at the end of the bed, they quietly watched the slow rise and fall of her chest beneath her damp clothes.
“We gotta undress her,” Ace commented absently.
They both seemed to be transfixed by her. “Yup,” he agreed. “Leave her underwear if it’s dry?” he asked, wanting to conserve her modesty the best they could.
“Yup.”
Christ, what was it about this woman? They were both struck immobile by a seemingly invisible, yet potent chemistry to an unconscious woman.
“Is she local?” Ace’s question drew him from his intent stare.
“Not that I’ve ever seen,” Nick responds, studying her features a little closer, trying to determine if the bruising is, in fact, hiding a familiar face.
Brushing the hair from the mottled skin around her eyes, he was startled and took a step back as she let out a pain-filled moan, her back arching in her despair. Relief swamped him, not that she was in pain but more at the fact she was moving. Her actions could mean that her head trauma might not be as severe as they feared.
“Grab a couple washcloths and a bowl of warm water,” he instructed his cousin.
Ace’s footsteps raced from the room to do his bidding while Nick slowly began to remove her pants. His anger flared as bruises the size of a large man’s boot were quickly discovered the lower he went. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what type of man would hurt such a fragile creature.
Tossing her bottoms in the general direction of his hamper, Nick went into the bathroom to get a towel to dry her hair after covering her legs with a duvet. When he came back in the room, Ace was there with the items he’d requested and was beginning to stoke a fire to warm her up.
“You think she’ll be okay?” he asked.
Staring at the voluptuous woman in his bed, ice cold, bruised, and broken, he honestly couldn’t say for sure. He wanted her to be; fuck did he ever. He’d like to know her name, find out what color eyes she had, and if they’d be hot with fire or soft with happiness. Nick wanted to know everything he could about the mystery woman.
“Nick?” Ace called him when he didn’t answer his initial question.
“Fuckin’ wish I knew, bro. This woman should be held tight and worsh
ipped, not battered and used.” The words slipped past his lips without thought, and it brought him peace. She could be it, she could be theirs, and there wasn’t a fucking thing they could do until she awoke from her slumber.
The two men kept watch over their guest for the rest of the day. Nick had called a neighbor who, thankfully, was also a doctor to come see if they should be worried about her condition more than they already were. The man was set to be there early the following morning once the snow stopped.
They repeatedly checked in with dispatch to find out if anyone had reported a woman missing. There was nothing, which didn’t surprise Ace too much. In a way, he was glad. It meant they could care for her, maybe even get to know her. Except, if no one was looking for her, then there were so many open questions. The biggest being who hurt her.
“We can’t keep calling her, her,” Ace told Nick as the other man checked her temperature once again. “We have to give her a name or something.”
“Alright,” Nick agreed. “She’s down to one hundred.”
They’d kept her wrapped up in blankets all day with the fireplace blazing. For a while, they’d lain on either side of her to provide her with their body heat. He was happy to note it was working.
Gazing out the window, Ace watched as the snow fell as heavy as a summer rainstorm. It was a complete wall of white, and he knew enough about Canadian winter storms to know it wasn’t stopping anytime soon. They would be snowed in for days.
“What about Snow?” He looked to Nick to see a smile light his face.
“It’s pretty fitting.”
“Snow it is.” He smiled at her.
Snow.
A whimpering sound from the doorway had them both whipping their heads to see Roxie laying there, her eyes intent on Snow, her body vibrating with the need to meet her new mistress.
“Fuckin’ dog,” Nick grumbled patting his leg from his perch on the chair beside his bed. Roxie quickly made her way to him. Looking from Nick to the woman, she jumped on the bed and lay her head on Snow’s chest, nuzzling her and whining faintly.
“What is with her?” Ace wondered aloud.
“Not a clue. Come on, let’s go eat.” Nick stood as Ace followed suit, walking out of the room, leaving Roxie to care for their guest.
Pulling two containers of last night’s leftover stew out of the fridge, Nick handed him one as he walked past to place his own in the microwave. They sat in silence as their meals reheated, neither sure what to do about their guest. Would she even remember what had happened to her? If she did, he was a little afraid that she’d want to leave them. It was ridiculous, but Ace felt connected to her. He didn’t know her name, her eye color, or where she was from. He’d be fucked if he didn’t admit the attraction he felt for her.
“Do you think she’ll remember?” he blurted out, wondering if some type of amnesia could be a problem when she came to.
“What?” Nick looked towards him, a confused light in his dark brown eyes.
“Do you think she’ll know what happened?” he reiterated.
“Are you thinking she might have amnesia?”
“I don’t know. I mean, would it be so far-fetched? We don’t know how long she was out there for, she has a head injury, and she was fucking beaten. Can’t say I’d be surprised if that is how she protects herself when she wakes up…If she wakes up.”
“Shit,” Nick mumbled under his breath. “We’ll take turns watching her overnight.”
With his last command, Ace watched as his cousin walked away. They were in a shitty fucking position. Neither of them had voiced it aloud, but he knew they were both thinking it. She could be it. She could be theirs. And yet, she might already be taken.
“Fuck,” he growled, rubbing a rough hand down his face.
She could reject them.
Chapter Two
Rough timber, warm light, soft yet hard hands.
It was all she felt, heard.
Wanted.
Her head was splitting like she had a hundred jackhammers pounding at her skull. Her body felt numb with pain, but nevertheless, throbbed with every beat of her heart.
Whispers were heard wherever she was. Encased in warmth, she had to wonder if she really wanted to wake. Was she safe, was he there, who was he? Turbulent questions ran through her mind like the race cars at Daytona. With no answers, her mind weakened. Her heart slowed to a snail’s pace.
The bed bounced, shocking her system into a pain so intense her breathing stalled. Soft murmurs could be heard quieting her moans. A light touch on her cheek was soothing, had her turning her head into the warmth and security offered to her fractured body.
As her mind and body finally relaxed into the heated comfort surrounding her frame, one thought stood out among the rest…
What’s my name?
Her moaning woke Nick from the light sleep he’d been sucked into after a restless night of pacing back and forth. When he finally sat down, he had crashed. His ass had barely been in the chair when his eyes drifted shut.
As Snow’s moaning grew louder, he jerked awake. Knowing immediately that she was in turmoil, he tucked the blankets further around her. Rubbing her cheek lightly, he spoke quietly to her as Roxie rolled around on the floor, only settling down once she did.
He and Ace felt bonded to her in a primitive way. He knew down to his bones that she was it for them. She was theirs. They had a long road ahead of not only healing her but getting to know her as well. Because while they knew who and what she was to them, she had no clue they even existed.
Twenty-four hours ago, he was drowning his sorrows in the bottom of a bottle because he had yet to find a woman who even peaked his interest, and now here she was. Ripe for the taking and completely off-limits.
When he looked at her nearly nude body as he and Ace had tried to clean her up the best they could, he’d been struck stupid by her sheer beauty. Curves for miles, thick thighs. Hips ready to take a man in his urgent hunger. She was everything he’d ever hoped for in a woman. Pure perfection. If only his unnatural fear of rejection would quit rearing its ugly head.
He wouldn’t accept anything less than her complete surrender to their will. She wasn’t married, no tan lines on her ring finger confirmed that. No pregnancy stretch marks to indicate she had children. So, he figured the worst they had to deal with was a boyfriend.
Frankly, if a man lost a woman like her, then he didn’t deserve her. She was better than what any guy could ever give her.
“How’s she doing?” Ace asked, coming into the dark room.
“Woke up moaning a few minutes ago. Roxie seems to be in tune with her, too.” Damn dog.
“Wanna catch some shut-eye while I watch her?”
Looking back at Snow, Nick had an ache in his chest just from the thought of not being in the same room as her. He couldn’t stand not to be near her. What if she needed him?
Fuck.
“I’ll go chop some more wood,” he told Ace as he got to his feet.
“Dude, it’s still dark out!” Ace called as he was putting his boots and coat on.
“I’m cutting fucking wood! Roxie!”
Nick needed space. Time to wrap his head around the fact that he was deeply embedded in having this woman in his life. The idea of not seeing her was unfathomable. She possessed his soul without ever doing a fucking thing. How was he supposed to process that? He couldn’t get attached. Not until he knew for sure who she was and what she was doing beaten up on that damn mountain.
Given half the chance, he would give her everything she deserved and more. Ace would, as well. He knew it as surely as he breathed. There was nothing they wouldn’t do for that one woman meant to be theirs.
She had to wake up first.
The fact she had been unconscious in his bed for nearly twenty hours worried him. He was concerned about not only a concussion and possible amnesia, but a potential brain bleed. He wasn’t equipped to deal with anything worse than stitches in his little mountain cabin. Hell
, Golden was barely able to handle more than broken bones and birth.
It was the one and only downfall to living in the small town. Their hospital was small, and there were no specialists available. If she had internal bleeding—which he didn’t see the normal abdominal bruising to indicate it—or bleeding in her head, they were screwed, and her chances of survival dropped drastically.
“Shake it off, Nick,” he mumbled to himself as he watched Roxie chase a jackrabbit around the yard as he made his way to the wood shed. Grabbing the axe, he hefted it in one hand while tossing logs over by the stump he used to break them on with the other.
The first crack of wood was like a bolt of lightning splitting a tree in two. His arms vibrated with the sheer force of power behind each swing. It wasn’t long before each strike was met with resistance due to weakness in his arms. His small pile of split logs was soon two feet high. He was sweating so hard his shirt was soaked through to his coat.
“You done yet?” he heard Ace ask from the porch. “I’m exhausted from watching you.”
“Whatever. Just get your ass over here and haul this shit inside,” he grumbled. A rumbling motor from a snowmobile could be heard in the distance, hopefully, signalling the doc’s arrival.
Watching as the older man came flying through the field, Nick laughed at the fun he was having spinning round in the fresh snow.
When the motor stopped, Nick walked over to greet the doctor. “How ya doing, Roger?”
“Doin’ good, Nicky boy. This that cousin of yours?” he asked pointing to Ace as he dismounted the outdoor vehicle.
“Sure is. Ace, this is Doc Roger,” Nick introduced.
“Thanks for coming out, doc,” Ace said as he shook his hand.
“Roger’s fine, boy. Now tell me about this problem you have?” Straight to business.
Leading the man inside, they shook the excess snow from their coats as they hung them up before entering their visitor’s room.
Explaining when and where they found the woman, he kindly asked them to leave so he could examine her further. Shutting the door behind them, neither man spoke a word as they waited. Restless, Nick paced his way up and down the hall for what felt like hours.