by Amy Deason
Her cheeks and nose were red with cold and snow clung to her hair. Man, she was becoming a real pain in the ass. No, strike that. She had managed to do that quite some time ago. In fact, Madison seemed to have an innate knack for it.
Madison glared back at him, her brown eyes burning with anger. “Then don’t. Just turn the other way and let me go.”
He would have laughed at her suggestion but at this point, he was beyond laughing. He found no amusement in this situation. Did she really think he was going to let that happen? That he was just going to watch her walk away? There was no way she could be that foolish. “Let you go? You don’t even know where you’re going. What would have you done if I hadn’t been following you?”
Madison regarded him cautiously and he could see that she was considering the notion of his spying. She wasn’t wanting to believe it. “You weren’t following me. I’ve been alone this entire time.”
Just what he had thought. She had no idea he had been behind her, watching her fumble around like a toddler. “No you haven’t. I’ve been behind you since you first stepped into the woods.”
She lifted her chin confidently. “No. I would have seen you, heard you,” she insisted.
He had to grin at her show of certainty. She was so sure that he had been nowhere around. Which is just as it should have been. If she had seen or heard him that would have meant that he really was losing his edge. “Oh really?” he replied, a hint of a smile on his lips.
“Yeah, really. There is no way you were following me this entire time.”
Seth let go of her shoulders and crossed his arms over his chest, smiling loosely. He was still angry with her but she continued to amuse him with her naiveté.
“Then I suppose I wouldn’t know anything about you gazing around the forest as though you’ve never seen so many trees in one place before. And I guess that I must have imagined it when you bent down to tie your boot. A very nice view by the way. Those jeans fit you quite well.”
Watching Madison’s eyes widen in surprise, his smile grew as he recounted the last details of his spying. “The little pep talk you gave yourself was nice too. What was it you said? Oh yeah, suck it up. Of course, I wouldn’t have seen you tripping over that fallen log back there either. And I must say, Maddie, I never get tired of hearing a woman say ‘fuck me.’ Usually, it’s in the bedroom but hey, this is a nice change of pace,” he finished smartly. That last part should really piss her off. He wasn’t wrong.
Her brown eyes burned holes in him. “You bastard!”
“Really, Maddie, I thought by now you would have come up with better insults than that. You really disappoint me.”
“Stop calling me Maddie! And I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize that you had such great expectations of me,” she snarled.
“I’ll call you whatever I damn well please, Maddie. And there’s a lot you don’t realize. Most of which you were never meant to,” Seth muttered. Madison’s eyes narrowed as she studied him and he knew that once again he had given her too much to think about.
“Come on, we’re going back to the cabin.” Seth didn’t really expect Madison to simply agree and follow him without any argument. And once again, she didn’t fail him.
“Are you kidding me?” she spat. “I’m not going anywhere with you. Especially not back to that prison you’ve kept me locked in.”
“Oh now that’s more like it. For a minute there, I thought you had finally gotten some sense and decided it would be in your best interest not to argue with me.”
“Well you thought wrong. I am not going back with you,” she repeated, her small white teeth clenched in defiance. A nice show. Too bad it was all for nothing.
“I’m afraid you have no say in the matter, my dear. You are going with me.”
Her lips twitched minutely. “What if I don’t go?” she challenged, eyes dark with determination.
“There is no if, Madison. You are going back,” he said. “Even if I have to pick you up and carry you all the way.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Wouldn’t I?” His lip rose in challenge. “You forget, Madison, I am a man with many skills. The least of which includes carrying troublesome women such as yourself,” he murmured, taking another step closer to her, his eyes never leaving her face. The shadow of doubt crept into her eyes and he knew that although the thought crossed her mind, she wouldn’t dare run. She wasn’t that stupid.
He saw the anger flashing in her eyes of course but it was more than that. As she spared him one last scathing glare of pure hatred, he saw the glimmer of surrender. Then she stepped toward him and past him, back the way they had come. As she walked away, he caught a whiff of her, fresh and light. The clean smell filled his nose and he couldn’t help but to think again of her soft, creamy skin and the way it felt under his fingertips. The fact that he could nearly taste her mouth was beyond disturbing. Narrowing his eyes against the unfamiliar lust once again coursing through him, he watched as she walked, head down, hands shoved into her pockets. The sun filtered through the trees and her blond hair was now the color of darkened honey.
Damn it! He was becoming too aware of her. Of her voice, her scent, even her anger. And that was not a good sign. She was getting into his head and even more frightening, into his heart. And that was something he really didn’t need or even want. He needed to stop being a pussy and just get her out of here. Taking a deep breath, he stomped through the snow, following the lithe creature he had once again captured. One whose fate still rested in his hands . . . at least for the time being.
Chapter 18
Stepping from the shelter of the forest, Madison raised her head, gazing upon the prison that she was being returned to. Her heart sank in resignation and she lowered her head again. Her feet felt heavier with each step as she trudged to the cabin, well aware of Seth only a few steps behind her, should she try to make a run for it. But she had no intentions of doing that anymore. What was the point? He would only follow her, catch her, drag her back again to whatever hell he was currently keeping her in. Her level of self-preservation had hit its bottom. There was no more. She was done.
If and when she got out of this mess was not up to her. It was up to the man behind her. He was in control of her life. And she hated it. What she wouldn’t give to be away from here. To be in her office, cussing out a computer or visiting her happy-go-lucky sister and her charming husband. Her nephews, Tommy and Michael, the absolute most beautiful twins she’d ever laid eyes on. And her unborn niece.
And then there was Milo. Her poor adopted cat. Left all alone in her apartment, he was probably squalling like crazy right now with no one there to feed him. When she got out of here, she would make it up to him with all of the belly rubbings he could handle. But why in the hell did it have to be like this? That was a question that would probably never be answered. She had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Once inside, she felt the true implications of the situation she was in pressing upon her and she struggled not to falter under its weight. Fear was still thick within her veins but acceptance also ran through her blood.
Turning, she was not surprised to see Seth leaning against the door, his tall frame blocking the entrance. Calm and relaxed, he regarded her with indifference as if he just didn’t care about anything. Maybe that was because deep down, regardless of whatever she had wanted to believe, whatever she had strived to believe, that was the truth. He was cold, deadly, with no emotions. He couldn’t care about anyone, least of all her. The fact that she was beginning to feel something for him only made this whole situation that much worse. God, she had never felt so dispassionate in her whole life.
“Hopefully you’ve gotten that out of your system. I’ve saved you way too many times in the last couple of days. It is getting to be a little tiresome.”
Rather than argue, she simply shrugged. “I know.” Hearing the listless quality in her own voice, a thrill of unease slipped through the numbness. But it was only a small ripple that had no lasting effect. She felt dead inside, cold and numb and strangely calm. Seth must have heard the tone in her voice because he gave her the strangest look, one she couldn’t have read, had she even bothered to try.
For once, her guardian seemed to be at a loss for words. She might have rejoiced in the fact that she had managed to strike this silence in him but she felt nothing. She watched remotely as Seth shrugged out of his coat and went into the kitchen. After a minute or two, he returned carrying a cup of coffee. Steam rose from it, the aroma heavy and sweet. He offered it to her but she made no move to take it.
“Don’t just stare at it like you’ve never seen a cup of coffee before. Take it. It’ll warm you up,” Seth said, pushing the cup toward her.
“I’m fine,” she replied dully, still not reaching for it.
“God damn it, Madison! Does everything have to be an argument with you? You’ve been walking around in the woods for the last hour and a half in the middle of December with no gloves on. Your clothes are wet, you have to be freezing. Now take the fucking coffee!”
The abrupt outburst jerked her out of her frozen state of mind and she automatically took the cup from him, the tips of her fingers brushing his. She sipped it slowly, the dark brew warming her instantly.
Watching her drink, Seth smiled softly. “Now see, isn’t that better?”
Regarding him over the rim of her cup, it occurred to her that he might have drugged her. It certainly wasn’t below him to do such a thing. Not that it mattered. She was only getting away when he allowed it. She finished the last of the coffee under his watchful gaze and returned the cup. Without a single word, she turned on her heel and walked toward the bedroom.
Seth didn’t follow her or attempt to stop her. With a quiet click, she closed the door behind her and went over to the bed. Sitting down, she faced the wall, her brow furrowed in concentration as she considered her lack of emotion. It was bizarre not to feel anything. It was if she had completely shut down, turned everything off. Even the thought of Robert failed to elicit any sort of emotion in her.
She laid on her back, staring at the ceiling. Following the simple patterns with her eyes, her mind drifted lazily as vapors of half-formed thoughts floated through her head. Seizing the ideas became impossible. They slipped away easily like smoke, leaving her brain fuzzy and dense as though it were stuffed with cotton. For several minutes, she struggled to stay awake as her eyes grew heavier. But at last, she gave up and closed her eyes, letting sleep claim her.
Darkness fell quickly in the mountains, especially in the middle of winter with skies heavy with snow. Cloaking the cabin in obscurity, Seth turned off every light and had the fire roaring just before the last of the light bled from the sky. The sedative he had slipped into Madison’s coffee worked beautifully. Not strong enough to kill her, it ensured him a couple hours of peace and quiet so he could figure out how to end this. After making a well-placed few phone calls, it was done. He had to solution to getting her out of this mess. Now came the difficult part. The waiting and dealing with Madison’s smart mouth and repeated attempts to escape until it was time to move forward
Although since returning to the cabin from her little excursion, she had been strangely compliant and distant, totally unlike the woman he had been used to over the last few days. The woman he had reluctantly come to admire and care about. She was stronger and more insightful than he had given her credit for. It was really too bad she was caught up in this mess. In another time, another place, he would have liked to met her, maybe even got to really know her. But that was crazy. Men like him didn’t get to know anyone. They couldn’t afford to. But he wanted to. God, how he wanted to.
Men like him couldn’t want anyone, couldn’t let down their guard to let anyone in. It was impossible. He had chosen this path long ago. A path filled with loneliness, secrecy, death. Once he took the first few steps in this direction, there had been no going back. He never really wanted to, never had the desire to turn around until now. Until she came along. With her long blond hair and brown doe-like eyes, her soft, warm body and unsuspecting, naïve ways, she had suddenly opened his eyes and his heart to what life was really all about. It didn’t all have to be death and lies and loneliness. It could be filled with laughter, joy, and love. Damn it, where had she been before he had made this soul damning decision? Before he committed his life to this hell? She’d found him too late in life. Found him a broken, soulless man with no hope of redemption. Regret and sorrow washed over him. Regret for not being a better, stronger man, choosing a different road to travel. Sorrow for the things that might have been, that he would never have.
The bedroom door opened and raising his eyes, he watched Madison cross the floor to the fireplace, silent as a ghost. She took no notice of him as he studied her. Beautiful as always, her blond hair gleamed with the flames of the fire. Her eyes were deep and shadowed, her mouth full. But dressed all in black, with no emotion on her face, no residual human quality, she looked as if she were about to attend a funeral. What she said next only made that idea all the more pertinent.
“How much time do I have until you kill me?” she asked, staring intently into the fire, her brown eyes incredibly large and dark.
The defeat was heavy in her voice. It was as if she had accepted her fate and there was no fight left in her. That pained him, far more than he could have imagined. He wasn’t sure how to respond. Her question caught him off guard, it being so far from what he had actually been thinking.
“Madison, I’ve already told you, I don’t want to kill you. Far from it,” he stated simply and truthfully, gazing at her from his crouched position, weighing her reaction.
Jerking her eyes from the fireplace, she focused on him. “Let me get this straight. You don’t want to kill me. But you don’t want to fuck me. You can’t keep me hostage forever you know. So just what in the hell do you want to do with me?” she asked, her voice beginning to simmer with the internal fire she was more than capable of. Inwardly Seth grinned. There were so many things he wanted to do to her but killing her was the furthest from his mind. That was not even an option. He would die before letting her be harmed. The magnitude of that thought stopped him cold. He was willing to lay his life on the line for this woman. This crazy, beautiful, pain in the ass woman. Oh Lord, this was not good. Not good at all. He was beginning to fall for her and that just couldn’t happen.
She was right. Or at least two thirds right. He didn’t want to kill her and he couldn’t keep her hostage forever. But she was wrong about one thing. He did want to fuck her. No, strike that, he wanted to make love to this woman. That scared the shit out of him but he couldn’t deny it. What he wanted to do with her was far more imaginative than what she could have ever dreamed. It wouldn’t take much to show her exactly what was running through his mind. But if he started down that road again, he wasn’t sure he could stop this time.
Madison licked her lips nervously, her wet, pink tongue caressing the smooth, full lips. And suddenly, with that one simple movement, his decision was made. He wanted her and by God, he was going to have her. Standing up from the fireplace, a slow, easy grin on his lips, his eyes focused on hers.
A moment of wariness crossed her delicate features, lending a hint of uncertainty to her eyes.
“What . . . what are you doing?” Madison asked as he came toward her, her voice quiet and trembling.
Without answering, he slowly advanced upon her, his movements silent in the darkness.
Chapter 19
Madison realized the stupidity of her words but it was too late to take them back. Fear leaped at her heart. What was he going to do to her? She had believed him when he said that he wouldn’t kill her but maybe she had been foolish to
believe that. Maybe she was just as naïve as he thought she was.
Stepping back, she receded far into the shadows of the living room, sensing the change in him immediately, felt it in the air between them like electricity. And then she understood. It wasn’t death that was coming toward her, it was something else. Something powerful and sexual. The tension was thick and heavy and entranced by the transformation, she could only stand back and watch as he crossed the distance between them. His stride became graceful, silent, confident, unmistakably male.
The lean, hard muscles flexed underneath his shirt, moving sinuously as they had earlier in the day when he was chopping wood. Her heartbeat accelerated as she reluctantly imagined running her fingers over that torso, tracing the definition of those muscles. She stared, unabashedly, at his face, the dancing flames from the fireplace painting it in shadow and light. With her eyes, she caressed the smooth lines of his jaw, the fullness of his mouth. The pupils of his eyes dilated, sharpened to a point and the blue became black and obscure, their depths immeasurable.