by Amy Patrick
But I don’t want to.
And then I spotted him coming toward me down the sidewalk. When he caught sight of me, a wide smile overtook his face and he picked up his pace, jogging the last few feet to close the distance between us.
“Hey—I finally found a spot. I’m sorry it took so long.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. Feigning disappointment I told him, “I’m sorry, too. I wasn’t able to get tickets.”
Asher’s brows pulled together in obvious confusion as he looked around, noticing several scalpers still hoping for some last minute takers.
I took his hand. “Let’s just hit the road, okay? I was right the first time—he is a little worm.”
“Uh... okay.” Asher ran a hand down his face and blew out a breath. “Well, you wait here, and I’ll go get the truck. I’ll be right back to pick you up.”
Squeezing his hand, I pulled him toward the sidewalk. “No, let’s walk together. These are comfortable shoes.”
He smiled at me. “Okay.” Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he looked at it as we walked. “Hey—what was your number again? I think I must have put it in wrong. I called, but you didn’t answer.”
“Oh—I must have lost it. It’s not in my purse anymore.”
“Wow, girl, you are murder on cell phones, aren’t you?”
I grinned at him and then glanced out at the street where tiny shards of my shattered screen caught the light. Better the phone than us.
Chapter Twenty-One
Always Prepared
By the time we left the city and got back on the highway it was late. I wasn’t tired, but Asher had started yawning and stretching his neck side to side, obviously working out soreness from sitting in one position for too long.
“Tired?” I asked.
“A little. I thought we’d stop before too long. We can’t make it all the way back home in one trip—well, I did it on the way up, but it wasn’t fun.”
“I’m sorry I made us take that stupid side-trip. It added about three hours onto our drive, didn’t it? We don’t need to stop though. I’ll drive.”
I did not want to stop at any of the hotels along the way—not after realizing my phone could’ve be tracked to D.C. If Audun had sent someone to tail me, they’d be checking those places. Now that I’d had a chance to think about it, it had probably been very stupid to ever use the phone at all. I had called Ryann and Lad on it.
“What’s the matter? Don’t trust me?” Asher teased. “We can get separate rooms, but I’m too wiped out to jump your bones anyway.”
“No... I...” Could I confide my fears to him? Since he was driving me, he might be in danger, too. It seemed only fair to tell him at least what I could about my situation. “I don’t want to stop at a hotel. I’m worried we won’t be safe. We might have been followed.”
His usually cheery expression fell into a mask of concern. “What’s going on, Ava? Who’s following you? Your ex? ’Cause I can handle him.”
“No. No, it’s not like that.” Although now that I thought about it, who else would Audun assign to follow me? Culley would know exactly where I’d gone. Now I was even more certain we couldn’t stop at any hotels along the way. “It’s... his father I’m worried about. He’s very powerful, and he thinks I owe him something.”
“Money?”
“My allegiance.”
Asher was quiet for a few minutes. Then he ventured an educated guess. “Is he in the mafia or something?”
“Something like that,” I said quietly. The Runes were a powerful family. And participating in organized crime, now that I thought about it. “He’s kind of a drug dealer, and I don’t want any part of it. Have you heard about S?”
“Yeah. I was listening to NPR on the way to New York. That stuff is bad news. If he’s into that, you’re smart to get far away from him. Do you think he might be following you because he’s afraid you’ll talk?”
“Among other reasons.”
“No problem then. We’ll keep going. I’m fine.”
Another hour into the trip and Asher’s eyelids started drooping. Once he even drifted to the side until the truck’s big tires came into contact with that bumpy strip of textured pavement in the breakdown lane. He jerked the wheel back, straightening the truck out again. “Sorry.”
“Please let me drive,” I said. But honestly, I was starting to doze myself, and the noise and vibrations had startled me awake, too. I yawned, looking around. “Where do you think we are?”
Just then a billboard came into view.
“Shenandoah National Park,” Asher said, reading it. His tone brightened. “I have an idea.” He followed the sign’s suggestion and took the exit for I-66.
“What are you doing? I thought you understood—we can’t stop at a hotel.”
“We’re not,” he said. “Trust me.”
The highway wound through a dark, hilly area for about seven miles before Asher slowed the truck. Outside the window I read a low, dark sign with white lettering.
Entering Shenandoah National Park
“Are we sightseeing?” I joked. It was pitch black dark without even a streetlight to be seen for miles.
Asher grinned. “You, city girl, are going camping.”
“Camping? How can we go camping? What—do you have camping gear in the back of your truck? You do, don’t you?”
He nodded. “See? What did I tell you? I’m an expert at solving problems.”
“Are you a Boy Scout or something?”
“No, but I am always prepared.” Smiling over at my open-mouthed shock, he explained. “Look, I like camping, okay? I went last weekend with my buddy Richie. We did some fishing, target shooting... you know?”
I just shook my head. I’d never known anyone like him. Of course I hadn’t actually known any humans very well, but surely they couldn’t all be as smart and capable and utterly adorable as this one.
“Okay then, what do we do? Find a campsite?” I found myself whispering as we continued into the dark park.
He shook his head. “It’s too late. The registration office will be closed by now, and they’ve probably booked up all the sites anyway. We’re going backwoods camping. It’s always open and always free at these parks.”
I wasn’t too sure I liked the sound of that. “What’s backwoods camping?”
He laughed at my suspicious tone and expression. “Don’t worry—nothing scary. It means there are no trash facilities or bath houses close by.”
“Sounds pretty scary to me,” I muttered.
He chuckled. “I think being followed by drug dealers sounds scarier, but you didn’t even mention it until we were four hours into this thing.”
“You’re right. I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry I got you into this. If you want to just drop me off at the next city we come to—”
“Oh yeah.” His voice was filled with angry sarcasm as he pulled the truck into a spot and parked it. “I’m just going to leave you stranded in the middle of Virginia. Is that what you think of me—that I’d abandon you? Now you sound like Katelynn.”
“No. No Asher. I don’t think that. I think you’re the nicest, most generous, most... incredible guy I’ve ever met. I was only...”
His smile returned. “That’s okay. You can stop there.” He pulled the keys from the ignition. “Wait in here if you want while I get everything we’ll need. It might be kind of chilly out there now that we’re at a higher elevation.”
“No, I’ll help you.” I slid out of the truck and joined him at the tailgate as he removed the bed-topper and unpacked some very neatly stored camping gear. I shivered with cold. “You really are prepared, aren’t you?”
He grinned down at me, tugging off his jacket and placing it on my shoulders before slipping a large backpack over his arms one at a time. “For anything. How ’bout you, city girl?”
I couldn’t help myself—I giggled for the first time since I was a child, snuggling into the jacket that was still warm from his body heat
and carried his enticing scent. Who was this guy and why did I react to him like this? It was crazy. I was crazy. I knew that for a fact since I was at that very moment walking into the dark forest on purpose with the intention of spending the night outdoors.
Flashlight in hand and holding a couple of lightweight bags Asher finally agreed to let me carry, I followed him. “How will you know when we’ve found a good spot?”
“I’ll know it when I know it,” he said.
“Okay then. Lead on, mountain man.”
Finally he announced we’d found the place. I wasn’t sure how he could tell it from the acres of dark woods we’d already hiked through but I didn’t argue.
“Can you hold this?” Asher gave me easy tasks to do while he did the heavy lifting of setting up the campsite by the light of a battery-operated lantern.
He was so fast and efficient I couldn’t help but be impressed—not to mention the absorbing show his muscles put on as he lifted and squatted, gripped and pressed and twisted and reached. It was like some kind of one-man exotic male revue, only with slightly more clothing and fewer spotlights. Anyone who could make backwoods camping look sexy had some serious game.
“All right. Home sweet home,” Asher announced, then turned around to look at me. “Hey, you okay? You’re real quiet back there.”
“Sure. I’m fine.” I made my way to the small tent on shaky legs. Did I mention how small the tent was? And I was supposed to sleep in there with him? After watching that?
As I reached Asher at the tent entrance, he put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. Well, it was probably meant to be reassuring. Instead it sent a bolt of electricity through my body as if I’d been plugged into a giant charger. I balked at climbing inside, my breathing erratic, my heart chasing its own beats trying to catch up.
Asher’s voice was low and calming. “There’s no reason to be scared, Ava. We’re safe out here. The black bears in these parts are really shy of humans.”
“Bears?” I yelped and scooted into the tent.
Asher crawled in behind me, chuckling to himself. The inside of the tent felt close but not claustrophobic. The walls slanted in toward us. The floor of it was surprisingly comfortable, as if it was resting on a patch of grass—it probably was since Asher had picked the spot. I hadn’t been able to see the area very well and hadn’t paid strict attention to the ground. Directly in the center of the tent, stretching from one end to the other, was a sleeping bag. A sleeping bag.
“There’s... only one,” I said.
“Yeah, sorry about that, but I only have the one. Richie brought his own last weekend. Not that I would have shared with him. Now when it comes to you—I don’t mind sharing a bit.” He gave me a big grin.
I rolled my eyes. “So generous.”
“That’s the kind of guy I am. No seriously, it’s better anyway—for heat purposes. It’s gonna get cold tonight, and you don’t have the right clothes on.”
I was still in my ring commercial dress. I’d borrowed Asher’s jacket for the hike here, but my legs were bare, and I had no socks on—just the flats I’d worn for the shoot.
“Okay.” The reluctance was obvious in my tone, but what was I going to do? Hike back to the truck—with the bears? No way. I’d take my chances with the domesticated animal in front of me.
As if reading my mind, Asher said, “Don’t worry. I’ll be a perfect gentleman. Promise. You hungry?”
Suddenly my stomach remembered it was there and answered him with a loud growl. Asher laughed. “Watch out there—the bears are gonna be scared of you with all that racket.”
“Very funny.”
He produced two protein bars and some bottled water. “You get started on this, and I’ll make us some soup real quick.”
“You have soup?” Soup had never sounded so appealing in my life.
Asher backed out of the tent, and I watched through the open flap as he retrieved a small gas burner from his backpack and set a pot on it. Then he pulled out two cans of soup and a can opener. Squatting, he opened and emptied the cans then stirred. The sound of a slow boil reached my ears as the smell of hot food teased my nostrils. A few minutes later he gestured for me to come out and join him. Lured by the scent, I did.
“Here—have a seat.”
Asher dragged a log over for me to sit on. Kneeling in front of me, he dipped a spoon into the pot, lifted it and blew on it, and then took a taste before holding it up to my lips. “It’s just right—not too hot not too cold.”
I smirked. “In case you hadn’t noticed, my locks are red, not gold.”
“Oh, I noticed all right. As soon as you rolled that little Corvette window down. I saw that red hair, and I was a goner.”
I hoped it was too dark for him to see my blush. My face felt about fifty degrees hotter than the air around us. There was no way the temperature of the campfire soup could come close. I let him feed me a spoonful then reached for the utensil.
“I can do this, you know.”
“I don’t want you to burn your hand reaching into the pot. Let me. We don’t have any bowls or I’d let you feed yourself. Maybe. I kind of like this.” Blowing on another spoonful, he offered it to me. “Open up.”
Starvation won out over embarrassment. I opened my mouth. But as the spoon-feeding went on, alternating between me and him, and the volume in the pot got lower, my body kept on heating up. Maybe it was the way Asher’s eyes sparked as he looked at me, or the slow smile that spread across his face as he watched me sip and swallow. It was just soup but it was also... sexy.
At one point it became too much. His eyes locked with mine as his hand inched the spoon slowly toward my mouth. He touched the tip of the spoon to my lower lip, opening it, then pulled away, brought it back and teased my lips apart again. His breathing was audible and fast in the quiet night.
I pulled back without taking the bite. “Um... that’s enough for me, I think. You finish it.”
Asher blinked and straightened his legs, standing and backing away to let me move past him toward the refuge of the tent. “Sure. I’ll uh... see you in there. In a minute.”
I ducked into the opening flap and collapsed onto the sleeping bag, squeezing my eyes shut and willing my heart to stop racing. Outside the tent I heard the sounds of Asher cleaning up the dinnerware. And then the flap opened again, and he entered the tent, turning awkwardly in the small space to zip it closed behind him.
“What about the bears?” I asked, revealing my newest terror. “Won’t they smell the food and come investigate?”
“I doubt they’ll even come around. I washed everything and put the dishes and our other supplies in a bag that I strung up in a tree. Even if they do come snooping, there’s no food in here, so you have nothing to worry about tonight.” He hesitated then continued. “Unless...”
“What? Unless what?”
“Well, unless one of them has a sweet tooth. There’s an awfully sweet girl in here.” His hands came to my ribcage, and he tickled me mercilessly, laughing as I shrieked and giggled and begged him to stop.
“I’ll have to growl at them, and show them my teeth, and tell them this is my delicious strawberry cupcake, and I’m not sharing,” he said.
“Enough, enough,” I wheezed. “I can’t take any more.”
When he ended the tickle-torture and I stopped thrashing, I realized our legs were tangled and I was in Asher’s arms, nose to nose with him. His breath hit my face in hot rapid strikes that matched my own accelerated breathing.
“You sure about that?” he whispered against my lips. “I think you can take...” His mouth inched closer. “... a little... more.”
And then his lips pressed against mine, and my racing heart worked even faster, and the breathlessness increased until I thought I might pass out. At least I was already lying down.
Asher kissed me harder, and God help me, I let him.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Yes and No
What are you doing Ava? This is wrong. It’s
insane. You can’t do this. You can’t fall for this guy.
That’s what was going on in my brain.
My body? Different story. My leg that was wrapped around Asher’s wrapped itself tighter. My arm that had been flailing to escape him moments earlier went up and around his neck, and my fingers sank into his smooth, soft hair, loving the cool feel of it, loving the warmth underneath.
Feeling my response to him, Asher yanked me closer with a low growl that might actually have been enough to frighten a few bears away, but for one nineteen-year-old Elven virgin it only heightened the excitement. Holding me tight against him, he rolled onto his back, then rolled again, so I was pinned beneath him, my back pressed into the warm, soft sleeping bag.
It felt amazing to have the weight of him over me, his big, hard body pressed all along mine. Angling his face over mine, he kissed me deeper, communicating his rapidly building desire with every stroke of his tongue.
I’ll stop him in a minute, my mind vowed as the minutes ticked by and my body did everything in its power to encourage him to continue. I literally couldn’t help myself. The feelings he’d awakened in me were so powerful, so overwhelming, I almost forgot he was human and I was not and we had no business doing even half of what we were doing together.
It was getting warm in the tiny tent. Asher must have felt it too, because he raised up on an elbow and yanked off his t-shirt in one quick move. Holy Cow. The air rushed out of my lungs at the sight of him shirtless.
I ran my fingers greedily over his chest and down to his fascinating abdominal muscles. Oh yes. They felt every bit as good as they looked. Better than anything. Obviously taking my greedy touches as encouragement, Asher dropped his persuasive mouth to my neck, spreading hot kisses over it as his hand slid to my back and eased the zipper of my dress down. Yes yes yes. I wanted out of this restrictive thing, and I wanted him out of his jeans and anything else that dared to come between us, and yes I wanted to feel his skin, all of it, and... oh no.