“Lounging around in bed with the woman of your dreams without the threat of annihilation hanging over your head. That’s what could be better.” She made a snatch and grabbed his cock in one firm, determined hand. She tugged it hard. “Get up, or I'm taking this with me.”
He caught hold of her wrist and tried to haul her back to the bed. “You witch! I'll get you for that.”
She resisted and finally succeeded in freeing herself to retreat toward the door. She laughed and almost said something when she stopped in her tracks with her head on one side. “What's that?”
He climbed off the bed with flashing eyes. “You can't get away from me with that childish ruse. Come back over here and take your punishment. I'm gonna make you scream.”
She didn't move. She fixed her eyes at one point against the wall. “I'm serious. Do you hear that?”
He kept still and listened. In the distance, a faint sound drifted through the forest. It mingled with the twitter and chatter in the branches. It grew louder with every passing minute.
Riskin stuck his head out the door. “What is it?”
“It sounds like dogs.”
“What would dogs be doing in this part of the forest?”
Briar came to his side, and they both peered out into the forest. Nothing but empty woods surrounded them on all sides, but outside the noise came louder than ever. Briar detected the distinct baying of hounds.
She ducked back inside and tugged on her pants. “I'm going down there to see.”
“I'm coming with you.”
Two people never got dressed so fast in their lives. In half a second, Riskin and Briar set off through the woods side by side, but they only made it a few yards when another burst of noise disturbed the tranquil scene. Voices shouted over the dogs' howling.
Briar stopped short and caught Riskin's hand. “Quick! Over here.”
She pulled him down next to her behind a tree to watch. In front of her eyes, a long line of men strode out of the woods with their guns shouldered and half a dozen dogs straining their leashes.
Rhys Dodd led the pack. He swung around and waved his arm. He pointed straight at Vaughn's cabin. “Over there! It's right over there. He's bound to be inside.”
The men pushed toward the cabin. Briar sighed with relief when she saw Silas wasn't with them. Neither was Foicks Dunlap or Azer Mackenzie. Rhys couldn't convince those men to hunt down his brother in cold blood. He had to get a bunch of his nobody friends to back him up.
Riskin growled low in his throat. He started to rise up to face the men, but Briar yanked him back down. “You can't go out there. They're coming to kill you. They'll shoot you down in a second.”
He ground his teeth. “I'll kill him.”
“Not likely. We couldn't fight all these people at once, and they've got guns. We've got nothing. We have to get out of here before they find us.”
Riskin jerked his head around, but when he met her eyes, he softened. “All right. Where to?”
She swept the forest with her eyes. “If they see us, they'll set the dogs on us.”
“There's nowhere we can run where they won't see us. They're already too close.”
“We'll just have to run for it and hope for the best.”
He put out his hand. “Here. Take my hand. Whatever happens, stick with me. Don't let us get separated.”
Briar shook her head. “You run for it. Don't worry about me. It's you they want to kill. They'll go after you. Maybe they'll leave me alone.”
“Rhys came after you the other night. He'll do it again, especially now that we're mated. He'll take any opportunity to get to me, even if it means hurting you.”
She stared at him with wide eyes. Then she burst out laughing.
Riskin frowned. “Do you mind telling me what's so blasted funny? We're looking down the barrel of a gun here.”
Briar leapt out her hiding place to plant a kiss on his lips. “You just said it. We're mated.”
“Well, of course we are. What do you think we've been doing all night long?”
She waved her hand. “Forget it. I'm just happy. Come on. Let's get out of here on the double.”
He held her back. “Don't get caught, Briar.”
She jumped to her feet. “No more talk. Run!”
Without waiting for him, she jumped out of their hiding place running full speed in the opposite direction from the men and dogs bearing down on them. Riskin leapt out at the same moment, but Briar's happiness couldn't mask the terrible reality. Riskin was right. The men and dogs were too close.
The moment Briar and Riskin broke cover, Rhys and his friends spotted them. Rhys's arm shot out. “There they are! What did I tell you? Get after 'em!”
A few men fired off their guns. Bullets whizzed around Briar's head. Riskin ran at her side for a few strides, but when the first bullet thumped into a tree trunk near his head, he broke away and darted in front of her. Briar ducked, but she never stopped running.
The dogs' barking got louder than ever. It rang in her head so she could barely think. She dared not look back. How close were they?
More guns went off. Men shouted. Their voices touched her ear from both sides as well as behind her. They parted to flank the fugitives and cut off their retreat.
Briar surveyed the forest for any avenue of escape. Her mind extended through the landscape, but she didn't know Dodd country very well. Where could she and Riskin go to get away from these men? She wasn't even sure the right way to get back to MacAllister territory.
A bullet split a branch over her head, and bark and dust flew into her eyes. She blinked to clear her vision and caught sight of Riskin running ahead of her. His shaggy brown flanks rumbled and rolled with his running gait. Good idea. They could run faster as bears.
She took a running leap to shift, too, but at that moment, another bullet zinged past close to her head. It fluttered her hair, and searing heat scorched her ear. She ducked her head sideways to get away from it. She came down on a rock half-buried in the dirt, and her ankle twisted under her.
A rubbery tearing sound wrenched her ankle. She fought to regain her balance, but when she put her foot down, pain stabbed up her leg. Her knee buckled, and down she went in the dry leaves.
Instinct took over. She flipped over on her back just in time to see three dogs bounding through the trees. Another three followed close behind. They bayed in full cry. They put on a burst of speed when they saw her go down.
She took a breath to shift, but they got to her too fast. She barely had time to bring up her arms in front of her face before they pounced. The first dog's jaws crunched into her arm, and she screamed in spite of herself.
She bent her head for protection, but the other dogs swarmed over her faster than she could think. Shift, Briar, she kept telling herself. Shift. Shift now. She couldn't do it. Bruins mostly shifted into their bear forms when they found themselves in danger. They fought on instinct, and the bear's body protected them better than a human body.
For some reason, her own fear and surprise, plus the pain shooting through her in all directions, blocked her from shifting. She couldn't get her mind and body to function no matter how many times she told herself to shift. Her embattled instincts couldn't find the pathway to the she-bear who could protect her at a time like this.
She couldn't do anything but huddle under a snarling, spitting, growling tangle of canine bodies. The dogs smelled Bruin. They smelled bear. They smelled fear, and that smell spurred them to attack.
Teeth crunched and ripped every part of her. She only managed to protect her face and neck from the worst. She wanted to roll over on her belly, but she couldn't shake them off fast enough.
All at once, a frightened yelp pierced the melee. The dog holding Briar's arm sailed sideways and disappeared. A sickening crunch followed, and a dog with its teeth sunk into her thigh suddenly relaxed. Its grip let go, but the dog didn't disappear. It slumped in one place and collapsed on the ground.
Briar eeked her
eyes open to see an enormous bear standing over her. Blood stained his muzzle when he let go of the second dog's back and dropped its body in a heap at his feet. With one giant swipe of his paw, the bear cleared the other dogs off her.
Briar blinked once and looked up at Riskin leaning over her. “You have to get up, Briar.”
She couldn't speak. She curled over on her side and puked into the leaves. She couldn't move, and the thought of standing made her dizzy and sick. He covered her body with his hands. He kept glancing sideways toward the oncoming men. Briar didn't have to look beyond his face to see how close they were now.
He came back to her face. His sweet breath entered her nostrils. At least she would die with him. “Don't worry, Briar. I'm gonna get you out of here.”
She closed her eyes and put out her hand to touch his cheek. “It's all right. It's all right.” She couldn't make sense of it all.
The next thing she knew, he scooped her up in his arms. More guns went off all around them, but the dogs' baying no longer disturbed Briar's mind. She couldn't think. She couldn't see. She sensed Riskin's lurching, limping step. He couldn't get away from those men fast enough.
Chapter 13
Briar's eyes fluttered open. She looked around, but she didn't recognize the place. She tried to sit up, but fell back against a cool feather pillow. Her head ached worse than anything she could ever remember. She couldn't lift it again.
Her hand touched something soft. By craning her neck around, she noticed she was lying in a bed. An old patchwork quilt covered her below her chest. A knobby polished branch made the foot rail with other curvy sticks poking down to make the bed frame.
She blinked the stars out of her eyes and studied her surroundings. She had no idea where she was. Flames licked up into the chimney of a large stone fireplace across the room. A bentwood rocking chair sat before the hearth. Four handmade chairs sat around a hewn wooden table in the center of the room.
Bundles wrapped in burlap and ropes of onions hung from the ceiling, but this wasn't Vaughn's cabin. A painted landscape hung over the mantelpiece, and a laptop computer sat open on the table. What was this place?
She tried again to sit up, but her eyes started to black out. She collapsed back with a groan. Just then, Riskin moved out of a corner where she hadn't noticed him. He wore a fresh set of clothes and clean steel-toed boots. His hair was shorter and no longer hung in his eyes.
He sat on the bed and rubbed his hand up and down her leg. “You're awake. Thank the good Lord! Man, I was worried about you. You've been unconscious for days. You lost a lot of blood. I was just about to go for your ma to have a look at you, but you're starting to mend now. You'll be all right. I'm just glad you're awake so I can talk to you and tell you I'm here.”
She couldn't lift her hand off the quilt to touch his precious face. “Riskin! What happened?”
“You passed out, so I brought you here.”
She moved her head back and forth, but she couldn't see. Lights flashed in front of her eyes, and her head weighed a ton. “What is this place? Where are we?”
At that moment, a figure rose out of the rocking chair by the fire. A woman came over to stand next to Riskin. Briar stared up at her, but she could hardly believe what she saw. It was Aurora Cunningham.
Aurora smiled down at her. “You're safe, Briar. This is our house, mine and Austin's. No one will bother you here. You can relax and take all the time you need to heal up.”
Briar closed her eyes. Her head sank into the pillow. “I don't understand all this.”
Riskin picked up her limp hand and pressed his lips against her palm. “I had to bring you here. We're in the no-man’s land between Farrell and Cunningham territory. This is the only place on Bruins' Peak where Rhys couldn't come after us. You were faint from loss of blood. I couldn't take you to Dodd Homestead, and I couldn't take you home. This was the closest place I could think of.”
Aurora laid her hand on Riskin's shoulder. “You did the right thing by bringing her here. You'll be safe from Mattox here, too.”
Briar's eyes widened. “Will Mattox come after him, too, if Riskin tries to leave the forest?”
“No one knows,” Aurora replied. “You need a neutral place to rest until you figure out what you're gonna do and how, and that neutral place is here. Now, stop talking. You need to rest, and you need to eat. You haven't had a bite to eat or a drop to drink in three days.”
Briar smacked her lips. “You're right. I'm parched.”
Aurora pointed. “Go back to your chair, Riskin. I'll take over from here.”
Riskin kissed Briar's feverish forehead. Briar summoned all her strength to take hold of his hand. “Don't leave. Stay here. I don't want you to leave.”
“I'm not leaving. You're gonna have to try a lot harder than that to get rid of me and my problems. I'm right over in that chair, but I don't want to get in the nurse's way. She would have my head on a platter if I tried to interfere.”
Aurora laughed, and Riskin went back to his chair in the corner. Briar had to strain her neck to look at him. That's why she couldn't see him before. He smiled at her when he spotted her looking at him.
She closed her eyes and relaxed into the bed. He was right there. They were together. She could open her eyes and look at him anytime she wanted to reassure herself he was still there.
The fire crackled across the room and filled the place with pleasant warmth. Aurora moved back and forth before the hearth. Briar drifted in a haze of confused emotions. She barely knew Austin and Aurora, but this place surrounded her with a bubble of safety and comfort.
Everybody knew the story behind this cabin. Brody Farrell built it for Star Cunningham so they could live somewhere neutral while their tribes resolved their long-running feud. Now Austin and Aurora lived here.
Briar never imagined she would ever need to seek sanctuary from anyone. Now she and Riskin were running for their lives from his murderous brother. Riskin's words repeated in her mind. They were mated. They were joined for life against the world. His problems were her problems now, and she could never go home until they solved them.
Aurora sat on the bed. A savory scent tingled Briar's nostrils, but she couldn't open her eyes. “I brought you some chicken soup. Here, have some. It will do you good, and then you can sleep.” A cool hand touched Briar's cheek. “Open up. You don't have to open your eyes. I'll spoon it into your mouth. I understand you're still weak.”
Steam floated into her nose. Briar opened her eyes against the dim light. Even that hurt. Aurora smiled down at her and waved a spoon of steaming broth in her face. Briar opened her mouth like a baby bird and Aurora poured the soup down her throat.
Briar winced when she swallowed, but Aurora only smiled and held out another spoonful. Briar groaned. “God, what's wrong with me? I feel like a wet dishrag.”
“That's because you are one, honey. Those dogs tore you up pretty bad. It's gonna be a while before you get back on your feet.”
“Thank you for doing all this.”
“Don't thank me. I never turned away a Bruin in danger, and I'm not about to start now. You're lucky you had Riskin to bring you here. You would have been dead otherwise.”
“Does my family know where I am?”
“Not yet, but I'm going to tell them.”
Briar's eyes snapped open. “You are?”
“I have to. I'm going down to your Homestead in a few hours to get some medicine for you from your ma. I have to tell her you're here. I didn't think you'd mind.”
“If Silas finds out, he'll send Rhys after us.”
The smile evaporated off Aurora's face. “Rhys won't come after you here. No one will come after you here if they know what's good for 'em.”
Briar sighed. “I wish I could believe you.”
“Rhys would never trespass on another tribe's territory. He wouldn't dare come after you anywhere on this Peak if he thought anybody would find out. He's a coward.”
Briar stared up at her. “You'
re the first person I've talked to who thinks that.”
“Except you, right?” Aurora stuck her spoon in the empty bowl. “You finished it all. Good job. Now, go to sleep. I don't want to hear a sound out of you for the rest of the day.”
Aurora went back to her chair by the fire, and Briar let her eyelids close one last time. Every fiber of her being released into that bed, but she couldn't get Aurora's words out of her head. So Briar wasn't the only person on Bruins' Peak who thought Rhys deserved a good kick in the pants.
Riskin heard every word they said. Did he start to think maybe he shouldn't hide from his life anymore? Did he think about paying Rhys back for trying to kill him?
Briar drifted into a dreamy half-world of nightmares and strange ideas. She didn't hear Riskin get up or see the light pouring through the door when he walked outside.
Chapter 14
Riskin raised his arms to the sun and stretched. Briar was awake. She was going to be okay. He let himself relax for the first time since he brought her to Austin and Aurora's cabin. He never let himself look the coming day in the face for fear he had to face it without her.
Now, she would be all right. She would recover her old strength. Then what? She would start nagging him again to go back and face Rhys. She would work on him night and day to leave the forest. How could he turn her down?
The world looked different to him, now that he could look forward to having her at his side. The world beyond the forest didn't look so scary and dangerous. He didn't need to hide from it anymore. He didn't want to hide from it anymore, but that raised more problems than it solved.
Problem number one: Rhys. Well, that was really his only problem when he thought about it. Briar was right. Rhys wouldn't leave him alone, no matter what he did. He and Briar could live as bears in the woods for the rest of their lives, and Rhys would still come after them.
As long as he lived, Riskin would pose a threat to Rhys's position. Rhys would work day and night to eliminate that threat, and he wouldn't stop at coming after Briar if he had to.
Riskin had a mate to protect now. If he couldn't act to save himself, he had to act to save Briar. He couldn't let Rhys hurt her again. Riskin made up his mind then and there. He would never run from Rhys again.
Bruins Peak Bears Box Set (Volume II) Page 21