Running With The Tiger

by Bonnie Burrows

  He took a step towards her, his arm out and his eyes focused on her. His expression was strange, though Cambria couldn’t quiet place it. One thing was for sure, she was in trouble, and all the men were gone. There was no one around to rescue her.

  CHAPTER SIX

  She jumped up on the sofa, sailing over the back of the tattered chair in search of a weapon. The man lunged at her, diving over the sofa and landing on top of her, nearly knocking the wind from her. She had her hand outstretched, reaching for a rifle propped up against the wall. Wrapping his arms around her, he pinned her to the ground.

  “Wait, wait. I’m not here to hurt you. I just want to talk.”

  “That’s what they all say.” Her voice was strained under his weight.

  “I’m not going to hurt you, please, just listen to me.” She stopped struggling briefly, and he took that as a sign that she was willing to talk. He moved off her, close but giving her room to breathe so they could talk.

  She pulled up her knee, catching him in the groin and running as he struggled to stand up in spite of the pain. He hobbled after her as she ran. She ran with everything she had, not bothering to call out for help. She was certain that he knew as well as she did that all the men were gone except for the one left to guard Grace. Cambria was on her own. Better to save her energy and not give away her position in the dark with pointless screams.

  He pushed through the pain, a smile painted on his face as he chased her towards the woods. He moved with a slight limp, but otherwise looked unscathed. More than once, Cambria looked over her shoulder to see how far behind he was, but she didn’t stop.

  The man was gaining on her, and Cambria was in a panic. There was no one to help her, her hand gun was in her room, and she didn’t even have so much as a knife on her. If he caught her, she was done for. Fighting this man hand to hand, no matter how good she was, would be a losing battle.

  Cambria ducked behind a large tree, bending down to pick up a rock the size of her fist. She could hear the man coming after her, his steps heavy and his breathing labored with pain. When he burst through the forest edge and a few steps in front of where she hid, she smacked him in the back of the head with all her might. He went down to his knees, but he didn’t lose consciousness.

  Cambria ran, trying to put as much distance between them while he was down, but his hand snaked out and grabbed her ankle. She went down hard, her breath escaping in an audible whoosh.

  She rolled away in the dark, kicking every time his hand made contact with her legs. Cambria was able to roll out of his grasp while he kneeled t on the ground, shaking his head against the encroaching darkness.

  She got up and started running again, wishing that she something to fight back with. Brains over brawn only went so far with a man thrice her size.

  The man stood and went after her, stumbling in the dark. He shook off the pain in his head, calling out to her as if she was lost and not his intended victim. His behavior was confusing, but Cambria wasn’t about to stop and ask the man what was going on. She crashed through the trees and onto a sandy trail, slender legs pumping frantically as she ran.

  The man hit the path behind her and picked up speed, calling out to her.

  “I just want to talk.”

  She flipped him off over her shoulder without breaking stride. Surprisingly the man laughed at the gesture, as if he found it amusing rather than insulting. Cambria was in a panic. Each step he took brought him closer to her, and none of her effort seemed to help her get further ahead of him. Even after she’d assaulted him twice, he still kept coming.

  They ran for a while, with Cambria managing to keep several yards between them the entire time. Over their strained breathing, she heard a scream in the distance, and a mighty roar. Her steps faltered as she pulled up short. The sounds of a fight drifted towards them from directly ahead. Undeterred, the man closed the distance between them and grabbed her, clapping one hand firmly over her mouth to keep her from screaming.

  She kicked and fought, but he held fast, carrying her in front of him towards the sounds of the fighting. Several yards ahead, Cambria could finally make out the scene in the darkness. Laskin was fighting another man who was in the process of shifting as the two pummeled each other. The men who had piled into the truck stood mere feet away from where Cambria stood trapped, their eyes riveted on Laskin and the shifter. Cambria attempted to scream through his hand, kicking and twisting in an effort to break free and run to Laskin and his supporters.

  She suddenly stilled when Laskin began to shift, her screams dying abruptly as she and the others noticed Laskin’s transformation. She started trembling, moaning forlornly through his hand, tears streaming down her face. She shook her head no, over and over, as she shrieked in rage and heartache. The man who had saved her, who had trained her to fight the evil shifters was a shifter himself. She and the others had been fooled.

  Cambria’s knees started to give way as the sobs wracked her body. Laskin had been like family to her. For years, she’d only had him to look to for guidance and for love. And yet, he’d been lying to her for the past six years and she’d had no idea. She was heartbroken. And she was angry.

  The man leaned close and whispered in her ear. His voice was surprisingly steady and kind, even as Cambria watched her world crumble before her.

  “Things are about to get really bad. We need to leave, okay?”

  She nodded behind his hand, her eyes wide as she watched in horror as Laskin, the man she’d followed for the last few years, turn into the very thing she was fighting against. The man holding her grabbed her hand and ran away from the fighting, heading for the place where he’d hidden the rental car. She stumbled behind him, struggling to keep up and trying to yank her hand out of his.

  They burst out of the tree line several hundred yards north of his rental car. She planted her feet, finally pulling her hand free.

  “I’m not going with you.”

  “And where will you go? To your family? To those men and Laskin? The one’s that left you alone to fend for yourself?” She stared him down, arms crossed, stance defiant.

  I don’t have a family. I only have myself, and I don’t need you.”

  “We don’t have time for this. We’ll talk later. Right now, we have to get out of here before this place is crawling with police.” He bent down and threw her over his shoulder, his strong arm locked around her tiny waist. “The trunk or the passenger seat. Your choice, but if you haven’t chosen by the time we get to the car, I’ll choose for you.”

  “Gah! I hate you!”

  “Trunk it is.”

  “No, no the passenger seat.”

  “I thought you’d see it my way.”

  He jogged to the car, ignoring her protests as she hung gracelessly upside down over his shoulder, bouncing along with his stride. He opened the driver door and set the automatic locks before pushing her across the driver’s seat and into the passenger seat. She didn’t bother trying the lock, she knew it wouldn’t budge when locked from the driver’s side.

  The man slid in, and Cambria scooted further away, pressing herself against the door. He turned over the engine and threw it into gear, growling at her to buckle her seat belt before he did it for her.

  “Where are you taking me?”

  “I don’t know yet. We’ll figure it out when we get there. Right now, I’m taking you away from this mess. Somewhere quiet. We have a lot to talk about.”

  She opened her mouth to ask him a question, but thought better of it and closed it., Arms crossed tightly across her body she leaned against the window, still trying to get as far away from him as she could get.

  “I’m Egan, what’s your name?”

  She stared daggers at him, but said nothing. Internally, she was a mess. Egan? She knew the name. He was the brother of Sable, and a shifter. She struggled to maintain her outer calm, but she was flying apart on the inside. She was in the car with a shifter and they were speeding away from her home to who knew where.
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  And no one had seen her leave. She was completely and utterly alone.

  “Suit yourself. It’s going to be a long trip if you’re going to act like that.”

  “Act like what?” she spat out. “Like someone who’s been kidnapped and held against her will? How should I act? It’s not like I was a damsel in distress, just waiting for you to save me. I was fine where I was.”

  She turned and stared out the window, giving him the cold shoulder and making her intentions clear. Cambria buried her face in her sleeve, pretending she was tired or avoiding speaking to him. But she was hiding tears. The moment she’d seen Laskin turning into the very thing that she despised kept playing over and over in her head. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t push the image from her head.

  She felt his hand squeeze her knee, but she was already as far away from him as the compact car allowed.

  “I’m sorry. I know you don’t believe me, but I wish you didn’t have to go through any of that. If I could protect you from ever feeling that kind of pain, I would do it.”

  “Then let me go.”

  “I can’t do that. I know you don’t understand now, but I’m doing this for you. For us.”

  “You’re delusional. There is no us. You don’t even know me.”

  “I do know you, but not in a way that will make sense to you right now. Just give me a chance to prove to you that we’re meant to be.”

  Cambria laughed, but the sound was humorless. This man was ridiculous, but Cambria was also a little frightened. There was so much conviction in his words. Even if what he said was unbelievable, it was obvious that he believed it. And that was a problem.

  The miles stretched before them, giving them both plenty of time to think. She had no family and no one to turn to but him. He was a complete ass for taking advantage of that. She would get away from him, it didn’t matter how long it took.

  Cambria rested her head against the glass and closed her eyes. She needed to rest, and she wasn’t about to spend the next few hours of her life making small-talk with a shifter. She meant to stay awake, feigning sleep to get him to leave her be. But she was exhausted and it was late. Within minutes, she was asleep.

  Egan continued to drive in silence, glancing at her every few minutes. Slack-jawed and deep in sleep, Egan reached out more than once to touch her, but changed his mind. He longed to stroke her soft cheek, and move the chocolate colored tendril of hair out of her eyes. Her hair was shoulder length and thick, with soft waves framing her tiny face. Exactly how she’d been in his dream. Even her voice was the same, higher and melodious, with a slight trace of an accent he couldn’t place.

  In his dreams, she’d been so loving and so free with herself; nothing like she was tonight. But she was scared, and with good cause. So much of her world had changed in an instant that he couldn’t blame her for being so overwhelmed by everything. His heart had torn into pieces when he’d held her in the woods as she’d watched Laskin reveal his true form.

  Even Egan had been surprised that Laskin had taken such a chance in front of all those humans. But in the end, Laskin had been too wrapped up in himself and his battle with Sable to realize what he had done. By the time he had, Egan was sure that it had already been too late.

  Looking at the sweet woman of his dreams while she laid there, curled in a ball in an attempt to protect herself caused Egan physical pain. He wanted to hold her, to touch her. He knew if she would just listen, he could make all her fear and pain go away and he felt so helpless.

  But he knew she wasn’t ready, and he didn’t want to push her. She was angry enough, not that he blamed her.

  He’d been driving for hours and had no idea where he was going. He assumed he would figure it out when they got there. In a few miles, they would cross the border into Alabama. He had no plan and was just following his instincts. When they got where they were going, he would know.

  She stirred beside him, her face slack with heavy sleep. Suddenly, her eyes flew open, shock registering on her face as she realized where she was. Egan prepared himself for the barrage of fists, but she sat quietly in her seat.

  “I have to go to the bathroom.”

  Egan regarded her suspiciously. “I can’t risk you getting away.”

  “Look, I’m not going to run. I have nothing to run to. The rest area at the state line is up ahead. It’s the middle of the night so there won’t be anyone there and I have nowhere to go. You can come in the bathroom with me if you want, but I need to go.”

  She looked at him, pleadingly.

  “Please don’t run.”

  “I won’t. Not this time. I’m too tired. I’m going to run eventually, but right now when I’m exhausted, and hungry.”

  “How can I trust that you mean what you’re saying?”

  “I need to get somewhere more populated before I make a run for it. Running away here would be stupid. You could easily catch me and no one would ever see it. I’m better off running somewhere a lot more populated. That way, if you catch me, I can scream for help.”

  He had to laugh at her honesty. She was a firecracker, that was for sure. He didn’t doubt she would run when the opportunity presented itself, but for now, he was the lesser of the two evils.

  He exited the highway, pulling into a parking spot and killing the engine.

  “I’m going to use the restroom too. If you’re not at the car when I finish, I’m coming after you.”

  “Geeze, okay. I’ll hurry. No pressure or anything.”

  He walked briskly to the men’s room, taking care of his business and listening to the water run through the wall the separated the men’s and women’s bathroom. He washed his hands thoroughly and dried them on his jeans.

  He was surprised to see her leaning up against the car when he walked out. She arched an eyebrow at him, her face rigid and angry, but her posture suggesting that she was slightly amused.

  “I will run, but when you least expect it. If I run every time you stop the car, you’re just going to throw me in the trunk.”

  Egan winked at her, drawing another angry look from her cute little face.

  “You’re so right.”

  He opened the door and got in, waiting for her to adjust her seat belt and settle in before he started the car.

  “I’m hungry too. Do you think we could run through a drive-thru? I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”

  “Of course we can.” He pulled out of the parking space and merged back onto the highway. “So, are you going to tell me your name?”

  “Don’t push your luck.”

  Egan threw his head back and laughed. He was in over his head with this one, and he was already in love.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The sun was starting to rise in Arkansas when Egan pulled into a hotel parking lot. Egan looked at her, his face showing his exhaustion after driving all night.

  “I can’t safely drive another mile, and I’m not about to trust you at the wheel. Climb over the seat and get in the back.”

  Cambria’s eyes grew wide. What was he planning to do?

  “I’m not going to hurt you, just do as you’re told. Please.”

  She climbed over the back, feeling nearly sick to her stomach with fear. She was exhausted, and she doubted she could run far if she got away. But he wouldn’t believe her, so she kept her mouth shut.

  He buckled her into the middle seat, producing a set of handcuffs. He cuffed her hands behind her back and used a zip tie to secure her to the lower anchor in the seat. Satisfied that she couldn’t escape, he covered her with his jacket, hiding her cuffed arms from any nosey passersby.

  “I’ll be right back.”

  He ran into the office, and was back within minutes, a single key card in his hand. He drove around to the back of the property, parking in front of the back staircase and looking around before he got out.

  He cut the zip tie and undid Cambria’s cuffs.

  “We both need to get some sleep, and I’m not in the mood to chase you, und
erstand?”

  She nodded, walking alongside him as he led her to their room on the second floor at the end of a long hall. He worked the key card with one hand, never letting her go as he opened the door and pushed her inside.

  He hung a “do not disturb” sign on the door and latched the extra lock so that housekeeping couldn’t barge in.

  Egan checked the bathroom, happy to see that there was no window.

  “Do what you need to do to get ready for bed,” he said. “I’ll be right outside the door.”

  Cambria hurriedly took care of her business, looking longingly at the shower. She stepped out of the bathroom and a handcuff slapped around her wrist with an ominous click. Egan attached the bracelet to the curtain rod just outside the bathroom.

  “I’ll be on the other side of this door. I’ll hear you if you try to break free and leave. I’m much faster than you.”

  She glared at him, but didn’t respond.

  “I’m glad we understand each other.”

  He was in and out of the bathroom in minutes, unlocking the cuff from the rod and dragging her to the bed.

  “Get in and get comfortable,” he said, stopping her when she opened her mouth to protest. “I’m tired and it’s been a long day, almost two. We can argue about the sleeping arrangements when we wake up.”

  “It won’t matter then,” she muttered as she climbed into the bed and scooted all the way to the edge, bracing her back against the wall to get as far away from him as possible.

  “Exactly.”

  He stripped out of his clothes and slid between the sheets completely naked before she could protest. Grabbing the free cuff, Egan slapped it onto his wrist and turned out the bedside lamp.

  Cambria didn’t say a word, but she couldn’t stop the tears that flowed. She was trapped in a nightmare with no end in sight. As she drifted off to sleep, one hand cuffed to a shifter lying naked in bed with her, she vowed that she would get away from him at the next opportunity.