by T. Cobbin
Frustrated, she threw herself back onto the bed. Dammit! Hot tears welled and started to fall. She wanted to be on her own and give in to the miserable darkness that was seeping around her. She hated not knowing. She hated the situation she was in.
Then it hit her that she could call for an ambulance, and the paramedics would take her to a local hospital. But thinking about it...she’d end up in an even worse situation. Yeah, sure, it would get her out of this place, but after she was examined and treated she would be released from the hospital. Where would she go then, and what would she do? At least here she had somewhere to stay to recuperate until her memories returned…if they did.
The bed dipped beside her. Harris. Damn that man. All thoughts of calling an ambulance left her. Feeling him beside her, she calmed a little. She couldn’t even move away from him being the doc was still bandaging her feet back up. A callused thumb swiped at the edges of her eye, wiping the tears that had gathered.
“I’m sorry, Chick. I have always been the person in charge. The person to take charge and give orders. I should have taken into account that you are pretty fucking vulnerable right now. Forgive me?” His words sounded sincere, and his eyes begged for mercy. His hand was now cupping her cheek with a tenderness the giant of a man didn’t look like he had.
She closed her eyes with a huge sigh. Realization hit her hard, making her feel stupid and childish—she wasn’t angry at Harris, he was just there and the first person to direct her anger on to. She was annoyed with her whole situation. “I have nothing and no one. I don’t know where I came from or where I go from here. I’m tired, and I hurt. You’re brash and straight-forward, and you confuse me.” She couldn’t help adding, “You are huge...you could squish me or toss me out on my arse. I should also say thank you for putting me up, for taking care of me. But can I ask you one thing I’ve been wondering about? Why put up with me, why not take me to a hospital today or when you found me?”
“That I can answer.” He removed his hand from her face, leaving it suddenly cold. She not only missed the warmth but his touch too. “At first it was the fact you were injured, after the doc treated you it would have been easy to call an ambulance, but something told me with your injuries you wouldn’t be safe. Have you noticed the bruises on your wrists?” he asked, picking up her left arm.
A thick line around her wrist was black and blue. She hadn’t really registered the pain or seen it in the bathroom, she’d been more interested in staying upright.
“Your right wrist is just as bruised, as well as your ankles. It looks like you were tied up for a while. Doc also says there is bruising on your broken arm that looks like you tried to defend yourself from someone hitting you with a bat or pipe of some kind. I didn’t take you to a hospital because I wanted to give you the chance to choose. If you want me to take you now that you’re fully awake and aware, I will, although I don’t mind you staying here. In fact, I wish you would. If you are in danger, then perhaps you will let me protect you, even for a while?”
It also opened a whole load of questions. Was she running from someone? Was she in danger? Would telling the police and going to a hospital help? But what could they do that Doc Ben hadn’t already done? Ugh, her head felt full and was beginning to hurt. The handsome stranger whose bed she was lying in was offering to keep her protected and hidden until she remembered who she was.
“What about the police? They could protect and investigate.”
“As I said, Chick, I can take you. We do have our own plod here in the village.”
“What if I bring danger to your door? What if someone does come looking for me here?”
“Don’t worry.” He winked, looking sure of himself. “I and anyone else in this village can take care of ourselves. And we can keep a secret.” He tapped the side of his nose.
He leaned down and kissed her cheek, then stared into her eyes while wiping the rest of her tears away with his thumb. She could feel the heat from a blush covering her cheeks. Her mind was already blank, but it was now a pile of mush too. The sound a throat being cleared had Harris pulling back and her looking down the bed to see the doc standing at the end straightening his tie.
“Sorry, Doc. She all done now?”
“Yes. I’ll be back in a couple of days to make sure all is well, unless you need me before then. And miss, if you don’t mind me saying, we villagers can keep you safe if you are in danger, and as Harris said, we know how to keep a secret. Trust him. I’ve left some pain meds.” He motioned toward the small brown bottle on the bedside table. “Take them if you need them, but they might knock you out for a bit. Get some rest, and don’t worry. In about a week you’ll be up and around.” He walked out of the room, carrying an old leather doctor’s bag.
Harris stood up. He grabbed the bottle of pills and a glass of water from the nightstand and handed them to her. “Take these, Chick. Get some sleep, and I’ll be back with some lunch. If you need anything, like the bathroom,” he said, putting a heavy emphasis on the word bathroom, “call.”
After swallowing the pills and water she lay back down again, drained. “One more question?” she asked, drowsiness already taking over.
“Sure, what’s up?”
“Is this your bed? ’Cause it smells of you.”
“That it is, Chick.”
She buried her head into one of the pillows and sighed. She didn’t even hear the click of the bedroom door when he left, she was asleep in seconds.
* * * *
“Thanks, Doc. See you tomorrow.” Harris shook Ben’s hand.
“I know you’ll take care of her, Harris. You’re a good man. Don’t give up on her. These old man’s eyes can see there is something between you two. You’re in for a ride, I think.” Ben turned and walked slowly down the graveled path back toward the village.
Harris knew the elderly lion shifter had seen a lot of comings and goings over his years, and he also knew the man always held his tongue unless it was worthy advice. Ben was right. Harris could feel a pull toward the female whenever he was near her. And he knew from her scent and actions that she felt something too. Even though she was human, could she feel the pull of her mate? He needed to find out what she was running from, and fast, before it caught up with her.
“Felix,” he shouted through the house, although keeping his tone lower than normal being he didn’t want to wake his guest up.
“Yep.” His brother walked out of the kitchen with a sandwich as big as his head in his hand.
“Fucking hell, man, put it on a plate or something.” He pointed to the crumbs that led a trail back where he’d just come from. “Enforcers. Anything?”
“I was coming to find you. Larry just informed me they found the remains of some bloodied rope, and it scented heavily of the female. It must have been what they used to restrain her. It was found by a piece of flint sticking out of the ground.”
“She used the flint to scrape the rope apart? Smart cookie.” Harris nodded. “Nearest road?” he asked, trying to think over the lay of the land.
“Larry and John are going over there now. It’s about two miles away. She sure ran some. Larry says he needs Chris to go up to the road and check out the scents. He thinks there’s a weak one of a couple of males, but he can’t make enough out to memorize it. Chris is the best tracker we have, so I sent him over just now.”
Harris nodded, then shook his head as he watched his brother take a big bite out of the sandwich, wondering where he put it all. Shifters ate a lot because of the energy it took to shift, but he was sure his brother ate a whole lot more than most.
Harris walked back into his office, rolling his eyes. “Shout at me when she wakes,” he ordered and shut the door.
Sitting down at his huge oak desk, he dropped his head on it in exasperation and sighed deeply. He couldn’t stop himself from kissing her earlier; he had to do it. Even the slightest touch of his lips to her skin was sigh worthy. He wanted so badly to go back and curl up next to her. His cock had been pa
infully hard ever since he’d walked into his bedroom. He had to find out who she was, he had hated seeing her cry and looking so utterly defeated.
“Get on with it, Harris,” he uttered. “Time to get moving and see what we can find out about her.”
Chapter 5
Harris searched through the numerous brain patterns until he found the village copper.
“Garrett?”
“Fucking hell, man, use the phone.”
The sour reply had Harris growling in his head at the man. Garrett was another lion shifter and very surly.
“Up to no good?” Harris taunted. “Get your butt over here. I would have thought you’d been over earlier after hearing about our guest.”
“I knew she was injured and tired, so I was giving her some time to recover.”
“Weak excuse, man.”
“I’m on the way.”
Harris thought the plod was a lazy bastard. He would enjoy making the git work his arse off. A few minutes later a knock came at his office door. Inhaling, he called out, telling Garrett to enter.
“Morning, Alpha.” The shifter nodded and sat in the chair opposite him.
Harris looked him over. Most shifters didn’t have problems with their weight. Their inner animal normally liked to exercise and run when they were released. But Harris could tell Garrett’s beast either didn’t like to run at all or wasn’t let out enough to do so. The man was five and a half feet of fat. If he turned into a sea lion instead of the king of the jungle lion, then maybe Harris would have been more understanding about the way he looked. He shook his head, trying to dislodge the mental picture of a sea lion rolling around on his floor.
“Our guest doesn’t remember anything. Zilch. Doc thinks she’s on the run. She has bruises around both ankles and wrists from being restrained. You need to start looking around in places I can’t. But do it fucking quietly. We don’t need any trouble. Can you do that?” He lifted an eyebrow and looked the man in the eyes.
“Yes, Alpha. No identification on her? What about her clothes?”
“Nope, nothing. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a pink t-shirt. I’ll send a picture of her to your phone later.”
“Okay, give me her description until then, and I’ll see what I can find out. I gather she will be staying here as you are asking me to look into her?”
“Yes, she will be staying here,” Harris answered with annoyance. He knew Garrett needed to know the information, but something rubbed him the wrong way having to tell the man she was staying with him.
* * * *
A few hours after Garrett had left Harris still wasn’t able to concentrate, so he filled his mug with coffee and stood in his favorite spot by the back door. It was there where his sister found him.
“She’s moving. I think she’s awake. She might need some help. I’ll make some dinner for her.”
“Thanks, Terrie. We need to start thinking about Christmas shit too. Wanna go over it later? There are a few old folks who are gonna need some help this year.”
“Yeah, okay. I was talking to old Rosie this morning after she dropped off a lasagna for our guest.” She chuckled. “She wasn’t the only one, by the way.” Terrie opened the fridge, it was filled to the brim with Pyrex dishes full of various meals.
“Fucking hell. We could feed the whole village with that. Anyway, what did Rosie say?” Harris placed his mug on the kitchen counter.
“She said that old May and Fred in Murphy’s old place will need some help. They’re struggling with the heating bills and rent.”
“Oh, and why is this the first I’ve heard of it?”
Terrie shrugged and started pulling food from the fridge to warm up.
He was going to have to have a word with Murphy. The man owned several village properties, he was also a money-grabbing cheetah. He’d been raising his rents quite high for some recently. Harris turned and walked up the stairs, adding that to the list of things to do. But at this precise moment, he was looking forward to getting his hands on his chick’s skin again. His cock twitched. Fucking thing, it had not long gone down!
The woman was sitting up in bed, looking a little sheepish as he walked in.
“Hey, Chick. How are you feeling?”
With a small smile she answered, “Not too bad. The pain meds are working. I...umm... I could use some help to the bathroom though.” The blush coloring her cheeks grew as she spoke.
“Terrie sent me up here to do just that.”
Walking over to the bed, he drew back the covers and lifted her as he’d done that morning. Breathing her in, his cock got harder. Violets and bread. Fucking sweet. He could also scent her arousal. She was affected by him just as much as he was her. Her lips looked so kissable. It would only take a second to lower his head and—
She tapped his shoulder. “Umm...bathroom.”
Oops. Walking into the bathroom, he set her down on top of the loo. He warned her not to stand up again as she’d done before, and then he left, closing the door behind him. He had to adjust his jeans, he swore his shaft was so hard it was going to tear through the material.
Mate smell sweet. Want to make her ours.
I know, but just a wee bit longer, man. Just a little bit longer. He sighed wistfully.
* * * *
Harris had been staring down at her, looking like he wanted to eat her. His blue eyes kept flicking to her mouth. She had been torn between reaching up and kissing him and getting to the bathroom. Since she desperately had to pee, the latter won. The chagrinned look on his face made her feel a little better knowing he was feeling what she was.
She shook the thought from her mind. How could he feel something for her when neither one of them knew anything about her? She mentally went over her body. Her head felt clearer, and it was less painful. Her feet and ankles still hurt like a bitch though. Her right hand, although heavy with the cast, only ached. And the bruises around her left wrist didn’t hurt much unless she touched them.
“Hey, did you drown in that loo?” he called out with a deep chuckle.
Crap, how long had she sat there going over stuff? She couldn’t wait to get on her feet, although his hands on her body felt so right. Flushing the toilet, she called back, “Still alive and ready.”
Coming into the bathroom, he picked her up and carried her over to the sink so she could wash her hand.
“Thank you.” She couldn’t help but lay her head on his shoulder and breathe in his scent as he carried her out of the bathroom. She was surprised when he walked out of the bedroom. “Um, where are we going?”
“I’m going to take you downstairs. Thought you might like to see more than these four walls.”
As he carried her downstairs, through the hallway, and into the living room, she looked around the house. It was old in places and yet new in others. The living room wasn’t too big, but it was big enough for two couches and one huge television screen. He sat her on one of the sofas, placing her feet out before her, and grabbed a furry blanket from the back and spread it over the top of her. Heat flushed her cheeks when she remembered that she only had the huge t-shirt on.
“I can’t be down here wearing only this.” She plucked the shirt out a tad. “Where are the clothes I was wearing when you found me?”
“In the wash.” He handed her the TV remote, his eyes glittering with mirth. “My shirt looks good on you.” And with that he turned and walked out of the room.
What the hell was she supposed to say to that? She couldn’t help but watch his butt as he walked away. Wow!
A few seconds later his sister appeared. “Hey. Harris said he’d brought you down. Feel like a movie with your dinner?” Terrie was much sweeter and more talkative than her brother. She was slim, had the same eyes as Harris, and her hair was a lovely color.
“Sure.”
The young girl placed a tray over her legs containing lasagna with salad on the side. It smelled great. Her stomach rumbled in agreement. A steaming cup of coffee was set to the side as wel
l as two small, white pills the doc had left. Tucking in, she let the afternoon drift away, watching a comedy and gossiping with her newfound friend.
She didn’t see Harris again, although she knew it was him that carried her to bed later that night after she’d drifted off on the sofa. Through her foggy mind she swore he kissed her lightly on the lips.
Chapter 6
“She’s awake.” A fuzzy male’s voice reached her from a distance. “Welcome to your worst nightmare, sweetheart. We’re going to make your daddy pay for his crimes. When they find your body no one will recognize you. We’re going to enjoy taking you over and over and over. The last thing you see or hear will be because of your father. He was warned, but he didn’t believe us.”
She watched the man laugh. She couldn’t make out his face. The tears in her eyes were making him blurry.
Terror. Her heart was racing. Sweat covered her body. Her hands and feet were tied by some kind of rope. It felt like whatever she was in was moving. She kicked out at the man, hearing a grunt. She wasn’t going to let this happen.
She tried to kick him again, but her leg refused to move. Why couldn’t she move? Again, she tried to kick out...nothing. She tried even harder, but something was trapping her legs. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. It was like her body and vocal cords were frozen.
She could hear a voice in the distance. Chick...come on, Chick. Why did she recognize the voice? Hands held her arms. She could feel the warmth of their skin.
“Chick. Come on, sweetheart. It’s a dream.” Gentle hands roamed up and down her arms. Her sweaty face touched bare, warm skin. “There you go, calm down. You’re safe now.”
Finally, her limbs worked, and she clung onto the body, somehow knowing it was Harris and she was safe. His scent and voice permeated the area around her, forcing her to open her eyes and look up at him. His gaze met hers. Caring, worry, and love? She found she was sitting on his lap on the edge of the bed, curled up in the safety of his arms. She sighed, letting the tears that were there fall.
