Gripping him tightly, she held on while he carried her down the path, back to her old life. He slipped, sliding for a couple of feet sometimes, before regaining his balance. Sure-footed and true, he didn’t let her fall, not once.
Any conversation was impossible. The concentration on his face was obvious and she didn’t want to put him off. She also liked just watching him, seeing how his brows furrow and then relax as they encountered difficult parts of the descent and then navigated them safely. The trees below became more visible; instead of green clouds, they became leaves, branches, and trunks as they entered the wooded area.
Once under the shade of the trees, he set her down, wiping the perspiration off his forehead. “We’ll rest here. The worst is over.”
He shrugged the pack off his back and set it down. He passed her a bottle of water, which she took off him gratefully. Then he took out some sandwiches, made with his thickly cut fresh bread and cheese.
“Thank you. When we get to town, are you going to buy some supplies? I would like to replace what you’ve given me.”
“No need,” he said, sitting down next to her.
And she let it go. Enjoying the nearness of his body to hers, their arms touching, and the warmth of him comforting. Chloe felt happy, for the first time in a long time; this was contentment unlike anything she had experienced with Jerry.
They ate, a companionable silence covering them. All around them, the wildlife went about its business as though it were the most normal thing in the world for these two people to be sitting watching them. And Chloe wished that it were normal. That she lived with him, and worked with him. That they had a life together. In all of her time with Jerry, there had never been a point when they had just sat still and been in the present with each other. Everything had always been work, job, finances, house, and marriage.
Now it was just the two of them in the wilderness. Or so she thought, until he stiffened, his body sending signals of distress to hers.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“There are other people close by.”
“Where?” she whispered, looking around.
“There.” He pointed along the trial they were following and sure enough, there was a group of men coming their way, with dogs. He quickly packed everything away and stood up, looking around, but there was nowhere to hide, not when the men had dogs.
Instead, he helped her to stand and told her, “Whatever happens I will protect you.”
“I don’t want you getting hurt, not for me.”
“There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you, Chloe.”
Her heart lurched at his words, because she believed him. And she reached out and curled her fingers around his, thankful for his warmth when he stroked her skin, telling her they would be alright.
“Ah there you are, Chloe. Your dad sent us out to find you, said you’d got yourself lost on the mountain.”
“My father sent you?” she asked. Of course, it was probably true. She would have been missed. Although how he knew where she had gone was beyond her.
“Yes, he’s not thrilled you went off on your own. But now you’ll be back where you belong and he’ll pay us for rescuing you.”
“I don’t need rescuing,” she said, watching the three men and their dogs getting closer. The dogs looked docile enough, tracker dogs rather than attack dogs. She knew there would only be trouble if they didn’t go along with this. Let them get their reward. But would this mean Nate would go back up the mountain and leave her alone with them?
“I think you should step away from the young lady, friend.”
“I don’t think so. I promised her I would take her home. I’m not going to just hand her over to you.”
“Well, I think it’s a good idea if you come along with us. Kidnapping is a serious offence.”
“He didn’t kidnap me. He is the one that rescued me.”
“We’ll let your father decide that. For now, we’ll just all go on down the mountain.”
“Nate’s done nothing wrong,” Chloe insisted.
“It’s OK, Chloe. I’m making sure you get back safely anyway. So we’ll go with these men,” Nate assured her, squeezing her hand gently.
“Are you sure? I certainly don’t want to cause you any trouble.” But her voice betrayed her need for him to stay with her.
“Like I said, Chloe, nothing is too much trouble.” He took her arm and helped her to walk, their progress slow.
With one man in front and two behind, they made their slow way down the rest of the trail. She could feel Nate glance at her, his expression worried. Until eventually, he said to the man in front. “She needs to rest.”
“We’ll stop when I say. There is no way we’re going to be caught in these mountains after dark. I have a date tonight and I plan to keep it.”
“Yeah, you’ll be able to spend some of the money the little princess’s father is going to pay us for finding her,” one of the men behind her said, teasing.
She made a fist with her hand, telling herself to keep quiet; she would speak to her father when they got back. For now she would just carry on putting one foot in front of the other. Nate was not having any of it, though.
“We’re stopping.” And he did. Right there, helping Chloe to sit on a fallen tree trunk.
“Get up,” one of the guys shouted. “We are not stopping.”
“Five minutes.” Nate got the water bottle from the pack and offered it to Chloe.
“Thank you,” she said, but before she could take a drink, one of them hit it from her hand, the water soiling on the ground.
Nate turned around, a fist about to strike, but the dogs barked, their teeth showing as they defended their owners. He knew he was outnumbered and outgunned, and dropped his fist. However, it didn’t stop one of the men behind him hitting him across the back of the head, knocking him to the ground.
“Nate!” Chloe was on the floor beside him, scared at the sight of blood seeping from a cut at the base of his skull.
“Come on, take the princess and leave him here. Let him go back to wherever he came from.”
“No. I am not going anywhere unless he comes too. If you want that money from my father, you had better stop behaving like thugs,” Chloe said, her turn to protect the man who had saved her.
“We found you. He’ll pay.”
“Don’t be too sure,” she said, rising to her feet despite her ankle sending messages of pain to her brain. “I know my father better than you. Don’t you think?”
She stared them all down, seeing their uncertainty. Bending down she tried to help Nate up, who swayed a little, making her stomach turn over in fear. “Are you OK?”
“Yes,” he said, standing straight. He looked at the three men as if he could rip their heads off, and she was instantly reminded of an animal about to strike, but he covered that look. Instead, his concerned face turned to her. “Are you alright? Can you walk?”
“Sure,” she said, but her ankle was too painful and she had to put most of her weight on her stick.
Nate, despite his own injury saw her discomfort, and without asking, picked her up, holding her close as if that was where she belonged. She only wished it were. When he turned and looked at her, his eyes, deep pools of unmasked longing, told her that he thought so to.
“Hey, put her down.”
“It will be a lot quicker this way,” Nate said, his voice firm.
The guy in front looked at Nate, his lip curling as if he was going to object. But then he turned and walked on, with a “suit yourself” thrown over his shoulder.
Chapter Ten – Nate
“Does your phone have a signal yet?” he asked her.
She reached in her pocket, and took it out, pressing a button before confirming, “Yes.”
“Then call the sheriff and get him to meet us.” He looked at her steadily. “Try and do it so they don’t see or hear. Let’s just call it a safety net. Tell Dermot we’ll be coming out by Talbot’s Spinney.”
&
nbsp; “OK.” She glanced over his shoulder, and satisfied they wouldn’t see, she dialled the sheriff’s office.
He listened while she told the sheriff’s department exactly what was happening, confident the men hadn’t heard; the two behind were too busy talking to each other, occasional bursts of laughter erupting. But only when she put the phone back into her pocket and said, “It’s done. Dermot will meet us where you said,” was he happy.
“Whatever happens, you know I’d never hurt you right?” he asked.
“Yes. Of course. Listen, I know if it wasn’t for you, I would have died out there, or at least been extremely dehydrated and hypothermic. So thank you. And I wish you would take something as a reward.”
He studied her carefully. “There is one thing.”
“What?” she asked, her beautiful eyes looking into his before they slid down to his lips. She knew, he swore she knew what he was going to ask.
“I know you’re engaged and everything. But … one kiss.”
“Nate. Listen, about my engagement.”
“Right, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. I never want you to think you cheated on your fiancé.”
“That’s just it, Nate. I don’t have a fiancé. Not any more. He cheated on me. The whole reason I went up into the mountains was to clear my head, get a bit of distance from my life. It was stupid and I shouldn’t have gone so high. But it was all too much. You know?”
“Yes,” he said roughly. “I know exactly what you mean.”
She leaned forward and her lips touched his cheek and he felt for a moment as though his knees would buckle, sending them spilling onto the floor. But he kept himself together, and instead turned his face to hers. She cupped his face in her hands, spreading fire along his skin, where it wormed its way down into his pants, making him incredibly hard.
Holding his gaze, she pressed her lips against his, and for a moment, they moved against each other. Soft and warm, igniting a fire inside him, which now he knew she was free, threatened to consume him.
Inside, his bear roared. It wanted to challenge these three men, to get rid of them so that he could have his mate all to himself. So he could lay her down under the trees and make love to her. But just then, a shout came up, they had reached Talbot’s Spinney, and the flashing lights of Dermot’s police car told him that this part of their encounter was over. The only question was, what would happen now that they were back in civilization.
Chapter Eleven – Chloe
Chloe had never been so relieved to see a police officer in all of her life. Not so much for herself; she knew these men wouldn’t hurt her, she was more valuable alive and unharmed. Her father would pay them their reward, and she would go back to her old life. Except it was a life she didn’t want any more. She wanted Nate, and therein lay her worry.
“Dermot, thanks for meeting us here.” She saw the confusion on her captors’ faces, and took the chance to push past them, hand outstretched to shake the sheriff’s. In her other hand, she held onto Nate’s with grim determination.
“Chloe,” Dermot said, shaking her hand and holding her gaze before it slipped past her to take in Nate and then the other three men. “Is there a problem?”
“Not now.” She smiled brightly, opting for rich charitable socialite. It usually worked to smooth things over in most circumstances. “I got lost in the mountains. Nate here found me; I would have died if it wasn’t for him. I’m sure I heard a bear up there.”
’s glance to Nate was so quick, she almost missed it, but she was used to reading the body language of people, guests at parties, people at work, her father and stepmother. She brushed that aside. And focused on once more.
“No bears in these mountains,” he said firmly.
Something about his voice and his manner made her want to agree with him, to dispel what she knew was real. Laughing lightly, she said, “I know. An overactive imagination, especially when you’ve hurt your ankle and nearly fallen off the rock face, can conjure up all kinds of ridiculous things.”
“Lucky Nate found you,” continued.
“Very,” she agreed and squeezed Nate’s hand, feeling the warmth of his skin against hers and taking courage from it. “Then these men caught up with us.” She turned to survey the three men who stood with frowns on their faces, murmuring amongst themselves.
“Her father sent us out to find her. We did as he asked.” The tone was defensive, and it frightened Chloe.
“They did. Listen, why don’t I phone my father and straighten this all out. You’ll get what he said he’d pay you.” She took out her smart phone and checked there was enough life in the battery and the signal was still strong. Then she dialled.
“He wanted us to deliver you to his door,” another of the men piped up, stepping forward towards her, and she sensed Nate stiffen.
“Well, unless you want a long wait at the hospital, while I have my ankle looked at, then I think my way is better. Didn’t you say you had a date tonight?” The phone rang, and then her father answered. “Hi, Dad.”
She looked over at the men, and raised her eyebrows in question. “Sure,” was the answer, “we just want our money.” Didn’t they always?
“I know, Dad. I needed to get away, I needed some space.” She listened to him, feeling despondent as he once more made her feel like a little girl who needed a babysitter 24/7. “I’m going to ask to drop me off at the hospital.” A pause while her father once more told her she was inconveniencing everyone. Thank you for your concern, she thought as his words washed over her.
Behind her, Nate moved to press his body against hers as if he could hear what her father was saying and could feel her unhappiness. He offered her his warmth, his sympathy, and his protection. She turned to look at him, smiled at his wonderful, handsome face and the softness of his eyes, her gaze drawn to his full lips. All she could think was how much she wanted to kiss him.
“I’ll send them over.” She looked towards the three men. “I’ll tell them.”
She ended the call, and let go of Nate’s hand to hobble awkwardly over to her “rescuers.”
“So what did he say?” the guy who seemed to be the leader asked.
“If you go by the house, he’ll settle the debt he owes you for finding me.” Chloe tried to read the body language of these men. She wanted the whole affair finished, and she never wanted to see them again. Something about them and their guns unnerved her, the sound of that lonely bear calling in the night haunting her.
“Great.” They made to walk back up the track.
“Hey, boys, one more thing,” stepped forward now. He had kept his distance, kept everything calm while she had spoken to her father, now he stepped into his role of sheriff. “Those guns shouldn’t be on the mountain. We have specific laws here. To protect the wildlife.”
“We took them for self-defence. Her old man didn’t know if his princess had been abducted.”
“I appreciate that, but laws are laws.” He took out his notebook and began to jot something down. Then he looked up and said, “Names and addresses, please.”
“There’s no need for that, Sheriff.”
“We could discuss this at my office,” said, leaving the suggestion in the air that it might not be a short trip. “Or we can do this here. Names, and addresses, I’ll check your licences are in order, and then you can go. As long as you are hauling out of Bear Bluff.”
Chloe held her breath as the men stood resolutely still. She wished the sheriff had just let them go. However, had his job to do and she was the one who had called him, after all. She sensed both the sheriff and Nate tensing, ready to fight, and she only hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
As the three men turned and came back, fishing out IDs with plenty of complaining, she let out her pent-up breath. While took down their details, she went back to Nate, leaning against him for support.
“How’s your ankle?” he asked, his hand finding hers and clasping it tightly.
“It’s OK. Throbbing a little.�
� Like her body when she was close to him; damn, she wanted it to be just the two of them alone. But she knew she needed to go and get her ankle checked. “If you want, you can leave me with . I don’t want to take up any more of your time. You’ve been so kind.”
“You really think I’m going to leave you here?” His eyes flicked over to where was still talking to the hunters. “I’ll go with you to the hospital, and then we’ll see what happens from there. Right?”
She smiled weakly, her eyes filling with tears. “Thank you.” It had been a long time since someone had wanted to be with her, to spend time with her and want nothing in return.
They stood together in silence, no need to talk; they just basked in the other’s presence. Chloe wondered at how easy it was, just being here with Nate. No pressure, no hurry to be anywhere, to visit the trendiest restaurant, to see the latest movie, to be the best at everything. And that’s when she realised she had completely let go of Jerry. He hadn’t been the one for her; she was just too close to see it.
“Right, thank you. Now, have a good day, and once you have visited Chloe’s father, I would appreciate you and your guns leaving Bear Bluff, or I will be asking you to turn them in until you leave town.” Dermot’s voice left no doubt that he meant it. The sheriff might have an easygoing manner, but he was no push over. Something about him exuded power and confidence, such that men tended to get the message and move along quickly.
Right now, the three hunters were getting the full force of that authority.
“Shall we get going, guys?” Dermot said, heading back to the police vehicle. “I think you need the hospital, and then I’ll file a report.” He opened the door, watching Nate help Chloe in. “It’s good to see you again, Nate. Been a while since you went to live in that cabin. I can see you had a good reason to come back down.”
Chloe looked up to see the glance the two men exchanged and then Nate answered, “Best reason in the world. And you, Dermot?”
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