I got up slowly and explored. Definitely a bachelor pad, not one hint of a feminine touch anywhere. Nothing of real beauty… until I walked to the grand window.
Holy shit.
The view took my breath away.
This cabin, wherever it was, was surrounded by large, evergreen trees. Sunlight seeped through the canopy of leaves and fell in a dappled pattern on the forest floor. The cabin rested against the mountain and looked out over an endless valley from below.
Picturesque was the word that came to mind, although I’d never seen beauty like this before. Raw, unrefined nature. Like a fairy tale, I mused.
I heard footsteps and my heart skipped a beat. Fear tingled beneath my skin, and I stepped away from the front door. When the large wooden door opened, I gaped at the colossus who stepped through it. The tall man had to dip his head to get through the door, and when he stood in the little room, his presence swelled until it pushed into all four corners.
He had a sexy, rugged look about him. His beard was thick, although his hair was shorter but casual, as if it had grown out of whatever cut he used to wear it in and he left it that way. It curled around his ears, but it wasn’t long enough for anything else. He had tattoos across his neck that disappeared into his shirt. He had a scar across his left cheek, deep and angry, which gave him a fierce look, something almost scary. But he wasn’t scary. No, his scar did nothing to detract from what God had intended when he’d created this Adonis.
In one word, he was delicious. And he looked dangerous…
“Who are you?”
“I live here,” he answered blandly, his accent thick, his voice deep.
“That doesn’t really tell me anything,” I replied, my voice stern.
He grunted and shrugged as he plopped a dead bird on the table and headed for the kitchen. He looked like he belonged in this setting of the wild woods. But I gagged as I stared at the poor being he’d just plopped on the table like it had never lived.
Was I dreaming? Maybe I was still asleep and whatever had knocked me out was still working its magic on my mind. I glanced at him again. He appeared to be at least six foot six of pure muscle with a chiselled, masculine jawline that made me want to stare at him. Despite the fact that I knew he’d killed the creature, butterflies danced in my belly. My eyes grew wide, hungry when he walked back into the room. I glanced at his face, and his eyes drew me. Dark, brooding eyes. Fierce when they locked on me. I felt like we were the only humans in this world.
I swallowed hard and suddenly felt a sense of intimidation. Were we alone in this cabin? How did he find me and then bring me back here? I felt exposed.
“Who the hell are you?” I asked again, sounding more confident than I felt. “And how did I get here?”
His eyes sparkled with amusement. He lifted his hand toward his scar but stopped himself as if he was set on not being self-conscious about it. Curious.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
God, when he spoke, the sound of his voice tugged at something deep inside me. His voice was like velvet, sliding over my skin. Deep, baritone. Delicious. And he spoke with an accent I could only guess to be Russian. God, it sounded dangerous. Like those big bodyguards in movies. Or the leaders of some scary mob that did horrible things to people who crossed them.
I shivered. This couldn’t be right. He couldn’t be one of those… he was just a man.
In a cabin.
In the middle of the woods.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“I’m fine,” I snapped, my fear translating into anger.
He chuckled, and the sound rumbled in his chest. He walked to the little table in the corner, a knife in his hand as if he planned to butcher the creature, a turkey, I thought, right there in the cabin. I curled away in horror.
“Did you… kill that?”
He looked at the bird as if only noticing it and nodded. “You must eat.”
“There’s no way I’m eating an animal you just killed. You did just kill it, right?” I asked, aghast at the sight.
He only crossed his arms over his chest and looked at me with an amused smile. “Who do you work for?”
“What?” Why was he answering my questions with questions?
“You are here for who?” His accent, the way he expressed himself, made me swoon.
This guy was interrogating me, and I couldn’t help but think that he sounded hella sexy talking to me like that. Of course, he was Russian. There was something about his rugged appearance that made me want…
Oh please woman! You’ve never been with a man like him. You wouldn’t know the first thing to do with him.
“How about I tell you a little about me?” I said, hoping to break the ice and distract myself from his physique. “I work for an insurance company, for the time being, and I live with my mother, who’s probably looking for me.” I hoped my hint that I would be missed would keep him from killing me in the middle of nowhere, though I didn’t get a serial killer vibe from him. Just an I want to fuck him vibe, which I needed to ignore.
When he didn’t respond, I stated rather harshly, “I don’t appreciate being kept here against my will.”
He looked confused. “Against your will?”
“Stop doing that!” I cried, afraid and frustrated. “You either ignore me completely or answer my question with a question.”
He shrugged nonchalantly and didn’t speak.
Practically growling, I grumbled, “Why the hell am I wearing a t-shirt? Did you undress me?”
He cocked an eyebrow at me. “You were bleeding. Would you rather I let you die slowly?”
“And you thought you needed to take off my clothes without my consent?”
He frowned. “I’ll take note. Next time, I let you bleed out. Saves me the trouble.” He turned his back on me, laid the knife next to the bird, and returned to the kitchen to make coffee. As if I didn’t matter, as if I wasn’t there.
“Listen to me you...man.” I spat the words, marching to him, my fear evaporating because he was being an asshole. “I don’t know who you think you are, but you don’t get to ask me questions and not answer mine. Who are you, and where the hell am I?”
I was right behind him when he spun around, so close he was almost against me, so close, a sigh would press us together. He stared down at me with an expression on his face that pulled me up short.
Fire burned in his eyes, and his lips were slightly parted. His eyes slid down my body, and with it came a heat I hadn’t expected. My nipples hardened and my core tightened. I was instantly wet. Hot and wet, and all I could think about was this guy pushing me against the wall and kissing me, hands roaming my body, eating me whole.
I swallowed hard. “Who are you?” I whispered.
He lifted a hand, moving slowly as if he didn’t want to scare me. Carefully, he hooked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “Insurance company?”
I nodded, the anger gone, replaced by something much more urgent.
“Viktor.” The way his name rolled off his tongue sounded exotic. Viktor. I liked it. “And you are?”
“Angela.”
A slow smile spread across his face. “Angel.”
“Angela,” I corrected.
“Malen kiy.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, frowning.