“I don’t know.” She shook her head and looked back at him, worry in her beguiling eyes now, fear that drew him to her. “What if Karl and the others have found this place and they’re just biding their time… out there… waiting for us to emerge?”
If that was the case, he wanted her away from that damned window.
He crossed the room to her and pulled her away from it, into his arms, trying to act casual even when his heart was racing and his senses were stretching in all directions, hunting for a sign of life.
Knox turned with her and started backing her towards the kitchen, got distracted as her gaze collided with his, holding him fast. He wanted to growl whenever she looked at him like that, as if she was hungry for him, starving for her male to satisfy her. He swore he could feel how badly she needed him as his primal instincts fired, had him aching with a need to pleasure her, to give her what she wanted from him.
He groaned and dipped his head, captured her lips as he backed her against the island and planted his hands against the granite on either side of her hips, caging her with his body. She tasted like coffee, sweet and addictive, and he loved how she arched into his body as she feverishly sought more from him, attempting to steal control of the kiss.
He gripped her hips and tugged her hard against him, showing her who was in control, mastering her in a heartbeat. His pulse went wild as she surrendered to him on a husky moan, as she melted in his arms and pressed her hands to his chest. Gods, how this female owned him. All of him. She mastered him by submitting to him, made him a slave to her as she opened to him, as her tongue brushed his and her soft curves pressed against the hard planes of his body. If ever a female had been made for him, it was Skye.
Knox kissed her harder, deeper, aching for more of her as his body hummed with a need of her, with the first ripples of pleasure that swept through him that were a promise of more, of another intense moment with her that would leave him breathless again, reeling and even deeper in love with her.
He lifted her onto the counter, eager to take her on it just as he had the first night they had been here.
His senses sparked.
He stiffened as he detected movement outside.
The window behind him, where Skye had been standing only a minute ago, shattered, and she shrieked as the bullet tore through the wooden post at the end of the island to his right.
Missing him by less than an inch.
Chapter 17
Knox grabbed Skye, twisted with her and threw her onto the wooden floorboards. He covered her with his body, shielding her as his mind raced, as he breathed hard and tried to figure out what the hell to do. His canines elongated slightly as rage tried to get the better of him, pushing him to shift to protect Skye.
To protect his fated female.
The woman he loved.
He clamped his molars together and flattened his lips, refusing to let his bear side win. He couldn’t shift. No matter how dire things got. In one-on-one combat, he would be able to take the humans, whether that was in his bear form or his human one, but they were heavily armed. Shifting into his bear form would put him at a disadvantage in this situation.
Plus, it would reveal what he was to Skye.
He couldn’t afford for that to happen, not yet. He needed her to be wildly in love with him before they had that talk he dreaded, and he wanted it to be a talk. He didn’t want to just suddenly shift in front of her and scare the living crap out of her, all ta-da! He needed to break things to her gently.
Another bullet ripped into the wooden post, lower now, and Skye shrieked again, her hands flying to cover her head. He covered it too, his head whipping to his right. He glared at the window. Where the hell had the sniper set up? There was a ridge a little way from the cabin, one that had good elevation, enough that the male could easily see into the building but not enough that he would be able to see them where they were on the floor.
That rifleman was making things tricky enough, but he could sense the other two closing in. If they got into the lodge and opened fire, there was a high chance that Skye would be caught in the crossfire. He couldn’t let that happen. He needed to get her out of danger.
He eased back and grabbed her hand. “We’re moving. Got it?”
She shook her head, her eyes wide, her face draining of colour. The fear he could feel in her beat in him too, but it wasn’t fear of being shot or his life coming to an end here. It was fear of those things happening to her.
“We have to move, Skye,” he bit out, harder now, some part of him aware that he had to take command, had to make her do as he wanted or she would just remain where she was, too terrified to move. “If I have to pick you up and run with you I will, but I’d rather you help me out here so we can keep low, below the field of vision of that sniper.”
Her dark eyes widened further, the fear he could sense in her growing stronger as she stared at him. A split second later her features hardened, her jaw setting firm and her eyebrows pinching hard as a look of determination settled on her face. She nodded.
Apparently, she liked the thought of him exposing himself to a potential hail of bullets as much as he liked the thought of her doing that.
She took her hand from his and twisted onto her front, grabbed his hand again with her other one and took a deep breath. Her gaze leaped to his.
“You’re going to be fine.” He meant that. They weren’t just empty words to placate her and keep her calm, convincing her to move. He meant every one of them. They came from his heart, from his fierce need to keep her safe. Whatever happened, he would make sure she made it through this.
He positioned himself beside her, between her and the window. Glanced at her again.
She nodded.
Knox kept low with her scrambling towards the couch, pulling her with him and using his body to shield her. Her harsh breaths scraped in his ears, the fear he could scent on her pushing him to his limit as he listened to her rapid heartbeat. He would keep her safe. No one was taking his fated one from him.
No one.
They reached the left side of the fireplace and the closed door there. He tugged Skye up and pressed her into the shadow of the deep doorframe, the chunky stone fireplace providing her some cover. The temptation to punch the door open was strong but he resisted it. This door had a lock. It would provide Skye with some protection. Probably only a few seconds protection, but still. It might be enough to save her life.
He reached for the door handle and quickly snatched his hand back as glass shattered. The bullet tore into the doorframe just beyond the handle.
“Fuck,” he snarled.
“Are you hurt?” Skye sounded as terrified as she felt.
He was quick to shake his head, needing to alleviate some of that fear, keeping it at a manageable level. The last thing he needed was her going into a full meltdown. He doubted she would, because she was strong, knew how to handle herself, and she was a survivor, but he still wanted to keep her as calm as possible.
He drew down a breath and reached for the handle again, faster this time, managed to strike it and open the door before the bullet whizzed past him. He lunged into the bedroom, avoiding being hit, and turned to Skye, grabbed her hand and pulled her in with him.
He breathed a little easier with several walls between him and the sniper and no line of sight, but remained on guard, deeply aware that Karl and the other male were approaching from this side of the lodge.