The wind picked up, punishing her along with the chilly rain. She lowered her chin and ran full out, not caring where she went but systematically going in the opposite direction from the cabin.
A healthy fear propelled her, giving her additional strength and speed.
She tripped on a branch and went down. Pain flared along her arm and hip, but she jumped up and kept going, keeping as close to the creek as she dared.
Her foot snagged on tree roots, and she halted, her arms windmilling to keep her balance. Sucking in air, she put her back to the tree and listened.
The blood rushed through her head, making her ears ring. She breathed through her nose, trying to concentrate. The wind whipped tree branches around, and pine cones pummeled the rushing water, clopping against rocks. Rain pinged on the mud puddles and the pine needles around her.
No other sounds emerged.
She quieted her breath, perfectly hidden against the ponderosa pine with its top branches scraping the swollen underbellies of the rapidly moving clouds. Her hair dripped into her face, and she wiped it away, her hands wet from the rain. Had he not followed her?
Maye not. Confusion caught her unaware. So far, he hadn’t hurt her, and there had been that odd fire from the chemicals she couldn’t find. Yet he’d kidnapped her, and they were alone in the middle of nowhere. She did not know him. Any woman with a brain would flee, get to safety, and then figure out all of the oddities.
Tension spiraled through the trees, tightening her muscles. Her legs trembled. She had to get a bead on him before she moved. If she couldn’t hear him, then he couldn’t hear her.
Where was he?
She couldn’t see him, and she couldn’t hear him…but she felt him. He was there and he was close. How was he moving without making one sound? She shivered and not just from the angry rain. Even if she didn’t know of his problems, and even if she hadn’t been kidnapped by him, she would’ve recognized Sam as a predator in a world of prey. There was something dangerous and otherworldly about him, and if he wasn’t a fire-burning psycho, she’d be fascinated by him.
She wiped her face off again. All right, she was fascinated. But right now, she had to reach safety.
Gingerly, she moved away from the sanctuary provided by the tree, no longer running out of control. Now she moved swiftly but kept her senses fully tuned to the forest around her. If he made a sound, she’d catch it. She moved between trees, deliberately shifting away from the water to confuse him. It’d be smart to double back, but she needed a hint of his location first so she didn’t run right into him.
He’d left the keys in the car, so if she could just get to it, she’d stand a real chance of getting free.
Now that she’d slowed down and was no longer running out of pure panic, she could think clearly. Okay. If she put the creek behind her, she could slowly make her way back to the car. There was no need to hurry. It was more important that she stay out of his range. The clear tenor of his voice echoed through her head, promising that he would hurt her. As far as she was concerned, hurt and harm held the same threat.
She sidestepped a series of bushes and kept moving, as steadily and as quietly as she could.
“You’re not bad at this,” he murmured.
She jerked to a stop to see him leaning against a tall tamarack. His eyes glowed through the night brighter than any wild animal’s. She took a step back.
He stretched almost lazily.
She gulped in air and tried to calm her breathing.
“I’ll catch you. Run all you want, backtrack at your leisure, follow the creek…it doesn’t matter.” He pulled car keys out of his pocket and jangled them in the storm. “Get to your car. Sit there. Try to hot-wire it.” A pine cone fell to his shoulder and bounced away from the hard surface. “Tire yourself out all you want, Honor.”
She looked around at the darkened forest as the storm beat against her, feeling vulnerable and out of her depth. “When did you find me?” Where had she gone wrong?
“I never lost you, sweetheart,” he said, his voice soft. Dangerous.
She shivered in the cold, her mind spinning. So she did the only thing she could. “I choose none of the above.” Lowering her head, tucking her chin to her chest, she rushed him.
Chapter Seven
Sam was never caught off guard, but when the woman lowered her head and slammed into him, shock stunned his entire system. He pivoted and put her ass against the tree so she didn’t hurt herself. She struggled against him, kicking and punching, and he let her work the energy out of her system. Finally, her arms dropped, and she panted wildly.
As gently as he could, he smoothed the heavy hair away from her wet face. “You done?”
Fire lit her eyes. “Not even close,” she snapped, belying the weariness blurring her features.
Damn but he was starting to really like her. “Listen. I know I’m coming across like a huge, overbearing asshole, and I understand you have no reason to trust me, but there’s nothing I can do about that right now.” Not without putting her in even more danger than he already had. The woman was cunning and brave, and that was as a human. What would she be like as an immortal mate?
As soon as the treacherous thought wandered through him, he quashed it. She was an Enhanced female who could mate an immortal, but it couldn’t be him. Definitely not him. Although, she was a temptation. His gaze dropped to her full, lightly pinkened lips. Would she taste like strawberries?
She punched him in the ear and then shoved her hands against his chest. “Is this when you hurt rather than harm me?” Her voice was breathless.
“I’d rather cut off my arm than do either,” he said, giving her the truth, even as pain echoed in his eardrum.
Then, damn if all the saints didn’t curse him, she looked up at his mouth. Interest lingered in her gaze before she veiled it. At least this attraction wasn’t one sided, although it had to be confusing to her. Humans didn’t trust their instincts the way they should.
Hers were telling her she was safe with him, or she would’ve tried a different tactic than punching him in the head.
He leaned in to her, noting her sharp intake of breath. Then he scented the air between them. No fear. A boatload of adrenaline, excitement, and curiosity. As well as anger. Yeah, that was between them as well. “Are you finished running through the woods, or do you want to keep going for a while?”
Her chin lowered. “If you’re not the bad guy, as you say, then let me go.”
“I can’t right now,” he murmured. “I will as soon as it’s safe, though.”
“Safe for whom?”
He rubbed a smudge of dirt off her chin. “For everyone. That fire in your house didn’t just happen, you know. You’re in danger, as am I, as is anybody near us.” The wind shifted direction, so he moved his body to protect her better from the slashing rain and forest debris. A pine cone hit him in the back of the neck. “Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten about the fire or convinced yourself that it didn’t happen.”