“Just give it a chance,” Tamir interjected, reading my thoughts. “It actually cleans up pretty well.”
I was dubious, and I shot him a look that said so.
Once he showed me inside, I had to admit, I could see the potential. The entire cabin was one room, save for a tiny bathroom in the corner. One double-sized bed, a sofa, a two-seater table and chairs, and a corner kitchen, all encompassed in one room.
“Let me get the lights on. I’ll be right back.” Tamir left me inside, and after a few minutes, a generator out back came to life, then the lights flickered on.
Unfortunately, having light didn’t help the situation. It only highlighted the severity of the cleaning job required. On the bright side, the place was so tiny, there wasn’t all that much to clean, but what was there, was filthy.
Tamir popped his head back inside and rapped on the door to get my attention. “Let’s get our stuff inside, along with some firewood, before the sun sets. You’ve never seen dark until you’ve been in the forest at night. There will be plenty of time to clean later.”
We grabbed our few bags and the supplies we’d bought from yet another Wal-Mart and dropped them just inside the front door. Then I followed Tamir toward the pile of wood he kept in a covered stand. He placed three logs in my arms, and I made my way back to the cabin, placing the wood in the metal grate next to the stove. When I crossed paths with Tamir on my way out, he had twice as much wood in his arms as I’d been able to carry.
I started pondering why exactly lumberjacks and outdoorsmen were so damn sexy when I heard a flapping noise in front of me. All I saw was a glowing set of yellow eyes before an enormous owl swept by me so close, I felt my hair stir from the movement of its wings.
“Aye, chingao! La Lechuza!” I wailed hysterically, running back into the cabin and slamming into Tamir on my way in. “I swear to God it was La Lechuza! She swooped down and tried to take my head off, and now, I don’t even have Ned to ward her off. We are sitting ducks in this place.”
“Slow down,” he chuckled, clearly not taking matters seriously enough. “What happened?”
I stepped back and put my arms on my hips. “There was an owl, a huge, angry owl, that just swooped down and tried to kill me.”
“So, what were you saying about la…”
“La Lechuza. They’re witches that turn themselves into owls. That was one of them, I know it. I saw her eyes.”
The corners of Tamir’s mouth twitched. “And Ned? Who is Ned?”
I glowered at him, not happy about being his source of entertainment. “He was my aloe plant. They keep away evil spirits.”
“Your plant’s name was Ned?”
“Pinche cabrón! You aren’t even listening to me. Yes, my plant’s name was Ned, like you’ve never named a plant before. Whatever. You can get the rest of the wood yourself. I’m not going back out there.” I whipped around but then stopped, as I had nowhere to go without being covered in a mountain of dust.
Before I could make another move, Tamir pulled me back flush against him. My heart rate had just started to settle from my scare outside. With his arms wrapped around me and his lips near my ear, the poor organ in my chest lost all pretense of a rhythm.
“I told you I’d keep you safe,” he said in a rumble that had me clenching my thighs together. “Whether it’s from a man or a train or a well or a witch. Nothing is going to happen to you while I’m around. Got it?”
What about you? Who’s going to protect me from you?
I nodded my head in agreement, but my mind had been wiped blank by a potent wave of lust like a flashflood surging through a dam. He could have told me I was the Queen of England, and I would have agreed because I had no brainpower left to dispute him.
It took me a solid five minutes to regain cognitive function after he pulled away to continue stocking the firewood. There was no avoiding this man’s effect on me. It was chemical. Primal. And now, we’d be spending who knew how long together in a cabin the size of a dollhouse. We’d either kill one another or … I wasn’t sure I was brave enough to entertain the alternative.
Chapter 15
Emily
Between the two of us, we were able to make the cabin presentable by bedtime, which was good because, after an eleven-hour drive and cleaning, we were both exhausted. Tamir gallantly offered me the bed, but he was way bigger than me, and I would feel awful forcing him to stay on a sofa not much bigger than a loveseat. I made myself comfortable on the couch, and we passed out without hardly a word.
It was the next morning when the reality of our situation sank in. I lay there listening to the birds coming to life outside our windows and wondered what I was supposed to do with myself out here in the middle of nowhere.
“You up?” Tamir’s morning voice was sexy as hell. Deep and raspy. It wouldn’t take much more than a few words to initiate a delicious round of morning sex, had our relationship been in that place, which it wasn’t. But if it was…
Get a grip, Em.
“Yeah, I’m awake.”
“I thought I’d go hunting this morning if you’re interested in joining me.”
“I’m pretty sure my calendar is open … so sure.” If the man was going to kill me, he could do it just as easily in the cabin as he could a mile into the woods. I might as well take advantage of the opportunity because I didn’t think activities would be easy to come by.
We each took a turn getting dressed and freshening up in the bathroom, then put on our new coats and cold weather gear. Before we left, Tamir retrieved a rifle he kept in a gun safe beside the bed. He sighted the scope, using an old coffee can on a log, and then it was just the two of us alone in the woods.
Down in the Hill Country of central Texas, there were no forests—not like the one we were in. Texas had cedar trees and scrub, live oaks and mesquite, but nothing like the towering army of trees around us. It was breathtaking.
“See these trees with the white bark?” Tamir asked, drawing me from my reverie. “Those are aspen trees. A lot of them will have chunks of the bark peeled off because the bark has pain-relieving qualities like aspirin. The deer somehow know that and will gnaw at the bark, especially during rutting season. If you spot fresh marks on the trees, it’s a great way to help determine if deer have been in the area recently.”
“How on earth do you know that?”
“I spent some time with the forest rangers up here after I bought the place. They gave me all kinds of information about the local wildlife.”
After we walked for about a half hour, he found a spot beside a bush for us to use as a makeshift deer blind. I hadn’t been on a hunting trip before, but I knew the general principals. Sit. Be quiet. Wait. There was no pressure to talk, as that would have been counterproductive, so we were able to simply enjoy the silence and the beautiful setting.
We were there for about an hour when Tamir slowly lifted his gun and took aim. I hadn’t seen a thing, but when I squinted in the direction the gun was pointed, I made out something brown moving slowly in the distance. It looked entirely too far away to shoot. Between the trees being in the way, its movement, and the sheer distance, I couldn’t imagine it was possible.