Woof cuddles up next to me, and we spend the hours like that, with me warming random body parts against his fur throughout the night. He tolerates it all, my head laid on him to get the feeling back in my ears, he even lies on my feet when I direct him to. I don’t know how he ended up out here all alone, because he’s smart as hell.
Finally, I don’t know how late, I doze off with his furry body half covering me.
The first thing my exhausted mind registers is the light. Bright light. And my name. Someone is calling my name. It’s morning! Every muscle in my body screams at me when I sit upright and my head thumps. The world wavers for a few scary seconds before coming into focus.
“Here!” I try to call, but my voice is raspy and weak. I’m so thirsty. Woof whines and gets to his feet when I start tossing the rubber tubes off of us, and I try to call out again. It isn’t much louder. Fear attacks me. What if they don’t hear me and keep moving?
“Naomi!”
I recognize the voice, but I can’t place it. It doesn’t matter. Someone is searching for me. “I’m here!” My feet and legs are numb, and I fall trying to get to my feet. Oh god. They’re so close, and I can’t get their attention.
The sharp bark that Woof lets out makes me jump, but I’m so glad to hear it. “Yes, tell them, boy,” I sob. “Tell them I’m here.” I can’t seem to stand, but I manage to drag myself over to the shed door and shove it open.
The world is white and too bright to look at. Out of that painful, shiny gleam, a voice I thought I’d never hear again. “Naomi.”
Axton. He found me.
His shadow falls on me, letting me open my eyes enough to see him when he steps in front of me, along with two other men. One I recognize as one of the security guys. He was the one I heard yell my name.
“We’ve got her! Have the ambulance meet us at the lodge!” a man barks, probably into a radio or phone. I’m too busy bawling in relief as two strong arms pick me up and Axton’s scent wraps around me.
“Naomi,” Axton chokes, holding me tight. “Fuck, I thought I lost you. Are you okay? Your head…”
“Paige,” I mutter. “She found me. Hit me, tied me up. Everything hurts.”
“I need a knife!” Axton turns with me in his arms and another man urges me to hold still while he cuts the cord binding my wrists.
“Watch that dog,” the security guy warns when Woof barks and circles around us.
“No! Don’t hurt him. That’s Woof. He stayed with me. He saved me.”
Chapter Fifteen
Axton
Yes, I understand. We’ll pick him up in a few days. Thank you.” My voice is low, but Dani hears my side of the conversation and steps into the room when I hang up the phone.
“Is everything okay? Did they catch Paige?”
“Not yet. That was the vet’s office. The dog she had with her is going to be fine.”
Dani smiles toward the couch. “She’ll be happy.”
For the hundredth time in an hour, I turn to gaze at them. Naomi and Caden lie curled up asleep on the couch, the shadows from the fire dancing across their faces. I came so close to losing her for good.
The doctors were amazed she only had a mild case of hypothermia. She needed a few stitches on her head but showed no signs of a concussion. Her toes on both feet suffered some superficial frostbite, along with her ears and the tip of her nose. She has to keep her feet wrapped while her toes heal to prevent infections. They wanted to keep her overnight, but her stubborn ass wouldn’t hear it, so once she was warmed up and they had her heart rate and blood pressure back to normal, she was released with the order to rest.
“I’ll put him to bed,” Dani whispers, and I nod. She pauses as I continue to stare at them. “You love her.”
The expression on my face when I regard her is answer enough and she hugs me. “I hope you’ve told her. You deserve to be happy. You both do.” She releases me and carefully untangles Caden from Naomi’s arms to pick him up.
Naomi’s eyes pop open and Dani smiles at her. “I’ve got him. I’m going to sleep with him in your room tonight.”
“Okay,” Naomi whispers, wincing as she shifts around on the couch to get comfortable. “I’m just going to sleep here.”
“No, you’re going to sleep with me,” I inform her, picking her up.
“Axton…”
“Unless you think you can outrun me, I’d save it. You’re with me.”
Her patented smartass look makes my night. “Sure, take advantage when I can’t fight back.”
“I’m the one who never had a chance against you.” Her head rests on my shoulder while I carry her to my room. She sits on the bed, her back against the headboard while I gently rub some of the cream the doctor gave her on her ears and face. Her lips are raw and red, but she smiles at me when I tell her about the dog.
“I want to keep him.”
“I told the vet we’d pick him up before we head home in a few days.”
She nods and scoots down, pulling the covers up to her chest.
“Are you cold? Do you need another pain pill?” I ask.
“No, I’m okay.”
There are a thousand things I want to say but I know it isn’t the time. Not after the way things were left before she was attacked. Still, there’s one thing I need her to know. “Naomi.” She looks up at me as I run my hand through her hair. “I love you.”
My hand is grasped in hers and she holds it against her red lips for a moment. “I know.” After a few seconds, she adds, “I don’t want to talk, okay? Can you just hold me? Maybe put some music on?”
That’s how we spend the night, with her in my arms, and music playing in the dark.
Naomi sleeps late the next day and it’s nearly noon when she shuffles out to the living room. “You should’ve yelled at me to help you in here,” I admonish.
“I can walk. My toes don’t hurt as bad. I’m just really sore all over, especially where she kicked me in the ribs.”
Rage smashes into me. “She kicked you in the ribs?”
She eases herself down onto the loveseat in front of the fireplace. “I’m okay, really. Where’s Caden?”
“Dani has him at the lodge for the night.”
“That’s not necessary. We can handle him. I’m not an invalid.”
I grab a pillow and blanket from the couch and sit beside her. “You’re not a great patient either.” When she’s comfortable, I add, “I wanted a night alone with you.”
I’m not sure what to make of her little nod. She doesn’t appear thrilled with the idea, and I guess I can’t blame her, but there are things she needs to hear from me and more I need to say. Later. For now, I order us a big lunch.
As soon as I hang up my phone, she says, “I need to get a new phone. Paige took mine. Well, it was hers in the beginning, I guess. I don’t know what the cops did to my original phone but it wouldn’t charge or turn on when I got it back. Glad I backup all my pictures and stuff. I’d hate to lose all those pictures of Caden.” Her habit of babbling when she’s nervous is never not going to be adorable.