Page 22 of Suspicion

“I’m opening the door,” he confirmed. “What you do next is up to you.”

Although, as he creaked the wood open, it was obvious what she would do. The woman was hellbent on getting away, even though she had no idea what the consequences were.

“Fine.” She rolled her shoulders back, although he noticed how she flinched as a gust of cold air from the gap in the door swept past her.

“Are you ready?”

Tucker had been right the first time. The longer the façade went on, the more it resembled a game of cat and mouse. Needless to say, even though she’d been a wildcat, his surety with the fine ass was the cute rodent of the two of them.

“Yes.” Her gaze scanned Tucker’s for any sign that he was joking.

He wasn’t, though. Tucker was going to open the door and let her have her way. Only then, once she was gone, would he react. Only then would he show her exactly how he felt about women who couldn’t do as they were told.

He hadn’t been unreasonable. He’d brought her somewhere safe, lit the fire to warm her, and offered her a seat. All he had asked in return was that she comply while he arranged the drink she’d requested. Yet still, the fire burning in her eyes insisted on defiance. Still, she assumed she knew better.

“Okay.” Reaching for the flashlight he kept stowed on a hook by the door, he flicked on the illumination and thrust open the door.

She was gone in seconds, squeezing past him and fleeing into the shadows before he even had time to direct the beam after her. He watched as she headed across the decking and down the slope the cabin had been built on, almost losing her footing on the way.

“Ella.”

His voice was little more than a growl as, shoving the flashlight between his teeth, he started after her. His long strides brought him to the precipice of the incline quickly, and bounding down to where the land flattened out, he heard her dashing off to his right.

He was after her in a flash, grasping the rope from his shoulder and readying it in front of him. Ella was coming back home, and this time, he wouldn’t be so accommodating about her living conditions.

“No!” Without a light, she tripped over one of the numerous creeping roots that had burst from the ground and landed with a thud on the cold, hard ground. “No, no!”

Scrambling to all fours as best as the ropes at her wrists allowed, she screeched the word as she tried to rise to her feet, but it was already too late. Tucker was on her, and by the time she was back on two legs, he struck. Throwing the rope around her body like a lasso, he yanked her backward until she landed against his body.

“Get off me!” Her instinct was to fight, her nails clawing at any part of his anatomy she could reach as he dragged her in the direction of the cabin. “Stop it!”

“Be quiet,” he managed around the flashlight still guiding their path back to his home. Whatever she thought the discussion was, it was over. Tucker had heard enough of Ella to last him a lifetime.

“I will not!” she hollered, trying to resist the path he insisted she take before attempting to slide the rope up and over her head. “I’m not yours, and you can’t—”

Bored with her continual rants, he scooped her up and back into position over his shoulder before she even realized what had happened.

“No!”

Squealing, her arms and feet began their relentless pursuit of hammering against his body in an attempt to break free, but all she was achieving in the task was amplifying his anger. He shouldn’t be out there in the darkness—neither of them should. Tucker should be halfway toward a delicious meal by now before settling in for a decent night’s sleep, but instead, he was saving her sorry ass from the forest.

He’d given her the chance to see sense and stay safe, and she’d thrown it in his face by sprinting off into danger. He’d wasted the entire day retrieving her, and now she was ruining his evening.

Ignoring her thrashing kicks and thumping fists, he carried the writhing and screaming woman back up the hillside, each fresh strike hardening his resolve.

Ella will learn.

He guided the flashlight toward the building beside his home. The barn was smaller than the cabin, but it was just as secure. Tucker had used it in the past to hold animals and keep them for slaughter. It would certainly suffice as a temporary pen for the wildcat.

Approaching the barn, he compelled her back to her feet but ensured he caught her bound hands with his fist before she could vanish into the trees again.

“Tucker, no!” She pulled against his grasp as he grabbed the rope still draped around his shoulders.

Snaking his rope around her existing binds, he jerked her forward and secured the end of the tether to his belt buckle. The wildcat wouldn’t be going anywhere without him, although still, she pulled and kicked like an animal about to be caged.

“That’s enough!” Grabbing the flashlight from his teeth, he dropped it to the decking and was finally able to vocalize his displeasure. “You’ll be cooling off in here for a while.”

“What?” Finally, she stopped fighting, her gaze widening as she took in the building they were standing in front of. “What is this place?”

---