Page 7 of Laid Bear

Chapter Three

Zora’s body trembled with shame as she played the scene between her and Logan in her head over and over again. How could she fall in a virtual stranger’s arms so easily? What she found even more disconcerting was the way she responded to his touch and kisses. None of her former lovers had made her body lust to the point where she thought she’d go crazy with need.

She didn’t understand why he’d been so unbothered when the other two mysterious men had entered the house? Not to mention, the two men didn’t seem particularly surprised to find them in that position either. What had she landed herself into? Had she stumbled upon some strange sex cult? The scariest part was not knowing how she’d react when she saw them again.

Zora tried to piece together what might have happened after her accident. It was apparent one of those men had brought her to this house. But had they brought the items she’d packed in Christine? She immediately thought of the cell phone she’d placed in her purse when she could no longer get a signal. If her rescuer didn’t bring her stuff inside, it was probably still there.Since she’d somehow managed to survive, maybe the wreckage wasn’t so bad. If she had it in her possession,at the very least, she could get in contact with her cousin in case she was worried about Zora not arriving when she said she would. She figured the simple task of searching for her belongings would at least give her a temporary reprieve from thinking about the men downstairs, particularly Logan.

Thankfully, none of them had come upstairs yet which provided some relief. She rose to her feet and started to look around the room. Besides the rumpled sheets on top of the bed she’d slept on, the room was neat. There was no sign of her belongings anywhere, not even the clothing she’d been wearing.

Her gaze fell upon a set of double doors in the far corner of the room, which she assumed was the closet. She sighed with relief to see her luggage and other things she’d packed for her trip inside. Zora’s purse rested on top. To her dismay, when she dug through her bag and found her cell phone, she was unable to turn the device on. Crap. The battery was dead and the charger was probably still connected to the cigarette lighter in her car. She doubted they’d taken it out and brought it inside, but Zora didn’t have time to search because she heard a knock on the door. Straightening up, she debated whether to answer the door or not say anything at all. If she was silent, maybe they would go away. She remained still but there was another knock, this one more persistent.

“Zora, please open up.”

She didn’t recognize the voice but she was sure it didn’t belong to Logan. “Go away!” she shouted, hoping by some off chance that they’d actually respect her wishes to be left alone.

“I won’t go away until we’ve talked, so you might as well open the door.”

Zora calculated how long she had to get some clothes out of her suitcase and put them on. If she wasn’t too high off the ground, perhaps she could make an escape out the window. Then common sense prevailed. Even if she could get outside before her visitor could enter the room, where would she go? It wasn’t likely that her vehicle was in driving condition and she had no clue where she was.

Another knock on the door echoed throughout the room. “Zora, if you don’t open up I’ll kick the door open, and I’d rather not do that.”

If she did as he directed, would he do what the blond had done downstairs? The thought made her tremble in fear and anticipation. She moistened her now dry lips with the tip of her tongue and called out, “If I let you in, do you promise you won’t touch me?”

Her query was briefly met with silence before she received an answer. “You have my word.”

She wasn’t sure she trusted that pause, but what choice did she have? If these men had really meant her harm, would they have brought her here and taken care of her? Zora moved toward the door on wobbly legs. Her hand trembled as she fumbled with the lock and turned the knob. Standing on the other side was the dark haired man she’d seen earlier. Thankfully he was fully clothed, although his jeans and button up top did little to disguise his muscular physique.

Zora’s eyes widened in astonishment as she got a good look at him for the first time. Like with Logan, she needed to tilt her head back in order to meet his gaze. She found herself mesmerized by a pair of deep-green eyes. It was apparent that he and Logan were related in some way. They had similar features, like their noses and their angular bone structure. But where Logan was fair, this man was dark. His midnight black hair was longer than fashionable, falling to his collar in dark waves. His lips were full and the hard, rugged planes of his face weren’t as harsh, giving him a more classically handsome look.

Though he was as tall and broad-shouldered as Logan, he had a more slender build. But it was no less imposing in his stance. Zora felt dwarfed by him. What puzzled her was how she instantly felt at ease in his presence when she had no reason to. Usually she was wary of men until she got to know them better, yet with this stranger she felt none of her usual tension. Instead, her body tingled beneath the heat of his jade stare. First Logan and now this guy? What the hell was wrong with her? When it appeared as if he was moving toward her, she took a few steps back allowing him in the room.

Zora suddenly felt self-conscious of her outfit and she wished she wore more than just a pajama top. “What do you want?”

He gave her a thorough perusal from head to toe. His eyes darkened, making her even more self-conscious than she already was. Zora took another nervous step backward. His lips slanted into an easy smile. “There’s no need to be frightened. I won’t hurt you.”

Zora opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out at first. She swallowed and tried again. “And I’m supposed to know that how? I don’t know any of you men from Adam, except that you and your friends like to walk around in the buff.”

His lips turned down into a sympathetic grimace. “I regret that was our first meeting, but I hope you don’t hold that against us. Name’s Gavin Lamere.” He held out his hand to her.

Zora looked at the large, muscular hand he stretched out to her, but she didn’t take it, not trusting herself to touch him. He didn’t seem put out by her hesitation, instead he walked farther into the room. “How are you feeling?”

His question caught her off guard. What was he playing at? “What do you mean?” she asked, taking yet another step away from him.

“Relax, I won’t bite, Zora.”

“Stop calling me that!”

He raised a dark brow. “Your name is Zora, isn’t it? According to the identification we found on you, that’s what it is.”

“It’s my name, but you’re speaking to me as if we’ve known each other for years. We’re strangers, and I’d like it if you stopped pretending we’re old friends. I need to know where the hell I am so I can leave.”

“That’s not possible right now. First off, you have no means of transportation because your car is totaled beyond repair and you were badly injured. Though you may be feeling better, you’ll need to take it easy for the next couple days.”

He didn’t say anything she hadn’t already expected with her vehicle, but she certainly didn’t feel like she’d been hurt unless his definition of ‘serious injury’ was different from hers. “I feel just fine. If you’d allow me the use of a phone, I’ll call someone and arrange to be out of your hair as soon as possible.”

“If we had a phone here, I’d be happy to let you call whomever you’d like. However, we don’t. And cell phone reception in this area is nonexistent.”

“No phone? How do you communicate with the outside world?”

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