Page 6 of Shadow Touched

She kept yanking at the handcuff, but all itdid was scratch her skin. Until he took his jeans off, she wastrapped. Frustration bubbled over and she growled her irritation.She should have known. Do one nice thing for someone and now shewas this madman’s prisoner.

That about summed up all her bad luck inlife.

Chapter Three

Leah had no choice but to wrap her armsaround Brim and hold on tight as he sped into the night, leavingthe bar far behind. The handcuff binding her to him didn’t allowmuch separation, and she didn’t relish falling off a movingmotorcycle traveling seventy miles an hour. She slid up close tohis back and held on, hoping he would eventually realize she wascompletely innocent and let her go.

Why did I help him? And does he carryhandcuffs everywhere?

All she tried to do was keep him from beingkilled, and this was the thanks she got. When was she going tolearn that her curse was meant to be bottled up inside and neverrevealed? It only led to disaster. She was a freak of nature, andonce more, it proved she didn’t belong in society.

They drove for what seemed like hours. Infact, the low vibration of the bike’s engines combined with theslow release of adrenaline, left her sleepy. Unable to keep hereyes open, she leaned her head against Brim’s broad, muscular backand closed her eyes. Every time they hit road turbulence, shejolted awake, only to slide back into that hypnotic trance.

Eventually, the bike came to a stop. Whenthe engine noise died, Leia sat up, blinking as she tried to gether bearings. She looked around the dark forest, but all she sawwas a hulking shadow of a cabin surrounded by trees.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“My place. Get up, but watch your leg. Don’tburn it on the pipe.”

Leia carefully exited off the back of thebike, making sure to avoid the hot exhaust pipe that Brim hadpointed out. Her knees threated to buckle so she placed her hand onhis shoulder so she wouldn’t fall. Brim slid his arm around herwaist, offering her support, but when he stood up as well, theywere suddenly too close. It was far too dark to see theexpression on his face, but every cell in Leia’s body froze. Shebecame acutely aware of his hard muscles. Of the chargedelectricity between them, and her heart rate sped up in fear.

“Come on,” he muttered as he took hold ofher upper arm and pulled her toward the cabin. Once inside, heunlocked her cuff from his belt loop. “Don’t run away. You’re inthe middle of the woods, far away from anyone. There’s nowhere youcan go, and you could die from exposure before I track your assback down. Do you understand?”

She gave a jerky nod, although it was justto pacify him because if she got the opportunity to escape, shedamn well was going to take it.

“I have to use the bathroom,” she said.Perhaps if there was a window, she could jump out of it andescape.

Once more he took hold of her upper arm andto her surprise, marched her out of the cabin to an outhouse ahundred feet away.

“Go on,” he said, folding his arms acrosshis chest. “Be sure to check for spiders and snakes.”

His amusement grated on her nerves. Leiastepped into the outhouse, scrunching her nose in disgust. Theinside had a wooden bench, with a hole built into the platform. Abucket of lye rested nearby. With her bladder full, she decided togo ahead and use the facility. Without looking into the dark hole,she wrinkled her nose as she hurried to pee. After, she wished shehad a way to wash her hands. As she stepped back out, she wassurprised to see Brim held out a bottle toward her.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“Hand sanitizer. No running watersucks.”

She took the small bottle and squirted somein her hands, glad to have something to kill the ick lingering frombeing in the outhouse. When she handed the bottle back, theirfingers brushed against one another, and it sent a jolt throughher. Unnerved, she pulled back, suddenly aware of just howvulnerable she was. Leia took a step back and hugged herself in aprotective gesture.

“For fuck’s sake, I’m not going to rapeyou!” he snapped.

“How do I know you’re not? You kidnap me,bring me to this remote location… You’re the devil as far as I cantell. I shouldn’t have saved you!”

Brim swore under his breath and reached forher. Leia danced away and turned, ready to flee. She didn’t careabout being in the middle of nowhere. Didn’t care about anything inthat moment except fleeing this monster. But she’d only gone a fewsteps before his arms bear-hugged her, halting her escape.

He lifted her like she was nothing more thana sack of rags and hauled her into the cabin. When he sat her downon her feet, she rushed back to the door, but once more he caughther around the waist. Before she had time to regroup, he snappedthe other end of the hand cuff onto his own wrist.

“You aren’t going anywhere,” he said.

“You can’t keep me here! People will lookfor me!”

He raised an eyebrow. “Really? Likewhom?”

The only people she could think of were hercoworkers, but in truth, she doubted they’d actually do anything.More than likely, they’d just hire another cleaner and forget abouther. She wilted a little knowing no one really cared about whathappened to her. She was all alone in the world, by her ownchoice.

Brim marched over to the fireplace and withone hand stoked up the fire, which threw light over the hard anglesof his face. Shadows gave him horns, and for a moment, he lookedlike a demon from Hell. She shivered, unconsciously pulling on thehandcuff, and he frowned down at her. Leia froze, not wanting toprovoke the beast.

Once warmth began to permeate the room, shelooked around. In artistic terms, the cabin would be described asrustic. Leia couldn’t help but compare it to every horror movieshe’d ever seen involving a cabin in the woods. The fireplacerested against one wall. The kitchen held a pot belly stove with acast iron skillet on the top. A threadbare couch and one rattyrecliner finished the décor. Minimalistic to the extreme.

---