Page 4 of Mountain Man Daddy

He dug his right arm behind her back and his left under her knees and pulled. The scream that tore from her was like a knife to his heart.Jesus, she has some lungs on her, he thought, brushing away the horrific memories they yanked to the surface of his mind. He’d seen too much when he was an RCMP officer, particularly once he’d become a staff sergeant and started hunting killers.

“I’m getting you help.” He pulled her against his abdomen, noticing the gash pumping again. “Put your arm around my neck,” he ordered. Her face fell against his chest, and she weakly clutched the collar of his shirt.

“Dammit, little girl, do as you’re told!” She blinked at his demanding tone but made an effort to put her arm weakly around his neck.

“Good. Now you stay awake, you hear? No more sleeping.” He had to keep her conscious. He paused, propping his foot on the tire and sat her on his knee while leaning her against the Jeep so he could release her. He reached between their bodies and pulled his belt loose. The scarf was soaked, so he took his winter toque off his head and placed it over the wound on her thigh. Then he looped the belt around her leg and slid it up over the toque. He pulled the belt snug, causing her to call out.

“Hold this with your other arm.” He released the belt long enough to grab her hand and place it where he wanted it. “Pull this tight.” She didn’t seem to move at all, so he swore. If she didn’t do it, she’d die.

“Little girl, you will pull this belt tight right now.” There was a firm authority to his voice, and her eyes swung to his. Whatever she was looking for in his stare, she found it, because she finally yanked the belt. He let out a breath of relief as he used his hunting knife to poke a new hole in the leather and secure the belt tightly in place. The bleeding at least slowed enough to give them some more time.

“Good girl.” Her lips turned up slightly before she drooped, all her strength gone. He scooped her back up before she could slump off his knee.

Despite his strength, carrying her was no easy feat, because the distance was great, the walk steep and the wind bitingly cold. Though he loved his shack on the side of the mountain, with its fantastic views and privacy, today he wished it was closer to town. He puffed out a breath, looking up at the cabin still a distance away. He also wished it was closer to the bottom as well.

He looked down at the bloodstained woman in his arms. Her lips were pretty and full, and she had a cute rounded chin. He wondered what she looked like healthy. Her soft corkscrew curls were white blonde. She was on the short side, with a small upper body but rounded hips. She probably had a family that adored her, a boyfriend ready to propose, a life she was torn from—a life she deserved to live fully.

Her eyes slid closed.

“Dammit!” He sped up. “Come on, beautiful, open those eyes for me.”

His back ached by the time he set her down on his sofa, but he ignored it.

“I’m getting you to someone who can help. Stay awake.” He kept her warm by throwing another log on the fire and covering her in a thick blanket before he left to hook the small trailer up to his ATV. Mike lined it with blankets and cushions to keep her as still and buffered from the rough terrain as possible.

The bear eyed him, looking concerned as Mike jogged up the porch to get the girl. He told himself the bear was just a wild animal, and the looks he saw were in his head, but he didn’t completely believe it. He’d saved Rocky from a slow death of starvation and blood loss when he came upon him as a small injured cub with his mortally wounded mother. Rocky had been following him ever since Mike had nursed him back to health. And no matter how hard he tried to release him into the wild after that, he came back. After a while, Mike not only accepted the bear but enjoyed the companionship Rocky provided.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be back,” Mike said to the bear. Rocky snorted and lumbered off.

The girl cried out briefly when Mike transferred her to the cart but didn’t seem to have the energy to hold her eyes on his for longer than a few seconds. He tucked more blankets around her to keep her warm.

“You hang on, honey. I’ll get you medical help as fast as I can.” Her eyes burst open, looking owlish, and fear flooded them, but she couldn’t speak. His gut lurched. He shook his head when she tried to sit up. “Lie back.” She blinked at his stern command, but didn’t stop struggling.

“No hospital!” Her words came out clear but distressed, making him pause. He knew real fear and this girl had it. “Please, they’ll find me.”

Mike refrained from asking who since it would only steal time they didn’t have.

“I’ve got you, and I’m taking you someplace safe. Now do as you’re told, sweetheart.” She relaxed, and slumped back against the pillows. He threw his long leg over the seat of the four-wheeler and started the engine. There was no way she was going to die.No fucking way. The path to Annie’s was a three-mile trek through a wooded trail that he tried to take with both speed and caution. He pulled into the drive of a blue clapboard-sided farmhouse.

He started hollering for Annie, as he scooped the girl into his arms. He tucked her against his chest and jogged toward the porch. The girl was completely dead weight now, and he hoped he wasn’t too late. “Annie!”

“Christ almighty, Yukon. What’s the damn ruckus about?” His only human friend came out of the house in pajamas, her long gray hair swinging loosely past her trim waist. She swore as soon as she saw he carried a girl, and quickly spun back through the door.

“Take her to the back.”

The clinic exam room at the back of Annie’s was still fully equipped, even though her backwoods-doctor husband had been dead for several years. The exam table still even had a sheet over it.

“Put her on the table,” Annie ordered as she clicked on the exam lamp. She washed her hands in the little sink and pulled on rubber gloves as Mike situated the woman on the table.

“The biggest concern is the wound on her right thigh. Looks like it nicked an artery and she’s lost quite a bit of blood.”

Annie shoved him back and started working.

“Get back, Yukon. I got it from here.”

He didn’t get back though, but merely moved to her other side, out of Annie’s way. The girl was pale and breathing shallowly now. He thought she was completely unconscious until she grabbed his arm fiercely, probably using every ounce of remaining strength she had. Her eyes pierced right through him as they pleaded and her mouth opened to form inaudible words. He read her pretty, but cracked, blood-crusted lips.

Please don’t leave me.

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