Page 29 of When He Hunts

The hardwood floor squeaked beneath her bare feet. “Ronan?” A little too weak. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Ronan, we need to talk.” Maybe she should just put on her muddy clothes from the night before. Because walking around just in his shirt made her feel all sorts of vulnerable and unsteady on the inside.

He wasn’t in the small bedroom. She walked out, headed into the little den and—still no Ronan. Her hands went to her hips as she turned her head and glanced toward the connecting kitchen.

Again, no Ronan.

She was the only one in the cabin. After keeping her handcuffed, the guy had run out on her? Now? Not cool. She swung for the front door. Took a step toward it.

The door flew open.

Only it wasn’t Ronan standing there.

A huge bear of a guy with jet-black hair and a face cut from stone filled the threshold. His shoulders brushed the doorframe, and his hazel eyes glittered as they narrowed on her. He wore all black, and the color choice just made him look extra intimidating. As if he needed any help in theextradepartment.

The fact that he was blocking her exit?Terrifying.

And the fact that Ronan wasn’t around?So very bad.

The stranger’s gaze raked her, and, if possible, his expression hardened even more.

Then the guy took a menacing step toward her.

“Ronan!” His name tore from her as a high-pitched scream because what if this man had done something to Ronan? What if he’d killed Ronan while she’d been in the shower? What if this scary stranger was someone else who’d been sent to murder her?“Ronan!”

At her cries, the stranger lunged for her. She grabbed a lamp from the nearby table—one that had antlers as its base—and she threw it at the charging man. Then she whirled and tried to dart back to the bedroom. Maybe she could escape through the window in that room. Ronan had gotten out that way the previous night. She could do the same thing. If she could just make it there.

Only, she didn’t make it to the bedroom. Because the big guy caught her. He flipped her around and pinned her against a wall. He?—

He had a knife athisthroat.

“Let her the fuck go,” Ronan rasped. Because Ronan was standing behind the stranger. Ronan had a knife at the man’s throat.

Ronan was still alive. Her breath shuddered out, and a wide smile slid over her face. “I am so glad you’re alive.”

The stranger blinked. He also didn’t let her go, despite the fact that there was a knife at his throat.

“Is that any way to treat a friend? Where are your manners?” A deep, dark rumble from the man who held her. The man with a knife at his jugular. “Here I am, trying to help out, and you decide to play with knives. Bad form, Ronan. Bad.”

Wait, wait, wait. Was this terrifying stranger afriendof Ronan’s?

“Drop the knife,” he ordered, “and I’ll let your girlfriend go.”

“You let her the fuck go,” Ronan snapped back, “because otherwise—friend or no friend—we will have a problem.”

“Like that, huh? I did wonder, especially when I realized the shirt she was wearing had to be yours. Got to say, I’m surprised at you. Didn’t think you were the type to screw a witness?—”

He was hauled from her before he could finish. Fast. Jerked away. Shoved several feet, and suddenly Ronan’s broad back was in front of her. She pressed onto her toes so she could peek over his shoulders.

“Do notstartwith me right now, Kane.” Ronan pointed at the other man.Kane.“What in the hell are you doing here?Howare you here?”

“I’m here—obviously—to help. Because I am a helper.” His giant hands spread in the air before falling back to his sides. “As to the how, well, I drove, of course. Not like I flew in on my angel wings.”

Ronan growled.

Kane smiled. “It’s good to see you, too, old buddy.”

Her hands pressed to the back of Ronan’s shoulders. “I thought he’d killed you,” she murmured.

He stiffened beneath her touch, then whirled toward her. And instead of her hands being on his shoulders, they were now pressed on his chest.

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