Page 20 of Recurve Ridge

His forearms, a mixture of lithe dancer muscle and harder-earned bulk from working at the cabin, rested on the bar top. Long, inked fingers danced invisible patterns across the beer mats. His tea sat forgotten beside him as he watched us with a speculative glint.

Mari leaned into my side. That thin line I straddled between letting her heal and giving in to the selfish need to protect her at a much closer, more intimate proximity turned gray and fuzzy as hell. I’d stepped right into the middle of a taboo space with no exit strategy. The contradictory minx did everything backward. When I expected her to be cowed and silent, she thrashed out. When I expected her to run, she stayed.

Warmth seeped from her bones into mine as she nestled into me like she belonged there. I held her, my arm a light barrier between her and the rest of the world, though I tried not to make my touch restrictive. From the raw skin on her wrists and ankles I’d first observed when I washed her, I doubted she would appreciate having the little control she had over her own body stripped away a second time.

I met Alan’s knowing gaze over her head, a small smile playing on my face. My heart plodded along at its regular, steady rhythm, the possessive beast within me calmed by her proximity. I wanted to wrap her in my arms and defend her from every demon who came for her.

Alan paused, his gaze sliding between us. Something akin to yearning lit his brilliant blue eyes, but before I could delve into a wild speculation of what that expression might mean, he busied himself in the kitchen, his usual graceful movements jerky, his pale skin pasty.

Settling Mari into a perfect fit against my side, I couldn’t work out what he saw in my face that terrified him to the point of distraction.

Or if the fear I read in his gaze came from somewhere within him instead.

6

MARI

My hands trembledas I clutched the glass of golden ambrosia, all too aware of Robe’s possessive hold on my hip. His fingers sketched tiny circles over my borrowed clothing as he held me against him in an embrace both sweet and protective. It surprised me how well I fit against his bulk without the fear of disappearing altogether.

His enormous presence matched his personality, and neither overwhelmed me.

I should have been intimidated or terrified by the men who surrounded me in Robe’s cabin. There was nothingnormalabout how my brain should have reacted while my world turned upside down and I clung on like a passenger on a weird sidecar ride. Perhaps I’d become more like Alice than I thought—or Dorothy. A mashup.Bring on the blue caterpillar.An inopportune giggle escaped me that I managed to muffle in his thick cotton shirt.

Robe traced roughened knuckles along my cheek in a firm, strong touch I didn’t hate.

Better the demon you know, right?

My demons populated the outside of the house. From what I’d gleaned, Robe’s cabin offered a hell of a greater safety than my previous destination would have. I grasped the lifeline he offered with both hands, existing in survival mode, still burning energy at high speed. Each blink created a disjointed freeze-frame of snapshots rather than a scrolling memory.

What should have been running about in my mind was my future: the need to return to my apartment, call my friends back in the UK even though they seemed to have forgotten me the moment I left after graduation. Even message Mum and Dad. Had they tried to call? Did anyone know I was missing? How long would it be?—

A sob caught in my throat, the answer already forming in my head. I hadn’t spoken to my parents in the initial three months I’d been in the US post-graduation when I garnered my first career job, and since I came to New York, the trend hadn’t changed much. Their opinion of my travels was made clear when, the moment I set foot outside the house, the door was slammed and locked behind me.

Caught in Robe’s embrace and knowing the public face of the demons outside the barrier he and his woods formed around me, I declined the intrusive concept with my most polite BritishPiss off, you bastards.

Robe’s arm flexed behind me as he drew me deeper into him in an almost imperceptible movement. I didn’t fight his touch and had no desire to escape the haven he offered, different from the hands that?—

Touched, plucked, pulled?—

No.

I refused to let those psychotic assholes steal my peace now that I had discovered something else I craved. Something healing. Something more.

I am not broken.

I refused to be broken.

I will enjoy physical contact with another human again.

My new mantra. Especially huge protectors like Everest. But a reasonable, whole person wouldn’t crave contact or find safety in the home of a wild man after what I endured.

Why am I so broken?

Tears pricked my eyelids. I dipped my head, squeezing my lashes tight to ward off the pity party raging inside my mind.

You won’t win. I won’t let you.

I made the promise to my foe—my boss, the person I trusted when I first came to this country—over and over. A baker’s dozen of panicked breaths later, I found myself pressed flush to Robe’s side. Chatter rose around me. I ignored it all, his presence providing the peace to block out white noise.

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