Page 13 of The Biker's Savage Desire

Red narrows his brows and tugs on his jeans before grabbing the pistol I didn’t know he had from the nightstand drawer. “Stay here. I’ll go see who it is.”

I’ve never felt like I was with anyone capable of keeping me safer than I am right now. Still, I don’t want to deal with any of this. I want the world to go quiet again. I want to go back to the place where our love nest was invisible to the rest of the world and time stopped for us.

The door swings open and I listen intently through the bedroom wall. It’s a female’s voice, though Red doesn’t seem happy to see her. In fact, he sounds angry.

Oh God! What if this is some ex-girlfriend coming to talk things out? Maybe he uses this place for all the women he picks up. Maybe he’s had this night over and over again with hundreds of gullible runaway brides.

I’m so stupid!

I storm out of the bedroom, ready to give him a piece of my mind, when I see a girl about my age cold and shaking, standing in the doorway.

Red glances toward me, pistol still drawn and aimed at the girl.

“What’s going on?” I narrow my brows and keep my eyes on the short brunette with thick curves and a pack strapped to her back.

“Sorry,” Red groans. “We don’t have anything extra.”

The girl drags in a ragged breath. “You can put the gun away. I’m not armed. I’m hungry.”

“You should leave,” Red presses, stepping forward a beat as to intimidate her.

“Please. I’ll take the food and water with me. I’m so hungry.” The girl sounds genuine, but Red doesn’t budge.

I go back into the bedroom, grab a blanket and a dry T-shirt off the shelf. Neither are mine to give, but neither are the granola bars and bottles of water I grab next.

“What are you doing?” Red groans, pistol still aimed. “We don’t know this girl from Adam. It’s no accident that she’s up here.”

“You told me last night it’s miles into town, and it doesn’t look like she’s got any way of getting back. She could starve or freeze. We need to help her.”

Red doesn’t lower the pistol, but his grip shifts with reluctance. He’s weighing it. Not just her, but me and my judgment.

“She could be bait,” he mutters.

I toss the blanket toward her, not rough but not gentle either, then set the rest of the supplies in the doorway. “I doubt she’s bait.”

The girl hugs the blanket tight to her chest like its armor, her eyes wide but not pleading.

“Jesus,” Red mutters. “This is how things go sideways.”

I glance over my shoulder. “Maybe. Or maybe it’s just being human.”

“What are you out here for?” he presses, studying the girl.

“I’m Maci. I’m a reporter for the Rugged Mountain Gazette.”

Red’s posture stiffens like he’s been splashed with ice water. “This isn’t helping things, Maci. Why are you here?”

“I was out looking for a story and I stumbled onto this cabin.” She untwists the bottle of water and chugs it down fast. “Sorry for the intrusion.”

Red lowers his gaze. “You expect me to believe you were out here in the middle of nowhere looking for a story? You like writing about grizzly fights? Or is it the wolf attacks that get ya excited?”

The woman nods as she crams a granola bar into her mouth. “People say all kinds of weird stuff happens out this way. I was just looking around.”

“Sure you were.” Red stiffens. “Where’s your vehicle, Maci?”

“Oh! I don’t have one. I came out here on foot.”

This sentence seems to set Red on high alert. His shoulders pull back, his jaw tightens, and he grips the girl firmly on her wrist while hollering to me, “Get dressed. We’re taking a ride into town.”

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