Page 11 of Unexpected Temptation
“Oh, dear Lord.Is that a wolf?”Amelia stuttered and looked frantically around for a weapon.“Leave it to me.I try to do a nice thing, and I end up being eaten by a wolf!Meredith is going to have a field day with this when her parents are notified of her departure from this earth.Oh, God.Would they even discover it?The only person who knew I was coming here was Kane.”She relaxed a bit.“But my car.They would eventually find my empty car and investigate, right?”Amelia illogically tried wiping the tears from her rain-soaked face.“Three days on your own and you get eaten.Good going, Amelia.You’re a dismal failure at everything.”
She’d been so caught up in her mental tirade she had just noticed the wolf had sat several feet from her with its head cocked to the side as if it was listening to her.
“You heard everything I just said, didn’t you, Mr.Wolf?I’m not sure how to deal with this situation.I never learned about wolves, and I’ve never even had a pet.Heck, I can’t remember if I’ve ever even petted a dog in my life.How pathetic is that?”Amelia took a sliding step to the side but froze when the wolf growled.“Okay, look.You seem like a really nice wolf.You haven’t eaten me yet, right?So, maybe you could let me walk by before I die of the cold?”The wolf growled.“Okay, that answers that.”Amelia stayed silent for a moment.“I’m wondering if you’ll be what’s going to kill me, or if it will be this cold?”
“I would say neither.”
Another scream tore from her as she spun around, almost falling from the lack of strength and the slipperiness of the ground underneath them.Thankfully, he’d been close enough and had caught her before she had landed on the hard ground.
She looked up and up some more, only to have the bottom fall out from under her.Even drenched, this man took her breath away.He towered at least a foot over her and looked at her with piercing black eyes that saw too much.She couldn’t tell what color hair he had because it was wet and clung to his scalp.Her eyes raked up and down.He wore sturdy boots and jeans and had a long, dark coat with the collar up.
Jesus, he was beautiful and rugged, making her think of the old-time Western movies she liked to watch.Her first instinct was to crawl up his body and have his arms hold her tightly so she felt warm and safe.
She really needed to get her thoughts in order so she could deal with the situation.
Chapter Six
Jaylen caught her beforeshe took a header and almost smiled at the look on her face.Several moments went by.
“If you don’t close your mouth, you’re going to drown, Sweetheart.”He chuckled when her mouth snapped shut, but she continued to look at him with equal parts fascination and fear.
“Are you Mr.Stone?Please tell me you’re Mr.Stone because I couldn’t take it if you were one of those mountain men who kidnaps women and makes them ...well, you know ...then hides them away for the rest of their lives never to be seen again?”
Jaylen rolled his eyes, but couldn’t prevent the massive grin on his face.
“I’m Jaylen Stone.”
He caught her when her legs started to give out again.
“Oh, thank God...”Her eyes widened further, and her hands tightened on his arms before she looked over her shoulder and then back.“Oh, no,” she whispered.
“What?”he asked and then looked over her shoulder.
“There’s a wolf behind me,” she whispered through her chattering teeth.
“He’s mine, and he’s not a pure wolf.He’s got some dog in him.He won’t hurt you.I’m sorry he scared you.He got farther ahead of me than I thought, so I just got to you.”
