Page 58 of Callen's Captive
Chapter Twelve
KATE
Kate woke up screaming, and it was only Callen’s soothing voice and the feel of his hands on her cheeks that calmed her enough to catch her breath. Even now, he was holding her by both shoulders, talking to her in that soothing voice of his, trying to get her to focus on him. That was certainly no chore. Even when he was worried he was more than pleasing on the eyes. When her breathing eased, she flashed a quick smile.
“That’s my girl.”
If only those words were true. A few days ago, he had spoken of a blood-bond. Quite frankly, the bond sounded scary, but the thought of someone wanting her enough to permanently commit to her sounded nice. She could see herself with Callen. Hell, she’d been dreaming about it for days, except last night. The bad men had been chasing her again. She’d been in the woods too many days now, and it was finally wearing her down.
“You were tossing and screaming out in your sleep all night.” Callen stood with his hand pressed to the low rock ceiling above them as he stared out into the night.
The nightmare had returned with a vengeance despite the fact that she felt incredibly safe with Callen at her side. He knew the territory, including every cave and rock outcropping that could be used as shelter. There was no getting around the fact that she simply didn’t belong in these woods.
“I should have taken you back.” The yellow in his eyes blazed with such intensity her heart skipped a beat. There was something incredibly sexy about Callen when he was serious and staring at her with those fiery eyes.
“No, you were right.” She paused long enough to take a deep, shuddering breath. “You have to warn your pack. I can survive a few days, as long as I’m with you.”
He tried smiling but failed, miserably. Something was bothering him beyond her initial reaction to being stuck in the woods.
“Out with it, Callen. What’s wrong?”
“You said things in your sleep. Why do the woods cause you to panic, Kate?”
As she focused on the trees again, one hand lightly brushed her cheek, encouraging her to focus on him. She could do this. She could tell Callen. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
“My parents were killed here. Several men, with knives.”
The sharp intake of his breath was hard to miss.
“You were with them when it happened.” Not even a question, but a statement. What the hell had she said in her sleep?
“I was five at the time. The men were arguing with my mom, and then one of them. . .” Kate shook her head and swallowed hard. “Her blood was everywhere. I couldn’t get it off of me.”
Callen settled next to her and pulled her onto his lap. As she wrapped her arms around his neck, she leaned against his chest. She had never talked about this with anyone, not even Janie. Talking with Callen was easy, maybe because having him wrapped around her gave her courage she didn’t have alone. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her.
“I remember my dad yelling at me to run. I fell, scraped my knee. That’s when I heard a wolf howl nearby. I was too afraid to move.”
“How did you get away?”
“I don’t remember anything after that. My next memory is with Janie brushing my hair. We were at our foster family’s. I think I’d been there a while too, but I don’t remember anything in between. My first panic attack happened on a school field trip into the woods in first grade. We were collecting different types of leaves. I stood there, surrounded by trees. All I could see were trees and blood.
“Later, Janie told me someone had to carry me home that night. Every time I’m surrounded by trees, it feels like the bad men are coming for me and if I don’t run. . .”
She started biting on her pendant again, then Callen eased it out of her mouth. He held it between his fingers, no doubt noting all the bite marks in the silver.
“Was this from your mother?”
“I wish. I don’t have anything to remember them by. I have a few images in my head, but I don’t know if those are real or made up because I missed them so much over the years. They were good parents, not like Brad and Paula. They loved me, I know they did. I mean they had to, right?”
“Of course, they did. You may not have had them long, but they’d raised you to be strong enough to survive what life has thrown at you. That’s probably the best gift a parent can give a child.”
Kate didn’t fight off the tears as she leaned forward and kissed Callen. She hadn’t intended to start anything with him, but she needed to feel alive, to feel the heat of his tongue sliding against hers, to know it wasn’t her imagination that had her believing he cared for her.
Callen deepened the kiss, faster than she expected, and before she knew it, he eased her onto her back on the ground and pushed up her shirt. One hand glided over a breast as he kissed behind her ear, making her squirm. All she wanted was to have his hands move over her entire body, to know that Callenwould keep her safe and make her feel something other than despair or fear.
His mouth moved along her jaw, sprinkling teasing kisses down the sensitive skin of her neck, creating a delicious heat that sailed along every nerve in her body. Heat pooled between her legs, and the need for his touch there grew.
“I don’t have any condoms with me,” he whispered.
