Page 6 of My Mountain Man Stalker
She nods. “That’s why I ran.”
I step into the kitchen, grab a bottle of water, and toss it to her. She catches it on reflex. Her fingers are trembling.
“Eat,” I say. “There’s food in the cabinets. Soup, jerky, canned stuff. I’ll hunt tomorrow.”
Wren doesn’t answer. Just opens the bottle and drinks deep.
Her throat moves as she swallows. My eyes track it without meaning to.
Damn it.
I turn away before the thoughts hit too hard.
She’s not mine to want.
But that doesn’t stop the wanting.
The fire inside me isn’t new. I’ve managed it for years. But now she’shere. In my space. In my bed. And there’s no longer a screen, a fence, or a forest between us.
That distance was the only thing keeping me sane.
Now?
Now I hear the soft drag of her feet as she walks barefoot across the floor. I smell her shampoo. I can almost feel the warmth of her skin when she brushes past me to reach the stove.
“How long do I stay here?” she asks without turning around.
“Until it’s safe.”
“Is that days? Weeks?”
I step closer, just enough to make her stiffen. “Could be longer.”
She finally looks at me. Her eyes narrow. “Are you planning to keep me here?”
“I’m planning to keep you alive.”
“That’s not an answer.”
I hold her gaze. “I don’t give you half-truths, Wren. If I wanted to keep you, reallykeepyou, you’d already be chained to the bed.”
Her breath hitches.
I regret the words the second they leave my mouth.
She doesn’t speak. Doesn’t blink. Just stares at me like she doesn’t know whether to slap me or kiss me.
I step back. “I’ll take the floor.”
I pull a blanket from the chest and toss it down. Hard. It lands between us like a wall.
She watches me for a long time.
Then she says quietly, “Thank you for coming for me.”
I don’t deserve that. I don’t deserve her.
But I nod once. And say nothing.
