Page 5 of Found By the Mountain Man

“Indigo,” I repeat. “Like a rainbow.”

A ghost of a smile flickers across her face. I don’t know if it’s her real name, but it’s pretty and it suits her.

“Something like that.”

“There’re towels in the bathroom, Indigo. Help yourself to anything you need.”

I take the gun and shut the door behind me. A wave of protectiveness hits me that’s so strong I lean against the back of the door.

Indigo’s mine to care for and mine to protect. I still don’t know anything about her, but I know she’s mine.

4

INDIGO

Hot water gushes over my body, making my skin tingle. Back at the compound, it was cold showers only in a communal unisex shower block. No matter how hard I scrubbed, I couldn’t get the smell of the pigsty off of me.

Compared to the sterile concrete block at the compound, Rhys’s shower is divine.

I lather up his bar of soap and scrub all over. My skin smarts in places from a hundred bruises, and there are little cuts on my hands and face from where I crawled through the fence to escape.

Once I’m out of the shower and dried off, I examine myself in the mirror. My eye is swollen and bruised so much I hardly recognize myself.

I look hideous. Beaten and bruised and worn out.

Rhys must have a hundred questions, but I’m not ready to tell him yet. I feel safe here, and he seems genuine, but I’ve learned people can seem one thing and be another.

If I can lay low here for a few days, it will give me an opportunity to get my strength back and figure out my next move. Whatever that is.

I left without any of my belongings. No phone, no ID, nothing. My one backpack of belongings was tucked into my cubicle in the women’s living quarters. I wonder if it’s still there or if they’ve thrown it in the trash. One more girl who passed through, got churned up, and spat out.

As I step out of the bathroom, a delicious aroma wafts from the kitchen. My stomach rumbles even though it wasn’t long ago that I scarfed that sandwich.

Rhys has left out a fresh t-shirt on the bed and a pair of sweatpants. I’m a curvy girl, but the pants are enormous on me even with the cord pulled tight.

This one’s a Slipknot t-shirt with tour dates on the back. I press my nose to the fabric and breathe deeply. It’s a manly aroma of the forest and rain and gun oil.

A new tingle spreads over my body. My core tightens, and there’s heat between my legs. I don’t even know this man, but his t-shirt is turning me on. I need to get a grip.

I get changed quickly and go find him in the kitchen.

Rhys is humming to himself as he stirs a large pot on the stove. His back is to me, and it makes me stop dead in my tracks.

While I was in the shower, Rhys got the fire going, and the blaze has heated up the cabin so much that he’s pulled off his sweater. Underneath is a tight fitting black t-shirt.

It hugs the muscles on his back, riding up as he leans over the stove to reveal a tantalizing line of tanned skin, taut with muscle. The biceps in his arm bulge with every stir of the wooden spoon, making his tattoos shimmer. I never thought cooking a stew could be so sexy, butwow.

I grip the bench to keep my legs from giving out. Heat races to my pussy, and if I was wearing panties, they’d be damp. But I’m in Rhys’s sweats, which only makes me more turned on.

I let out a half whimper and half squeak which makes him turn around. He smiles when he sees me. And wow, his smile isdevastating.

If I wasn’t drenched before, I am now. I clench my thighs together, hoping he doesn’t notice what effect he’s having on me.

“Feel better?”

“Yup.”

My voice come out strained, and I clear my throat. Without asking, he fetches me a glass of orange juice.

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