Page 8 of Infinitely Mine

Chapter 2

Amoan escaped my throat as I felt a warm, calloused hand support my neck and press a round plastic object against my lips.

“Drink,” a gruff, deep voice commanded. The kind of voice infused with grit and a sensual, husky timbre that left you clenching your thighs together with want.

Cold water trickled into my mouth as my lips parted. The first droplets hit my dry tongue, and I began swallowing, gulping down fluid as my body took control. When the bottle pulled away, I licked my lips. “More.”

I drank again, feeling less dry and brittle than I had before I pulled over on the side of the road. The gas gauge had indicated we’d run out as I coasted into the outskirts of Tonopah, completely emptying the tank a few miles short of the goal and not a dime left in my pocket to purchase any extra. I didn’t know what the hell I was going to do.

Find a shelter? Look up a food pantry?

I intended to rest after my vision kept tunneling, and my head continued to ache, the thirst nearly driving me crazy as I tried to swallow, and sandpaper scratched my throat. My supplies ran low, and I saved everything for my son.

Wait. Jacob!

“Jakey,” I blurted in a panic, trying to scramble from my seat when an immovable force gently pushed me back.

“Hold on there, Rowen. Your son is fine. He’s in the back seat.”

“Hi, Mama.”

His sweet little voice met my ears before I saw him in the rearview mirror. “You okay, baby?”

“Yeah. I’m drawing pictures. Wanna see?”

“Sure.”

My son held up a piece of construction paper from the pad I’d bought him last month. Over five hundred sheets of plain white, and he’d gone through a quarter of them already.

I focused on his drawing and the house I saw with the sun shining above it while Jakey, me, and a little brown puppy stood on the grass before it. “You want a dog?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“A chocolate Lab puppy. I’m going to name him Scruffy.”

“And where are we in your drawing?” I could guess the answer.

“Our new home. There’s a yard big enough for two dogs.”

A chuckle reminded me that we weren’t alone. My head whipped to the left and found the stranger who had given me the water. At first, all I could see were impossibly broad shoulders and arms rippling with bulging muscle. Dark ink covered every inch of exposed skin. He wore a white t-shirt beneath a black leather vest with patches on the front that read MAMMOTH and VICE PRESIDENT.

“Mammoth?” I asked, confused.

“That’s my road name, Gorgeous.”

I blinked, staring at the giant grizzly bear of a man in front of me, and lifted my gaze higher, roaming his features. A thick, dark brown beard covered the bottom portion of his face and jaw, but his sensual, full lips slowly widened into a grin. His nose was straight and perfectly proportioned, and his brows pinched together in concern or worry. I couldn’t tell which one.

He was bald. I didn’t expect that, and it somehow made him more rugged, sexier, and edgy. He had to be at least ten years older than me, but at thirty, I wasn’t too young for a man just shy of silver fox status.

Deep almond-colored eyes held me spellbound with their flecks of gold beneath dark brown brows that matched the colorof his beard. His intense stare drilled holes in my soul, poking and prodding at every secret I held.

Wait. He said my name. How did he know? Did he search through my purse? He wouldn’t do that, right?

“You called me Rowen.”

“I told him, Mama. Mammoth asked our names.”

“He’s right,” Mammoth replied in that husky, deep, growly timbre.

Jesus. With a voice like that, he could narrate a textbook on car mechanics and still manage to dampen panties.

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