“I’m fine. Really.” She looked up at Adam. “Will my clothes be dry soon? I should be going.”
Ryan surged to his feet. Ethan tensed, and Adam’s expression darkened.
“I don’t think you should be going anywhere in this weather,” Adam said firmly.
Ethan nodded. “There’s no reason you can’t stay here until you’re feeling better. Ryan and I will go look for your car and tow it here if we need to.”
Uncertainty made her hesitate. Logically, she should get the hell out while the getting was good, but she felt safe here, and she was tired of running.
She looked down at her hands and tried to control the shaking. She was so damn tired, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten.
Adam knelt beside the chair and cupped her chin in his large hand. “You don’t have to go anywhere, baby. You can stay right here. We’ll take care of you.”
If she’d thought she couldn’t become more aroused, she’d been dead wrong. Though he voiced the offer in gentle tones, she didn’t miss the command. He wanted her to stay.
“I…I don’t know.” She closed her eyes, a wave of dizziness swamping her. She struggled to open them again, but the room swirled around her. Then it went dark.
Chapter Two
With a muffled curse, Adam caught Holly’s head as it fell forward. He quickly pulled her from the chair and cradled her in his arms. She was clearly exhausted and probably hungry to boot if her thinness was any indication.
“I’ll put her in my room,” he said as he walked toward the hall.
“Ryan and I’ll go look for her car,” Ethan said.
Adam placed her on the bed and pulled back the covers. She moaned softly, an expression of pain crossing her face, but she didn’t open her eyes.
A pulse beat in his temple and he gritted his teeth. She was running from something. Or someone. She was skittish as a newborn colt, and she had so many secrets in her eyes it was hard to tell the color at times.
The bruise on her ribs bothered him. It could be from a fall, but he doubted it. It didn’t look recent. He fingered a strand of her hair, noticing the unevenness of the color. He’d bet money she was a brunette. The same color as the curls between her legs.
With tenderness he hadn’t displayed in a long time, he tucked the covers around her neck and walked quietly out. He needed a cold shower to calm his raging hard-on, but he opted to walk out into the cold and wait for Ethan and Ryan to return.
A half hour later, they drove up in the Land Rover. Adam walked to meet them. “What did you find?”
“Nothing,” Ethan replied.
Adam raised a brow. So the angel had lied. Was she not thinking clearly or had she honestly not thought they would find out?
“How is she?” Ryan asked.
“Sleeping,” Adam replied. “She needs to eat.”
Ethan looked troubled. A feeling Adam could relate to. That they had found their woman was nothing short of amazing. But it appeared she came with trouble.
Ryan shifted uncomfortably. “I never thought we’d find her. And now that we have, all I can think about is what if she doesn’t want to stay? I felt it too. I know she’s the one. Pop always said we’d know, but I thought it was bullshit until now.”
“I know,” Ethan said quietly. “I felt it too.”
“She’s hiding something,” Adam said. “She has a bruise the size of my fist on her ribcage, and I don’t like to imagine how it got there. And she’s not a natural blonde. She did a poor job dying it. A sign she was probably in a hurry.”
“You think someone’s after her?” Ethan demanded, his face darkening.
Ryan clenched his fists. “Who could want to hurt such a little thing?”
“I don’t know, but one thing’s for damn certain. We can’t let her leave no matter what we have to do,” Adam said grimly.
“Who’s going to approach her first?” Ryan asked.
Adam paused. “I will,” he finally said. “It’s the way it’s done. It’s my responsibility. You two will help by making her feel as comfortable as possible. We’re going to have to ease into this or I’m afraid she might bolt.”
“Go easy with her, Adam,” Ethan warned.
Adam glared at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Ethan didn’t back down. “You know exactly what I mean. You dominate. It’s your nature. You’re going to have to curb that with her. I don’t think she’s going to offer her trust on a silver platter.”
Though Ethan’s words irritated him, Adam knew he was right. He was the authority figure in his personal and professional life, and he was used to getting his way. In his mind, Holly was theirs whether she accepted it right now or not.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said dryly. “Now if we’re done here, I’m going to go check on her. Why don’t you and Ryan see about supper?”
Adam slipped back inside the bedroom to see Holly still sleeping soundly. After kicking off his boots, he pulled the covers back and gingerly settled down beside her. To his surprise, she let out a sigh of satisfaction and snuggled against him.
Her breasts rubbed erotically against his chest, and his cock swelled against her thighs. As she moved against him, her shirt rode up over her hips, exposing her luscious ass. Unable to help it, he smoothed his hand over her naked hip, pulling the shirt higher to her waist.
Her dark curls beckoned him, and he slipped his fingers to the soft folds of her pussy. She moaned as he dipped one finger to her clit and began a slow circular motion. She was hot and wet, and he was ready to burst from just touching her.
Using his fingers, he separated her pussy lips further and slipped his thumb down over her button. His middle finger drifted downward, teasing her entrance as his thumb continued stroking her.
Her breathing picked up, and she moved restlessly against him. He plunged his finger into her, closing his eyes and imagining it was his dick. She was tight. So damn tight.
He bent his head and nuzzled his lips inside the collar of her shirt until he found one taut nipple. When he latched onto it, she cried out. He worked his thumb faster as he sucked at her breast. Then she tightened beneath him and clamped her legs shut against his hand as she wailed her release.
He captured her cry in his mouth as he fastened his lips over hers. Slowly, he pulled his hand from her quivering pussy. He could smell her musky scent on his hand, and he ached to taste her. Ached to bury his head between her legs and love her like she’d never been loved.
Her eyes fluttered open, drowsy, drugged looking, her lips swollen from his kisses.
“Tell me I’m not dreaming,” she whispered.
“You’re not dreaming.”
Her eyes widened, and she let out a startled shriek. She scooted away from him yanking the covers over her body. “What the hell’s going on?” she demanded, her voice still husky with passion.
He watched the confusion register in her eyes as she fought against her enjoyment of what happened and her natural instinct to fight it.
“I made you come,” he said simply.
“I—you…” She trailed off, her mouth opening and closing in rapid succession.
He put his hand behind her neck and pulled her to him. “In case you’re wondering,” he said as he kissed her long and hard, “I plan to do it again. Soon.”
She jerked away and gaped at him. “But—”
“You want me,” he said matter-of-factly. “And I want you more than I’ve ever wanted another woman. I’m going to take care of you.”
Holly stared at him in shock. Her heart was beating double time. Not only had she experienced the most mind-blowing orgasm of her life—okay, the only orgasm of her life, and if this was normal, she had no idea how a woman survived it—but his declaration cut straight to her heart.
She couldn’t believe him. It was her naiveté that had gotten her in this situation to begin with. Her yearning to be loved and cherished. The mere thought of how stupid she’d been made her want to puke.
His expression softened. “Who hurt you, baby? Who put that fear in your eyes?”
She swallowed nervously. This guy was too perceptive by far. How on earth could she be lying almost naked next to a guy she hadn’t known for more than a day? She closed her eyes. This wasn’t happening. It was all a dream. A wonderful dream, mind you, but a dream all the same. Any minute now, she’d wake up and be back in the horror that was her life.
“Let me go get your clothes for you,” Adam said, throwing his legs over the side of the bed. “You need to eat something.”
A few seconds later, he returned with her jeans and sweater. He dangled her underwear on the end of his finger and she hastily snatched them away from him.
“I’ll be in the kitchen. Come on out when you’re done.”
When he’d left, she scrambled out of bed and quickly pulled on her underwear. Her pussy still throbbed from the explosive orgasm. Her fingers lingered near her crotch, and she slipped her hand underneath the silk of her panties.
She flinched when her finger made contact with her swollen clit. God, the man was lethal. Reluctantly, she pulled her hand away and reached for her jeans.
When she was dressed, she walked to the door and stood hesitantly with her hand on the knob. How could she face him after what happened? Her cheeks burned with embarrassment. He was going to think she was a complete slut.
Drawing in a deep breath, she opened the door and slipped down the hall toward the kitchen. The smells emanating from the stove made her mouth water. It had been too long since her last good meal.
The three brothers looked up as she slid onto a barstool. She looked down self-consciously, hoping Adam hadn’t seen fit to fill his brothers in on what happened.
Ryan moved closer and rubbed a hand over her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
She shivered, horrified by her reaction to him. Surely she was still on edge from the orgasm she’d experienced just minutes ago. She was losing her mind. Slut didn’t even begin to describe her. She was lusting after three men.
“I’m fine,” she mumbled, flinching away from his touch.
Ethan put a plate in front of her. “I’ll dish it up in just a sec. You hungry?”
Her stomach growled in response. “Starving,” she admitted.
“How long’s it been since you ate?” Adam asked, his expression pensive.
“Don’t remember,” she said vaguely.
He exchanged glances with his two brothers, and she hoped she hadn’t raised their suspicions even more. She needed to disappear as quickly as possible before anyone figured out where she was. Or who she was.
A few minutes later, Ethan heaped bacon, eggs and a slab of ham on her plate. Her hands shook slightly as she cut into the food with her fork.
Adam stood back, his arms crossed over his chest. He watched while she shoveled food into her mouth as quickly as she could. “Slow down, baby. You’re going to make yourself sick.”
She flushed and set her fork down on the plate. Ethan plunked down a glass of orange juice next to her, and she smiled slightly at him before drinking down half the contents.
A loud knock sounded on the door, and Adam frowned. “Who the hell could that be?” He swiveled around as Ryan and Ethan both started forward.
“Hold up,” he ordered. “We don’t know who’s out there.”
They all turned around to where Holly was sitting, only she was gone. Adam swore. She’d run scared the minute she heard the knock.
“I’ll go find her,” Ethan said, his tone suggesting he’d take care of her and for Adam and Ryan to take care of the outside threat.
To their surprise, the door opened and Lacey McMillan stuck her head in. “You in there?” she called out. She stopped when her gaze rested on Ryan and Adam.
Adam relaxed. Lacey was the county sheriff, and she paid a call from time to time to see how things were in the high country. Tall, lanky and redheaded. All the things Holly wasn’t. At one time, Adam had thought Lacey might be the one, but his brothers hadn’t shared his attraction.
She removed her Stetson as she walked further into the cabin. She threw Adam a saucy grin. “Aren’t you glad to see me?”
Ryan scowled and sat back down at the bar.
“What brings you out?” Adam asked, folding his arms and affecting what he knew to be an intimidating stance. Normally he wouldn’t mind shooting the shit with Lacey, even doing a little light flirting, but that was in the past. Now he just wanted her to be gone as soon as possible.
Lacey slid onto a barstool beside Ryan, hitching her long legs up to balance on the lower rung of the stool.
“Where’s the third stooge?” she asked, looking around for Ethan.
“Around,” Adam said.
She arched a brow but didn’t comment further on his being so close-mouthed.
“I’m up here to find out if y’all have seen a young woman. Early twenties. Brunette. Short, maybe five two. We’re dealing with a possible abduction, though she may have escaped. We found an abandoned car at the base of the mountain, and we’re checking out the area. Maybe you saw something?”