would help smooth things over.
.
Angela
Oh my God, everything hurts, I thought as I shifted. I needed something for the throbbing pain.
The first thing I became aware of, before I even opened my eyes, was a pounding headache in my left temple. I felt like I’d been run over by a truck. I blinked my eyes open, piercing light in the room forcing me to close my eyes again for a moment. I groaned and opened them and finally saw the room I was in. The place looked like something out of a hunting magazine.
A real cabin, with walls made of logs, a sleeper-style bed, a crude wardrobe against the wall, and a bearskin rug on the floor. Cozy. I half expected the stuffed head of a deer or antlers above the bed. Luckily, however, there was only a naked lightbulb.
I sat up and groaned, but my eyes remained opened. Where the hell am I?
When I looked down, I realized I wasn’t wearing my clothes but was in an oversized men’s t-shirt. And no bottoms other than my panties. I still wore my socks, but that seemed like an afterthought. My skin was scraped and bruised in several places. I pressed my fingers to a bruise, blossoming on my forearm, and winced when it hurt. I had a few bandages on my legs and right shoulder. What the hell happened to me?
“Hello?” I called out but got no answer. I climbed off the bed, steadying myself. I felt dizzy and sore, but I needed answers.
My wounds were bandaged. Where was I and how had I ended up here? I tried to remember, but my mind was blank. I remembered the Halloween party at the office on the weekend, then I remembered getting to work on Monday morning. The decorations for the party had still been up. Little Jack-O-Lanterns and witches hanging from the ceiling. Cobwebs in the office corners. But after that…
I didn’t even know what day it was. I scrambled for my phone. Tuesday. Somewhere, I’d lost a whole day. And when I only had a week left, a day wasn’t something I could afford.
I had no signal. I tried putting my phone on flight mode so that it searched for the nearest cell tower when I switched it back, but still nothing. I tried dialing, but that didn’t work either. Panic coursed through my body, but I didn’t give in to it yet.
The cabin was quiet, which was both comforting and alarming. The place was rustic, a lot less done up than some of the cabins I’d seen decorated and advertised around town. Houses with a hunting-cabin feel were all the rage these days. But this… it seemed like someone actually chose to live like this without even basic luxuries. No stove, no heat except the fireplace, minimum furniture. Luckily, I’d seen a bathroom with a toilet and hoped for running water.
I got up slowly and explored. Definitely a bachelor pad, not one hint of a feminine touch anywhere. Nothing of real beauty… until I walked to the grand window.
Holy shit.
The view took my breath away.
This cabin, wherever it was, was surrounded by large, evergreen trees. Sunlight seeped through the canopy of leaves and fell in a dappled pattern on the forest floor. The cabin rested against the mountain and looked out over an endless valley from below.
Picturesque was the word that came to mind, although I’d never seen beauty like this before. Raw, unrefined nature. Like a fairy tale, I mused.
I heard footsteps and my heart skipped a beat. Fear tingled beneath my skin, and I stepped away from the front door. When the large wooden door opened, I gaped at the colossus who stepped through it. The tall man had to dip his head to get through the door, and when he stood in the little room, his presence swelled until it pushed into all four corners.
He had a sexy, rugged look about him. His beard was thick, although his hair was shorter but casual, as if it had grown out of whatever cut he used to wear it in and he left it that way. It curled around his ears, but it wasn’t long enough for anything else. He had tattoos across his neck that disappeared into his shirt. He had a scar across his left cheek, deep and angry, which gave him a fierce look, something almost scary. But he wasn’t scary. No, his scar did nothing to detract from what God had intended when