again soon. You need to get back to civilisation, people who really know how to help you deal with what happened to you.”
I felt her hair brushing over my fingers where they were still pressed to her spine and I opened my eyes again to find her shaking her head, though she hadn’t turned to face me.
“I know you’re afraid, baby doll,” I said, trying to rein in the anger in my voice before I ended up frightening her more. “But there’s a whole world out there. You must have people looking for you. Family, parents, friends-”
She spun in the chair, knocking my hand from her flesh and tugging her shirt back down as her legs tangled with mine and she looked into my eyes with a fierce expression, first pointing at me and then back at herself.
“I don’t understand,” I murmured, though we both knew I did.
Her frown deepened and she jabbed her finger against my chest before pointing at herself again. My jaw hardened. I knew she was afraid, that she wanted to stay here with me in the cocoon of safety I’d built her. But it wasn’t really safe here at all. We were only a few miles away from the men who’d held and tortured her. We were half way up a fucking mountain in the depths of winter and I was only one man. Though I hoped to prove that I’d still be more than enough to match those motherfuckers when the time came. Which it couldn’t with her still here. I couldn’t risk leaving her alone and I certainly wouldn’t risk taking her with me when I went after them. And I needed to go after them soon. Every day that I put off the need in me to strike at them on Winter’s behalf just added more rage and hatred to that which was filling my soul. The more I grew to care about Winter, the more I needed to see them punished for what they’d done to her. I dreamed of it, plotted it out, ached for the retribution which I was going to rain down on them. But not until I was sure she was safe.
“Winter,” I said, my brow furrowing as I tried to fill my words with conviction. Because despite what I might have wanted in my fantasy version of some kind of life for the two of us here, it wasn’t right for me to keep her like this. She still couldn’t even talk so how the hell was she supposed to work through the shit she’d survived? She needed real help. From someone qualified. “I need you to be safe. I need to know that you’re okay and being looked after. I need that so that I can go after those men who did this to you. I need to be able to hunt them down and butcher them for the things they’ve done without worrying that you’re vulnerable while I’m doing it.”
Her green eyes flared with emotion and I could see how much she hungered for their deaths in her gaze.
Winter reached out and caught my shirt, tugging on it so that it rode up over my chest, making my heart pound as I tried to figure out what she was doing.
Her palm landed flat against my flesh, right over my thundering heart and she stared at me like she was challenging me to deny it. But that wasn’t going to make me change my mind. The way I felt about her was exactly why I knew I needed to get her the fuck away from here.
She frowned like she could see that wasn’t convincing me and caught my hand in her free one, pushing it between the open buttons at her neck until my hand was laying on her chest too, the thrashing rhythm of her heart calling to me like the sweetest of songs.
“It’s not about that, baby doll,” I said, knowing this was hurting her but saying it anyway. I understood that she felt safe with me and I wanted to protect her more fiercely than anything I think I’d ever wanted. But that was the point. She wasn’t safe up here in the woods with me. She wasn’t safe while those fucking animals who’d done this to her still drew breath. “It’s about me making sure they never get near you again. It’s about what’s best for you in the long run.”
She started shaking her head in fierce denial and a few