rug before it and moved to toss some more logs on to feed the flames.
I kicked my snow-covered boots off and yanked my saturated shirt off too as I began to shiver. If I was this cold from being exposed out there for a few minutes then I could only imagine how she felt.
I crossed the cabin to the large bed at the back of the room, pulling the comforter and blankets from it and snatching a plaid shirt and thick socks from my closet before hurrying back to the frozen girl before the fire.
Her teeth were chattering and I growled in anger as I wondered again what the hell had happened to her to lead her out here in this storm.
“It’s alright, baby doll,” I murmured, reaching out to pull my jacket and sweater off of her. The thin shirt and leggings she wore were plastered to her skin by the thawed snow and I quickly yanked them off too.
I refused to let my gaze linger on her naked body as she shivered before me, but I noticed her ribs showing too keenly beneath her skin and a myriad of scars and bruises marking her flesh. She was the kind of skinny that wasn’t healthy. The kind that spoke of a lack of food rather than some dietary choice.
I clenched my jaw as anger slipped through my veins, hot and potent at the thought of someone hurting this fragile creature.
“What happened to you?” I murmured before tugging my shirt around her body and buttoning it up. It swamped her, falling to her knees as I pulled it lower.
Her skin was icy cold and my gut twisted with concern as I wondered if I was already too late to save her. There was no way I could get her to a hospital, though that was undoubtably what she needed. We were a hundred miles from one and caught in this blizzard. I was the only chance she had at any kind of help, so all I could do was try.
I pulled the pair of thick socks over her feet then wrapped her in the blankets, stirring the fire again in hopes that it could thaw the ice in her veins.
She started to shiver more violently, but I held hope that that was a good thing. There wasn’t much I could do aside from wait now.
So I took up a position in my armchair, turfing Tyson out as I sat watching her.
I’d done all I could. Only time would tell if it was enough.
Nightmares suffocated me. I was in a box of sand, sinking, unable to breathe. Then Orville’s hands were snaking over my body, the scrape of a knife sounded against a wall as Duke approached. The scent of cigarettes, the whisper of Quentin’s next threat, Jax’s goading ringing in my ears as he egged them all on. Farley’s fists pounding, pounding, pounding-
Fingers feathered over my arm and I lurched upright with a sharp inhale. Two liquid bronze eyes flecked with gold locked on mine and calloused hands pressed my shoulders down. He smelled like fresh snowfall and hazelnuts and despite my terror, it was the best thing I’d smelled in a long time.
Ragged breaths tore out of my lungs as the stranger leaned over me and I feared I’d run from one monsters’ nest into another. He was huge, built with powerful, stacked muscles that made him look capable of snapping a man’s spine in half with his bare hands.
“Shh, it’s alright,” he said, his deep voice as soft as if it had been dipped in butter. “I’m not going to hurt you, baby doll.”
He released me, sitting back on his heels.
I pushed away the heavy blanket covering me, sweat coating my skin. I wasn’t used to a bed like this. I needed a hard floor and a cool breeze to find sleep. Not a soft rug and a warm fire. What is this? Where am I?
I was disoriented as I gazed around, half wondering if I’d lost my mind at last and was imagining this entire place. The cabin was large with a huge bed across the room and a small kitchenette to one side where coffee was dripping through a percolator.
My eyes locked on the stranger again and I rose to my feet, backing up as I searched for an exit. My gaze snagged on the front door, but a huge dog sat in front of it. The beast bounded towards me and I lurched backwards in