Gray (The Boundarylands #10) - Callie Rhodes Page 0,17

been, they would have observed a woman struggling mightily to keep calm by taking deep breaths and letting them out slowly. But the only thing that mattered right now was convincing herself that she was strong enough to survive this nightmare.

Olivia wasn't scared that the alpha was going to kill her, not anymore. He'd had plenty of opportunities if that had been his intention.

Now she was afraid he planned to let her live only to lock her up in some cage and use her as a sex toy.

Goddammit. Olivia bit her lip in frustration as a gush of liquid heat ran between her legs, a thoroughly ridiculous response to the thought of his toned and muscled body propped above her.

Another gush.

Olivia willed her traitorous body to stop, but it seemed she wasn't in charge of these reactions. It was as if the alpha's touch had fractured her into two separate beings—her old, rational self and this new needy sexpot.

Right now, the needy side was winning by a mile.

Olivia knew that she needed to act. Standing here fretting in the empty house wasn't going to do her any good.

First things first. She scanned the room for something to cover herself with and only came up with a lightweight blanket draped over the back of a chair. Luckily, it was large enough that Olivia was able to fashion it into a sort of toga. It was far from a perfect solution—the thin wool was more than a little scratchy—but it was a hell of a lot better than tramping around naked.

Especially if she decided to make a run for it after all.

The thought gave Olivia pause. Why was she still here? Every passing minute brought her closer to the alpha's return, and there was no scenario she could think of in which that was a good thing.

Unfortunately, she knew she didn't stand much of a chance of making it to the border either. Even if she did somehow manage to get off this alpha's land, she would still be stuck in the middle of the damned Boundarylands…barefoot, sore, exhausted, and naked under a blanket.

It was that moment when Olivia considered succumbing to despair.

Fortunately, the urge didn't last long. She might not have a snowball's chance in hell, but she still had her training and her brain. Those had to count for something.

She forced herself to go over the situation again, weighing the pros and cons of her few options. In the end, she determined that her best course was to try to regain some of her energy before attempting to escape, which meant eating and hydrating.

Olivia went into the small kitchen and started going through the plain pine cabinets, scavenging for food. Now that she had a plan, her natural curiosity returned, and after she assembled a sandwich from a loaf of sliced whole-grain bread and creamy yellow cheese she found in the cupboard, she went exploring while she ate.

This was her chance to learn something about the alpha who had shattered her world, who promised not to harm her only after shredding everything she owned. What other contradictions might she find?

Olivia moved swiftly, knowing she only had a little time to look around before he returned. If he was headed back to the campsite where the agents had left her, it was a kilometer away. It would take even a fast-moving alpha some time to cover that distance.

Besides, his cabin wasn't that big. It would only take a few minutes to see everything there was to see.

The main room was simple and surprisingly cozy, with beamed ceilings that rose to a peak and large windows looking out on the hills and trees beyond. Two huge armchairs were positioned to take in both the view and the warmth from the fire in colder months.

For someone whose work involved spending most of her time in nature, Olivia had always believed that a simple city apartment with views of neighboring buildings offered the ideal balance, but as she gazed out at a deer leading her spotted fawn across the clearing to take a drink from the gentle waterfall at the base of one of the cliffs, she realized she had been wrong.

It was one thing to observe nature from a hunting blind or the recesses of a cave or on her stomach on a rock formation, but to do so next to a crackling fire in her slippers with a cup of cocoa in her hand—rather than flopping on her Ikea couch to watch