than he even wanted to consider.
Callan would not even consider letting Merinus go. He couldn’t. Not yet. Not now. Not while his body was inflamed, his natural instincts to subjugate his mate rioting within his body. He couldn’t believe she had made such a damned foolish move. That the strong, determined woman he was getting to know would run in such a way. That she was brave enough to tempt the beast lying just below the surface.
* * * * *
She was sweating, her breathing laboring in her lungs by the time she reached the small clearing where her jeep was parked. It was still there. She was almost crying in relief as she stumbled against the vehicle, fighting the zipper to her shorts pocket and struggling to pull her keys out. She nearly dropped them twice before she managed to fit the key into the lock and twist it. She scrambled into the interior, shuddering, her body weak, unsteady as she groped at the glove box to open it. The door finally fell open, revealing the spare cell phone that Kane insisted she keep up. Flipping it open, she keyed the rapid dial and listened for the call to go through.
“Merinus!” His voice was a desperate yell across the line.
“Kane,” she gasped, lying across the seat now, clutching her stomach. “Oh, God. I’m in trouble, Kane.”
She could hear him cursing, raging. There was fear in his voice though, and worry.
“Dammit, Merinus, I told you this was f**king stupid,” he screamed again.
“Just shut up,” she tried to yell back, but her voice was weak. “Come get me, Kane. He’ll find me and I can’t drive. You have to come get me. This is big. God, bigger than we knew—” The soft growl at her back had her freezing in terror.
“Merinus?” Kane questioned into the sudden silence.
Merinus whimpered. She felt him behind her, big, hard, aroused. She knew he was aroused, knew he was furious.
“Hurry, Kane—” The phone was jerked out of her hand as she was lifted from the jeep seat. She heard Kane screaming at her, watched as Callan closed the line, slowly, deliberately.
“That was a mistake,” she snarled in his face, her fist striking out at him, catching him off guard. He released her long enough for her to scramble away from him then dash through the trees as she ran for the main road. If she could get close enough, maybe someone would hear her screams for help. Someone would know she was in trouble.
* * * * *
“Leave her,” he ordered Dayan and Taber as they started after her. “Pack this shit up and hide it. Jeep and all. I’ll meet you at the house in a few hours.”
Callan tossed the ringing cell phone into the jeep with a snarl.
“You just going to let her run?” Taber asked him curiously.
“She’s headed away from the road, not to it.” He shrugged, knowing how often greenhorns got lost in the area due to the paths that pretty much looked the same. “Do as I said. I’ll catch her.”
“Uhh, Callan, maybe you should let me go after her,” Taber suggested. “You’re not exactly calm right now.”
“She’s safe. For now,” Callan assured him. “Just do as I said, and I’ll meet you back at the house later.”
Callan was furious. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t managed to get to her before she made that damned phone call. The last thing he needed was the Tyler newspaper clan descending on the little town, looking for him. He should have taken care of the camp and her jeep sooner. That was a miscalculation on his part. And he would have never suspected she was carrying two cell phones. All he could seem to consider right now was the fact that she had run from him. Deliberately, had left the house and tried to escape him. She belonged to him, at least until whatever the hell it was that made his c**k throb decided to stop. Until then, she was a necessity to him. Just as he knew he was to her. He could smell her heat beckoning him. Fear and confusion and arousal. It was a heady scent that sent his own pulse pounding, his erection jerking in response. He didn’t run after her, he stalked her. Moving around her, behind her, choreographing his moves as he pushed her towards the area he wanted. A clearing in the heavy growth of the forest, a secluded, private area sheltered on three sides by cliffs, with only a narrow entrance in or out. He wanted her there, in the privacy of the place he had chosen as his own.
It didn’t take him long before he was following her through the entrance, his steps light, silent. He could hear her breathing heavily, cursing. He smiled, her brothers must have taught her those curses, because no lady could have thought of them on her own.
She was sitting beside the stream, sweat dampened, her head lowered as she muttered weakly about
“damned animals and superior men.”
“Oh, you’ve had it now.” She stared up at him, her eyes dark, glittering wildly with lust and defiance.
“He’ll hunt you down like a dog.”
“Wrong species, darling.” He smiled slow and sure.
She narrowed her eyes on him as he stripped the shirt from his back.
“Asshole,” she muttered, her breathing becoming harsh, heavy as he kicked the leather moccasins from his feet.
“Mine.” He growled.