the bird, and returned to the kitchen to make coffee. As if I didn’t matter, as if I wasn’t there.
“Listen to me you...man.” I spat the words, marching to him, my fear evaporating because he was being an asshole. “I don’t know who you think you are, but you don’t get to ask me questions and not answer mine. Who are you, and where the hell am I?”
I was right behind him when he spun around, so close he was almost against me, so close, a sigh would press us together. He stared down at me with an expression on his face that pulled me up short.
Fire burned in his eyes, and his lips were slightly parted. His eyes slid down my body, and with it came a heat I hadn’t expected. My nipples hardened and my core tightened. I was instantly wet. Hot and wet, and all I could think about was this guy pushing me against the wall and kissing me, hands roaming my body, eating me whole.
I swallowed hard. “Who are you?” I whispered.
He lifted a hand, moving slowly as if he didn’t want to scare me. Carefully, he hooked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “Insurance company?”
I nodded, the anger gone, replaced by something much more urgent.
“Viktor.” The way his name rolled off his tongue sounded exotic. Viktor. I liked it. “And you are?”
“Angela.”
A slow smile spread across his face. “Angel.”
“Angela,” I corrected.
“Malen kiy.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, frowning.
His eyes lingered on my lips, and God help me, I wanted him to kiss me. When his fingers slid onto my cheeks, electricity ran through my body. My breath caught in my throat and my body was on fire. A small moan escaped my lips, and I blushed at my reaction.
Instead of laughing at me or backing away, the heat in his eyes only grew. He lowered his face to me, and I tilted mine up, something magnetic drawing me to him. I knew nothing about him, but this attraction was impossible to fight.
He caught himself, visibly straightened, and turned away from me.
I swallowed hard and felt like an idiot. What the hell was I doing? This man was a stranger. A stranger who had undressed me! And he looked like some kind of wild man, if I had to be honest. He looked like I wanted him to… No, I told myself. Girls like me didn’t end up with sexy wild men in forgotten cabins. Girls like me didn’t kiss strangers. And girls like me sure as shit didn’t stand in nothing but a t-shirt and lacy underwear.
This had to be a dream.
“Someone will be looking for me,” I announced, suddenly thinking about my boss. Ryan would want to know where I was. He needed something from me, something… I couldn’t remember what I’d been looking into for him. My last case. Soon, I would leave this place behind for good. Well, not this place. But Grizzly Falls. The only place I’d ever called home. “My mom will be worried, and my boss knows where I am.”
He glanced at me but again didn’t speak. Then he turned away and headed to the table to deal with the bird.
I cleared my throat. “Is there some way I can call my mom or my boss?”
Viktor shook his head. “There’s no signal here.”
“Not even outside?”
Viktor gestured to the side of the cabin where there were no windows. “There is only rock. It blocks the signal.”
I didn’t like that description. I wanted to try. I had to call in to work and let them know I was still around. At least until my contract was up. And I needed to call my mom. She would be worried about me. I didn’t want her to think I’d left, just like he had. I didn’t want her to think there was anything in me that could be like my dad.
I walked to the door and opened it, stepping out of the cabin. I realized it was raining, a drizzle so fine I hadn’t heard it. I stepped back inside the door but didn’t close it. The air was so fresh and crisp here. I could taste it on my tongue, clean, pure. I felt Viktor’s eyes on me, watching me so intently while he was busy with the bird, plucking feathers.
I watched him for a moment, nausea creeping up on me. I felt dizzy. “I think I need to lie down.”
Viktor looked up, concerned. “Are you hurting?”
I nodded, pressing