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“You weren’t here earlier with Joe?” he asks, a slight chuckle slipping from his lips at my confused look. “Don’t worry, baby, one of my friends who is a park ranger occasionally uses the place while I’m not here. He left me a note saying he’d been here with a girl before the storm hit. Are you hungry?”
“A little,” I lie because I’m actually starving but I really don’t want to admit that. “My name is Sadie too.”
“I didn’t think you lied about it or how you got in here,” he replies, making heat lick at my cheeks again. “Want to tell me what happened? The bump on the head, the swollen and black eye…did you have a wreck out on the road?”
I shiver not from the cold but from the memories and tears hit hard, streaming down my face before I can stop them. I haven’t let myself cry since Mom died and now it’s like it’s all caught up to me thanks to this giant being so nice about me just showing up in his home. How he can live in this tiny place I don’t know because he has to duck to simply stand at the sink.
“Hey, it’s okay, baby,” he says gently, leaving the sink and next thing I know, my face is buried against his chest, my bottom tucked against his lap, a huge hand holding onto my head, and his other over my legs. “Shh, it’s all going to be okay, Sadie.”
My name in that reassuring tone sets me crying even harder and the entire time he just holds me to him. His hands don’t attempt to slide under the t-shirt I’m wearing or try anything dirty the way Jonah or his thugs might have and that makes me cry harder still.
Time means nothing it seems, as he continues to hold me, letting me cry. I finally choke back the snivels, my breathing calming the tiniest bit and he’s still just holding me, his hand stroking my back, his other on my head. I feel safe and secure in ways I never have, like I’m wrapped in a cocoon that won’t begin to break. I didn’t know how badly I needed this until now and even the fact that it’s a total stranger holding me like this, I don’t care.
His hand slips around as I sit up a bit, brushing softly at my eyes, so gentle against the one swollen that it nearly sends me into another round of tears. I barely hold them at bay by shutting them tightly, holding my breath for a few moments, tightening then relaxing my achy muscles until I can breathe normally.
“There, that’s better,” Kellan says his lips and beard brushing softly against my forehead and I love the way it feels. It’s amazing and incredible and right somehow.
“Can you talk about it?” he asks, his thumb so soft against my bruised cheek that I find myself telling him everything no matter how stupid it is.
“My mom came down with cancer two years ago, it’s always been just us, and we tried to keep on top of things. Three months ago she was at the hospital; she had a treatment and came down with a staph infection. She died three days later,” I manage to get out as he continues to hold me, his touch soft and gentle still. “All the insurance would pay for was going to be a cremation, everything else was extra and I couldn’t bear to see that happen. I was barely holding down a job trying to help Mom when she was at home. Nowhere was going to give me a loan for it, but there was this guy from our neighborhood. I was desperate and agreed to payment terms he wanted. He could change the amount whenever he wanted…”
“And he did, and you couldn’t afford it?” Kellan asks holding my gaze for a long moment.
“He wanted the whole amount instead of installments, said I had until two days ago to pay it. I told him there was no way I could and last night he stopped by telling me I only had one more chance at meeting his new deadline of Monday,” I tell him, still terrified but relieved to be able to tell someone else about the awfulness of it. “I pleaded my case and he just laughed, backhanded me telling me it was just a warning of what was going to come if I didn’t get him the money by Monday. I told him again there was no way for me to make that much by Monday. That’s when he told me he could help me make it…he’s having an auction this weekend and he was willing to help me make it.”
“Shit,” Kellan curses madly, his eyes flaring darkly, but I know it’s not at me and that’s the first time I haven’t felt dirty since yesterday.
“I didn’t know at first what he meant, told him I had nothing left to auction off, and that’s when he told me just how much he could get for my virginity.” I don’t know what possessed me to tell him that part of it, but I wanted him to know and suddenly his arms tighten around me, crushing me against his chest in such a good way that I don’t feel cold at all. The aching turns from my bones and settles deep inside me, low inside me and I can’t possibly think about that right now.
“You ran. We’re almost two hours outside of Seattle, how did you get here? Did you bring your car?” he asks, and I shake my head no.
“I don’t have one. I…he had two of his thugs watching me this morning and I spent most of the day trying to lose them. I finally did long enough to slip onto the bed of a semitrailer. He was hauling pipes, but they were covered by a tarp. It jackknifed on the road somewhere out here. That’s where the bump came from,” I add touching it softly. “I didn’t want the driver to see me and started walking through the woods the opposite way as the big drop off the pipes went over.”
“You saw the cabin and came here to get out of the snow,” Kellan states, and I nod as his arms wrap around me again, keeping me against his warm chest. “How much do you owe him?”
“Five thousand,” I admit, tears hitting hard knowing I’ll never be able to repay him. “I just wanted to get as far from him as possible and all I managed was two hours. He’ll find me and then…”
“Then nothing, baby,” Kellan says lifting my face to his. “He doesn’t give a damn about the money, that amount wouldn’t have him pushing that hard. He knows he’ll get more than that at an auction for you, but I won’t let that happen. I’ll give him the five thousand and make certain he knows that if he steps near you ever again, I’ll take him down.”
“No…that’s way too much. You don’t even know me. I don’t have any way to repay you,” I argue as this total stranger’s hands hold my head gently.
“I don’t need the money. It’s nothing to me, Sadie,” he returns surprising me. “I promise the money won’t bother me in the least. As for repayment, I don’t need it returned to me, baby. I have plenty of money for what I need. Let me help you with this. This is no way to live, running scared, worried one day he’ll be behind you again? No, let me help you.”
“Why would you want to help a total stranger?” I ask entirely shocked by the offer, especially the no need to repay him.
“You’re not a stranger to me now, Sadie. You’re a scared girl that in the end was just trying to do the right thing for her mom. I was seventeen when my father died. I understand that need. We didn’t have to worry about money to bury him, but I would have done the same as you to give him the proper goodbye. Let me help you, baby, I promise, you’ll feel better knowing it’s done,” he offers, and I let out a deep breath nodding.
“If there’s anything I can do though…” I tell him opening my eyes to meet his.
“No, there are no strings attached to the money. You don’t have to do anything for it or to stay here until the storm passes. The last thing I want is you worried or feeling like you have to play a game to feel safe, Sadie,” he says making me sigh leaning forward to rest my head against his chest.
“I’ve never met anyone like you in my life,” I admit, sliding my fingers through his as he holds me tighter. “No one has ever just wanted to help me with anything. I’ve had to fight for everything, and I swore I was going to have to fight and run just to stay alive.”
“Not anymore, baby. You’re safe here; you can stay as long as you want.”
Kellan’s words put a smile onto my lips, the soft scratch of his beard against my forehead is amazing and seductive and I don’t want to move away from it ever. This man makes me feel so much, and I never imagined wanting something as badly as I want to feel his lips on mine.
“What if I don’t want to ever leave?” I ask turning my head a bit more his way, his lips pressing into my forehead before he breathes in hard.
