Page 11 of Twisted Road

He managed to brush a kiss onto the top of her head. “I never know with you.”

“Yes, you do. I always give in to you, and that’s so pathetic.”

Now there was real laughter in her voice. His woman was waking up.

“You never concede.” That was a damned lie, but he liked sparring with her, particularly now, when he’d been so afraid for her. Her brain was still intact, and going a few rounds with him meant she would be fine.

He felt her breath against his skin. Over his heart. His gut clenched. That small burst of heat pierced right through skin and muscle. Penetrated deep just like an arrow. As if that heat were a virus, it spread through him fast, taking him over. He could feel it moving through him, claiming every inch of him, branding him with her.

“Only you would have the audacity to say that when you know it isn’t true. You give me that supposed-to-be-scary look, so stern, and you know I think it’s cute. And hot. There isn’t a man on this earth that is hot the way you are.”

“I’m hot?” he encouraged. He was finding her very interesting when she wasn’t quite up to knowing what she was revealing.

“Gorgeous hot in that badass, dangerous way. Women fall like dominos for that look, and you know it. But they don’t see the cute behind the scary. That’s what gets you all the concessions from me. It gets you off the hook for being an arrogant badass who goes around scaring the crap out of everyone.”

“I wish I scared the crap out of you.” That much was certainly true. If he scared her, she might listen to him when it was necessary, like when people were trying to kill them.

She gave him that little ridiculous giggle, the one that had sunshine attached to it. “It’s difficult to be a scary, dangerous badass, and then look cute and expect me not to notice. I’ve got eyes, Keys.”

“You might have eyes, but you don’t have common sense or self-preservation.”

“I take great exception to your faulty conclusions,” she stated, this time giving him her snippy, haughty note. The one that should have gotten under his skin but only made him want to smile and tease her to get more of it.

“You’re stuck with me, a head wound and a bullet wound in your arm and thigh because of the not-so-brilliant decision you made that was not logical and certainly had nothing to do with self-preservation. In fact, just the opposite.”

She heaved a sigh, an exaggerated one. “I see you’re working yourself up to one of your lectures. Let me just get comfortable and go back to sleep before you proceed.”

The temptation to smack her bare bottom and then roll her under him was so strong he nearly did it. Instead, he circled her upper thighs, gripping them with a warning squeeze. He had big hands and she was seriously small, much more so without the bulky clothing than he’d first thought.

“You told me you were a serious hiker. Not the kind of hike that requires a bottle of water and an hour out of your day.”

“Well, yeah.” She yawned and one arm slid up his chest, her hand framing his jaw. “I love backpacking, if that’s what you’re referring to.”

“What trails did you hike and how long did it take you?”

She was walking into his trap and not seeing it. He liked that. She was difficult to best in any argument, but she wasn’t up to her usual sharp mode. And she had a passion for backpacking. He knew because anytime the subject came up, she poured joy into the telling.

“One of my favorites was the John Muir Trail. It’s over two hundred miles of pure wilderness. Honestly, Keys, you would love it. It took me three and a half weeks and a couple of resupplies, but it was unbelievably beautiful.”

“No doubt. And you did it alone?”

“I like going out alone. I hiked the Catskills and parts of the Appalachian Mountains. I’ve backpacked the Lost Coast and even up here and through the Cascades.”

She wasn’t bragging. She didn’t consider what she’d done extraordinary.

“Why do you like being alone?”

She lifted her head, her emerald eyes meeting his. “I don’t have to be anyone I’m not. I can just find my peace and be in a happy place, which for me is the wilderness. I’m surrounded by beauty and nature, and I don’t have to pretend.”

“Why’d you let me in when you don’t anyone else? Everyone in that town sees you as their friend, but you give them a mask. It’s a good one, friendly and sweet. You know their names, you know their lives, because you see them, but you don’t let them see you.”

She rubbed her face on his chest and let out a little sigh when she lay her head over his heart. “You wear a mask, Keys, and I recognized that right away because we’re alike in that. I saw you. You saw me. I knew you were aware that I was showing that disguise, and there was a kind of freedom, even euphoria, knowing one person in this world sees me. I hoped it would be the same for you.”

“I’m a fuckin’ monster, baby. You haven’t flinched once, and you know the real me. That man who is capable of killing five men in under a minute. The man who fucks everything that moves and then walks away, uncaring of whatever havoc he wreaks because he laid it out plain. Why trust that man?”

She traced his jaw with the pad of her thumb. “I realized we were completely incompatible, and I knew you saw it as well. That’s what makes you safe to trust. And me safe for you. I don’t have to worry you’re going to make a move on me, no matter how flirty you get, or how hard you get. And you don’t have to worry that I’m going to be clingy and want more of your attention than you want to give.”

Keys did his best not to react to that statement. She said it like she believed it. Was totally sincere. He had believed it as well. That falsehood had allowed him to become friends with her. To want to be with her. To give one person the real man, not the façade he’d built so carefully to conceal the worthless monster walking dead among the living, rotting from the inside out. He’d wanted to be seen. He even needed it. He wanted one person to know him. To validate his existence. She had done that, and he’d become addicted to her and the feeling of belonging to someone.