~

 

Bonnie wasn’t too worried about sounding or looking stupid in his eyes, she was too damn scared that she was about to take a head first dive from the top of the ladder to be worried about her ego or her pride.

She didn’t even care that whoever was coming to her rescue was a man …

Somewhere in the back of her mind she had a picture of who her white knight actually was … that big shifter guy from the day that she was moving in … and she didn’t even really care about that either.

First she needed to get down – then she could worry about anything else that came her way, and she could then panic like a nun in a brothel after that as needed.

What’s the worst that could happen?

He gets me the hell down and then kills me…

If I stay up the damn ladder I’m gonna die anyways … well, break something – minimum…

Calm down …

Breathe …

He’s not Satan personified … or maybe he is, but who the hell cares?

I wanna get down… like now … like faster than …

Holy Hells bells!

Bonnie felt one strong arm wrap around her waist and she didn’t have the chance to have a leap in faith that everything would work out, she had no choice but to let go of the guttering that she’d been clinging too, or she was going to rip it off as he yanked her backwards and down towards him.

The heat of the man was the first thing that hit her – it felt like a warm blanket that wrapped around her body. The strength of his arm as he held her back against his hard muscled chest was next, and for the first time in a long time – she actually felt a sense of safety…

She welcomed that alien feeling to spread inside of her like an old friend coming home.

Karl backtracked down the ladder making sure that she had her footing as she climbed on down with him. His arm was still around her and she was pressed real close as he caged her in and made her feel like she wasn’t on dodgy ground anymore.

Karl didn’t much care if she was miffed off at him, but she was mumbling something to herself that even his hearing couldn’t pick up on…

“Easy now, we’re at the bottom…” Karl said, and he couldn’t keep a small growl from rolling through his chest at the thought of what could have happened to the female if he hadn’t of come along when he had. “I’ve got you…”

That sounded strange to her ears. Half threat and half promise…

When her feet touched the ground; there was a moment, one long moment when she felt so safe, so secure from all of life’s ills with his hard body pressed down the length of her back, and his arm still wrapped around her; stabilising her, and she didn’t want to let that feeling go … and then she felt his hot breath against her neck and the rush to panic kicked in, and she twisted and turned to get out of his grasp…

“Let go…” she ground out against the irrationality that he was some kind of a threat to her.

The man had shown no signs of it. He’d rescued her from the damn ladder, and yet – she couldn’t push that feeling away because it was ingrained within her psyche…

Karl heard her words, heard the strain in her voice, and he knew that deep down, letting her go was the last thing that he ever wanted to do.

He’d made the mistake, rightly or wrongly, of breathing in her scent to see if she still had that edge of fear about her, and he’d found so much more there than he could ever have possibly have dreamed of…

Mine…

His bear knew it instantly, and it was probably the reason that the damn beast had been so unsettled for days since he’d first seen her … but now he knew as well – now he felt it in his very soul, and that scared the hell out of him more than if she’d had fangs and claws and was intent on killing him…

“Why were you here? Were you watching me?” She ground out, still twisting against his hold…

Something invisible hit him on the back of the head like a wakeup call to her words and deeds, and he finally managed to release the hold that he had on her and take the smallest step back…

Not that he relished it. Hell, every instinct within him said to woo her, make her his … forever … get closer, not to move away.

“Watching…?” He sounded confused, and he was, but his brain was finally waking up to the fact that his mate still scented of fear.

“Stalking…” she spun around in place, and there he was, as big as sin, and looming over her like a bad penny…

“I don’t stalk, I’m not a vampire…”

Karl grumbled a growl deep within his broad chest and she heard it – registered it on some other level that flashed more fear inside of her…

She was out in the open. If she had still been in the big city then there would have been hundreds of people milling by – right then and there – she was alone…

Every red flag went up within her mind.

His height, his weight, his strength – strength that she had felt as he’d brought her down the ladder – she knew that couldn’t fight against any of it if he attacked…

He was a shifter – she knew that much – what if his bear broke out, broke free, wanted to take a bite?

She wouldn’t stand a chance…

And then there was just the simple fact that she was alone…

Stupid … stupid … why did I think that being in the middle of nowhere would be safer?

Look at me now…

I’m not safer – there just isn’t anyone around to hear me scream…

“You should leave now …” she rushed out. “You should go…”

That wasn’t what he wanted, and yet, he wanted to run like the damn wind and never look back.

His mate. That was a damn scary prospect…

She’s here … my one true mate…

What if I’m like my father?

What if she’s like my mother…?

I can’t do this…

I have to do this … don’t I?

His bear gave him a long warning growl. The beast had scented its mate and it wasn’t going to be so easy to keep the beast at bay now that he knew her…

I should leave … she wants me to go…

I should stay … I have to woo her…

Damn it!

“Don’t hang from any more damn ladders…” he growled out. Every step that he took backwards, away from her, was torture… “If you need something doing, ask.”

“I don’t…” Bonnie gave a small shake of her head, but it was fast, like she was in a rush to do something else … be somewhere else…

“Ask.” He repeated.

Karl had to force one step at a time away from her when his bear grumbled and growled and demanded that they stay.

He finally managed to wrench his eyes from her and turn away. Then he stalked back towards his truck as quickly as he could before he changed his mind – before his beast changed it for him.

He’d stay, but not there … not right in front of her and make her scent of fear.

He’d be that stalker guy that she’d accused him of being. Lurking, waiting, making sure that she didn’t do something else that was equally stupid … that she didn’t get hurt.

It was his job to look out for her.

His job to protect her, and he’d do that with his life.

Bonnie watched the man walking away from her. Every inch of her body was in a state of heightened awareness over what had happened.

Her heart still hadn’t settled in her chest and she still wasn’t able to draw a full and complete breath.

The man was … unsettling.

“I’ll ask when bloody hell freezes over…” she muttered, before turning on her heels and starting back inside.