Chapter 2
Chest heaving and plastered to a tree, Thea tried to catch her breath as the rough bark of the mighty ponderosa pine dug into her cheek. Marko shot her a worried look, and she felt her cheeks singe. Yeah, she was a little too winded, but damn, she’d only just quit smoking a year ago and had just started back at the gym last week.
Need. More. Cardio.
A lot good her future workout plans were now though. Currently, there was little she could do other than suck in air through her nose and try to exhale it quietly from her mouth, so Marko wouldn’t think she was all fat and out of shape. Voluptuous is what Eden called her, and on more than one occasion, while Eden verbally wished for Thea’s curves, she’d wished for Eden’s willowy, lithe frame. This was another of those occasions. If Eden were out here, she’d be all Charlie’s Angel with steady hands on a pistol and breathing like a normal human being instead of chugging air like a damn freight train. Granted, Eden was former law enforcement, so that made Thea feel marginally better.
It faded though when Marko asked, “You ready?”
Hell no! Swallowing hard, she nodded. Her legs felt like Jell-O, and she was shaking. Oh, how she prayed Marko thought it was from fear and not from muscles that hadn’t been used in too long finally being forced jarringly back to life.
The mountain was steep, and as Marko squeezed her hand and pulled her behind him, she kicked herself for her thoughts earlier that morning.
***
The day had started so differently. It’d been so normal, such a stinking Tuesday, that it didn’t even warrant a blip on her radar except for the fact that she’d get to see him!
Thea pulled her old Chevy off the side of the road, careful of the piled up bank of snow and the shoulder. Once her truck had safely stopped, she flipped down the visor to check her make-up in the mirror. It was Tuesday, and Tuesdays were her favorite days because on Tuesdays he manned the front gate.
The sound of her heater purring to warm the interior of her truck was muted only by her giddy humming. She took in the brightness of her blue eyes and creamy complexion. She pinched her cheeks to get some color circulating like they did in old movies and fingered the fringe of golden bangs that stuck out from beneath her knit cap. Sweeping her bangs out of her eyes, she pulled on a long curl at the side and frowned at it wondering again if she should dye her hair. Maybe it’d be a good conversation starter, and she could do more than merely smile like a goon at her favorite Sentry while he checked her credentials and inspected her vehicle.
Puffing out her cheeks, she slapped the visor back up and exhaled loudly before putting the truck in gear and pulling slowly back onto the recently plowed road.
It was early November, which meant it was cold in Montana. Actually, it being November didn’t really matter. It was usually cold in Montana. Squeezing her gloved fingers on the steering wheel, Thea felt butterflies flit to life as she rounded a curve that led to the main gate. She could just make out the stone pillars on either side of the drive and nervousness seized her. Craning her neck to see if she could spot him, her lips lifted into a grin when her eyes snagged on his lithe form as he stepped from the gatehouse. It was him! Marko. Marko Storm. Even just his name was enough to unleash something molten low in her belly.
Excitement churned as she drove closer.
Marko was clad in his typical all-white BDU’s. It was odd because all the other Sentries wore black all the time, but not him. The light color was a stark contrast to his deep tan skin and the satiny mop of blue-black hair that was short but hung a little into his eyes. And what beautiful eyes they were. Dark and almond shaped, they always seemed to pierce Thea with such intensity, as if he didn’t miss a thing.
She pulled her truck to a stop just at the gate and even though he’d seen her every Tuesday for the past three months, he stepped up to driver’s side window as she rolled it down and demanded all matter-of-fact, “Employee badge.”
She held her badge out the window, and he scanned it, checking the screen on his e-pad before nodding to the Sentries behind him who came out and searched her vehicle, both inside and out, before using mirrors to check the undercarriage.
As he always did, Marko stood stoically beside her truck and watched the men work.
She tried to start a conversation, “N-nice day today.”
Wordlessly, Marko turned and looked at her with hard eyes before turning his attention back to the other Sentries and their work.
O-kay. Thea racked her brain for something else to say, and just as she opened her mouth, he turned to her and gave a curt nod before pointing at the gate. “All clear, ma’am.”
She stared at him a moment longer before sighing and flashing a forced grin before rolling up her window and pulling through the gate.
Strike twelve!
As she drove, she couldn’t help the wave of disappointment that crashed over her as she wonder if something was wrong with her. It was the same thing she’d thought for the past five years.
The thought had started the day she’d walked in on her husband in their bed with another woman. The thought had been playing on a reel ever since. After ten years of what she thought was a happy marriage, she’d come home early from work and SNAP! Her world ended. In the blink of an eye, in the space of one breath, everything had been irrevocably diminished. In horror, she’d stood frozen in the doorway of her bedroom. Time stilled as she watched her husband give the strange woman beneath him that look. It was the look that was supposed to be reserved for her and her alone, a look that conveyed so much love and adoration. A look that up to that moment, she was certain she’d been the only one to receive.
Before she even made a noise, that look told her all she needed to know. It was over. They were over. He was gone.
What followed were years of too much drinking, too much self-loathing, too much retrospection. Her husband’s mistress hadn’t even been pretty, and she was certain that if the woman had been a stunner that at least, there’d be some small form of understanding. There wasn’t. Worse, Thea knew she’d been an ideal wife. Often told she was beautiful, she’d done all the cooking, the cleaning, and the laundry. She’d paid more than her share of the bills, she’d been experimental and enthusiastic in bed. Hell, she’d even taken up hunting and fishing just to spend more time with him. In the end, it hadn’t been enough. She hadn’t been enough, and that thought had sent her down another path, one that led to too many men and sexual encounters. It’s like she’d been searching for a man to validate her worth and goddamn if none of them stayed either. So, that lone plaguing thought kept coming right back to crush her under that giant wheel of doubt. Something must be wrong with me.
Pulling away from the gate, she eyed Marko in the rearview mirror. His casual indifference made her feel invisible and certainly didn’t help her self-esteem any. Leaning over, the view in the mirror changed until she was looking at her own reflection. Doesn’t anyone see me?
She spent her nights fantasizing about Marko and her mornings were consumed with thoughts of the moment their fingers would brush as she handed him her work badge. With a mere touch, she tried to convey all her pent-up emotion. Her wants, her needs, and her desires were poured into the polished pink tips of slender fingers as she held her employee badge out to him. She always watched his hands. Strong fingers, blunt nails, her eyes caught on the nicks and scars that she was sure held wondrous tales. She always wondered what it’d be like to have her hand wrapped in one so lethal.
The thought vanished, and the truck rocked to a stop as a loud sound blasted down the mountain and sent chills skittering up her spine.
***
Now, sawing in a breath, she looked down at where Marko’s hand was currently clamped around hers as he hauled her with him up the mountain. Inexplicable indignation flared, and she jerked her hand back. This isn’t how it was supposed to be.
When he stopped and turned to frown at her, her delicate brows dipped down. “I-I don’t need you holding my hand. I can do this.”
His expression darkened as he studied her.
She hated that. Hated the way people studied her like they couldn’t figure her out. It reminded her that she couldn’t even figure herself out. One second, she’s all drooling and crushing hard on the Sentry, and two seconds later, she remembers that he’s a man and men use women. God, she was so fucked up! She was always looking for someone to make her whole and then like bi-polar Betty, she flips her switch and vows to never trust again.
Watching Marko watch her, she knew that even if he were interested, it’d never work. Barbed wire wound so fully and firmly around her from head to toe that there’d be no hope of him ever getting close enough to her for any type of real connection. Finally, after all these years, she was able to admit that the defense system hadn’t been installed by her ex. It was self-rigged. She was alone and she hated it, but she just didn’t know how to let another man in.
Tearing her eyes from Marko’s, Thea lowered her head and stepped around him. “We should get going.”
She took a few steps, and when none sounded behind her signifying that he followed, Thea turned to find him standing stock still, staring up at her. She wondered what he saw, wondered what he was thinking. She didn’t have to wonder long.
Marko canted his head, his eyes narrowing on her. “You’re strange.”
SNAP! Oh God, not now. They seriously didn’t have time for this!
That unwanted, yet all too familiar, pressure started squeezing her chest. Breathe, breathe, breathe!
Thea forced her eyes from his as her temperature skyrocketed and sweat broke out on her forehead, cheeks, and nose. Maybe if she didn’t look at him, he wouldn’t see that she was seconds away from losing her shit.
Turning, she focused on the silver-white winter that smothered the forest around her. She knew how the forest felt. The pressure grew in her middle, and it felt like a great ball of ink that was pushing all the light out of her. It crushed her from the inside out. She hated it, hated her anxiety. Clenching her hands, she focused on one thing and sought out five things to describe it.
Tree! Its bark is…rough, and it smells like, like… my Montana, all earthy and sweet. It’s… Her focus faltered when her gaze skittered up to an out-of-place shape just beside the tree.
Someone was standing there watching them. No, not watching, and not someone. Her mouth fell open. It was a…thing! The shape mirrored a human, but it had pasty skin nearly as white as the snow and a bald head. It opened its mouth to reveal rows of sharp shark-like teeth an instant before the creature lifted a weapon and aimed it at Marko.