Spencer

How the hell had she gotten away from me? Cutting myself some slack, and due to the fact that my head was still aching, and I had an occasional moment of slightly blurred vision, I accepted I had been too slow to respond after that little shit hit me with the branch and tried to steal her away from me. I just sat there like an idiot as she stared at me before running. It’d taken me another couple minutes to really gather my senses and get to my feet to follow her.

At that point, I was still overly confident in the tracker, and I’d followed the route it mapped for me. It wasn’t until I was almost at the destination that I realized the red dot hadn’t moved for several minutes. I was terrified for her and broke into a run despite the pounding in my head, expecting to emerge to find someone attacking her, or her injured. Instead, I just found her damn backpack and some of her other items abandoned. She figured out I was tracking her somehow, and she’d left it all behind.

That had taken my advantage, and I’d spent the last few hours stumbling blindly through the jungle again, vision even further obscured by the periodic heavy rain. It came in waves, and sometimes the rain was so thick it drenched me in seconds while pounding against my skin with incredible force. Other times, it was a light drizzle, but it had rained steadily since almost the time she’d last slipped away from me.

I shouldn’t have gotten distracted by trying to subdue her right there in the jungle. I should’ve just thrown her over my shoulder and gone to the nearest cottage to claim her. I wouldn’t make that mistake again. The next time I got my hands on her, I was claiming her immediately.

I just had to find her first, and that was proving to be a bigger challenge than I’d expected. Without the GPS unit telling me where to look, I was just as blind and clueless as I’d been the first day. I didn’t like feeling out of my element or inept. They were emotions I’d never really experienced before. I was certain Foster would say it was a humbling experience that was good for me, but I was just getting increasingly frustrated and pissed off.

At first, when I heard someone calling, I didn’t realize it was her. I just kept walking, but then it penetrated it was a female voice. I veered, changing direction to head toward the sound, and the closer I got, the clearer the word became.

“Help.”

Someone was calling it over and over again, and there was an edge of panic to her voice. I was almost certain it was Anya calling, but with the intensity of the rain pouring down and distorting the sound, I couldn’t be sure. Even if it wasn’t her, someone was clearly calling for help. I didn’t have to claim a woman just because I rescued her, and this one sounded frantic. I couldn’t walk away from the fear in her voice. If someone had captured her, they were clearly doing something horrible to inspire that level of fear, and if the producers weren’t going to step in as they claimed, I damned well would.

I followed the sound of the voice for another couple of minutes until I found the source. My heart clenched for a moment, and I saw just a pair of hands clinging to a vine hanging over what looked like a steep drop-off. I recognized my flannel shirt on the wrists and hurried forward, though I slowed down and approached with more caution the closer I got to the edge.

“Help me. Is someone up there?” There were tears in her voice, and I knew for certain it was her. I’d recognize her voice now that I was so close even if I hadn’t seen the telltale flannel shirt.

Lying down on my stomach, I carefully inching forward so I could see over the drop-off. I saw her dangling below and reached out for her hands. “When I pull you up, don’t fight me.” I shouted so she could hear me over the rain.

She shook her head frantically, and not only did she not fight, she scrambled to get a purchase on the slick remnant of the ground that looked like it had washed out beneath her, helping me get leverage to get her up. Less than a minute later, I pulled her over the side and leaned back, sitting down to my butt with her on my lap, wrapped firmly in my arms.

As soon as I could stand up, I lifted her into my arms. My head throbbed for a minute, but I pushed aside the reaction as I clung to her. She didn’t offer any protest or try to escape, and I was certain she was too miserable to do so. I was concerned she was also injured, but wouldn’t have a chance to inventory that until I got her to a cottage. I was livid, wondering why no one on the show had tried to rescue her.

I slogged through the jungle, feet squelching under the mud that was rapidly forming from the decaying vegetation beneath us. I knew I’d seen a cottage not far back, and though it couldn’t have been more than a mile, it felt like I’d run a marathon by the time I reached it with her still in my arms.

She simply clung to me with no fight left in her as we climbed the steps. Somehow, I communicated to her to open the door, and she managed to do it. Since it was unlocked, it wasn’t likely to be currently occupied.

Once it swung open, we stepped inside. I didn’t relax even slightly until I closed it behind us and locked it. The producers of the show surely had key cards to all the cottages, but it would keep any of the other hunters from trying to break in and take what was mine.

I didn’t let go of her as we moved through the nicely appointed accommodations. We went straight down the hallway, where I could see the bathroom, since the door was open. I elbowed on the light before setting her on her feet on the cool tile. “Don’t move,” I said sternly, half-expecting her to argue.

Looking exhausted, she just shook her head. Her teeth were chattering, and she was hugging herself now that she no longer had my body heat.

I went into caretaker mode, which was unaccustomed for me. I’d never really taken care of anyone who was ill or indisposed before. It was a new feeling, but nice, I decided as I bent down to start running water into the tub that was large enough for two. After that, I turned to her and started methodically stripping her clothes. She didn’t protest.

I wasn’t certain if she could fight back or try to escape even if she wanted to. She was obviously chilled to the bone and shaking something fierce. When the water was deep enough, I set her inside and spent a moment undressing myself before getting in behind her.

She settled back against me, seemingly unconcerned about her nudity or mine. I imagined she was experiencing a bit of shock, because I didn’t expect easy acquiescence even after I claimed her and brought her to a cottage. I looked her over quickly, but found no sign of injury.

I was concerned about her as I reached for a cup that was on the side of the bathtub and started pouring warm water over her hair. She still shivered, but they gradually spaced apart as I continued to pour warm water over her body before saturating her hair completely and adding shampoo.

She moaned and leaned back against me as I worked a generous lather through her thick, dark locks. By the time I got around to rinsing out the shampoo, she was no longer trembling. Her body no longer felt like a block of ice against mine either, and she was starting to stiffen against me.

I ran a hand down her hip. “It’s all right. You don’t have to do anything yet. Just take a few minutes to recover.”

“I should try to run away.” Her voice lacked any conviction, and she simply leaned back against me.

I was disconcerted by this helpless kitten routine. I wasn’t even certain if it was her, or there was some physical reason why she was acting this way. Did she have an unseen internal injury? When I asked if she hurt anywhere, she just shook her head again and cuddled closer still. Her surrender was unsettling. Frankly, I’d expected more of a fight.

I was flustered to realize I’d actually been looking forward to her struggle and eventual submission. I shifted uncomfortably as my cock hardened, imagining how much sweeter it would be to slide inside her slick heat after I had earned the right to do so.

She was still cuddling against me, and her soft snores clued me in that she’d fallen asleep. With a shake of my head, torn between tenderness and a little bit of annoyance that we weren’t going to have our fun and games yet, I stepped out of the bathtub with her. I carried her straight to the bed and laid her down on it before tucking the light blanket over her.

I crawled into bed beside her, deciding it wouldn’t hurt either one of us to have a small nap to recharge. I hadn’t slept well last night crouched on the floor of the jungle, and I doubted she had very restful sleep in her tree perch either.