***
Night had fallen completely. Because of the presence of the tiger, Quinn had decided to push on through the night, putting more distance between herself and the border than initially planned. She felt her way along, moving slowly, but constantly moving.
The ground underneath her gave way without warning and she tumbled down a hill, rolling to a stop inches away from a pool of water that steamed even in the near absolute dark of night. The rainstorm had moved on, and the skies cleared up. The faintest hint of moonlight reflected off the mist, allowing her to slightly make out her surroundings.
Heat roiled off the bubbling pool, blasting her chilled body.
“That was close. Hopefully nobody else heard it,” she muttered, unimpressed with herself.
Her eyes went wide and she mashed her lips together. Idiot! You can’t speak aloud.
“Unlikely,” a deep voice rumbled from farther into the pool, its owner masked by the swirling mists. “After all, besides you and me, there is no one around us.”
Quinn froze, a tiny squeak of terror the only sound she made.
The sound of nostrils testing the air reached her through the night.
“Interesting,” the bass voice continued. “What is a human doing here? Are you lost, little one?”
“W-W-Who are you?” she stammered out, trying to contain the shaking of her limbs.
Her terror was contributing partially to the shakes. But Quinn hadn’t realized just how cold she was until the heat of the bubbling water gave her a comparison point. Now it was clear to her that she had allowed her body core temperature to drop too far.
“The real question,” the mysterious voice said, “is who are you?”
“M-My name is Quinn,” she said, pleased to have cut one stutter from her voice.
The voice hadn’t killed her outright, and unless she missed her guess, it was more intrigued than it was angry. Perhaps if she could spin a good enough tale, it wouldn’t rip her limb from limb for fun, like stories she had heard about. Quinn vowed then and there she would say or do whatever it took to get out alive.
“Hello Quinn,” the seductively smooth voice said, continuing to speak from where it was hidden among the midst. “Why are you in Cadia?”
She thought furiously, hoping that the voice would assume it was her fear that was preventing her from answering immediately.
“I’m trying to find my mother,” she said at last, trying to make it sound like she was reluctant to give him her real reason.
“And why are you looking here?” the voice quizzed, sounding intrigued.
“She had papers to come into Cadia. I don’t know why; she didn’t say. She vanished after a month, and now there are no records of her having papers, or ever having been here. I tried to get my own papers to come see her, but they’ve been denied over and over again.” That last part was true, even if the reasoning behind it was false, so it wasn’t a complete lie at least.
“I see.” There was some splashing, and she assumed whomever it was, was coming closer.
Quinn braced herself for the inevitable. She had tried, but it was too late. Her legs began to slowly back away from the edge of the pool.
“That’s enough of that,” the voice said sternly.
And the owner of it emerged from the shadows in front of her, faint white illumination allowing him to be seen.
Quinn gasped.
He was gorgeous. Tall, muscular without being too bulky, yet incredibly defined as well. She could have washed her soaking wet clothing on the abs that seemed to ripple downward forever…
Her throat constricted quickly as she realized he wasn’t wearing any clothing.
“Ah,” she stumbled, looking away.
The big man frowned. “Is there a problem?”
She looked back just enough to meet his eye, willing her own gaze not to stray lower.
“I, uh, just wasn’t expecting you to be quite so, um, ah…” She stopped speaking as words failed her.
Her words got through to him as he looked down at himself.
“My apologies,” he said politely and disappeared into the dark, reappearing a moment later with a pair of pants on.
But still no shirt, leaving his chiseled form clearly visible. The pants, she saw—unintentionally of course—were soaking wet and clung to him in…interesting ways.
Oh my.
Tearing her eyes away she looked up. His broad pecs were sprinkled with just a faint amount of hair, giving him that distinct “manly” look that made so many women—including Quinn—bite their lips.
Which is exactly what she was doing just then.
Shaking her head, she met his gaze. Blue eyes so light they were almost a snowy white looked back at her. His jaw was scraped clean of facial hair, and the brown hair on his head was soft and downy-looking, several inches in length but swept out of the way.
“Asher,” the man said, sticking his hand out.
“Quinn,” she said, repeating her name for lack of anything better to say.
“You look cold, Quinn,” he said, his eyes staring at her.
He hadn’t moved, and there was something odd about his body language. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but some of the confidence that he had exuded while he was just a voice in the night had fled when he emerged from the dark.
“I am,” she said, only then realizing she was shivering from the cold.
“The water is probably too hot for you,” he said. “But if you want to come with me, it’s perhaps an hour, maybe two to my house. I can help you dry off and get warm there so you don’t get sick.”
Not sure she had any other choice, Quinn simply nodded.
The big man stepped forward, extending his arms toward her.
Quinn stepped back quickly, keeping him at a distance. His snowy-blue eyes sparkled with amusement at her reaction, but he stopped and lowered his arms.
“It will go quicker if you allow me to carry you,” he explained.
“How do I know you won’t kill me?” she asked.
He snorted. “If I were one of those types, I would have done so already.”
Quinn crossed her arms. “And what if you are trying to take me back for other nefarious purposes?”
The big man looked genuinely hurt, as if he had never actually considered such an idea.
“I won’t lie and pretend like there are none of us who do those things,” he said, his voice suddenly darker, and far less polite. “Lying serves no purpose to me. But those who do are few and far between, and are punished more heavily than those who outright kill humans. Of that, you can be assured.”
Just as quickly as the powerful, serious side of him appeared, it evaporated, and he relaxed.
“I am going to pick you up now, Quinn, and take you to my house. I will find you dry clothes, warm food, and somewhere to stay until you can figure out what to do next. I give you my word that you will not be harmed by me, nor will I try anything untoward. If you choose to resist, others will hear you,” he said, his eyes looking behind her, toward the mountain pass she had come from.
Quinn knew what he was referring to. Those who patrolled the border would hear her screams and come to investigate. One of them would kill her. That was the unspoken promise in his words. He wasn’t threatening her. He was simply explaining what would happen if she chose another path.
“Very well,” she said reluctantly, not wishing to fight it anymore.
Asher stepped forward and his arms lifted with an incredible ease, despite his evident shape. The man was a shifter, but she wondered just what type. His eyes were so different than anything she had seen before.
There’s just so much we don’t know about them!
Shifters were notoriously reclusive. Many lived amongst humans, but they rarely, if ever, revealed themselves. It caused too much trouble. So they either lived in secret, or moved to places like Cadia, where they could go about as they pleased without having to worry.
Something was different. It took her several moments before it clued in.
Heat! I can feel heat.
It was another minute before she came to understand that Asher was the source of the heat. The warmth was quite literally pulsing out from him, caressing her chilled skin and helping to banish the deep-seated cold that had wormed its way down into her bones. It felt great.
And it also was an incredible sleep aid after her night.
The journey to his house became a blur. Quinn vaguely recalled him running her a warm bath, leaving her some dry clothing that was much too big, a bowl of what tasted like oatmeal, and then a bed.
After that, there was only darkness.