Bed had never felt so comfortable.

She could’ve been sleeping on a blow up mattress in a tent and she was pretty sure she would’ve been just as happy. Anywhere but in a cave.

Had she not been rational, she would’ve insisted that Zack leave on a light, or have a glimmer of something seep through. When they were underground and waiting, Sorrell had turned off her phone and only switched on the torch intermittently, not knowing how long the batteries were going to last. Her eyes hadn’t become used to the darkness. She’d felt the cool of the caves, heard and smelt the water from the river, the trickle of it seeping down the cave walls. All of her senses had worked overtime, but she hadn’t become used to the dark.

“How do you think Lena is?” Zack asked, curled around her, spooning.

“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “Sore. Concussion. Broken leg. Traumatised. She will be okay though.”

“How can you be so sure?” he said, his arm over her waist, hand on her stomach.

“Because she’s resilient. And she’s strong. Although I think she’ll need a keeper to make sure she doesn’t go meeting with strange threatening men again,” she said. Her eyes were open, sleep not quite within grasp.

It was the early hours of the morning. By the time they got out of the cave, a task that took just over an hour as Lena had been put on one of the stretchers and carried out slowly, including across the river, the paramedics had been waiting for them at the bottom of the hill, or part way up it, as they would argue.

“Did she say what happened?” Zack asked. There hadn’t been time yet to discuss it. When they reached the outside, she’d been checked over by paramedics, then taken to hospital where she was checked again, Zack continuously by her side. At one point, she had threatened to have him thrown out as he was becoming slightly smothering, seemingly determined that she needed a scan for no apparent reason than she had a slight cut to her head.

Well, maybe more than a slight cut.

Lena had been kept in, which was to be expected. They’d seen her before they’d left and she’d been apologetic but less agitated. Alex had been with her, taking her statement and waiting for her aunt to get to her.

“A little. But it was fragmented, bits of the story in no particular order. She left the organisation to go to university having sat her A Levels a year early. She didn’t tell her parents until the day before she went. Apparently, the church prefers the children to be educated close to home and not go on to university, in case they hear about ways and beliefs other than what they’ve been taught,” she said. “A few months ago, when she left her Master’s, this man who tried to join the church but had been asked to leave got in touch. He wanted her to return—which she’d be able to, if she fit in with their systems—and for her to take him with her as her potential husband so he would be accepted.”

“So she’d attracted the attention of a weirdo looking to belong,” Zack said. “Why meet him?”

“He made threats regarding her sister. Lena didn’t think he’d actually carry them out, so she agreed to meet with him thinking that he would back off if she told him straight,” Sorrell said. “Which I get. But you don’t meet someone like that without back up and in a public area.”

She felt Zack’s lips press against her bare shoulder and pressed closer into him.

“You don’t. Where had she been in the past couple of days?” Zack said. “And she left here in a rush.”

“At Felley Manor. She slept in one of the outhouses and met her sister secretly without their parents knowing. I didn’t get to the bottom of why she left her room such a mess and didn’t take her phone,” Sorrell said. She turned onto her back so she could see Zack’s face in the very faint light and brought a hand out of the covers to touch his jaw. “He must have been waiting for her when she got out of the car early. I suspect he was there to make sure she didn’t bring anyone with her. He hit her over the head with something and knocked her unconscious. When she came to, she was in the caves and her head and leg were injured so she couldn’t move.”

“That’s going to impact on her in the future,” Zack said, his fingers trailing over her skin. “Trust issues…”

“It doesn’t have to. I can’t be her therapist, but I’m going to recommend someone for her. She’s going to be scared of unfamiliar situations and quiet places, to put it simply. So she needs to prepare herself for them without avoiding them. It can be done and she will come out of this stronger.” Sorrell heard the determination in her own voice.

“How can you be so sure?” Zack said. “Most people would fall apart after something like that.”

“Lena left her parents and family and pursued her own dream. How much inner toughness does it take to do that? And she has the beginnings of a small network here. Severton looks after people. She’s not going to be allowed to do anything other than become stronger,” Sorrell said. “Although I think she’ll feel better if they can find Wayne—that’s the weirdo.”

“Alex is going up there in the morning with the dogs. It’s a proper investigation now as he’s assaulted her. But why did he leave? What was he trying to do?” Zack said. Things didn’t quite make sense.

“Maybe he heard me and he left? I could’ve disturbed him. He wouldn’t have known I was on my own,” Sorrell suggested. She knew there had been the possibility of more danger than what she’d actually faced. She had, to a certain extent, got lucky.

“Yeah, well,” Zack said. She could tell his mind had already been over the things that could’ve happened. “Why did you leave your scarf?”

She laughed. That bloody scarf. He’d brought it back although it was with his pile of clothes. Not hers.

“I left Lena to see if I could find another way out and how far it was. I’d managed to carry her after the rock fall as it seemed sensible to move away from where the roof had collapsed. When I got to the river, I had no idea how deep it was. If a few more hours had gone by, I would’ve crossed it and tried to get out to get help, but I knew you’d realise something was the matter. I left the scarf because there were two paths you could’ve taken, if you’d come in that way. And then you’d know you were on the right lines,” she said.

His eyes told her everything she needed to know. He wouldn’t have stopped looking for her, there was no way he wouldn’t have found her.

“Why didn’t you try the other path, so you didn’t need to cross the river?” he said. His tone suggested that it would’ve been a bad move.

“Because it headed down. And I know that’s how cave systems are, but it didn’t mean it was heading to the bowels of the earth, crossing the river and going that way seemed the right direction.” She shook her head. “It was all very gut based.”

“Your gut was right,” he said. “The other path drops after about twenty feet and then it’s a sheer drop for about fifty feet. Once you’re past that, there is a stunning cave—beats anything in Griff’s. I’ll teach you to climb and take you down there one day.”

Surprisingly, she didn’t shudder at the idea. Had she had more experience, she’d have been able to get out of the caves by herself and sought help, although that would’ve meant leaving Lena alone for much longer. Still, climbing and caving would be one way to ensure she didn’t have nightmares. “In the summer,” she said. “And maybe start with baby steps. Not something with a sheer drop to the bowels of the earth.” She nuzzled into him, feeling his warmth, the hardness of his muscles.

“We’ll start with a climbing wall with a soft mat underneath,” he said. Then he stilled, something clearly on his mind.

“What is it?” she said, needing to know why he’d gone rigid.

“You sent me two texts. I checked them when we were at the hospital…”

“And I told you I didn’t need twelve days,” she said, seeing where this was going. “I don’t need twelve days, Zack. I worked out how I felt about you this morning when my sister was asking me about the bruise I had on my neck. The love bite sized bruise.”

She saw his grin even in the dim light, it was that damn bright. “So this isn’t just a rebound fling to get over your ex?”

“I don’t think it ever was. It was hardly love at first sight. You walked into my hotel and demanded I gave you your builders back,” she said, digging him in his stomach. “This great, hulking gorgeous man, totally fired up because some little hotelier had stolen his builders. I think it was extreme irritation at first sight.”

He laughed. “You were all fire and heat,” he said. “And I just about noticed how gorgeous you were. When Jake came back after, I figured you’d agree to go on a date with him.”

“It wasn’t him I was thinking about. Although I wasn’t thinking about fucking you. Just murdering you at first.”

“Are you thinking about fucking me now?” he said, his voice suddenly velvet.

He moved over her, covering her with his body, his forearms stopping him from resting all of his weight on her.

Automatically her legs went around his waist, lifting her centre. She’d got into bed naked, not needing anything between them and knowing that his body heat would warm her quicker that way. Up until his words, she hadn’t felt the need to have him in her, too worn out, too fraught maybe. Now she needed him, needed him to make her remember that she was still alive.

His mouth trailed down her neck, tenderly kissing her where he’d left his mark. He moved under the covers to her breasts, touching them with his fingers, then his tongue. It wasn’t taking much to make her feel needy, to make her be ready to be close to him.

Then his mouth was on her clit, sucking and stroking with his tongue, one of his fingers entering her, getting her ready for him.

Her hands held on to his shoulders as she came, her world coming back together piece by piece. As soon as the last aftershocks had calmed, he moved over her, entering her smoothly and filling her. She had told friends and even some clients over the years that you didn’t need another person to make you feel complete, but right now, Zack was what she needed.

“I thought I’d lost you,” he murmured into her ear. “I thought you were under the rocks and I’d never get you back. When I saw your scarf…” His movements increased and she felt a climax build up in her again. “I love you, Sorrell. You might not be ready to love me yet, but I love you something fierce.”

She couldn’t speak. His words, the feeling inside her were all too much. When she came again, her muscles contracting tightly around his cock, words were beyond her. It was all she could do to hold on.

There was no rush to say anything afterwards. She lay half on Zack, still breathless, still touching him because she wasn’t sure when she would be able to let go.

“I should clean up,” she said, gesturing for him to stay when he got up to fetch a cloth himself. “Give me a minute.”

She took the time to gather her thoughts, away from the ones of caves and rock fall and snow, and instead about the man in her bed. He’d been nothing but good to her and she now knew he was nothing to be afraid of.

Back in bed, she lay on her front, and put her hand on his chest.

“Zack,” she said.

He looked at her, eyes sleepy which made her smile. She’d been through a bit, to be fair, but so had he.

“It isn’t too soon.”

He looked slightly more awake.

“I’m in love with you too.”