Elijah was chopping wood the next morning when Gia appeared in the doorway.

“Morning,” she greeted him with a smile.

Elijah’s heart kicked, but he ignored it. He’d come out early today to work off some frustrations with physical labor, but instead he’d unintentionally woke Gia. He needed more time alone. He was used to solitude, and was starting to find Gia’s constant presence frustrating.

Not because he didn’t want her here, but because he did. He particularly wanted her in his bed, beneath him, crying out his name in pleasure. A possessive urge welled up within him. A savage desire to take her, please her, take care of her in that way as he did with food and shelter.

Seeing her now didn’t help that urge at all. Not with her in his clothes, wrapped in his blanket, her hair tousled from bed and gazing at him with such light in her eyes. The sexiest woman he’d ever seen. It was like she was designed to drive a man mad.

Maybe she was, conjured by his loneliness as a convenient companion. If she hadn’t been so real, he’d almost believe it.

And she wouldn’t be married.

Not that it sounded like a happy marriage. In fact, last night she’d told him she hadn’t felt safe with her husband. He’d stewed over that for hours before finally falling asleep. His mind had alternated between speculation and anger about her husband, to uncontrollable lust. Neither had helped him sleep.

Did her husband have something to do with the money still tucked away in that bag in the corner of his cabin?

He needed to ask her, but he didn’t want to demand she talk. She’d twice told him now she didn’t want to talk about her husband, her former life. It was clearly something that distressed her. Unless she was faking it.

How far could he trust someone who had that much money on them? Until she told him her story, he had to be cautious around her.

“How are you this morning?” he asked, then brought down his ax in a vicious swing. His need to work out his frustrations hadn’t dissipated with the sight of her, only worsened. He wanted her so much it was a physical ache.

“Much better,” she told him, and he forced himself to focus on what she was saying. “My head has cleared. A few more days and my ankle will be ready to walk on.”

Elijah nodded. A few more days and he’d have to let her go. Back to her husband, or wherever she’d go next. She wasn’t his to keep.

“I’ll get you some breakfast,” he said, setting down his ax.

“I’m missing coffee,” she admitted when he came towards her. If she stayed longer, he’d happily swear to get it for her on his next trip into town, no matter what he had to leave behind to do it. Instead, he grimaced in apology.

“I can make you a tree bark tea, or one from leaves around here. But they’re usually medicinal.” He slipped past her, his chest brushing against her braless breasts. His cock hardened instantly. Damn it.

Clearing his throat, he turned his back to her and sliced some bread. If the cabin wasn’t so small, he would have found himself a private space to release. But there was no true privacy in a place like this. Maybe he’d have a swim in the near-frozen stream later. That would sort him out.

Instead of going back to her usual spot by the bed, Gia hung around, watching him work. Awareness of her eyes on him every second, burning into his back, prickled at him. He didn’t dare turn around. If he did, he was afraid of what he might do.

Gia came closer, until she was only an inch away from him. She took the already-toasted bread and slathered it in jam. There wasn’t room for the both of them in the tiny kitchen nook, but she didn’t move away.

All his muscles were taut, ready. For what, he didn’t know. All his mind could focus on was her. She smelled of his soap, but it was different on her, like her underlying scent mixed with his. It was intoxicating.

He’d built the kitchen counter they now stood at, knew how sturdy it was. All he wanted to do was pick her up and set her on the edge of it. Drive into her again and again until she cried out in pleasure. His cock was thick and heavy at the thought, insistent.

Distracted, Elijah let his hand get too close to the oven fire and he dropped the toast he’d been placing on the rack. He sucked in a breath as the pain of the burn hit him, but otherwise he ignored it. He didn’t want Gia to know how foolish he’d been. But perhaps she was in tune with him, too, because her eyes immediately focused on his hands.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

“Want to run that under water? I can finish up here.”

He hesitated, and she nudged him with her hip. He reluctantly obeyed, running the water from the tap into a deep bowl and then sticking his hand in the icy water after turning off the flow. At least that cooled some of his lust, though he should be sticking his cock in the cold water.

Five minutes later they were back in their usual positions by the fire, him in his armchair, her propped up on the bed. Both chewing on the toast.

“You should put a table and chairs outside,” Gia told him. She peered out the cabin’s only window, though she could probably only see treetops and sky from where she sat. “So you can have breakfast out there where it’s pretty.”

“I have a tree stump,” he said.

She rolled her eyes and giggled. “That’s not the same thing. You need something to put your not-coffee on.”

He nodded. She had a point. While he wasn’t as good at woodworking as he was at leatherwork, he could probably make something comfortable. He could use a project to distract him once Gia left. Though, he’d only need to make one chair, not two, which made him slightly melancholy.

She was going to leave. Until then, it was time they talk about Gia’s past. Elijah would have to push for her to spill. And if she hated him for it, it shouldn’t matter, since she’d be gone in a few days anyway. Hopefully whatever answer she gave would cool his inappropriate lust.

“Last night you said you weren’t ready to talk about your husband,” he said, gritting out the last word. “But I need to know about him. And that,” he finished, pointing to the bag of money still sitting by the wall.

Gia hesitated. “Must we?”

“Yes,” Elijah insisted. “I need to know who I’m housing. Are you on the run from the law?”

She let out a deep breath. “On the run,” she admitted. “But not from the law. From Ray. My husband.”

“And the money?”

“It’s his.”

“You stole it?” he demanded.

She squeezed her eyes shut. “Yes. But I deserved that money after what he put me through.”

“You better tell me the whole story.” He wanted to believe her, he did. But she’d admitted to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Could he truly trust her?

She sighed. “I met my husband when I was eighteen. I’d finished school, at my mother’s insistence, but I couldn’t afford college. I needed to find work to help support the family. Better work than the fast food place around the corner that got me through the last two years of school.”

Her eyes unfocused, as if her mind had been cast back in time.

“I applied for a job as Ray’s secretary. I was vastly unqualified for it, but too naïve to know.”

He nodded, remembering her saying something like that.

“He rejected me for the position, of course. Right there in the interview. But instead asked me on a date. I was flattered. Ray was—still is—rich and powerful. At the time, I didn’t understand where it came from. I thought he was somehow taken with me. And I suppose he was. It was my innocence and naivety that drew him. He knew I’d be…pliable.”

“So you got married?” Elijah asked.

She nodded. “After a whirlwind romance, yes. It all happened so quickly. If I had any doubts, my mother squashed them by encouraging me at every opportunity. She loved him. Like me, she was taken in by his good looks, money, and power. It was like a fairy tale.”

She paused. Having finished her toast, she had nothing left to do with her hands, and twisted them into the blanket.

“What happened?” Elijah pressed.

“He became a completely different person on our honeymoon.”

A noise escaped him, suspiciously like a growl. “Did he hit you?” Elijah demanded.

She shook her head. “Not then, anyway. Not until much later.”

Elijah’s nostrils flared in anger. He had assumed it had to be something like that, but to hear the words aloud was like a kick to the gut. What kind of monster hit a woman? Particularly his wife, who he was meant to love and protect and care for. If Elijah had ever been lucky enough to have such a woman as his own, he’d do anything in his power to make her happy and protect her from harm.

“So, what changed?”

“He immediately became cold. Controlling. Angry. Dictated who I could see, what I could do with my time.”

“What did you do?” he asked, fighting to keep his voice calm.

“I left him. I came back from the honeymoon and went straight to my mother, telling her what happened. But she sent me back, told me to work it out with him. Echoed what he’d said about how it was stress with work and a new marriage. I needed to be nicer to him. He’d lured my mother with the promise of luxury and I don’t think she even believed what I said. She thought I was ungrateful, that I should accept it as my lot.”

“No,” he protested. He couldn’t imagine any mother, any parent, doing that to their own child.

Gia shrugged. “She’d worked hard and wanted a break from it all. She was also very religious, and didn’t believe in divorce. She took me to our priest, and he told me to return to Ray and work things out. So, again, being the naïve child that I was, I went back to him. And that was the beginning of the end. My illusions had been shattered and I had no one to turn to. So, I stayed.”

“And then what happened?” Elijah asked. Because something must have changed for her to take the money and run.

“I was pregnant,” she admitted. “A few months ago. Still in the early stages. I hoped having a child would make him happier, or at least make him leave me alone for a while. But he didn’t. Instead, that was the first time he hit me.” Her voice choked on the last words.

Tears sprang to her eyes, and Elijah’s heart cracked open. He set aside his plate and stood, taking hers and setting them both on the stone floor. Then, he sat beside her on the bed. Tentatively, he put his arm around her, and she collapsed into his chest.

Elijah held her tight for a long moment.

“I lost the baby,” she whispered.

“You didn’t lose it,” Elijah said gruffly. “He took it from you.”

Her breath caught. “Yeah. Yeah, he did.” Her voice was stronger now, fueled by anger.

“So that’s when you left?”

She nodded. “I’d always wanted children. He knew that, and I believed he wanted them, too. So I was excited when the doctor confirmed my suspicions and I told Ray. But when he took that from me, I couldn’t be there anymore. I’d lost too much.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Me, too,” she murmured, her hand landing on her stomach. “I’m glad it didn’t happen too far into the pregnancy. I’d only known a few days. I don’t think it was even three months along. I was still attached, but not as badly as I might have been.” She took a deep breath. “That sounds callous, doesn’t it? It’s probably devastating to miscarry at any point in the pregnancy, but I’m holding on to the small mercies.”

“I hope Ray gets the punishment he deserves. And you get your child.”

A laugh escaped her and she pulled back. Elijah let his arms fall back to his side.

“Me, too,” she said. “Though taking so much money from him helped me deal with my anger towards him. It took some planning, but I got it done. I’m glad he operates a mostly-cash business.”

“What does he do?”

“He kept that side of things from me, as much as he was able. As far as I know, he runs drugs and guns, but I’ve only put that together based on pieces I found out here and there.”

“That’s a violent life,” Elijah mused. No surprise such a man would take out his aggression on his wife. The urge to take his ax to this Ray guy, to punish him for how he treated Gia, rose up in him like an angry wave. Elijah took a deep breath, calming himself. A desire for vengeance wasn’t needed now. But if Elijah ever met Ray, all bets were off.

“Does Ray know you’re out here?” he asked.

Gia stilled. Her eyes widened as if that hadn’t occurred to her. “I don’t know. Would they report my plane crash on the news?”

“I don’t know,” Elijah admitted.

“I wish you had a phone, or a TV, so we could check. Or at least call someone and see. Do you think he could be after me?”

Elijah shrugged. “Maybe.”

“You aren’t concerned?”

“If he comes here, I’ll deal with him,” Elijah told her fiercely. He didn’t intend to let anyone harm Gia. Not on his watch.

“Thank you,” she murmured, squeezing his arm. “Hopefully it won’t come to that. Hopefully he thinks I’m dead. Surely even if he heard about the crash it would be impossible to find me this far out.”

They lapsed into silence, and he was conscious of her hand still resting on his arm. He liked it when she touched him. Liked it far too much. And now that he knew her story, he trusted her, believing everything she’d told him. The fear in her gaze had been real.

Did that change things for him? Or should he still keep his distance from Gia, knowing she would leave him in a few days? What if he made a move and she rejected him? There was nowhere for either of them to go, to escape the awkwardness. And what if she said yes, and he made a fumbling mess of it, and failed to please her? That would be far worse.

And that’s quite apart from the devastation she could wreak on his heart. He already liked her too much. To give himself to her now, only to have her leave, would be worse than never having her at all. Maybe.

He wished he had more experience with this. Not only to be confident he could please Gia, but also to know how it might affect him, too.

“What will you do with the money?” Elijah asked her to break the silence and distract himself from questions he couldn’t know the answer to ahead of time.

“Start my new life, I guess,” she said hesitantly. “I took it to help me get away, but also in part as a punishment for what he did to me. He took something I loved, so I wanted to pay him back in kind.”

“I don’t think anyone would blame you for that.”

“I’m rethinking it, though. That money could do some good somewhere. I’ll have to consider it more.”

“You’re a good person, Gia.”

“So are you,” she murmured back.

The intimacy of their conversation topic, the way they sat so close, the dim light, all made Elijah’s mind go in the very direction he’d been trying to avoid. He shouldn’t be thinking about how he wanted to lay her back on the mattress and spread himself above her. Kiss her, touch her, take her. Hard and fast, soft and slow. All the ways he’d imagined in his long and lonely time in the mountains. The thoughts he’d long repressed, that had been rushing back since the instant he first saw her.

Instead, he stood abruptly. Even if he intended to make his move, now wasn’t the time. She was vulnerable, and there were chores to be done.

“He won’t hurt you,” Elijah vowed, anger at Ray and everything he’d put Gia through flooding through him. How much he wanted to hurt the man who had hurt this woman, a woman who was coming to mean a lot to him.

Then, he walked out the door and tried not to think about Gia in his bed, and all the things he wanted to do with her there.