Rescued by the Bear (Bear Creek Clan 1)
Rescued By The Bear
Bear Creek
(Book One)
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Note from the author:
My books are written, produced and edited in the UK where spellings and word usage can vary from U.S. English. The use of quotes in dialogue and other punctuation can also differ.
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All rights reserved. This book, or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written consent of the author or publisher.
This is a work of fiction and is intended for mature audiences only. All characters within are eighteen years of age or older. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, actual events or places is purely coincidental.
© 2015 Harmony Raines
Silver Moon Erotica
Kindle Edition
He raised his head and scented the air. The reports were right; there was someone in the old Francis place. No one from Bear Creek ventured this way, and so it was the perfect place to hide. He opened his mouth tasting the scent once more. Female. Damn she smelt good.
Dropping back down onto four paws, he went closer, sniffing the ground. Only one set of tracks. Hers. What was she doing here? It was cold, and dark. There was no light on, no smell of fire. Unless she was wrapped up in lots of layers, she must be freezing.
Or hurt. He shuffled closer. Someone was crying, she was crying. He wanted to burst in there and tell her he would protect her from whatever was after her. But he was a bear. Bears frightened normal people. So, he turned and loped away.
Hugging her knees up to her chin, she tried to ignore the jolting cold that infused her body. She knew she should get up and move around, sitting here would kill her. However, she couldn’t summon the courage to leave this place. It had become her temporary sanctuary from the outside world. She knew only too well, what was out there, what hunted her.
In the distance, she heard a car. Few people had passed this way while she had been here. It was too out of the way for passers by. She held her breath and listened, but it kept on going. She tried to relax, but she was tired and hungry, her legs cramped. This was ridiculous; she would die if she stayed here. Yet still she didn’t move. Worse things than death waited outside of this ramshackle house.
A sound. Footsteps. She couldn't tell. Holding her breath, she listened. The dark night surrounded her, suffocating her as she tried to make out what was out there. Surely, they hadn’t tracked her here. She had carefully chosen this place. The scent of other beasts would conceal her. That’s what she had hoped anyway.
Nothing. She breathed again, her teeth chattering.
Suddenly, the door burst in and he was there. She fought hard, kicking and scratching at him. Her screams lost in her throat as she tried to catch her breath. All she could think of, was the need to get up and run. Yet the more she struggled the firmer his hold became.
“Relax. I’m not going to hurt you.” A hand gripped each of her wrists, pinning them above her head. She struggled, aiming a kick at him. But he managed to put his well toned body between her thighs and use his weight to pin her down.
With a strangled sob, she begged him, “Please let me go. Please.”
With the last of her strength, she strained against him. They both knew it was useless, they had found her, and she was lost. Slowly consciousness slipped away from her. She was too cold and tired, and the welcome envelope of darkness consumed her.
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For a long time she was conscious, but didn’t open her eyes. She didn’t want her captor to know she was aware of her surrounds, not yet. First, she allowed the warmth of the vehicle she was travelling in to thaw out her cold flesh. While the sound of the country music soothed her. How could a man who liked listening to country be a threat?
Inside she berated herself for her own stupidity. Trust no one; she had learned that the hard way. Until two months ago, she saw the best in every person she met. Every person she passed on the street, every man who asked her on a date.
Then had come the night when the date became a horrendous game of cat and mouse. And she was most definitely the smallest of mice, and the cat was a tiger. Big, brutish and in want of a mate.
Trying not to move, or change her breathing, she opened her eyes a little, hoping not to give herself away. At first, he was hidden in shadow. Then, as they passed under a street light, she caught a glimpse of the ruggedly handsome man who had found her. He was dark haired, and dark natured. His face creased into a frown. His large hands gripping the steering wheel. Everything about him screamed of a wild primal power. There was no doubt. He was one of them, and she had to get away.
Slowly sliding her hand out, she felt for the handle to release the door. Her body weight was propped against it, when the door flew open she was going to disappear into the dark. It was going to hurt, but she knew she had no choice but to get herself up on to her feet and run.
Closing her eyes, she steeled herself against the shock of falling, and pulled the lever.
“Don’t take me for a fool. Do you think I hadn’t figured out you’d try to escape?”
So now he knew she was awake. And she knew she was trapped.
“Please,” she begged. “Let me go.”
“Go where? You’ve been holed up in that house for a couple of days or more. If you wanted to go, you should have gone. Not stayed there. You’re just lucky it was me that found you.”
She sat up, and found he had draped a thick jacket over her shoulders. “What do you want?”
He looked at her closely while they sat waiting for the lights to change. “Do I have to want anything other than to see that you’re OK?”
She couldn’t answer. Was he trying to trick her, to make her feel at ease so she wouldn’t try and run? Instead, she asked him, “Where are you taking me?”
“Home. At least to my home. I could have taken you straight to my office, but you look like you need a bath and a good hot meal before I fill out my report.”
“Report?”
He half turned, pulling his thick jacket open for her to see the star gleaming there. “I’m the local law enforcement. I could caution you, but I think it would be better if we got to know each other first before we start the formalities.”
“To know each other.” She wasn’t sure if she liked the sound of that.
“Not in that kind of way. If I wanted a woman for companionship, I know plenty who would be more than willing.”
Companionship. That was a new one on her. He meant sex of course, but he was too much of a gentleman to say it. Abbi relaxed a little. She had met men like this before. Old fashioned values, protect first, ask questions later. Sweet, but no match for what hunted her. She needed to get away now more than ever. She would never be able to live with her conscience if the man who tried to help her wound up dead instead.
“Why don’t you let me out? As far as I’m aware I haven’t done anything.” She sat up straight in the seat, and tried to sound normal.
“Well, we agree on that, as far as I’m aware you haven’t done anything wrong. That doesn’t explain why you were hiding out though does it. A person with nothing to hide generally doesn’t choose to freeze themselves half to death for the fun of it.”
He was right; her behaviour did look odd. She would just have to try to convince him of her motives. What would a red blooded man like this think a woman would be doing hiding out in the back of beyond?
Remembering his comment about being able to get a woman so easily, she went with that. No doubt, a man like this would think a woman needed a man. He would never imagine a woman could be put off men for life. All because she had kept herself pure. Wanting to wait for the right man to come along so that she could give this precious gift to him. Instead a man, no a beast, had decided it was his by right. To take. To steal from her.
“I had an argument with my boyfriend,” she finally said.
He raised an eyebrow at her, and she knew he wasn’t convinced. “Does this boyfriend beat you?”
“No.”
“Treat you cruel in anyway?”
“No. Of course not.”
“So carry on with your story.” He emphasised the word story, much to her annoyance.
“We were driving through Bear Creek, and we had this stupid argument. I got out of the car and ran off. I got lost and ended up in that old house.” Even to her ears, it sounded like a stupid story. She could only imagine what it sounded like to a man of the law. Who had no doubt heard every excuse under the sun.
“And you decided the house was so nice you’d stay there.”
“I wanted some time alone.”
He fumbled in his pocket, and dug out his phone. “Here, you should call him and tell him you’re OK?”
“No. I don't want to. Not yet.”
“Your parents then?” He offered her the phone again. “They must be worried about you.”
“No. No parents.” She turned and looked miserably out of the window. How could she voice the words? How could she tell him that the only people looking for her wanted to hurt her, or worse?
He turned off the road, the truck bumping up a dirt track. Watching the dark close in around them, she huddled deeper into his jacket, inhaling the scent of him. Wood smoke and pine needles. It soothed her; the old weariness covered her, draining her of any energy she had left. All she wanted to do was sleep, and be safe.
Brad switched the engine off. Before he got out, he sat for a few minutes watching her sleep. He hoped he had done the right thing by bringing her here. Would he be able to protect her from whatever it was she was running from?
It might have been better to take her into town. Locked up in a cell, she would be safe. He could have asked a few of his friends to help him guard her. Out here, he was more exposed.
He sighed. He knew exactly why he brought her here. To get her to trust him. Locking her up in a cell would make her hate him, and he couldn’t have that. Not when he was her mate. As much as he liked to be in control, he did not intend to force her to accept him.
Getting out of his truck, he went around to the passenger side, and carefully opened the door. He had to support her weight to stop her falling out. She was leaning on the door, but she didn’t stir, she was exhausted. He looked down at her long chestnut hair. He wanted to run his fingers through it, to lift it away from her neck so he could kiss her there softly. Brad pulled himself back to the present, and made himself concentrate on her safety. Rather than all the intimate things, he would like to do to her. Not an easy task when all of his male hormones were clamouring to make her his.
Lifting her carefully, he took her into his house. Then he hesitated. Should he put her down on his sofa, or risk taking her upstairs to his bed? He didn’t want her to get the wrong idea about what he was doing. If she woke up in his bed, she might think he wanted to force her into mating with him.
He chose the sofa. At least that way he could keep an eye on her while he made her some warm food. Hopefully, once she’d eaten, she would begin to feel a lot better. Then she might feel like trusting him with whatever it was that scared her so badly.