âAre you really here?â she asked, feeling immediately foolish.
âFeels a little unreal, doesnât it?â
She nodded. âI didnât think Iâd ever see you again.â He lifted her hand to his mouth, brushing his lips.
âI used to have dreams of you. That you were beside me again ⦠sitting close enough that I could feel the warmth of your body by mine. Hear your breathing. And then Iâd wake up andââ He let go of her hand and dropped his own hands to his knees. âDoesnât matter. Here you are. Warm and breathing.â
She caught his hand, holding him in place. âDonât go.â
He looked down at her hand on his. When he spoke, his voice was a low rasp. âAre you sure you want me to stay?â
She knew what he was asking.
âKnow what I missed?â His voice deepened. Roughened.
Her heartbeat sped up immediately in response. When she spoke, her own voice sounded breathless. âWhat?â
âThis.â He leaned forward, closing the space between them, and touched his mouth to hers.
Chapter One
The ligature marks on his wrists had long since healed, but the stinging phantom pain of the raw spots the shackles had chafed into his skin sometimes caught him by surprise. Odd, he thought, given the other injuries heâd sustained during his month of captivity, that those superficial wounds were the ones to continue tormenting him.
Heâd had cracked ribs, for sure. A dislocated shoulder heâd been forced to reduce himself, since the rough men whoâd taken him captive hadnât cared much about his comfort.
Cade Landry had escaped on the thirty-first day of his captivity, and heâd been running ever since.
Given the icy chill in the air and the heavy clouds overhead threatening snow, he should have headed south to Mexico instead of wandering around the Southern Appalachians while he tried to figure out what to do next. He could be sipping cerveza on a beach somewhere, flirting with pretty cantina waitresses and soaking up the tropical sun.
It wasnât as if he had any kind of life to get back to now.
And still, somehow, heâd never completely given up on the idea of clearing his name, though heâd spent the past several months avoiding the issue altogether.
No more. It was time to see if there was anything left of his life to reclaim.
Clouds overhead obscured the sun heâd been using as his compass, but he was pretty sure he was still headed west, which would take him out of these mountains sooner or later. Sooner if he was on the Tennessee side, later if he was in North Carolina.
Either way, he was heading for Purgatory.
Where she was.
You donât know if you can trust her anymore.
Maybe not, he conceded to the mean little voice in the back of his head. But she was the best shot he had.
He squinted up at the gray sky overhead, enough sunlight still filtering through the clouds to make his pupils contract. Definitely still headed west, he decided, but he hoped heâd reach civilization sooner rather than later. He had to make a stop in Barrowville first. Heâd made a point to shave that morning, to clean up and look his most presentable. Maybe heâd get lucky and somebody would give him a ride into town.
The money heâd hidden away before his abduction had still been there when heâd escaped, thank God, but months of living under the radar had taken a toll on his cash reserves. He needed to see if the money theyâd put away a couple of years ago was still in the bank. It was a risk, but one he had to take if he wanted to get through the long, cold winter.
Technically, the account was in her name, but he was on the account, as well, and as far as he knew, sheâd never closed it out.
Maybe it had been as hard for her to let go as it had been for him.
Landry could tell from the color of the sky and the chill in the air that snow was coming, and heâd lived in eastern Tennessee long enough to know that snowstorms in the Smokies could rise up fast, like a rattlesnake, and strike with power and fury.
Just like the men heâd escaped.
* * *
OLIVIA SHARP POKED at the fire behind the grate and wrapped her sweater more tightly around her shoulders. Winter in the Smoky Mountains had so far proved to be a cold, damp affair, but tonight they were supposed to get the first snow of the season for the lower elevations.