My mouth drops. “How do you know Arney?” There’s no way they’re friends. Arney and Ray, even if I don’t know either one of them really well, are nothing alike.
He shrugs, pointing at my plate again. When I pick up the meat, he waits until I stick it in my mouth before he finally starts to talk again. “You were calling out his name. I’m assuming that’s your boyfriend? The one that left you up here to die?”
His voice is hard, but he’s looking at me softly. “Arney is not my boyfriend. He’s part of the outdoor adventures club I belong to, and we were supposed to be camping. No one else showed up and when I refused Arney’s advances, he left me. I was probably calling his name for him to come back so I can kill him!”
“You’ll have to stand in line.”
As soon as he says it, I can see how much he means it. It’s almost like his hatred for Arney is vibrating off him. I want to tell him that Arney’s not worth it, but Ray doesn’t really seem like the type that cares.
He takes my empty plate from me and goes about cleaning up. He keeps watching me and already I can feel my eyes getting heavy. He doesn’t say a thing, just comes over and picks me up like I weigh nothing. I land against his chest with an oompf.
“Sorry,” he mutters.
I put my arms around his neck to hold on. “I’m fine.” His muscles in his chest and arms are flexed. “You probably can carry me outta here,” I tell him, appreciating his strength.
He stops and looks at me, our faces so close I can feel his warm breath on my cheek. “Yes, I can. I’m getting us out of here, Keri. You’ll be back to your life and I’ll go back to mine.”
I nod, but his words fill me with dread. What life? I wonder. I don’t have one. How is it that I can be stranded on this mountain with a stranger and this is the most alive I’ve ever felt? It’s like I can feel the blood racing through my veins. I don’t know why I do it, but I put my hand on his chest and lean in to kiss his cheek. His long hair and beard tickle my cheek and I smile when I pull away. “Thank you, Ray.”
He starts to walk then, setting me down on the makeshift bed he made for me. He doesn’t linger over me; as soon as I’m situated he walks away and finishes cleaning up. I can’t ignore how cold and alone I feel without his arms around me anymore.
He sits across from me and gazes into the fire, but every few seconds I can see him watching me. “Are you warm enough?”
“I’m fine,” I tell him, even though I’m still shivering.
“I know you don’t know me, but I don’t mind lying down next to you to lend you some more warmth if it’ll help.”
I know I’m going to say yes before he even finishes. I figure if he was going to force himself on me he would have done it by now. “Okay. Yes, I’m still cold.”
Ray walks toward me and gets under my blanket with me and the heat coming off of him is incredible. It’s like he’s a radiator. Soon the shivering stops. All I have left is a dull headache, but even that is bearable. With a full stomach and wrapped in the stranger’s strong arms, I fall asleep.
Chapter 5
Ray
The snow is deep outside of the cave. I didn’t figure the snow would keep going as heavily as it’s falling. I should have gotten up in the middle of the night and gone hunting for food, but the feel of Keri against me had me staying right where I was. And when she reached for me in the middle of the night, whispering my name against my cheek, I couldn’t stop my arms from going around her and holding her. I’ve tried to convince myself that my attraction to her is because I can’t have her, but I know that’s not it.
In the darkness of the cave, I allowed myself to imagine a life with her. It’s like behind my closed eyelids I can see it all. We’re married with little cubs, I’m happier than I’ve ever been, and she is mine. All mine. It feels so real to me and it churns so deep into the pit of my stomach that my bear is craving to get out. He’s confused. That has to be it. He can’t mate with a human. At least I don’t think it’s possible, I’ve never heard of it happening before. Even though it feels like that is exactly what he wants. I fight him off as long as I can, before finally I have to try and drag myself away from her before I ravish her in my sleep.