I assumed this stranger preferred the bear.
“Stay behind me,” he said.
He wrapped the arm that didn’t end in a gun behind him. He caught me by the waist and pulled me up alongside him. His body was a ridge of muscle. Perhaps I should have fought him off or tried to run in the opposite direction, but I knew how fast a bear could move. It could circle around my kidnapper and catch up to me within seconds. As much as I hated it, right now the safest place I could be was pinned up against this arsehole’s back.
“Fire the gun!” I tried to say, though again it just came out as a mumble that I knew he wouldn’t understand.
The gunshot would be enough to startle the bear and send it running.
The growl came again.
He held me tighter and swung the gun in the direction of the sound.
I willed him to shoot.
The crack of the gunshot shattered through the quiet night. Roosting birds crashed from the treetops, taking off into the night sky. My ears rang from the proximity of the gun. There was a pause—a moment of stillness—and then the bear let out another roar, louder this time, and the sound of something heavy crashed through the undergrowth.
The arm around my waist tightened, and I felt like we both held our breath, poised for him to fire once more as the animal attacked. But the noise grew more distant. It was heading the other way.
The man let out a breath, and I joined him on the exhale.
That had been far too close.
Moving his grip from my waist to my upper arm, he faced me. “That was fucking stupid. You almost got eaten by a bear.”
I scowled at him, studying his face. His blue eyes looked grey in the limited light. He sported a beard, a shade darker than the hair on his head. High cheekbones caught what little light there was.
I wish you’d been eaten by a bear, I wanted to say.How was the foot in the balls?
The gag stopped me throwing any smart remarks back at him.
“Come on, this way.”
His fingers dug into my arm, and he dragged me back in the direction I’d run. Where were we going? I assumed he had a vehicle somewhere nearby. What would happen to me then? I didn’t think he wanted me dead—at least not yet—but I doubted he’d taken me for anything good.
Chapter Seven