Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"The Wild still lingered in him and the wolf in him merely slept."

— Jack London (White Fang)

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The buzzer brought her head up from where she had it buried as she finished boxing the last of the books she’d promised the senior center. Standing, she cracked her neck and rubbed it as she padded to the dryer. She withdrew the dried clothing and folded them, leaving them stacked on the table as she transferred the wet clothing in from the washer.

“I hate laundry.” After it had been set for the next load, she put the folded attire in the basket and walked to her bedroom where she put it all away. Handing the basket to Argo, she smiled at him as he carried it for her back to the laundry room for her.

“Good boy,” she praised him, taking the item from him and replacing it back atop the slim table she had for folding.

The moment she allowed it to hit, Argo’s head swiveled around, ears focused toward the sound. Seconds later, the barking came from all four. A hairsbreadth from that and the doorbell chimed.

They always know.She patted him on the head. “Come on, boy, let’s go see who’s here. It should be Daniel to pick up the books, but given as I left the gate open, who knows.” The other three were at the door waiting. Stilling them with a hand signal, she opened the door with a smile.

“Evening, Daniel,” she said.

“Leena. Sorry to be here so late to get the books, but this was the only free time I had.”

She waved him in, closing out the winter twilight behind him. “It’s okay, despite getting in early this morning, the dogs weren’t about to let me take a nap, so you’re fine.” She gestured to the three boxes near the door. “That’s what I have for the moment, I have another two cases to go through, so I may have some more.”

He petted the dogs before moving to the stacked boxes. “I can’t tell you how this is going to make the residents happy.”

“Not a problem, I’m glad I could help out. I haven’t read any of them in a long time so they may as well go to someone who can use them more than I.” She looked at him and took in the grayed mustache on his lean face. “Can I get you some coffee and maybe a slice of pie or something of the sort?”

His grin had her turning on her heels.

“You know how to make my day.”

“I figure if you’re out this late, then you deserve something. Have a seat.” She got him a mug of coffee and left him to fix it as she rooted around for the pie slicer to cut him a piece from the chocolate pie, she’d taken from the freezer this morning upon her return.

Once he’d been taken care of, she prepped the same for her and joined him at her dining room table. They ate and spoke about family, her competition, and a few other things. When the pie had been consumed, they both rose, and she put the dishes in the sink.

“Let me help you take them out to your car.”

“Again, I appreciate this, Leena.”

She handed him the top box, opened the door, then went back for the final two. “No need to thank me. I’m glad I could help out.”

They carried the items to the trunk of his Subaru and after she placed hers down, he lowered the hatch. He gripped her arm and smiled.

“You are wonderful. Thank you and I’ll see you soon.”

She walked him to the driver’s door. “Yes, soon. I will be in shortly. I’ve got a few speaking engagements coming up and a couple other competitions but after that, I’ll be back more and will be able to do more visits.”

“They miss you for sure.”

“I miss them, too. Drive safely.” He climbed in and she shut the door.

She remained there until he’d driven off, only then did she return to the warmth of her house after she and Argo traveled down to close the gate. Argo trotted up to her, tail wagging and she patted him on the head. “Hey, boy, what say you and I start digging up something to eat?”

Together they walked to the kitchen where she pulled out a premade frozen dinner. Placing it on the counter, she turned on the oven, then fixed herself something to drink. A beep had her going to a small television monitor in the wall. She had them installed in every room of the house.

She narrowed her eyes at the image. Black SUV. At her side, as usual, Argo read her perfectly. He couldn’t make sense of what she saw all he knew was she was upset. And he was ready to defend her.

Leena remained still as she stared at the image. The two men stepped out and looked around before getting back in. Only when they backed out did she breathe easier. While the alert hit anyone, who pulled into her drive, there was enough room before the gate that someone could use it to turn around if needed.

“This has something to do with our mysterious visitor, boy. I’d stake my life on it. Or rather his.”

Argo chuffed softly beside her. She walked back to her drink and drained the glass before refilling the mug with water. She didn’t like her life disrupted.

“Shouldn’t have picked him up then,” she muttered to herself. “Any man lying half in and half out of a partially frozen river, naked, is bound to disrupt some aspect of my life.” She shrugged. “Not that I had experienced this before so not sure how much of a disruption is expected, but if those men are any indication, it’s going to get rocky before it gets any better.”

The other dogs entered the kitchen and Argo looked over his pack before swiping his tongue along the back of her hand, then he departed.

Once the frozen dinner had been placed in the oven, she went back to her computer and answered some emails. They’d piled up from her trip. So, she spent the time catching up on business.

When Argo trotted back up to her, she rose and followed him, well aware of his actions and being able to read him. It wasn’t that he was upset, he just wanted her to come with. So she listened. It had taken her a long time to learn and accept to trust her dogs at this level.

He guided her to the door she’d placed her naked visitor in. She took a deep breath and stepped inside.

Naked.

There is a serious problem with me that I can’t think of anything else about him aside that he was naked and hella hot, even submerged as he’d been in the water.

He lay in bed still, covered by the quilt and she frowned. There wasn’t any reason for Argo to have come get her, unless…

She hurried over to his side and felt his skin. Clammy. Damn it. I didn’t think he’d get sick, although that was really stupid of me to assume he’d remain healthy after what he’d been subjected to.

“Hang in there man, I’ll be right back.” She left the room and got the supplies she needed to help combat his fever. Stopping in the kitchen, she checked on the time before her meal was ready, then returned to his side.

Stopping to eat, she stayed with him in the room as he went through the throes of his fever. Over the next week she nursed him through, stopping to take care of her dogs and answer some work emails, questions. Thankfully she didn’t have any dogs here yet for her next training session. She’d downsized a bit, wanting to be able to do more with her own animals.

The morning his fever broke, she thanked God and rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hands. Shit, I’m beat. He had tossed and turned as she’d tried to keep the sweat from his body. Strong, despite the sickness, she’d had to strain to restrain him more than once.

Hand on the back of her neck, she got to her feet and looked at Hope. “Keep an eye on him for me, will you? I’m off to bring in some more wood then take a long hot shower.”

Hope wagged her tail and hopped up on the bed, circled twice then lay down beside him.

“Good girl. I’ll be back in a bit.” Scooping up the tray that had held the soup, spoon, and drink, she headed for the front door, dropping the dirty dishes off on the countertop.

She couldn’t stop the yawning and wanted nothing more than her bed after bringing in five trips of wood and putting more on the fire. With a final peek into the guest room, she began stripping as she headed for her room.

Moments later, she stood in her shower and groaned in relief as the hot water pelleted her skin. Hands on the shower wall, she just stood there for a few tics of time. Eventually she began washing. Tired, relaxed, and dry, Leena walked back to the guest room in her flannel pants and jersey shirt to look in on him and make sure all was okay with him still.

Hope jumped down and trotted by her. She reached out to touch his face, pleased there was still no sign of the fever. Bending down to tuck the blanket around him more, she squeaked when he wrapped a strong hand around her wrist and tugged her down beside him.

She struggled against him, but he anchored her close. He buried his nose in her hair and grunted. Another struggle, albeit feeble this time, and Leena relaxed into him. His hard body, and strong arms around her too much for her exhausted self to fight.

When she woke, it was dark out. She was surrounded by heat and didn’t want to move. A man’s hands were underneath her shirt, spanning her waist. Callused skin teased hers. She bit back a whimper as she sorted out whose touch was creating such havoc in her system.

She jerked her lids open and found her sexy stranger lying there, staring at her, those grey eyes darker even then the first time she’d seen them. Her gut clenched with pure, raw craving.

“Hi,” she muttered.

His hands flexed on her, sending more impulses of electricity through her to pool at her core. He didn’t speak right away, just stared. The intensity such she nearly squirmed from the power.

“You.”

His voice was deep and rasped, remnants of his being sick and probably just because he was graced with a sexy as sin voice, created for getting the panties off women.

“Me.” She blinked. Wasn’t sure he did. “Since we’ve established that, who are you?”

At her back one of the dogs shifted and she was content she was safe. Safer then she probably realized because he didn’t strike her as the man who would hurt her. Not with how protective he’d sounded earlier when he had asked if she was in danger.

“John.”

She cocked a brow. “Please don’t tell me your last name is Smith.”

A quirk of his bow shaped lips was his only reaction. “No. Mattheson.” He inched closer, a minute distance really but given her visceral response to him, it was monumental.

“Okay then, John Mattheson, what the fuck were you doing in that river and why are you naked?”

Those eyes of his turned to molten steel. “Usually if I’m naked in bed with a woman, she’s well aware as to why I’m naked.”

“Slow down there, cowboy, I don’t think you’re well enough to ride this. I was talking about you being naked in that freezing water. And the burn marks and other wounds I took care of for you.”

A change came over him, like the memories were streaming in without a damn to slow them. His gaze hardened and she saw how capable of a fighter he would be.

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αβ

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John rackedhis brain as he tried to make sense of it all. He recalled the torture, the beatings, the questioning. He even remembered this woman dragging him from the river. Somewhat even a large dog gripping his shoulder. Part of him wanting her to leave him, another grateful, yet mostly distrustful. Was this yet another plan to get him to lower his guard?

He didn’t believe so. Something about her made him trust her. A large head looked at him over her shoulder. And those big ass damn dogs.

Still, none of this explained how he’d managed to get in bed with her and have his hands under her shirt, touching her soft-as-silk, tempting-as-hell skin. Lord knew he didn’t want to let go. Not in any capacity. Hell, it would be just fine with him if they got closer yet. She could lose her clothing and he could…

His cock jerked to life and he froze, hoping she wasn’t offended by it pressing into her. Her brown eyes widened slightly but she didn’t pull away. Maybe she’s as attracted to me as I am her.

Not well enough to ride this. Maybe not, but he was sure game to give it a try.

“Who are you exactly?” His throat was sore and his voice on the far side of recognizable.

“Leena Parsons.”

Nope, the name didn’t ring a bell to him. Good, bad, or otherwise.

“Where are we?”

“Six hours, give or take a bit, from the rest area where I found you. Or rather where Argo found you.”

God, her lips were distracting. He wanted to taste them, see if they were as sweet as they appeared. Plump and full of some drugging intoxication.

“Argo?”

“GSD sitting over there watching you.”

He turned his head and found the dog staring steadfastly at him. John glanced back to her. “Him I remember.” She didn’t look all that upset he remembered the dog but not her. In fact, those desirable lips curved up in a smile.

“He’s a hard one to forget once you meet him. Are you feeling okay? You’ve had a fever for the past week.” She yawned and shifted.

He dug his fingers into the flesh of her waist, keeping her close. He didn’t want to let her up. Nor did he want to leave her there.

“I’ve had a fever?”

“Yes. Which explains perfectly why I’m in bed with you.”

“Does it now?” He flexed his fingers along her waist. God, I want to explore her. Curves like this should be outlawed.

“Perfectly.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Care to share?”

“After a week of taking care of you, I came in to check once more and you tugged me down onto the bed. I was so exhausted, I crashed. See—” she licked her lips—“perfectly explained.”

“I’ve been out for a week.”

“Eight days.”

He tried to clear his thoughts and make sense of everything. Unfortunately, his fever had wiped some of the memories. At least the ones that could help him make sense of what had happened.

Tiny pieces began to click together. His energy was nil, although he was up for following through with the woman lying in bed with him.

“I should get going, have some other things to catch up on.”

Her words were slightly breathless, and he shifted closer to her. “Are you saying, I’m keeping you from getting things done?”

“I have a business to run, nursing a sick man back to health wasn’t on my list of things to do right now. I’m getting another lot of dogs in, have some competitions that are coming up, and have some other things on the list. So no, I managed to work it all in but if you’re better, I could get a lot more done without checking on you every few minutes.”

“I owe you then.”

Her gaze drifted to his lips and back to his eyes. “I’m sure there’s something you can do to make it up to me.” She touched his hands. “Right now, I have some work to do.”

She slid his hands off her body, and he fought the urge to grab her back flush against him. “Make yourself at home. The dogs won’t bother you—” a pointed look that told him so long as he didn’t hurt her or given the dogs, even think about hurting her. She climbed free of the bed and as if they were of one mind, the dogs joined her. The one she’d called Argo and two more he’d not even noticed had been in the room.

He pushed up on his arms as she walked out before flopping back with a groan. He hated feeling this weak. John closed his eyes and ran over what had happened. What was real and what was fiction?

He remembered going deep undercover two years ago for the ATF from his work in SRT and infiltrating the Fyodorov crime family’s gun running organization. The family dabbled in a lot of illegal activities, but he had gone into that one. How had his cover been blown? How long had he been held prisoner? He looked over his naked body, taking note of burns and scars.

The real question was why hadn’t they killed him? Why had he been kept a prisoner instead of them putting a bullet in his head? What information had they been after? What had he forgotten during whatever he’d been through?

The only knowledge he had he was certain of was he’d put this woman in danger. He may be a colossal ass but thrusting women into danger wasn’t something he was ever proud of doing. He swung his legs over the edge and took a few deep breaths. He was shaky but determined to get on his feet. Trouble would be coming, and he had to be ready to combat it.

He walked around the room a few times trying to get his legs back under him, sweaty and breathing hard he paused by the large window. Peering beyond the clean curtains, he stared out over the snow-covered landscape.

John watched as two of her dogs bounded by, thoroughly enjoying the snow they played in. Beautiful animals, he couldn’t deny that. Their power was obvious.

A noise behind him had him turning to spy another of her dogs. Crap, they’re huge up close. The dog stared at him before proceeding into the room as if he—or was it a she—owned the place. Hell, it’s probably the truth. The dog walked around the room then came to his side. It wagged its tail before leaning against him.

He wasn’t a fan of dogs, hadn’t been. But he lowered his hand, settling it on the broad head of the canine beside him. It didn’t lick him, didn’t jump on him. In fact, it just stood there, silent. He dug his fingers into the hair and sighed deeply. A feeling of calm surrounded him, and he closed his eyes dropping his head to the window.

I should put some clothing on.Therein lay the problem, he didn’t have any. “Don’t suppose you have any clothes lying about, do you, pup?”

Not even a whine.

John stepped back and made his way to the bed. As he sat, he spied a pile on the chair. He was really out of it if he’d not even heard her put them there. Granted, she did say he’d had a fever for a week. Blood pumping hard, he made his way to the clothing pile and picked it up. At the door, he looked up the hall and didn’t see anything, or rather, anyone. One open door about fifteen paces away and he headed for it.

Bathroom. What he was looking for. The dog who’d been pacing him moved off and he looked up to see Leena Parsons leaning against the wall. Instant heat hit him, damn it there was something about her curvy body that made him want to fuck her hard against the wall.

She raked her gaze over him, from head to foot. “Nice to see you up. Make yourself at home.”

Another heated look and she wandered off. John ducked his head and groaned. His dick stuck out, fully erect. Yeah, she’d seen him up. No doubt she’d seen him as he stood there. It bobbed as if agreeing with him. Exhaling, he moved into the bathroom and stepped into the shower.

Ten minutes later, exhausted but clean, he exited the warm, steamy room. Limbs shaky but getting stronger, he nearly returned to the bedroom but instead headed up the hallway. It opened into a wide space that was definitely made for dogs. Thick beds lay about the floor, instead of many rugs. Otherwise, it was hardwood floors with some area rugs.

The furniture had coverings on it and one couch had a dog on it, the one who’d been with him in his room. Large windows allowed the light to stream in and although it was a weaker winter sun, the interior remained warm, and more than comfortable. Nice given how much snow was on the ground outside.

With its open floor plan, it gave off the impression of being much larger than it truly was. To his left, he could see directly into the kitchen. And there his gaze stuck.

Leena faced away from him, bent across the countertop, doing something. All he could see was her ass that he wanted to grip. When her laughter filtered to him, his cock twitched in his borrowed pants.

She turned her head a bit and he discovered she was on the phone. Unreasonable jealousy swarmed him when she mentioned Richard with such affection.

Something is wrong with me. I have no right to be like this to her. Toward anyone.He didn’t know a damn thing about this woman. Nothing more than she’d saved his ass.

And speaking of asses…

He stared at hers again until she cleared her throat, drawing his gaze up to find her watching him over her shoulder.

“Okay, let me go, there’s some things I have to take care of here. Chat later, Richard. Thanks.” She pushed a button—one he assumed ended the call—and placed the receiver on the countertop she’d just had her curves bent over. “You look marginally better. Sorry I don’t have anything else for you wear. I can get you some more later today when I go to get some groceries.” Her gaze moved over him once more. “I have your size.”

“And won’t it raise suspicions for you to go pick up men’s clothing?”

Her laughter shot fire to his cock and he fought the urge to readjust. “I do enough that raises them, anyway, buying men’s clothing will be nothing.” With a smile, she pushed up on her toes to reach up in a cupboard.

Holy hell. He riveted his gaze to the intricate ink swirling up around her hip. While he couldn’t make it out, yet he wanted to know. Desperately.

She grabbed two cups and placed them down. “Hungry?”

“More than you know.” And it wasn’t for food.

Her eyes darkened a few shades before her gaze dropped then moved leisurely up his form. “We should get you fed then. Are you feeling okay?”

“Getting better every second.” And it was true. He could feel his strength coming back and thankfully there were no ill side effects from his trip in the icy water. At least, not other than the fever. If all memories would come back, everything would be better. Until the men after him showed up.

Anger pushed up through his body at the thought of those men touching her. Hurting her. The young male dog paused and looked at him, intelligent eyes assessing if he was going to be a potential threat.

“Pax has taken a liking to you.”

He moved his focus from the canine to the woman in the kitchen. “Pax?”

“That’s his call name. He’s eighteen months old.” She beckoned to the dog and he hurried to her side where she scratched his head.

Don’t blame you, pup, I’d be happy to come if she crooked her fingers at me as well.