Chapter Four Flynn

I truly thought I was dead. How could I not be? A giant white wolf stalking me in the middle of the night while I was covered in blood with a broken leg definitely didn't lean in my favor. There was no way I survived the encounter after I passed out. It was just impossible.

And yet, I was having these thoughts, wasn't I? I think that was the first thing that seemed odd. While I was there floating in the darkness, I realized things were still happening inside my head. Did that mean I was in the afterlife? Was such a thing even possible? I'd never been much of a religious person, but floating in a void for all eternity wasn't exactly what I'd call heaven .

Then there was something that caught my attention. A glint of gold, a rush of warmth, and a sudden peaceful feeling washing over me. The only thing I could think was that I was moving on to whatever came next. Instead of fighting it to stay in the darkness, I let myself be taken by this golden light. And just before I faded away, I saw a woman the color of moonlight floating high above me. Her lips moved as she spoke, but I couldn't hear her as I slipped away.

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I bolted upright as I came awake, groaning at the sudden rush of pain from my right leg. In a second all my memories came flooding back to me and I looked down, preparing myself for the gruesome sight I knew was awaiting me.

But my leg was fine. Well, it was bruised and there was an unfamiliar scar across my shin, but there was no blood, no broken bone, and no sign that I'd ever ruined it in the first place. Then, as my gaze lifted, I realized I was no longer lying in a gulley filled with early morning light. No, I was sitting on a black leather couch with the golden glow of a floor lamp spilling over me.

I glanced around, taking in my surroundings at last. I wasn't in a hospital and I sure as fuck wasn't at Nana's house. This place was sparsely decorated with minimalist furniture that looked like it had been picked out in the early 2000s. Everything had hard lines, strange patterns, and was very deliberately placed. My Nana's house, by comparison, looked like a cottage-core hoarder special.

And then my gaze fell on the hulking man asleep in the armchair a few feet away.

Who the fuck was that?!

I pushed myself slowly up to a sitting position, my right leg still stuck out at an awkward angle. Running my fingers over the bone, I could tell it wasn't broken anymore. But it sure hurt like a motherfucker. I wanted to get up and sneak out of this place, but I knew I couldn't walk on it. That meant I was at the whim of this stranger, whoever he was.

I glared at him, my arms crossed over my chest as he lightly snored in the chair. He was huge, easily over six foot tall and pushing two hundred and fifty pounds. However, it didn't look like there was a lick of fat on him. The dude was muscle from head to toe and even though he was wearing a dark hoodie, I could see his arms were absolutely dripping in tattoos. Combine that with the full beard and the messy blond hair and I was absolutely smitten.

Dude was hot as fuck.

Well, he would be if he hadn't kidnapped me off the mountain and brought me here. Although, glancing down at my leg, I was starting to wonder if that had all been a hallucination. If the broken leg wasn't real, then was the wolf real? How had I gotten here? Had this dude snuck up on me and chloroformed me to take me back to his sex prison?!

Probably not. Besides, I was still wearing the same clothes and my body didn't feel like it had been ravaged by a giant mountain man. Although, if I was being honest, he could get it. No! What the hell was I thinking? I needed to stop thinking with my dick and start thinking with my brain. I needed to get out of there.

Reaching into my pocket for my phone, I found it empty. I started to panic when I noticed my backpack sitting next to the couch. As quietly as I could, I unzipped it and rustled around, looking for my phone. There was water, a bag of very smooshed cookies, and my sketchbook with a few bent pages. But there was no phone and my pocketknife was gone.

"Fuck…" I muttered under my breath. "I need to call Nana."

But as I searched my bag, I realized that the room had grown extra quiet. I glanced up, my gaze coming to rest on a pair of bright blue eyes glinting in the lamplight. Immediately I reeled back, trying to push myself as far away from him as I could.

"Stay back!" I cried, brandishing the broken pencil from the bottom of my bag. "Don't come any closer!"

"You're awake," he said, his voice deep and gravelly. It sent a shiver of delight down my spine.

"Where the hell am I?!" I cried. "Who are you? What is this place? How did I get here?!"

He leaned forward in the chair. "How are you feeling?"

That didn't answer any of my questions.

"I feel good enough to fucking stab you if you try to touch me!"

The man cocked his head to the side, a grin spreading over his face. "You've got some fire in you, Red." He reached back into his pocket and pulled out my knife, placing it on the table next to me. "That'll probably work better than the pencil if you want to stab me."

"Red?" I glanced down at the red hoodie I was wearing. Or was he referencing my hair? It wasn't the first time someone had called me that trying to be cute. "My name is Flynn. Who the fuck are you?"

"Thor," he replied. "Thor Hati."

"Did you get that name out of a fortune cookie or something?"

"It's a family tradition. My brothers are Loki and Baldr."

"You… You and your brothers are named after Norse gods?" I asked, lifting an eyebrow. I couldn't help eyeing the knife, making sure it was in easy grabbing distance should this weirdo try something. "That's kind of pretentious, don't you think?"

"My father gave us strong names so that we'd be destined for greatness," he replied, shrugging his hulking shoulders. "At least that's what he said. I just think he was a bit of a nerd."

I couldn't help a small grin as I forgot the predicament I was in for a moment. "Is he still that nerdy?"

Thor's face suddenly darkened. "He… He's dead."

"Oh." I felt bad for him but then shook my head. "What am I saying? I don't care about that. I want to know how the hell I got here?!"

"I understand," he replied, pushing himself out of the chair.

He straightened up to his full height, which was easily six-foot-six if not a little more. He stretched his arms upward, the hoodie pulling high above his waistband revealing two rows of perfectly sculpted abs covered in dark blond hair. It was all I could do not to gasp. However, my dick, who still had a mind of its own, gave a hard twitch in my shorts.

"I'll tell you everything you want to know. But you have to stay and rest for a bit first. Your leg is pretty banged up."

"So, you're forcing me to stay here?!" I yelled back at him.

"I'm saying that you need bed rest and I own this resort," he replied calmly. "So, if you want to stay here, we can take good care of you. And the hot springs will help you heal faster."

I furrowed my brows, clearly suspicious of this display of kindness. Nobody ever did shit like that for free where I was from. Everything came at a price.

"What's the catch?"

He shook his head. "No catch."

"Are you afraid I'm going to sue you or something so you're trying to butter me up with free shit?!"

"No?" He seemed terribly confused by my constant aggression. "I guess you did hurt yourself on resort land, so you could sue us if you want to."

"And you'd just let me do that?"

"The insurance pays for it, not us."

Alright. He had me there. But I wasn't convinced.

"Why are you so willing to help me then?"

Thor paused for a long moment, his gaze dropping to the floor as he scuffed his foot over the carpet. "I… I just felt bad that you got hurt and I wanted to help. That's all."

"And I can leave whenever I want?"

"Of course."

"So, I'm not being kidnapped into some sex trafficking ring?"

"What? No!" He let out a long sigh. "If you want to know the absolute truth, I'll tell you. But you might not like it."

"Some sort of explanation would be nice." I was a little afraid of what he was going to say, but I needed to know if I should start planning my escape route now.

"I saw you were hurt, and we have a… uh… doctor on staff who could look you over and said you were okay." He paused again. "But I didn't want to send you away because… well, I think you're kind of… cute ."

My heart dropped at the same moment that a dozen or so butterflies filled my stomach. This giant brute of a man thought I was cute? Me? Of all the fucking rich people that come and go from the resort, why the hell would he want some nobody like me? I had literally nothing. But instead of saying anything remotely close to that, I blurted out something else.

"You don't look gay."

To my surprise he nodded. "I'm not. Never have been. But… I don't know… there's something about you that's different."

"So what? You just want to wine and dine me until I put out so you can satiate your curiosity? Is that what rich assholes like you do to hurt guys you find in the woods? I'm not an idiot that's gonna fall for some stupid cheap dime-store smut trick."

I started to force myself up from the couch. However, a heavy hand came to rest on my shoulder as Thor pushed me back onto the cushion.

"Stay off that leg," he said softly. "And no, that's not what I'm doing."

His blue eyes fixed on me, his face only a few inches from mine. I could feel the heat of his body washing over me and I felt scared, well excited and scared. There was a brief moment where I wanted to reach out and touch him, to pull him close and let him have me. But I forced that down. I didn't want to be a pawn in his game of sexual exploration.

"You don't have to do anything for me," Thor said, his tone sincere. "You don't owe me anything just for giving you a compliment. I think you're cute, and that's new for me. That's all. If you want to stay here on my dime and heal, you can. But if you want to go back home, I'll arrange that as well. Whatever you want will be done. You have my word."

I stared into those blue eyes, feeling everything all at once. Of course, I didn't want to believe anyone could just be nice for no reason. But something about Thor made me think he might actually be telling the truth. It was like Beauty and the Beast, except I wasn't being held prisoner. He was this big giant thing, and I was the dainty little farm girl that didn't know she needed rescuing. Except I didn't need anyone to take care of me and he was a giant puppy of a man if I'd ever seen one.

I was about to tell him to send me home when I paused. I'd never been to a resort before or hot springs. And this was basically an all-expense paid vacation. When was I ever going to get a chance to do this again? I was an artist. The chances of me becoming a millionaire were slim to none.

There was only one issue.

"If I'm going to stay here, I need a favor," I said at last.

Thor's face lit up. "Anything you need. Just name it."

"I'm staying with my Nana at her farm. She can't do the chores by herself…"

"I can send one of the maintenance crew down there to help her out. That's not a problem."

"I should probably call her," I added. "But my phone–"

Thor already had his out and was placing it in my hand. "Call anyone you need to. I'll have a new phone ordered for you today."

"Th-Thanks."

Thor nodded and stood up, heading out of the room to give me some privacy. "Let me know when you're done, and we can order breakfast." He paused in the doorway. "Would… Would you mind eating with me so we can get to know each other?"

"Sure?"

Another nod, a smile, and he disappeared into the other room.

I let out a long sigh, staring at the stranger's phone in my hand. What the flying fuck had I gotten myself into?