Capturing Caroline (4 page)

Her stomach
growled, bringing her back to her immediate needs. And maybe that's
what she needed to focus on now—trying to feel a little less like
she'd been hit by a truck and left to die.

“Eat,” said
Torrent, gesturing at the table. “I’ll be right back.”

Tucking the
blanket around her like a towel, she sat at the table and peered at
the dishes in front of her. Something hot and meaty. Something cool
and fruity. Some kind of green leafy salad. Overcome suddenly with
a need for nutrition, she grabbed the plate in front of her and
began to help herself.

She was eating
like a starved animal—because she felt like a starved animal—when
Torrent returned. He set a bundle on the kitchen counter. "Here is
a towel and some clothes for you. Your sisters thought to bring
some things."

In between
swallows she managed thanks. She didn’t even care what she looked
like, gobbling food this way. Her only concern was getting food
into her body. Torrent had gone still and silent. She glanced up at
him. He was staring at the food, too.

“Eat!” she
commanded him. He’d had even less sustenance than she’d had and he
was a much larger person.

He gave his
head a shake. “You eat first. Take all you need.”

“Oh,
come
on!
” She stood grabbed a plate and piled food on to it. Then
she set it at the place next to her. “Sit down, Torrent, and
eat!”

He didn’t
move.

She gave an
exasperated sigh. “Now!”

He grinned at
her, sank down, and tucked into the food. She sat back down too,
but her belly was finally starting to feel full. It probably wasn’t
wise of her to eat so much food after being nearly starved to
death. She guessed she’d be sick later. Honestly, though, she
didn’t care.

“There’s enough
here to feed an army, Torrent. You didn’t need to worry.”

“I
am
an
army,” he said between bites.

Eying him up
and down, she figured that was probably true.

Now that she
had food in her stomach, she could assess her state of dirtiness.
Never, ever in her existence had she been this unwashed. Not even
when she’d gone camping with her previous boyfriend, Eric, for a
week and they’d gotten lost in the forest.

“I’m going to
take a bath, if you don’t mind.”

Torrent seemed
in love with his food at the moment, too in love to answer. That
was good. She smiled at him in complete understanding as he hooked
a thumb upward.

She nodded.
“The bathroom is upstairs. Got it.”

She picked up
the bundle of clothes, left the kitchen and walked through the
living room. The railing of the stairway felt smooth beneath her
hand as she ascended. She could imagine Torrent polishing it smooth
out in the front yard, shirt off, muscles working as he moved, skin
golden from the sun….

She shook her
head. Yep, she was feeling better. Her libido was perking up.

At the top of
the stairs was a sitting room with a couch, a chair, and filled
bookshelves. A library? Checking out some of the offerings, she
found a selection of books she was familiar with, classics from her
dimension. Odd. She frowned. She’d have to remember to ask Torrent
about that.

The short
hallway led to two bedrooms and a very nice, spacious bathroom. The
end of the hallway opened up into a huge master bedroom suite. She
walked around with her mouth hanging open, exploring. This was a
beautiful house by any measure, but to find it here, in the middle
of nowhere, and knowing that it had been built by the hands of
men—and likely without much heavy equipment—blew her mind.

Clutching her
clothes, she wandered into the master bathroom. It looked like her
bathroom at home—except much bigger and nicer. Setting down her
bundle, she turned the spigot on in the shower and out came hot
water. Way out here in the middle of the forest. How had he managed
that?

At the moment,
she didn’t care. Ditching the blanket, she stepped into the shower
and had the most orgasmic experience of her life. The water sluiced
down her body, mixing with the healthy lather of soap she gave
herself. She washed her hair and body three times, until her skin
was a beautiful, polished pink, then scrubbed all the grime out
from beneath her nails.

After drying
off, she picked up the clothes her sisters had brought for her.
Among the garments she found a soft, loose nightgown made of
something that felt like cotton. There was also a pair of white
slippers. Thank goodness her sisters had brought comfortable
clothing. She slipped into the gown, towel-dried her hair, and
slipped out the door.

Halfway down
the hallway, she found Torrent emerging from the other bathroom in
a cloud of steam. He was shirtless, a pair of baggy pants encasing
him from the waist down. Water droplets glistened on his smooth,
tanned skin and he smelled good enough to lick.

She stopped
short and tried not to swallow her tongue. Now that some of her
basic needs as a human had been met, her awareness of Torrent as a
man rushed through her. “Um.”

“Do you feel
better?”

“Incredibly.”
She tore her gaze away from his torso. “How do you get so much hot
water way out here in the middle of nowhere?”

“The pipes for
the showers draw from a hot spring. There are many such springs in
Lycaon territory.”

“And where does
the power come from? I see you have electricity.”

“We use solar
power and wind. It’s better to use what we can from nature, isn’t
it?”

She realized
she was staring at his chest again. Damn it. “Um. I’m tired.”

“I could sleep
for a week.” He grinned at her.

“Let’s do it,
then. Where’s a bed? Uh. For sleeping. You know, for a week.”

His grin
widened and she blushed. “This way.”

He led her back
into the master bedroom. His bed was huge and covered with soft
blankets and pillows. It looked like heaven. “But this is your
room. I saw you have several bedr—”

“It’s big
enough for the both of us, don’t you think?

She glanced at
the bed and back at him. “Listen, Torrent—”

“I won’t touch
you in any manner that you don’t wish, Caroline. I might want to
touch you. I might be fantasizing about it right now in spite of my
incredible fatigue, but I will not. Not until you invite me.”

She believed
him. How could she not after the way he’d already behaved with her?
He’d been nothing but a knight in shining armor. Anyway, after all
she’d been through, she wasn’t sure she wanted to be alone.
“Okay.”

“I’m glad you
trust me.”

“I do.”

He flipped back
the sheets and blankets, then slid into the bed. “Come on, then,”
he beckoned.

Seeing him
there in those comfy sheets made her regret feeling so prim and
protective of herself. This was the hottest man she’d ever seen her
life. Why wasn’t she jumping his bones already?

She hesitated a
moment, toed off her slippers, then slid into the bed beside him.
His strong arms wrapped around her and his body heat bled through
their clothes and into her skin, muscle and bone. She felt safe,
protected and, oddly, cherished.

Her head hit
the pillow and she was out.

* * * *

Torrent grit
his teeth at the sensation of Caroline’s perfect body flush against
his. He loved everything about her. Loved her strength and spirit.
Loved her dark hair and eyes. Loved her sharp little chin and the
thin press of her lips when she was deep in thought.

Every muscle
ached and he was so tired his very hair follicles hurt, yet he’d
been waiting all his mature life for this moment—to have his mate
in his bed. It was all he could do not to slip his hands down her
body and tempt her into giving that invitation he’d need.

But he
couldn’t. Not just because they were both so exhausted, but because
Caroline needed to retain her trust in them if they were going to
make this work. And there was nothing more in the world he wanted
than to make a relationship with Caroline work.

Even if it was
only a short time they could be together.

That was one
reason why her presence here was so dangerous. The prophecy had not
yet been fulfilled. Without Caroline’s presence he would have been
ready to sacrifice his life or anyone else’s in the pursuit of
Lycaon freedom. That was all in question now because he could not
say he would be ready to sacrifice Caroline’s life.

He would need
to keep her safe, safe from any chance that decision might need to
be made.

The prophecy
meant he would die—there was no help for that. They would need to
appreciate every moment they had together until that time. But he
would not allow the same fate to befall Caroline.

Her presence in
his life was a beautiful, miraculous thing that filled his heart
with love and hope—things he had not felt in many, many years. It
was also the most horrible thing that could have happened to him
and perhaps to her as well.

Torrent nestled
his head behind Caroline’s on the pillow and pulled her sweet body
up against his, holding her around the waist as though he’d never
let go. Inhaling the scent of her still damp hair, he closed his
eyes and put all troubling thoughts from his mind. For now, he
would enjoy this.

* * * *

Caroline awoke
cradled in the comforting heat of Torrent’s huge arms. She sighed
and nestled closer to his chest, inhaling the soapy scent of his
skin. Warm, safe and peaceful was quite a contrast to the last week
of being cold, terrified and starving. It was like waking up in
heaven.

It shocked her
how easily she’d come to trust this man. Normally, she was not a
woman who did that. She’d lived her life very carefully, watching
and weighing every male that came into her life with suspicion born
from feeling betrayed by her father. He’d married a woman who had
not liked children,
knowing
that fact about her. For her and
her sisters, it had made growing up with their stepmother Susan
very turbulent. They’d been made to feel unwelcome in their home,
made to feel her displeasure at their existence every single
day.

It was only in
adulthood that any of them had managed to find common ground and
have a semi-civil relationship with her. Finally, all of them had
made their peace with her.

Caroline
couldn’t speak for her sisters, but she still resented her father
for marrying Susan. Wasn’t a parent always supposed to put their
kids first? He’d sacrificed their childhoods for his selfishness.
Caroline was probably the most resentful of him and it had leaked
into her romantic relationships. She never wanted to pick a partner
anything like her father, so she’d had fewer boyfriends than her
sisters, owing to her pickiness and caution. Always she’d been the
one to dump, rather than be dumped. Overcautious was her middle
name.

Then there was
this man.

Torrent…he was
an entirely different animal—no pun intended. From the first moment
she’d touched his hand back in the prison, she’d felt compelled to
have confidence in him. It made her almost believe in that whole
“soul mate” thing.

Whatever it was
that lay between them—
physically that was only some pesky
fabric
—it was deep and she trusted it. Not only did he waken
her emotionally, but sexually too. Resting here next to him, her
body had ignited to a slow burn. Moving her hand up to smooth
across his upper arm, she found a pleasing mixture of warm, soft
skin covering muscle. In the past her boyfriends had all been
brainy, non-jock types—as far from her father as she could get.
Touching Torrent was an entirely new experience for her.

Biting her
lower lip and closing her eyes to more fully enjoy the sensation,
she ran her palm along his shoulder and down his back, exploring
every smooth plane and ridge of him that she could reach. Finally,
she cupped his incredible, lovely ass.
Paradise.

Sighing with
pleasure, she opened her eyes and found herself looking straight
into his hungry, dark gaze. His arm, circling her waist, tightened
a bit. Suddenly she felt like a little kid sneaking a cookie. “Uh,
sorry,” she whispered.

“You never need
to be sorry for touching me.” His voice sounded scratchy and a
little raw.

She frowned at
him. “Are you getting sick?”

His focus on
her sharpened. “No. I’m struggling not pounce on you like a
starving animal, that’s all.”

A little jolt
of awareness went through her. She could cause a reaction like
that
in a man like
him?
Of course, considering the
state of affairs in this reality, it was likely he hadn’t had sex
in a long time.

Well, neither
had she.

Caroline never
slept with a man until they’d had many dates. And, owing to her
pickiness, there weren’t many men who’d made it that far with her.
The thought of engaging in such an intimate act with someone after
a mere week of knowing him would normally be inconceivable.

But, again, all
the rules seemed to be different with Torrent.

“For years I
knew you existed, had brief glimpses of you through the veil.
Knowing my fate, I prayed you would never be pulled through, so I
never dared imagine having you in my arms.” He paused and his gaze
grew fierce. “Now that you’re here I can’t believe I didn’t wish
for this every second of my life.”

He sounded so
sincere, so loving. Never had a man said anything even so remotely
romantic to her. From any other man’s lips she would have suspected
it a lie to get between her legs, but not from this man.

Caroline’s lips
parted and her eyes widened, but she’d been rendered speechless. It
didn’t matter; Torrent seemed to know what to do. Moving over her
body, he slid her beneath him, then slipped his hand to her nape
and slanted his mouth across hers.