ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (241 page)

Forrest shook his head.  “No.”  He said firmly.  “I know it’s confusing, but this one isn’t for eating.” 

Leonidas looked at him sadly, but laid down by the hurt animal nonetheless.  His tongue shot out once and licked the deer’s nose. 

Forrest went to his bathroom and took his first aid kit from under the cabinet, as well as a bottle of peroxide and butterfly band aids.  He would do what he could for the woman, but he suspected she needed a real doctor. 

He cleaned her wounds quickly and applied the butterfly band aids to her head.  There were small cuts and nicks across the sides of her forearms and hand.  He supposed she had held her arms over her head for protection just before she hit the tree. 

He gazed down at her and wondered who she was.  She was beautiful in a dark mysterious way.  Her long wavy black hair spread out around her.  She was small; maybe 5’4” but she wasn’t bony or petite.  He liked that.  A woman needed a little meat on her bones, and she looked to be just the right size.  A little extra meat, but not too much to make her look frumpy.  Forrest sighed.  He had been lonely for too long.  On the rare occasion he invited a woman to his bed it was with the understanding that there would be nothing more.  One night or a few hours of fun, but don’t stick around in the morning, and for God’s sake don’t call.  After Sara it was better that way.  Sara’s memory needed to remain intact.  This woman lying on his couch reminded him far too much of her as it was.  Most of the women he allowed to share his bed were the exact opposite of Sara, and he did it that way on purpose.  Sara had straight long brown hair with bangs cut across right at her eye brows.  She had dark eyes that reminded him of velvet.  She had dimples that cratered in when she smiled, and the sun was jealous of her brilliance.  The women he chose to bed for the basic animalistic need of sex were usually blonde or had reddish hair, he preferred their eyes to be blue or green, not dark.  He always picked the trashier women, because Sara had been nothing but a lady.

He gazed down at the stranger again.  She wore a lot of silver jewelry.  Several rings, one of which was large and had an intricate Celtic design which stretched from just below the finger joint of the hand to the just below the middle joint of her forefinger.  There were bangle style bracelets and hoop earrings.  He even noted with amusement that she had an eyebrow ring which poked out from the top and bottom of her eyebrow in what looked like spikes.  He always did like facial piercings but couldn’t bring himself to get one.  What would happen during…he forced his mind off of it. 

Forrest stood and ran both hands through his hair.  Sara was gone because of
that
, and he would never allow
that
to happen again.  He frowned deeply and looked down at the woman.  And once she was well enough, or once the storm broke, which ever came first; she was gone.  He didn’t need beautiful strangers complicating his life. 

He stomped over to the baby deer with his medical supplies and tried to see what could be done for the little girl.  He needed the distraction.

Rain could feel heat.  A smile flickered across her face. 

“Can you hear me?”  His voice was soft and familiar. 

Rain opened her eyes.  Her flickering smile became large, tainted with confusion. 

“Trevor?  How are you here?”  Where was here?  Rain tried to turn her head, but pain sliced through it and her body felt weighted own. 

“Don’t move, you’ll hurt yourself.”  Trevor’s face was near to hers but there was another person just behind him, and Rain couldn’t make out who it was.  His features were faded and fuzzy. 

“Am I dead?” 

Trevor’s face softened and he shook his head sadly, his closed mouthed smile coming up more on one side than the other.  It was his customary way just before saying something she didn’t want to hear.  Rain could feel a sob constricting her throat and chest.  Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes.

“I’ve missed you…you haven’t visited for a while…why?”

Trevor’s face began to fade. 

“NO!”  Rain yelled and tried to fight against something holding her.   Trevor shook his head again. 

“Be still.  Let him help you, baby.” 

“Ma'am? 
Ma'am
!  Lie still!” 

Rain looked frantically up at a strange man, as he fought to pin her arms by her sides.  She screamed. 

“I’m not going to hurt you!”  He said roughly.  “You were in a car accident!  Be still, now!” 

Rain slowed her fight as images of the deer flooded her mind.  She could hear the two thumps, and see the tree. 

“The deer?”  She knew it was ridiculous to ask about the deer before herself or her car, but there it was.  Maybe she was a tree hugger after all.  Dante had been right in his accusations. 

“The mother is dead, but the baby is right over there.  She might make it…don’t know yet.” 

Rain stopped all struggling and laid still.  She was exhausted, and the pain in her head was tremendous. 

“My car?”

“I towed it here.  It’s mighty banged up.” 

Rain nodded and closed her eyes against the pain and nausea.  “What time is it?”

“Just after midnight.”

“Ugh.”  Was all she could moan.  Dante probably thought her a no show, and who knew what tramp had caught his attention by now anyway.  She had more questions for this strange man, but she couldn’t keep them straight in her head.  She could feel her mind slipping back under and she welcomed it. 

Forrest was exhausted.  The woman’s brief interlude back to consciousness had been short lived.  He wondered if this Trevor person was a husband or a boyfriend that he should try to contact.  There wasn’t a wedding band on her left hand, but in this strange day and age that really didn’t mean anything.  He decided to go out to her car and see if he could find a wallet and cell phone of any kind. 

The car was in a shambles.  It looked like a whirlwind had torn through it.  He found her purse, a cloth backpack looking thing with butterflies on it.  Luckily the draw string had been pulled and the little flap buttoned.  Nothing had escaped.  A cell phone laid in the back floor board.  It was an older model, the kind that slid upward and reveled a little keyboard. 

He opened the purse a little guiltily, once back inside.  He didn’t feel right going through the woman’s things, but he needed some answers.  Her wallet had a picture slot and he pulled her license from it.  Her address was for some place in Virginia called Orange, and her name was Lucinda Rain Cash.  He had been right about her height, she was 5’4”.  Her wallet didn’t reveal much else except that she didn’t have any credit cards, just a worn debit card from a well-known bank, and she had a little over fifty dollars in cash.  There wasn’t anything else in her purse except the usual stuff for a woman: a brush, lip balm, and hand sanitizer.  There was a small item at the bottom which felt like metal.  He pulled it out and stared at it with a frown.  It was a spent 9mm casing.  He glanced at the woman, his frown deepening.  Had she fired that bullet?  Was she running from something?  He put all of the items back in the bag, and turned to the phone.  Luckily there wasn’t a pass code.  He couldn’t even remember if those phones could be pass coded.

The screen was a picture of a butterfly.  He decided that she must really like butterflies.  He scrolled through the pictures on the phone.  There weren’t many.  A couple of selfies.  She certainly was a beautiful woman.  The final picture was of the woman with her arms around the waist of a very tall slender black man.  They were both smiling into the camera.  Was this Trevor?

Forrest laid the phone down as the woman stirred on the couch.  Forrest went to her and gently pushed her back into a laying position. 

“Ma'am, is there anyone I can call for you?”

“Dante.  I need my phone.”  She held a hand over her eyes, and Forrest thought perhaps the light was hurting her.  He cut the overhead off and allowed the one floor lamp and fire to light the room.  It seemed to help her. 

“I was supposed to meet Dante at a resort…Creek…something.” 

Forrest’s brow furrowed.  “Creekside?  That’s in Greenbrier Springs.”  He shook his head.  “You were lost?”

“I…yes I was.  I was given…bad directions.”

Forrest nodded.  “The wreck had you detoured?”

“Yes.”

“You’re a lucky woman.  I don’t know when you might have been found if I hadn’t of come along.” 

Rain risked one eye, and peered out through her fingers.  The man was fuzzy and she was having a hard time keeping her vision from doubling.  From what she could see he was an intense looking man with dark brown curling hair and whiskey colored eyes.  They looked like light was filtering through from inside his head outward, instead of the other way around. 

“I think you might have a concussion.” 

“I feel sick.”  She whispered.  Even speaking a single word was making her stomach roll. 

He nodded silently.  “How’s your vision?  Blurred or double?”

“Both.” 

“You probably should drink something.”  He helped her into a sitting position and got a glass of water from the sink.  He felt bad for her.  She held her head like it was very painful.  Leonidas came to inspect the stranger on the couch.  Something must have smelled good on her, because he climbed up beside her and tried to lick her face, his tail thumping a steady rhythm. 

“Yeah…nice doggie.”  She murmured and tried to pet him, missing his head by a good six inches.  

“Here.”  Forrest held the glass for her as she drank.  Her hands were shaking badly.  He had done all he knew to do.  It was time to call someone. 

Forrest convinced the woman to lie back down, and watched her slip back into sleep.  With a deep worried sigh, he went to the land line phone mounted to his kitchen wall and dialed Doctor Keller.  He hoped the retired doctor would forgive a two in the morning call under the circumstances.  He had his doubts once Doc Keller’s gravelly voice came through the line.

“Who the hell is it?” 

“It’s Forrest Early, Tom.”

“Forrest?  What’s wrong?  You wouldn’t be calling at this hour without a reason.”

Forrest could hear the rustle and squeak of Tom getting out of bed, and the faint small voice of Mary Keller asking what was going on.  Forrest waited for him to tell her to go back to sleep. 

“A woman wrecked a couple miles from my place.  I brought her here.  She’s pretty banged up.” 

“Did you call 911?”

Forrest rolled his eyes.  “Come on, Tom; you know the drill.  I didn’t have signal, and with the storm…”  

“Yeah.  It’s a bad one.  The news, before I went to bed, said it could be the biggest blizzard we’ve seen in fifty years.” 

“Great.” 

“Four more major wrecks happened after nine.  It’s safer if you try to care for this woman, at least until morning.”

“I think she has a pretty bad concussion.”

“Just keep her warm, and let her sleep.  Watch her for seizures, though.  She’ll have a wing dinger of a headache for a few days, but she should be fine.  Any cuts?”

“One on her forehead, and few minor ones on her arms and hands.  She has some bruising from the air bag, I think.” 

“Call me in the morning.  If you’re still concerned, I’ll hop in the truck and try to make it up to your place.” 

“Thanks, Tom.”

“Uh huh.” 

Forrest didn’t know what else to do for the woman, but if he didn’t get some rest soon, he wouldn’t be able to help her anyway if she needed him.  He placed another log on the fire and reluctantly went in his bedroom.  He left the door open just in case.  He shook his head as he patted his leg, the signal for Leonidas to come, but the dog seemed more interested in making a steady circuit to the woman then back to the baby deer.

“Suit yourself.”  He said gruffly, telling himself he didn’t care. 

Rain awoke as dawn seeped into the cabin.  It was a pale murky light that gave the space a dream like quality.  Rain sat up, her head still hammering, but it was better compared to the night before.  Her memory of the night before was hazy at best.  She remembered a dog, and a man.  She looked around the room and appreciated the simple beauty.  A stone fire place was directly across from the dark brown couch she sat on.  Embers smoldered there and she stood stiffly to poke at them with the poker stick.  A few small logs were left in a wooden box by the fireplace, and she laid one on the glowing embers.  She watched as it soon smoked and flames bean to lick up the sides. 

The living room was fairly large for a cabin.  A sliding glass door was opposite the front door and an island with L shaped ends separated the living room from the kitchen.  Everywhere her eyes landed was neat and orderly.  She wondered if the man had a wife or girlfriend who helped him.  She wondered what that woman would think if she walked in and found Rain wandering around at such an early morning hour.  It didn’t matter, if she had her way she would be gone later in the day anyway.

The thing that impressed her the most was a full bookcase shoved in between the front door and the window that over looked the front of the cabin.  The books overflowed into two small stacks in front of the case.