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He lifts me out anyway. My hands land on his shoulders. They are impossibly broad.
Samuel settles me against his chest, one arm beneath my knees and the other braced across my back. His beard brushes my temple. Heat radiates from him, cutting through the mountain chill.
I should fight. Instead, I freeze.
His arms are huge. Not bulky from posing in a gym, but hard from years of use. Chopping wood. Climbing mountains. Doing whatever former Navy SEALs do when they retreat from civilization after stealing from their best friends.
I can feel the strength in him. He carries me across the clearing without effort, his chest solid beneath my cheek.
My traitorous heart pounds faster. I wonder if he can feel it or if his is beating just as hard.
“You said I could walk.”
“No. You said you would.”
“Put me down.”
He carries me up the steps.
“Samuel.”
His gaze drops to my mouth. Only for a second. A dark, heated second. His arms tighten.
I forget what I was going to say. He opens the front door and carries me inside.
The cabin smells like cedar, coffee, and smoke from the stone fireplace. The living room is warm and dim, with worn leather furniture and tall windows overlooking the forest. Books cover one wall. Maps cover another. Black candles sit among pine branches along the mantel. Paper bats hang from a piece of twine over the kitchen doorway.
I stare. “Mrs. McCrae?”
He nods.
“She comes into your house and decorates?”
“Can’t stop her.”
The image of anyone ordering Samuel around is almost enough to make me smile—almost.
He lowers me to my feet. The second my boots touch the floor, I bolt for the door. Samuel catches me around the waist. My back hits his chest. His arm closes over my stomach, pinning me against a wall of heat and muscle.
“No.”
“Let go of me.”
“Can’t.”
“You mean you won’t.”
His breath warms the top of my head. “That too.”
I shove at his forearm. I can’t move it. It feels like a steel bar beneath the flannel.
“Those men may have followed us,” he says.
“So what’s your plan? Keep me here forever?”
His silence lasts too long.
My stomach drops.
