Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
“What the hell were you thinking, Ellie?” he demanded. “I told you to wait. I was only gone ten minutes. Do you have any idea how scared I was when I came back and found you gone? There are dangers in these mountains. You must know that.” The lecture was biting. Every word snapped with anger.
The lantern was gone and even though he was just inches from her, she couldn’t really see his face. She did see two glowing coals where his eyes would be though. Intensely red and piercing, they fixed on her. Every few seconds they would disappear and reappear, blinking she supposed.
She recognized those eyes from earlier that evening. “I—”
“And then I come to find you and you’re on fire. Literally on fire! You could have been hurt!” The thought seemed to trigger the realization that maybe she had been injured. “Are you burned?” he asked as he crouched down and checked her legs. Apparently, his eyesight was better than hers.
She had to think about it. Everything had happened so fast, she wasn’t even sure if she was hurt. She’d fallen and then there’d been the fire, and then… then she’d been up in the sky. She shuddered and shook her head.
Not going to think about that now, she decided. Instead she took a second to concentrate on her body. “Just—just a few scratches from falling, I think,” she said finally.
He straightened with a growl. “You were damn lucky, girl. Apparently, you really do need a Daddy. That’s twice I’ve saved your life tonight.”
As if it wasn’t his fault in the first place. “I never asked you to save me, and I would have been just fine without you, asshole.” She pulled away from him, and turned on her heel, planning to stalk away whether she could see or not.
She made it all of two steps before his hand settled on her arm and she found herself being spun around. Before she could say anything, the air went out of her with a whoosh, as she was pushed down over something.
Not being able to see was disorienting and she had no idea what was going on, but she could feel the ground under her hands in front of her, so she struggled to push herself up.
Unfortunately, before she got anywhere, something solid pressed across her lower back and stopped her. “Hey! What are you doing?”
“Spanking some sense into you.” There was that growl in his voice again. And suddenly a flurry of hefty smacks landed across the seat of her pajamas.
Her eyes flew open wide. Her mouth dropped. And her mind connected the dots instantly.
He was down on one knee, with her draped over the other one, and he was holding her there while he spanked her! This wasn’t just reminding her of her fantasies anymore, it was straight out of them. But unlike her smutty little daydreams, this spanking hurt!
Her ass was on fire and the way his arm was swinging, it was clear he wanted it that way.
“Wait, wait! I’m sorry I called you an asshole!”
He paused, snorting. “You think that’s why I’m spanking you? If I’d known having a mate would be this much work I—”
“Mate?” Her voice rose and broke.
“Never mind that right now,” he snapped as his arm started swinging again. “I’m spanking you because you seem absolutely determined to get yourself killed. Didn’t I just explain that you can’t go tearing off alone in the woods? There are predators out here!”
Oh. He was doing the protective thing again. Why did it make her feel so warm inside when he did that? “Okay, I’m sorry for that too!”
His hand connected with her ass a half dozen more times. Each one landed with a nice snap of the wrist that made her bounce and yelp. And then, without a second to adjust, he hauled her back up on her feet.
The whole thing hadn’t lasted more than a few minutes, but her ass was sizzling. She swayed on her feet with her mouth hanging open, which wasn’t the best idea in the south, but choking on a mosquito did snap her out of the daze abruptly.
“Let’s get you back to the cabin before anything else happens.” He took a few steps, pulling her behind him, but she dug her heels in and refused to go.
“Wait!”
“Ellie, I’m about out of patience with you. If you don’t want me to cut a switch, you’ll stop giving me trouble.” Without the lantern, she couldn’t see his expression, and she had a feeling it was a good thing.
That made her gulp. “But you left the quilt.”
“The quilt…oh.” He sighed. “Ellie, it’s burned.”
“I don’t care. It’s mine and I want it.”
He grumbled as she yanked her hand loose and dropped to her knees to feel around for it. A solitary red ember acted as a beacon, drawing her hand to the right spot. She quickly crushed it out, before it did more damage, and bundled the quilt into her arms. “Got it!”
“Good.” His voice was right next to her ear, and she jumped. “Now, just to make sure there won’t be any more accidents…” He scooped her up and dumped her over his shoulder.
A panicked squeal burst from her as her orientation shifted. “Hey! Put me down. I can walk.”
“Not in those shoes you can’t. I’m surprised you didn’t break your neck. They look like boats on you.”
How he could see her feet in the pitch dark, she didn’t understand. She couldn’t see his back even though it was right in front of her face. She could feel it though, and it was oddly lumpy, as if she weren’t the only thing he was carrying. Her hand pressed, fingers exploring as she argued.
“They aren’t that big,” she lied. “I was doing okay until something scared me and I started to run.”
“If you hadn’t left the cabin, it wouldn’t have happened at all.”
She thumped his back with her fists. “You kidnapped me! I have every right to try to escape,” she snapped in a rising voice, and then tried to kick up her legs for good measure.
He stopped and his hand came down square on her ass with a powerful smack. “Stop struggling before you land on your head and be careful with the wings. They’re very sensitive.”
The thin cotton pajamas had done nothing to protect her backside during the spanking, and they didn’t do much now either.
The sharp sting of his palm on top of her already throbbing butt startled her into good behavior for a whole minute.
Her mind raced as she tried to comprehend this intersection between her private fantasies and this bizarre new reality.
If her ass wasn’t still burning like a hot skillet, she might have talked herself into believing it was all a dream.
Wait… wings? She’d been so focused on the smack that she’d barely paid attention to what he was saying.
He shifted her weight and started walking again. “You don’t need to escape. You wanted to understand, and I was trying to explain everything to you first. After that, if you want to leave, I will take you straight home.”
That was great. If she believed him. But, “Can we go back to the part where you have wings?” She felt his back again, feeling the odd protrusion that was covered in a soft fur.
Lium groaned and a shiver shook his body, and hers by default. When he spoke, his voice sounded a little unsteady. “Urgh. Going to need you to stop doing that. It’s very hard to focus when you’re touching them.”
She couldn’t resist stroking through the fur again before she let her hands drop away. “Fine, but you can’t tell me you have wings and then not expect me to be curious. Not that I believe you. People don’t have wings,” she added.
“Ellie, moths have wings. Mothman remember? Of course I’ve got wings. That’s how I took you from the yard—which, as I said, wasn’t intentional. Bright light in my face triggers certain racial instincts. And when added to the mate connection… well, it led us here.”
“That’s impossible.” She shook her head, although dangling upside down as she was, it just made her dizzy.
“It’s not impossible. Just a few minutes ago I yanked you off the ground to get you away from the burning oil. You flew in my arms, and this time you weren’t passed out. You can’t ignore the evidence just because it doesn’t fit your worldview.”
She did have a vague recollection of being up in the air, and she hadn’t figured out a rational explanation for it yet. But when she did… it wouldn’t involve flying men. It had all happened so quickly, and there had been a lot going on.
Too much for her to accept any bizarre circumstances she might have experienced.
The shadows that had scared her, the fire, and then, yes, she did remember…
something, but she’d been frightened and confused.
She’d pushed it out of her head until he brought it back to her attention. “I-I don’t know what happened.”
He sighed and was quiet for a couple of minutes as he carried her.
There were so many things she wanted to ask, but her position wasn’t conducive to a conversation.
There was also a level of snark building that was bound to get her another smack, if she opened her mouth too much while she was jackknifed over his shoulder.
Since her ass was still burning, she decided just to remain silent.
Ellie’s eyes had adjusted as much as they were going to.
There was still no visible light for her to use, so everything was an inky blackness that had swallowed the world.
When they reached the cabin, she only knew because they ascended three steps and then he set her down in a space that was somehow even darker than the outside world had been. If that was even possible.
“Stay still. I’m going to start the fire, so we have some light.”
She took a couple of steps forward anyway, and her hip bumped something hard.
She let out a startled gasp, but quickly realized it was the table.
From there she made her way around the room with slow, careful steps.
Her arms flailed in front of her, as she followed a mental map.
She eventually found the sofa and flopped down on it.
And then hissed in a breath as she belatedly remembered her sore backside. Fuck.
“You’re really not very good at following orders, are you, Ellie?” His voice came from right in front of her and she jumped.
“Not really, no,” she admitted. “Would you obey if you were in my situation?”
His low chuckle seemed to resonate in the darkness. “I dunno. I might if my ass was on the line.”
It wasn’t a very subtle threat. She was getting used to them now, but they still made her insides do funny things, especially since she now knew they weren’t idle. And her body was reacting in such strange ways to all of it. She could admit, if only to herself, that she was rattled.
“You’re not the boss of me,” she blurted.
You’re not the boss of me? Oh my god, I sound like a child. She cringed as her face flooded with heat.
A laugh burst from him—not a low sexy one, but a loud bark of amusement. “Sweetheart, you are something else. Not what I expected by a long shot. I bet that mouth gets you in plenty of trouble, but I do love the attitude.”
He loved her attitude? “What an odd thing to say. I don’t have an attitude.” The thing was… her mouth didn’t get her in trouble, not usually. She’d never been the argumentative type, preferring to retreat rather than fight. But something in him brought out a whole new side of her.
She wanted to challenge him. Wanted to push. Wanted those threats and warnings, but she couldn’t explain why. Sure, it was hitting her hot fantasy button, but he wasn’t exactly a safe choice to try to play these games with. So why?
It was just one more confusing item to add to a long list.
There was a series of thumping sounds as he dropped a pile of logs onto the stone hearth and some scraping as he arranged them.
She knew that, because a second later a match was struck, and she could see him starting the fire.
A fresh smell of pine filled the room as he touched the flame to the handful of dried leaves and needles he was using as kindling.
“It should warm up soon, and give us a little light—since someone broke my oil lamp.” He sent a pointed look in her direction, before he stood and wiped his hands off on his jeans. “I’ve got a spare lamp packed away. If I go and look for it, can I trust you to be here when I come back?”
Ellie was too tired to make another attempt. And, realistically, it had been hard enough to leave the first time. It was unlikely she’d be able to force herself to try again. “I’ll be right here.” He didn’t look convinced and after a second, she added, “I promise.”
Lium gave her a long searching look and then nodded. “Fine. I’ll be right back.” He left the room, using the only door that didn’t lead outside.