Chapter 4
Four
Adrian
“What the fuck…” I mutter to myself, squinting to see the monitor better. Something, or someone, is wandering this direction.
At first, I’m sure it has to be a bear or…I don’t know what the fuck kind of animal it is. But then I realize that’s not possible. It’s walking on two legs. It’s human. It’s damn difficult to make out the image with the storm raging as hard as it is.
The cameras didn’t alert me to the presence of a stranger. With the storm blowing tree limbs, heavy rain, and all sorts of debris around, I had to turn off the alerts in order to stay sane. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been watching the monitors from time to time.
Suddenly, I jump to my feet. Is that Blair? Surely not. But it could be. Now that I look closer, I believe it’s a woman. She’s covered in mud, so she looks more like a swamp creature, but I’d bet my last dollar it’s her.
I’m in my own home office instead of the main house tonight, and I don’t even bother to grab my coat as I run toward the door. It wouldn’t do any good anyway. I’m going to be as soaked and muddy as she is in ten seconds.
She’s already wandering into the clearing near the main house as I step outside and rush over to her. “Blair?” I shout, but she can’t hear me over the pouring rain and thunder.
I’m a strong man, but even I struggle to withstand the wind as I fight to get to her.
And it’s definitely her. The gorgeous brown hair I saw earlier today is blowing all over the place.
She has her arms crossed in front of her, protecting herself against the cold.
She’s swaying like she’s two sheets to the wind, but that’s just the storm.
I can’t imagine how she managed to walk here from her place. It’s over half a mile away. She’s lucky a branch didn’t hit her on the head and kill her.
Heart racing at the thought, I’m upon her before she even sees me. I swoop her into my arms and turn around to hurry back to my cabin. The return is slightly easier because of the wind’s direction.
We’re both beyond drenched when I step inside and shut the door. She’s freezing. Her teeth are chattering, and her lips are tinged blue. There are black streaks on her face, a combination of mud and mascara.
“Adrian?”
“Yes, princess. I’ve got you. You’re safe.” I move toward the master bedroom and then through to the bathroom.
“S-sorry,” she manages to mutter. “S-so-so-stupid.”
Part of me agrees. Why the hell was she still up here when the storm started? But my frustration is born out of fear. My heart thumps hard because I’m freaking out about her safety. Is she hurt?
“Sh-sh-should have listened to you.”
That’s for sure, but it’s too late now.
I set her on her feet next to the tub, keeping one hand on her hip as I bend to turn on the water.
I’ve never seen anyone’s teeth chattering this hard.
It’s not below freezing outside or anything, but it’s cold, and she’s not wearing enough clothes.
In fact, she’s still dressed in the blouse I saw her in earlier.
Why didn’t she put on a coat? Surely that stuffed SUV I saw had winter clothes in it.
“Are you injured, princess?” As the tub begins to fill, I sit on the edge and assess her from head to toe.
“M-mostly my pride,” she stammers.
I brush hair from her face so I can see her big brown eyes. They’re wide with fear. She’s not just cold. She’s scared out of her mind, which has caused her to nearly go into shock.
She’s so wobbly, I don’t know how she can remain standing. I realize some of the tracks running down her cheeks are tears. She sucks back sobs, trying not to cry as she holds up her hands. “I-I fell a few times.”
Her palms are scraped up but not bleeding.
“Elbows and knees, princess?”
“P-p-probably hamburger.”
I chuckle at her ability to almost joke about this. “Okay. Let’s get you in the tub. You need to warm up. We’re going to have to drain and refill the water a few times to get all this mud off you.”
She sways forward, but I realize it’s intentional when she leans into me and hugs me. “Th-thank you.”
I rub her back. “No need to thank me, Blair. I’m just glad you’re safe.” No sense asking questions or mentioning how insane it was for her to still be up the mountain when the storm started. She doesn’t need a lecture. She needs a bath, warm clothes, and a mug of hot cocoa.
Standing, I grab her hips and position her so she’s the one sitting on the edge of the tub. “Give me your foot, princess.”
She extends her leg, and I pull her ruined boot off before doing the same to the other. After grabbing her hands, I tug her back to her feet and cup her face with one palm. “I’m going to take your clothes off.” It truly doesn’t seem that she has the energy or dexterity to do so herself.
She nods. “’Kay.”
Blair doesn’t fight me. I’m certain she would if the circumstances were different. She’s a feisty woman. Not the sort to get naked in front of a stranger. But she’s drained, so much so that she barely knows or cares.
I unbutton her blouse and ease it off her shoulders, though I might as well have torn it down the middle and saved myself the time.
It’s ruined. Everything she’s wearing is ruined.
I seriously doubt the mud would come out of anything she has on, even if I washed it ten times. And there are tears in her blouse.
After dropping the silk on the floor, I lift her arms to look at her elbows. They’re also scraped, but not badly. Not hamburger.
Forcing myself not to stare at her chest, I focus on unbuttoning her jeans and lowering the zipper, exposing her panties.
As I ease her jeans down her legs, her phone falls out of the back pocket, and I snag it before it hits the floor.
The panty-and-bra set she’s left in is most likely matching, though who would know now that they’re filthy?
Mud soaked through everything she was wearing.
Blair wraps her arms around her waist, her teeth chattering worse than before. I have a fire going in the main room. She can sit in front of it after we get her warmed up. It’s not cold in here, but her core temperature is probably lower than it should be.
I make quick work of slipping her panties off and unfastening her bra. She has several rings, earrings, and a necklace on, but I leave them for now. Getting her warmed up is my top priority. Gripping her hand, I help her over the edge of the tub. “Sit, princess. Let the water warm you.”
I shouldn’t be thinking about her the way I am.
I should be a gentleman. She’s been through a traumatic experience.
She probably didn’t think she would live to make it to safety.
But I’m still a dude, and I’m fully aware that her pussy is shaved and her tits are perfect, perky globes with dark pink tips.
Luckily, the water has risen high enough for Blair to slide underneath it. I keep a hand on her back and help her submerge so the bulk of the mud can rinse out of her hair. It floats all around her as she holds her breath.
When I sit her back up, I tug a few leaves and twigs from the top of her head.
The water is dark brown, and I reach for the stopper to pull it out.
“I’m gonna let the water out and refill the tub, princess.
” While it does, I remove my flannel and T-shirt.
They’re soaked. My jeans and boots are, too, but I’ll deal with them later.
I’m just as soaked as Blaire from the short jaunt to rescue her.
“’Kay.” Her voice is barely audible. She doesn’t look at me. She’s not in such deep shock that she isn’t embarrassed. I’m sure she’s mortified, both at the fact that I’m seeing her naked and the choices she made tonight.
Her gaze is straight forward, and I don’t think she’s really seeing anything until she suddenly says, “Why do you have bath toys?”
I glance at the pile and chuckle. “What? You’ve never met a grown man who plays with Barbies in the tub?”
She doesn’t laugh. “Do you have kids?”
“Nope. But I have nieces. Sometimes I babysit them. They like to be entertained in the tub.”
Do her shoulders relax a bit as she turns her head to look at me? She stares at me for a long time. “That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”
I frown. “You seriously need to hang out with better people if you don’t know uncles who have toys for their brothers’ kids.”
“Yeah. That’s for sure,” she murmurs.
I flinch. She has a story. It doesn’t sound pretty.
Which is interesting since I now know exactly who she is.
Blair Snyder, heir to the Snyder pharmaceutical company.
Not just any random rich woman. This woman is filthy rich.
Why did she buy a homestead in the middle of basically nowhere?
I’ve been asking myself this all afternoon.
The name Snyder is common enough that no one in my family recognized it while selling the property. It wasn’t until my suspicions grew earlier today, upon meeting Blair, that I did an internet search and easily found her in two seconds.
She reaches out and picks up the bottle of bubble bath from the corner. Her arm is still shaking. I wonder when she last ate something. “Cherry berry…” She tips her head back. “Will your nieces care if I use some?”
I laugh. “Princess, my oldest niece is two. None of them will know.” I take the bottle from Blair, fill the cap, and let it drain into the stream of clean water.
“Thank you,” she murmurs as she slides underneath the growing bubbles. I suspect she wants to hide her body from me, and I can understand that. She leans all the way back and closes her eyes. “I thought I was going to die tonight,” she whispers.