Chapter Fifteen
My stomach was filled with butterflies as we made our way out of our little camp area. The afternoon had grown very cold and even Joe couldn’t brave the idea of sleeping overnight in the woods.
A scream echoed in the distance just as we came through the gap in the trees. We both froze and looked at one another, waiting to see if we would hear the sound again.
“There,” I whispered when it came a second time. “What is that?”
The shout was feminine and afraid. Maybe someone had taken a fall and needed our help. Without thinking, we plunged into the woods, deviating from the path and listening for the sound again. When we'd gone a little further, we stopped to listen, turning towards the scream when it came again. It was far away, but we couldn't just leave the person on their own, they could die out here.
“I heard something similar when I was waiting for you earlier.” Hugging myself, I glanced around at the shadows. “I assumed it was an animal so I dismissed it, but now…”
“Someone's obviously hurt,” Joe said, getting out his phone and cursing. “No signal.”
Looking at my own phone, I cringed. “Me either. Although, it is allowing emergency calls. Are you sure it’s not just a fox? They make freaky as shit noises.”
Staring into the distance, Joseph cringed when the sound came again. His jaw tightened before he set off, leaving me to trail behind. “We'll check it out on our own first, just in case it's a false alarm.”
Huffing, I jogged to keep up with him. Jeez, his long muscular legs covered much more ground than my own. If I wasn't careful, I'd have a heart attack and he'd have to call an ambulance for me, let alone the person who could be stuck out there.
“It's coming from this way,” he announced after a few minutes, starting to jog as the scream grew louder.
My breath came hard and fast, leaving me too puffed out to run. I slowed, holding my chest as I bent over and heaved air into my lungs. Shit, I was super unfit. Maybe this was a sign for me to join a gym.
“Lola?” Joe called, coming back to me. “Are you okay?”
Waving a hand, I tried to push his chest, to urge him to go on. He refused, looking down at me with a frown before scooping me up in his arms.
“Woah!” I cried as he pushed on, holding me in a cradle carry. “I can walk, you know.”
A chuckle shook his chest, pushing his hard pecs into my breasts. The friction, although light, sent a pulse of desire to my core. Shit, even in a crisis, he turned me on.
“I like carrying you,” he said, a cocky grin coming to his face, “makes me feel all man.”
Laughing, I shook my head before relaxing against him. Well, if he wanted to be my personal taxi, I wasn't going to stop him. Plus, we'd help the other person quicker if I wasn't tagging behind.
“Can you hear her?” he asked me a few moments later.
I'd been enjoying the fast beat of his heart vibrating against my head, but his question brought me back to reality and the reason we were running through the woods in the first place. “No, I haven't heard it again. ”
Joe stopped and we listened, our heads moving when a crunch of leaves erupted from our right. A deer stopped dead, staring at us. The pretty little thing had its ears twitching as it listened, waiting to see if we were a threat. My heartbeat increased when a loud grunt rent the air and we turned to our left. A huge stag with antlers the size of a small tree came hurtling towards us, his head bowed. I screamed as Joe tried to jump out of the way, barely making it as the stag ran for the female.
Joe stumbled as his breath hissed and we toppled to the ground. My face crashed into the dirt and I spluttered as leaves entered my mouth. Flicking my hair back, I sat up and spat them out. The stag had continued on, chasing the female as she bolted, trying to get away from him. Thank goodness he'd had a hard on for the girl, otherwise he might have tried to have another go at us.
“That's a relief,” I said, turning to Joe, “at least he won't hurt us... now.”
The last part of my sentence gasped out as I turned to Joseph. He was clutching his leg, his face pulled hard in a cringe. Shit, he was in pain and a red stain was spreading on the leg of his jeans.
“He got you?” I asked, thrusting towards him and kneeling next to his injured leg.
Gritting his teeth, Joe nodded and lifted the torn denim. A long deep gash ran across the back of his calf. I covered my mouth as the wound seeped blood, which dribbled down his leg. Luckily, it wasn't a really deep cut, but the bastard stag had certainly caused some damage.
“Shit,” I said, standing up and taking my coat off.
“What are you doing?” he snapped, frowning up at me. “You'll freeze.”
I ignored the cold as I swiped my T-shirt over my head and tried to rip the bottom of it, just like I'd seen in the movies. My top must have been stitched a lot better than I thought because the bloody thing wouldn't tear.
“Give it here.” Flicking his hand, he snatched the shirt from me while I put my coat back on, zipping it up as far as it would go. “As much as I'd like to see you tend to me in your bra, you better get warm.”
Using his teeth, he tore a strip of material off the bottom of the T-shirt. Oh man, my little heart fluttered and my insides warmed. He was super fucking hot, ripping shit with his teeth. He could take chunks out of me when we were out of the woods.
“Let me,” I said, taking the makeshift tourniquet from him and bending down to his leg .
Tying the material just below his knee, I pulled hard, almost struggling to get the thing tight enough around his thick muscle. He winced and sucked in a breath, laughing when I apologised.
“It's fine,” he said, taking my hand and stroking my thumb, “You've done a great job. Now, let me get up.”
Pushing down on the ground with his fists, Joe managed to manoeuvre himself into a stand. His jaw was solid as he tried to take a step, groaning when more blood oozed from the wound and down his leg. Grabbing hold of him,I tried to support his weight. He looked down at me from under his arm, smiling gently before trying to put his foot down again. His knee buckled and we both fell to our knees.
“No offence, my little one, but I’m much heavier than you.” Clenching his jaw, he tried to stand again, but only managed to hobble to a nearby log.
Sitting, he shook his head and cursed. “Fucking stag.”
“That’s probably exactly what he’s doing right now,” I quipped, checking my phone again. “I’ll have to ring for an ambulance.”
Holding up his hand, he cleared his throat. “No, I don’t want to waste their time and resources. Just give me a minute and I’ll be okay. ”
“Shall I go back to the car and ring someone? Maybe your mother? Do you have a brother?” Stepping towards the trees we'd come through, I paused, waiting for his answer.
“No,” he said, “no brother. I'm not letting you go back on your own.”
“What are you going to do to stop me?” Raising my eyebrows, I started to backtrack.
“Lola!” he shouted, his cheeks going bright red, “do not disobey me!”
Shrinking back, I stared at him, my insides flipping and not in a good way. His hands were clenched on the trunk beside him, and his teeth were gritted so hard, his jawbone jutted out. I'd never seen him angry before, but his physical ire was nothing compared to the cold glare he sent my way.
“Oh right,” I whispered, suddenly realising why he was so pissed off, “You don't like to be the vulnerable one.”
Finding some super strength, he burst from his seat and came for me, his leg walking perfectly fine, even though he winced. I backtracked as my heart thundered in my head. Would he hurt me out here? In the woods?
“Please,” he pushed through his teeth, “don't make me angry.” Coming closer, he relaxed and reached for me, frowning when I cringed away. “I just want to protect you.”
“B-by shouting at me?” I stuttered, confused by the switch in mood.
I understood that he didn't like to be seen as less than a man, and yet, he had scared me. His whole demeanour had changed in a split second. It wasn’t like I knew the man well enough to know whether or not he would harm me.
His eyes softened as he looked down at me and stroked my arm. “I'm sorry, my little one,” he muttered, “I'm used to people listening to me, doing what I ask. I promise not to lose it with you again. Plus, my ego’s bruised. A bloody stag took me down, right when I was trying to impress my girlfriend.”
“Girlfriend?” I blurted, my cheeks heating. “Really?”
Ugh. How young and sad I sounded, but I couldn't help the fizz of excitement that pulsed through me. I didn't really want to be his girlfriend, I wanted to be his partner, equal to him. Not that I was going to argue with him right now, the pain was clearly making him cranky as fuck.
“Look,” he said, “I should be able to get back okay. I'm tough, I can handle the pain. I just maybe need a bit of time every few steps. ”
Taking my hand, he set off, hobbling on his injured leg. Every time he placed his foot down, a fresh flood of blood seeped from his gaping wound. I knew better than to argue with him, he had made up his mind. One thing I had already learnt about Joseph Hunter was that he was a stubborn bastard who knew exactly what he wanted and would not stop until he got it.
Matching his pace, I walked beside him, wanting to somehow help. He ignored me at first, concentrating on each agonising step as we walked through the woods, looking for the way we'd come.
“Are we going the right way?” I asked, looking around for a clue.
The trees blended together and I couldn't tell where we'd come from. The sun had disappeared below the canopy and the dusk was edging its way in, making it even harder to see.
Stopping, Joe studied the surrounding area. His eyebrows furrowed and he got his phone out, pressing buttons until a compass came up on his screen. “Let's go.”
I followed him, trusting that he knew what he was doing. I wouldn't have known how to download a compass on my phone, let alone use it to guide us back to the car.
“So...” I muttered, breaking the silence, “...this date is certainly one that I'll remember in the future.”
He glanced down at me, his eyebrows raised in amusement. “Maybe tell your friend that I fought with the stag and won.”
I smiled and threaded my arm through his. “You're my knight in blood-stained armour, rescuing me from the randy attack of a stag who was ready to rut me.”
“That got dark,” he said, his eyebrows lowering, “I like it.”
“The idea of a stag rutting me?”
Shrugging, he winced and almost stumbled, stopping us in our tracks. We looked at one another, our gazes serious as we both questioned what the other was thinking.
“Shall we take a minute?” I asked, pointing at a tree.
He turned and leant against it, a sigh escaping him as he lifted his foot and rested it on a small stump nearby. “What did you think after our little experiment with the chair the other night?” he asked, his gaze seeking mine as I examined the blood on his jeans.
Swallowing, I stood and pressed my body against his. He held my shoulders and stared down into my eyes, a little smile coming to his lips.
“I liked it,” I breathed, “Although, I want you to actually take me next time.”
His eyes grew hooded, and he ran his hands around my hips to my arse, squeezing my cheeks hard. “As you can tell, I like to control. Will you let me control you, little one?”
My mouth opened on a small gasp as he slapped my arse and pinched hard. The thrill of it sent tingles to my pussy, making it clench. I was out of my depth, again, but I understood why he liked the pain/pleasure cycle.
“Do you mean like... you're my Dom?” I had heard about the BDSM scene, but I had no idea of the intricacies. “Like Fifty shades of Grey?”
Smiling, he dropped his head and caught my lips with his. The kiss was soft, chaste, until I grabbed the back of his neck and tried to force him to kiss me properly. He pulled back immediately, ripping his head away. Ah, yeah, I was supposed to be the submissive one.
“Fifty shades of grey is a bit similar to what I like, although I like my woman to be a little more vulnerable.” He cleared his throat and lowered his head again. “What do you say? ”
“No contract, then?” I raised my eyebrows.
Rolling his eyes, he shook his head. “Oh no, if we do this, I own you. There's no need for a contract.”
“Own me? I...” My heartbeat tripled as a hot flush rushed over my skin. “Why do I like the sound of that? I'm supposed to be a modern-day woman.”
Kissing me, Joe took my protest out of my mouth and ran his hands up my sides. I melted against him, unable to resist the power of his arms or the gorgeousness of his light touch.
Pulling away, Joe brushed my hair off my shoulder. “We should get going if we're going to get out of here before it gets dark.”
“Yes,” I said, reluctantly pulling away and holding his hand again.
He stayed quiet as we walked, concentrating on each step in an effort not to fall. I basked in the glow of his attention, flattered that he wanted me... out of everyone in the world, he wanted little old me.
“Did you create anything yesterday?” he asked, snapping me out of my happy moment.
“Oh!” I exclaimed, digging into my bag. “Yes. Here.”
Handing him the picture of my bedroom design, I grinned up at him. He stalled as he glanced down at it, his eyebrows raising as he studied each section.“I love how you've integrated the old with the new. That bureau looks great in front of the window and the book nook in the alcove, well, I think it works perfectly. That picture on the wall... you drew that too?”
He gave me back the paper and marched on, hobbling across the dry leaves. I tucked my design away and followed, fighting the disappointment that slowed my footsteps. Although he had praised my work, he hadn't been really impressed... not like Elissa.
“Um, yeah,” I said, remembering that he'd asked me a question about part of my design. “It was a tiny sketch of a woman, silly really.”
“That's what you should focus on next time.” He stopped and checked ahead of us, squinting through the dusk before he took his phone out again. “Still no fucking reception.”
I blinked as he tapped the phone against his palm. What had he meant when he'd said to focus on the tiny sketch next time? It was a miniature naked woman... oh.
“We better call the emergency services,” he said as I wrapped my arms around myself, “it's too cold and dark to try and find our own way out.”
Nodding, I waited while he dialled the emergency number, the only people we could call due to no signal. I knew that it would've taken a lot for him to admit defeat, especially since he was a man who wanted to be in control. As he spoke to the police, I sat on the floor and leant against a nearby tree. The cold damp from the leaves instantly wet the bottom of my coat, seeping into my leggings. I didn't have the enthusiasm to get up as the chill brushed my skin, making me uncomfortable. Why had we ventured out into the great unknown? We'd only been out for a few hours and we were lost. It proved that neither one of us was the outdoor type.
“Lola,” Joe said, gesturing for me to get up, “they're going to guide us out.”
Pushing up, I started to walk on wobbly legs. The memories of what had just happened made me warm, despite the cold. He'd said he wanted to own me, and boy, he'd done that in the tenderest of ways. I knew that he’d want to participate in extreme sexy play in the future, but the way he'd just made love to me, on the forest floor, overrode any fear I’d had about being his girl.
As Joe led us out of the forest, listening intently to instructions from the rescue team, I watched him closely. He was a hardened man, full of secrets that were mine to explore. Full of pain and hurt that needed to be calmed… by me. He believed he’d bring me to heel and soothe my wounds, but in return, I wo uld find his pain… and destroy it so he belonged to me, just as much as I belonged to him.