I shimmied back until I was up against the tree. “Not even close.”
He crouched so we were at eye level. It made him no less threatening. “I’m not gonna hurt you, but you need my help.” His deep voice was gravelly, but calm. The good Samaritan talking a jumper down from the ledge. Except he was anything but that.
Starting at my ankle, his eyes traveled the length of my body, then lingered at my temple. “You’ve got a nasty cut. I can fix that for you back at the cabin.”
I touched the tacky wetness at the side of my forehead, then glanced at my shaking crimson fingertips. Nausea rolled through me.
If I was going to get out of this shit show alive, I needed to pull myself together.
I swallowed, despite the dryness in my mouth. “Listen, you don’t have to do this. People will know I’m missing and the police will come looking for me. Let me go, and I promise I won’t tell a soul what you’ve done. I’m not stupid. I know you’d be able to find me again.”
“Not letting you go. It’s too late for that.”
My stomach hollowed out. Too late? What did that mean?
“Is this about my brother?”
He nodded.
What had Justin gotten us into? And how the hell could I get us out of it?
“How much does he owe? I’ll pay it back.”
“Don’t want your money.”
“What do you want, then? Why are you doing this?”
“To protect you.”
Huh?
“Fromwhat?” I snapped, needing better answers than the vague ones he gave.
“From…” He hung his head for a moment before meeting my eyes again. “From serious trouble. Look, there’s a lot we need to talk about. We should do that back at the cabin before you catch a chill in your…” He averted his gaze as he waved a hand in my direction. “Underwear.”
I folded my arms across my chest where the thin tank top did little to conceal the effect of the cool, damp air.
“Are you going to kill me?” My voice quavered, betraying my attempt at bravado.
“No.”
“Rape me?”
Hazel eyes flared. “Fuck, no! Christ, I’m not gonna hurt you, all right?”
“Then why the hell did you drug me, tie me up, and drag me to the middle of a goddamn forest?”
“Because you would never have come with me otherwise. And that zip tie was a precaution, which proved its worth.” He aimed me with a pointed look as if I were a bratty child.
I gritted my teeth, resisting the urge to lash out and bitch slap this guy across the face.
“Cutting pliers are in the cabin if you want your hands free.”
Asshole. I hated conceding to him on this, but for now, I was out of options.
Before I had a chance to argue about it, he scooped me up. I flinched at the sudden contact. His chest was a solid wall of muscle and his callused hand under my bare thigh felt far too intimate.
My dizzy head pounded. A cold sweat spread over my clammy skin, and my entire body trembled.