Locked (Savage Men 2)

A sudden bang makes my eyes flash up in the direction of the sound.

The door slammed open.

And in steps a man …

No mud.

No dirt.

Just abs. And hair. All hair … everywhere … on his broad legs … his hard abs … his solid pecs. Dark brown messy hair and a short, bristly beard.

Holy shit.

Did he wash off the mud?

Maybe I was really out of it … because he certainly doesn’t look like a monster anymore.

He looks like a buffed up alpha male with protruding veins and all.

He stares at me with a raised brow, and his eyes settle on my lips.

I’ve been caught red-handed.

I immediately stop chewing the ropes and smile like an idiot.

I don’t want to give him any reason to put me in that pit again.

But no matter how hard I try, I can’t stop staring at his body.

And that the only thing covering his junk is a banana leaf.

Well … you don’t see that every day.

Accompanying Song: “If I had A Heart” by Fever Ray

Lock

I place my spear in the holder and fold my arms, glaring at her.

She was trying something again …

Biting her way through the ropes, eh?

Won’t work. I know how to tie a knot.

Guess she has yet to find out how determined I am to keep her right where she is.

If she thinks she can escape, I’ve got bad news for her. There is no escape.

None.

I open the wooden box in the corner of the hut and throw in the meat jerky that I made. It’ll make for a nice dinner this evening. I grab the flask of water and take a drink. Some of it spills, but I don’t mind. The cold water on my body makes me less overheated.

But then I notice her eyes, and I immediately stop drinking.

Is she thirsty?

I don’t know whether she’s gawking at the flask … or at me.

She looks thirsty, all right. I never asked her if she wanted a drink back when she was still in the pit. And from the looks of her tongue darting out to wet her lips, she is clearly looking for a sip.

So I march over to her and hold out the flask. She inches back a little, glaring at me as if she doesn’t trust me. As if I’d poison her or something.

If I wanted to kill her, I would’ve done it already.

So I grab her hands and push the flask into her palm. “Drink.”

She greedily accepts it and glugs down the water as if there’s no more to drink. Even though I’ve saved a whole barrel full of rainwater. Plus, I’m working on running a pipe all the way from the mountain to my hut, but it isn’t ready yet. In the meantime, she’ll have to make do with what I give her.

And I intend to give her everything I have.

The moment I sniffed her, I was convinced. Damn, she smelled so nice.

Though I have to admit, it’s very different on this island with another person.

I never had to share it before, and it’s proving to be quite difficult to just have to deal with her, let alone take care of her. But I will manage. I’ve been taking care of myself for all these years. She just doesn’t know this, and I can see it in her eyes.

The mistrust.

I don’t blame her. I put her in a pit, but it was for a good reason. I don’t like being attacked out of the blue, and she was volatile after I rescued her. It was as if she wasn’t really there. I don’t know how to explain it to her, so I won’t. I don’t want to frighten her any more than I already have.

If we’re going to be on this island together, we’d better start trusting each other.

And where else to start than with a good meal?

She must be hungry after all that running and fighting. She hasn’t eaten since she came here. Maybe she didn’t like the jerky because it had been on the ground. But I’m more than willing to give it to her straight out of the box.

When she hands me the flask back, I place it on the table and go back to the box, fishing out a few pieces of jerky. The moment she sees me holding them, her face contorts. I still attempt to give it to her. With a smile too.

Still, she shakes her head at the meat.

What is wrong with this woman?

Why won’t she eat?

I even gave her a smile and everything. What else does she want from me?

Does she not want to live at all or what?

I push it against her lips and say, “Eat.”

“No …” she mumbles, leaning back as far as possible.

I growl, “Eat.”

Her eyes dart up to mine, so I gaze at her with equal ferocity. I haven’t met a lot of women, most of them were just as scared of me as she was, but none of them were this fiery. This one’s gutsy. I like it.