N. Walters - Legacy Found

“I’m fine.” She had to say something and her thoughts were too jumbled to come up with much in the way of intelligent conversation.

“Come here.” He gently pulled her into the curve of his body, urging her to rest her head on his shoulder. His skin was firm and warm and she couldn’t resist snuggling closer and inhaling his familiar woodsy scent. She rested her hand on his stomach and the muscles of his abs rippled beneath her touch.

He didn’t pounce on her. Didn’t demand sex. James was unlike any man she’d ever known. He confused her and drew her at the same time.

He was so strong. It would be so easy to let him take care of her. But that wouldn’t do. She had to learn to stand on her own two feet. The past seven months had been a steep learning curve for her. She’d heard about things like telephones and televisions, but she’d never used either of them until she’d escaped. She could cook and clean, but she’d never operated a computer. She’d seen Tom’s friends use cell phones and laptops, but she’d never been close enough to touch one.

She’d never been to a store, never gone shopping until recently. Or if she had, she hadn’t remembered it. Her life before Tom was a blank, filled with the occasional shadowy memory that only brought her pain when she tried to remember. After the first ten years of her captivity, she’d stopped trying to remember and concentrated all her efforts on staying alive and trying to escape.

As though James knew where her thoughts had gone, he rubbed his hand up and down her arm and asked, “What happened to you?”

She sighed. She didn’t owe him any explanation. Not really. But he was taking her into his home to work, letting her meet his daughter. And she wasn’t even going to think about what he’d done for her last night.

Her skin warmed and she suddenly felt overheated. Her flesh was tender to the touch. Her breasts ached and the area between her thighs was damp. She was aroused by his nearness, his scent.

He had to be able to smell her. If he was like her then his sense of smell was exceptional. But he said nothing. Made no motion to pressure her into sex.

Surely she owed him something for his kindness. Besides, he’d offered to help her uncover her past. If he was going to do that, he had to know what happened to her.

Opening her mouth, she uttered the four words that might unlock the key to her past. “I was a prisoner.”

James had been lying in bed enjoying the pre-dawn moments with Shelley tucked into his arms. He’d slept fairly well considering he’d had to deal with a raging hard-on all night long.

Shelley felt right in his embrace. Like something that had been missing from his life. She helped make him feel more complete.

He knew she was still nervous and uncertain around him. That would change only with time, when she finally understood he would do nothing to harm her.

She was aroused. He could smell her heat. It was sweet and spicy and musky. He wanted to go down on her, spread her legs wide and eat her for breakfast. He grinned and licked his lips. But he kept still because he sensed her unease with her physical response to him.

She wasn’t ready for a repeat of last night. Not yet. Hopefully later.

James didn’t want to do anything to disturb the quiet, intimate mood, but knew he needed answers. He was taking her home today. There would be questions and he needed a place to start searching for answers.

When he’d asked what had happened to her, he hadn’t quite expected the answer she offered.

I was a prisoner .

Those words burned in his brain. His body tensed for action, muscles rippling, breathing increasing. His wolf howled inside him. James gritted his teeth and concentrated on keeping himself from changing. He didn’t know if Shelley had been around many of her kind and wasn’t certain how she’d react if he suddenly shifted.

Beads of perspiration broke out on his forehead. His nails lengthened into claws briefly before receding once again.

“What happened?” The words were little more than a guttural snarl.

Shelley’s entire being was thrumming with anxiety, but he couldn’t do anything to reassure her. Not yet. He was too busy trying to control his primal nature, which wanted to track down whoever had done this to her and rip them to shreds.

That would come later. For now, he had to keep Shelley talking. She was starting to open up to him. The last thing he wanted her to do was shut back down. He took a deep breath and began rubbing his hand up and down her arm again in a soothing manner. He needed her to relax.

James got control of himself. His wolf, lethal and wild, crouched within him, but neither by a twitch of his muscles nor by the tone of his voice, did he betray the violence swirling within him. “Who took you?”

Shelley didn’t look at him, keeping her face buried against his chest. Her voice was low, barely a whisper, but he heard every word.

“I was in a cabin in the woods somewhere in Tennessee. I’m not quite sure where.” James felt her tension as she spoke, heard the flatness of her words and knew she was lying. Not about being held prisoner, but not knowing where the cabin was. He’d bet every dollar he owned, which was a considerable amount, that she could easily lead him there. He didn’t call her on it. Not now. Once he’d gained her trust she would tell him.

“I was there for so long—” Shelley broke off, her fingers curling into a fist on his chest. He placed his hand over hers, feeling the tension vibrate through her fingers. “When I got a chance to get away, I took it. I ran and ran and ran.” She stopped abruptly. “Anyway, I got a job in the diner in Kentucky and that’s where you found me.”

“How did you get away?” It was hard, but he kept his voice even and unthreatening when all he wanted to do was find her captors and tear their limbs from their bodies.

She shook her head and folded her arms around herself.

His mind swirled with the possibilities. “How long?” His voice was gruff as he swallowed a surge of fury.

She shrugged. “I’m not quite sure. But I think it was somewhere between thirty and forty years.”

His mind went blank and a red haze seemed to fill him. “How old are you?” The words were all but growled. He could smell her fear but he was unable to contain his volatile emotions any longer.

She shrugged. “I’m not sure. Somewhere between forty-five and fifty-five, I guess.”

He tilted back his head and howled. The sound echoed in the small confines of the room, bouncing off the walls. James could feel the cords of his neck straining as he shook with the force of his anger. He hadn’t felt this kind of rage since Leda had died in his arms.

Shelley rolled away from him, slapped her hands over her ears and began to tremble. That knocked him back to reality in a hurry. He leaned against her and buried his face in her hair, inhaling her unique scent as he took a large breath to try and calm himself. “I’m sorry, Shelley. I’m so sorry.”

He eased her into his arms and sat back against the headboard, cradling her to his chest. He couldn’t even begin to comprehend exactly what that kind of imprisonment would do to someone, what kind of abuse she had endured.

He put his thumb against her chin, gently pushing until she tilted her head back and looked at him. Her face was pale, but her expression was one of determination. She might look fragile, but he couldn’t imagine many males enduring what she had and coming out alive.

Her hand slowly came up and wrapped around his wrist. The contact soothed the angry wolf inside him. They sat there for a long time as they both assimilated what had just happened. It was James who broke the silence. “You were only a child, a teenager at best, which is still very much a child among our kind. We don’t reach adulthood until our early twenties.”