Page 646 of One More Kiss

Chapter2

Vana woke up with a start,disoriented at first and then terrified when she realized where she was and who was standing in front of her. A huge mountain of a man was standing there, an ax in his hand and a scowl on his face.

She yelped and Lucky jumped out of the truck to defend her.

But the man just laughed and put his hand out to pet the dog. "Nice doggy," he said.

Vana stared at him, her mouth gaping open at how quickly he managed to get Lucky to calm down.

"Who are you? What do you want?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"The name's Brandon. And I was just out for a hike when I saw your truck up here. Crazy part of it is, that's my damn truck. So I think maybe I need to be asking you that." he asks peering deep into her eyes.

"I'm lost..." I start but the second she said it she knew that he wasn't going to believe that story. "I'm not lost. I'm just...stranded," she said.

"Yeah, I can see that. You are in my stolen truck. If you think I'm going to let you run off with it you've got another thing coming." he said.

"Can you help me? I need to get out of here," she said.

"Why?" he tilts his head and she bites her lips with indecision. She'd spent so much of her time with Rich lying to everyone just to protect him, but no more.

"My ex-husband is after me. I lost him in the woods last night but I'm sure he'll be around here somewhere."

With just a nod ,he walked around to the front of the truck and inspected it. "Looks like you hit a stump. The wheel's bent," he said, slightly aggravated.

"What can I do? I don't have any money to repair it," she said.

"Don't worry about payment. I'll see what I can do. But it's going to take a while," he said.

He set to work and Vana watched him, her mind racing. She didn't know this man. He could be a killer. He could be planning to kidnap her. Being on this mountain, it was so likely that he would be doing something just like that.

But he didn't seem like a bad guy. And he was her only hope of getting out of here.

Brandon worked for a few minutes before he stood up from the truck. "I don't think I'm going to be able to get it done, not today and not here. We need a tow truck," he said.

"Dammit," she said and Lucky whimpered at her feet.

"Just relax, I'm not going to leave you stranded out here. Come back with me to my cabin where we can get you some help," he said gesturing with is hand for her to follow him.

She recoiled at the thought and shoot him an icy glare, "Come with you? I don't know you. Why would I," she said.

Brandon dropped the ax down before he stalked over to her, Lucky growling once but making no move to attack the big man. "If I wanted to do something to hurt you why would I take you all the way back to where I lay my head? Why wouldn't I do it right here, where no one would ever find you? You're the one running around my damn mountain with a crazy ex-husband after you. It should be me wary of you." He snarled at her and instead of it making her angry or even fearful, it only made her want to poke the bear more.

Brandon was about six foot tall. He had a muscular build but not the type of muscle you get from the gym. He had the type of muscle you get from cutting down trees.

His brow and cheeks were soiled from both the grease from the car and the dirt from the earth beneath them. Even with Lucky at his feet he didn't show one ounce of fear. Instead, he was solid in both his words and his decisions.

She looked down at her dog. Even if she wasn't the best judge of character Lucky had never been wrong. Lucky hated Rich. Vana had to keep Lucky locked outside the house just to ensure Rich didn't have him killed and vice versa.

Lucky simply looked between Brandon and I know, his tail even wagging a little.

Vana breatheda sigh of relief as she resolved to accept Brandon's offer, and follow him down the mountain. She had been so scared, but Brandon had helped her. He was a good Samaritan.

She realized that she never would have made it out of there without him.

As Vana followed Brandon down the mountain, she couldn't help but admire his muscular build. She had always been attracted to tall, muscular men, and Brandon definitely fit that description. She felt a stirring in her loins as she imagined what it would be like to feel his strong hands on her body. She moaned lightly, not loud enough for Brandon to hear her, and stared at him.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a low growl from Lucky. The dog was staring intently at Brandon, his hackles raised.

"Lucky, it's okay," she said, placing a hand on the dog's head. Lucky relaxed marginally, but continued to fix Brandon with a suspicious glare.

Vana shook her head, chiding herself for letting her mind wander. This was not the time or place to be thinking about her sex life. She had more important things to worry about. Like getting out of these woods alive.

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