TWO

 

The larger man, who smelled of beer and sweat, scrambled out of his seat and went back to the bar. He didn’t bother saying goodbye to her, not that Kyra minded. He gave her the creeps.

The other man, also large, but large in the sense that he was six-feet tall and broad-shouldered, still sat before her. Smiling. A warm, inviting slash of a smile that promised safety, but she knew better than to just trust anyone. She’d realized her mistake once she walked into the dimly lit bar. Hers was the only non-white face in the room, and the looks she’d received from the others ranged from lascivious to homicidal. Right now, the blonde this man had left behind stared at her with a venomous glare strong enough to peel the skin from her bones.

“Your girlfriend looks upset. Maybe you should get back to her.”

“Barbara is a lot of men’s girlfriend, but not mine. She’s even someone’s wife.” He grinned. “I’d rather have classier company at the moment.”

She glanced at the fuming blonde for a moment and quickly redirected her gaze to the man before her. Tall, green-eyed, sandy blond hair. Thin lips and a sculpted jaw… Masculine and beautiful at the same time. He wore a brown flannel shirt, jeans, and Timberlands. His attire wasn’t that different from the rest of the men in the bar but he was different. Something about him didn’t match these people. “You’re not from here.”

“No.” He shook his head. “I came here a few months back to get away from the city. Things are slower here. Less traffic and noise.”

“That’s nice.” She glanced back at the blonde he’d left behind, not surprised to find her still glaring a hole through her. “Look, I don’t want any trouble.”

“That’s why I’m sitting here.” He shook his head. “This is not the best place for you to be stranded.”

Kyra sat up straighter, alarmed. “I’m not stranded.”

“Sweetheart, you are soaked right through so you didn’t come here by car. The minute you asked to use the phone, you announced to everyone in here that you either don’t have a cell phone or yours doesn’t work. Not a good move. I guarantee you that when you walk out of here tonight, you’re going to be followed.”

Kyra reached for the ring on her right hand that she always twisted when nervous, but it was no longer there. She’d pawned it before leaving Louisville. “There will be a car waiting on me when I leave here tonight,” she bluffed.

The man grinned again, amused by her reply. “John dialed a number before he handed you the phone. One can easily deduce that you were not calling someone you know to pick you up. No, John would have dialed the only person in this town on call to help a lady whose car broke down. That would be George Henry, the owner of the only gas station-slash-repair shop in this town. Ol’ Man Henry is seventy years old and has already gone to bed. You could be delivering a baby as we speak and that crotchety old cuss would still tell you he’d be out to help first thing in the morning and not a minute before.”

Kyra groaned. “Fine, so I’m stuck here until morning.”

“Yea, but this place closes down long before Ol’ Man Henry wakes up. You don’t want to be standing alone outside when these drunken rednecks leave out of here. They’re already curious about you, and not in a good way. Let them get more alcohol in them and they’re going to be even more trouble for you.”

“So I guess I’m supposed to trust you to protect me?” She snorted. She’d learned her lesson in trusting men. She’d trusted Rock right up until he started using her body as a punching bag.

“My name is Tyler,” the man finally introduced himself as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a wallet. He extracted his driver’s license and set it in front of her before returning the wallet to his pocket. “You now have my full name, date of birth, address and picture. Keep it if it makes you feel safer. If I do anything to you, you know exactly who to tell the cops about.”

“Unless you murder me and take the license back,” she muttered, studying the card. His name was Tyler Lowe, thirty-four years old just like her.

He laughed. “Tell you what. I will let you use my cell phone to take a picture of it and send to anyone you like. Even a psychopath wouldn’t be stupid enough to harm you then.”

Kyra smiled despite her reservations, the action hard to fight against while looking into Tyler’s green eyes. They were honest eyes. She felt it in her gut his words were sincere. She’d trusted Rock, but in the back of her mind, she’d always felt something a little off. He’d just been a master manipulator, but the man before her spoke the truth. Or so she hoped. She didn’t really have any option but to get help from someone. He was the only one in the bar not looking at her with contempt or a twisted kind of lust. Even the bartender who’d allowed her to use the phone and sit near the fireplace gave the impression he wanted her out of there. Granted, she’d dripped water all over his floor.

“All right. My car isn’t broke down. I ran out of gas.” She paused when his head cocked to the side and she could imagine the thought running through his mind. “I’m not some idiot who doesn’t have the sense to fill up the gas tank. The gauge was on half full until about two minutes before it ran out. I barely had enough time to get off the expressway before it died on me.”

He frowned.

“I borrowed the car from a friend. She didn’t tell me the gauge was broken.”

He nodded, as if now understanding how someone could have made such a stupid mistake.

“I just need gas. If you can take me to the gas station, and then back to my car, I’ll be out of your hair.” Your soft, beautiful sandy blond hair, she thought, biting her lip. Now where had that thought come from? The last thing she needed was a man in her life. At least not until she got enough miles between her and the last one.

Tyler’s face fell a little, he almost looked disappointed. He shook his head and the look was gone. “Right.” He nodded. “I can take you now or…”

“Or what?”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you kind of look like a drowned rat. Wouldn’t you like a warm bath and a hot meal before you set out again?”

Kyra smoothed her hair with her hands, knowing it was probably useless, but doing it anyway. She glanced down at the soaking wet hoodie and the jeans she’d probably have to peel away from her legs and could only imagine how horrible she looked. She didn’t even want to know what that truck had caused to slosh on her. Judging by the brown streaks coloring her jeans, it wasn’t all water. “I just need to go.”

“I live near here. You can clean up and I’ll fix you something to eat. It’s no big deal. Honestly, I’d feel like an ass letting you leave like this.”

She smiled. Being taken care of sure would feel good right about now, but she’d allowed Rock to take care of her and that had turned into a nightmare. It was time she took care of herself. It was safer that way. “Thank you, but I really just need gas. I need to get going.”

He frowned, studying her for a moment with what looked like a hint of sadness in his eyes before nodding. “Let’s go. Unless you want to sit by the fire a little longer.”

She shook her head, sliding the driver’s license back over to him. He arched an eyebrow. “I trust you not to mutilate me,” she explained, earning a smile.

“I’m honored.” He helped her out of the seat, where she left a wet spot, and they walked together toward the door. Her feet made squishing sounds with each step she took, but he said nothing as they left the bar.

Stepping into the cool night air, she was relieved to find the rain had let up. “I apologize in advance for whatever mess I make,” she said as Tyler guided her toward a red truck, hitting a button on his key fob to unlock the doors.

A dark car with tinted windows screeched to a stop in the parking lot and two large men jumped out. “There she is!”

Kyra froze, recognizing the hulking thugs.

“What’s going on? You know these guys?”

“They’re my boyfriend, I mean, my ex-boyfriend’s men,” she quickly explained as Tyler pushed her behind him, placing his body between hers and the men who’d tracked her.

“You’re running from them?” he asked quickly as the men approached.

“Yes. They’ll either kill me or take me back to my ex. Honestly, the second option is probably worse than the first.”

“Get in the truck.” He shoved her in the direction of his truck and stepped forward as one of Rock’s men raised a gun, pointing it at her.

Needing no further encouragement than that to move, she ran to the truck, using it as a shield as Tyler ran toward Rock’s goon.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion although she knew it took less than a blink of an eye for the thug to sweep his arm in an arc, redirecting the deadly weapon toward his attacker. Tyler didn’t hesitate, the sound of the bullet ripping out of the barrel doing nothing to slow him down as he threw himself at the shooter, taking him to the ground.

Kyra screamed in reflex as she saw the men go down, and Rock’s other man ran toward her. Using the few precious seconds she had, she surveyed her surroundings. The bar door, now blocked with people who’d heard the gun blast, allowed no access to shelter. The bar itself was the first building she’d seen after taking the road. Her car set roughly three miles to her right, and she held no clue as to what she’d find up the road to her left, but from this vantage point, it looked like a large expanse of open field.

As the man sent to kill or claim her closed in, she scrambled to the passenger door of Tyler’s truck, and jumped in, locking the door as it closed. She recalled that Tyler had unlocked the doors by remote, but prayed he kept another key in the truck as she searched behind the visors and through the glove box.

Rock’s man beat on the window and she knew it would burst under the repeated assault soon. She had to get out of there. A quick glance toward the bar showed her no one would be coming to her aid. They watched the fiasco as if it were a show put on just for their entertainment.

Only Tyler had cared to help… and he’d probably already died. Tears burned her eyes and Kyra released them in silence as she continued searching. She could break down and truly mourn the stranger who’d given his life for her later. First she had to make sure she lived to be able to mourn at all.

The search through the glove box fruitless, she closed it and started searching under the dash and seats. Glass broke, tearing a scream out of her as she turned her head, knowing her end had come.

Expecting to see her pursuer lunging for her, her jaw dropped open as she took in what had happened. Tyler lived. Despite the blood pouring from his chest, he’d managed to ram the second man’s head into the window and drop him to the ground before reaching inside the truck to unlock the door.

“Drive,” he ordered, opening the door to get in.

Kyra slid behind the wheel and took the key he thrust at her, hurriedly starting the ignition. “Watch out for the glass,” she cautioned, backing out of the parking space.

“Getting cut is the least of my worries,” he groaned as he slammed the door shut and fell back against the seat, his chest heaving with his labored breathing. Blood continued to seep out of his wound.

Kyra resisted the urge to run over the fallen men they were leaving behind. “Which way to the hospital?”

“No hospital.”

“What?” She stared at the blood soaking through his flannel shirt. “You need a hospital. You’ve been shot.”

“No hospital,” he said again, this time the words coming out as a growl. “Go left, then right at the first dirt road.”

Shaking her head, Kyra did as instructed. “Tyler, you’re going to die without medical attention.”

“I’ll be fine. Just get me home.”

“Blood is pouring out of your chest.”

“Then drive faster.”

She resisted the urge to floor the gas pedal, knowing the roads were still slick from the earlier downpour, but did increase the speed as high as she felt safe. The dirt road appeared and she turned onto it. “What now?”

No response.

“Tyler!”

His eyes opened. “What? Oh… keep following this road until it forks out into three directions. Take the farthest right, then take the left when it forks again.”

Right, left, right, left, right, left … Kyra silently repeated the directions, fearful Tyler would lose consciousness before she made it. Considering that, she decided to keep him talking. Maybe that would help him remain lucid. “Is there someone to help you at your house?”

“No. I live alone right now.”

Oh geez. “Then why am I taking you home instead of a freaking hospital? Do you not comprehend that a bullet entered your body and you are still bleeding out?”

“I’m tougher than you think.”

He laughed a little, as if his statement were a joke. Kyra stared at him incredulously. The fool actually laughed. “I think you’re in shock. You don’t realize how much danger you’re in. I’m taking you to the hospital.”

“No!”

Kyra’s entire body stiffened under the weight of Tyler’s growled response. Not a growl like people did when they were angry. This was a real growl, the sound expected from an animal. Casting a sideways glance his way as she navigated the dirt road, she saw red in his eyes.

I’m losing my freaking mind. Focusing on the road before her, Kyra turned right at the first fork, and silently prayed as she looked for the second. If the man died, it wasn’t her fault. She did as he asked, and it wasn’t like she knew where the hospital was anyway. She could only hope and pray he knew what he was doing. The man had just risked his life for her. If he died after doing that because she was useless in saving him, she’d never forgive herself.

The second fork loomed before them. “Here’s the second fork. How much farther?” she asked, taking a left as previously instructed.

“Not far, but I’m not going to make it.”

Her heart froze as she stopped the truck and put it in Park. Turning toward him, she gasped. His once golden skin was a sickly pale color, his chest rose and fell shallowly as blood continued to slowly trickle out of it. “Oh God, Tyler, you have to make it!”

“Don’t…” He swallowed hard. “Don’t be scared. I have to … do this. No time left.”

“Do what? I don’t unders— ”

A myriad of colors sparkled over his body and within the next second, a large gray wolf sat on the bench seat next to her.

Kyra screamed, quickly slapping a hand over her mouth as she scooted back toward the driver side door. Screaming in the face of a wolf probably wasn’t a good idea. She fumbled with the door handle but palms slick with sweat couldn’t grasp it.

The wolf whined, cocking its head to the side.

She paused. It wasn’t attacking, and just a moment ago it had been … Oh shit. This wolf was Tyler. Impossible. She’d fallen asleep and was having a nightmare. Had to be.

The wolf leaned toward her, licked her cheek, and in another burst of color, transformed back into the man who’d saved her life.

As he slumped over into her lap, she noticed he remained clothed, unlike werewolves she’d heard of before. She was pretty sure they returned to human form naked. Figures, she was dreaming of a hot, heroic guy and she didn’t even get to see the goods.

You’re not dreaming. Please take me home. I need rest.

She gulped as Tyler’s voice spoke inside her mind.