Nightfall Read Free Page B

can.”
    â€œ Why ?”
    â€œI’m saving your life. I know you don’t see it, but it’s the truth.” He inhaled through his nose, regaining control of his fight response. “At least acknowledge that heading back to civilization isn’t a good choice... because I’m carrying a semiautomatic rifle.”
    She nodded, a mere tilt of her head.
    â€œI’m letting go of you.” He could hurt her, but keeping her safe and cooperative would require more than brute force. “I said you could ask questions. Can we do that now?”
    A sneer twisted her lips. “You’re asking me? I don’t have a choice.”
    Mason closed his eyes briefly. No choice. She wasn’t far from the truth.
    He glanced down, realizing he dwarfed her just like that massive chair. “Look at me, Jenna. If I wanted to hurt you, I could’ve done it already. Can you admit that too?”
    â€œThat doesn’t mean you won’t.”
    Easing the pressure from those slender wrists, Mason lowered their arms and tugged her away from the wall. She stumbled and steadied herself with a palm against his chest. Her nostrils flared, animal-like. Full lips the color of a ripe peach fell open.
    He quickly unzipped her down coat and stripped it off. Like a soldier sizing up the enemy, he took in her athletic build, the swell of her breasts beneath a thin T-shirt, and jeans that fit like a glove.
    â€œNow you have no coat either. Sit here,” he said, pushing her shoulders until she sat on a bench at the kitchen table. He ran his palms over the thistle of his cropped hair, scrubbing the tension from his scalp, and sat across from her. “Go ahead, if you want. Ask.”
    â€œAsk what? I don’t even know where to start.”
    â€œAsk me if I intend to hurt you.”
    Her clear eyes turned cloudy. She glanced at the open window. Her shoulder muscles tensed, as if preparing for flight. But she swallowed. The fear faded. She appraised him with a coolness that reminded him of her father—curious but detached, two steps removed from this world. Late in life, Mitch had possessed a shaman’s eyes, and he had carried that weight in bowed shoulders. His glimpses of what was to come had nearly broken him.
    â€œFine,” she said, tight and clipped. “Do you plan to hurt me?”
    â€œ No.”
    â€œGood. Can I go now?”
    â€œ No.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œIt’s not safe out there.”
    Eyebrows two shades darker than her blond ponytail pulled into a frown. “Probably because someone disabled my car and took my coat.”
    â€œWe’re safer here.”
    â€œFrom what, kidnapping psychos?”
    â€œNo, you already have one of those,” he said with a tight grin.
    Her lips quirked. She slanted her gaze to the floor.
    Mason wasn’t used to sitting, no matter her obvious need for something as normal as conversation. It dug under his skin. So he gave up on stillness. After removing the magazine from his rifle and stashing it in his pants pocket, he walked to the toolbox beneath the window.
    Jenna gasped. He spun, looking for what had surprised her. But nothing in the cabin had changed. Instead she stared at the sixteenpound hammer in his hands.
    His exhalation sounded more tired than he wanted to admit. “Relax. I’m just going to fix the window. And then dinner.” He pulled the window shut, speaking past the two galvanized nails clutched between his teeth. “You’re hungry, right?”
    â€œI can’t eat nails,” she muttered.
    She crossed bare arms around her middle, which pushed her breasts front and center. Suddenly Mason had no taste for food, especially not a winter’s worth of generic canned goods. Jenna’s body, both lush and tight, would be feast enough for any man. He hadn’t indulged in sex for months, and she made him all too aware of that fact. An unwelcome distraction.
    He pounded the