Shelter Me Home Read Free

feel like a douche for being so blind before. It wasn’t as if her name was common, after all.
    She gave his hand a firm shake. “Farrah.”
    Nothing.
    Not even a spark of recognition that said the name sounded familiar to him.
    She might as well have never existed in Alaska before this moment. Instead of responding, he threw the truck into gear and hit the gas. The tires whined against the ice for a moment before the chains caught traction and off they went.
    In an acute desperation to escape any kind of awkward conversation that was headed her way, she leaned her cheek against the cold window and closed her eyes. If she went to sleep, the two hour trip would pass in no time at all.
    She didn’t have a clue what she’d do when she got there. And goodness knew, she had more decisions to make than was fair for any one person. But if she was going to rescue her own life, it would have to be done in the home she fled all those years before.

Chapter Two
    Aanon’s gaze arched to the woman for the tenth time before he focused on the icy road again. She was pretty. Even without make-up, any red-blooded man could see she was a beautiful woman, but he had exactly zero space in his life for another half-crazed female. One was more than enough.
    Still, it was hard to keep his eyes away from the dark tresses of hair that fanned her shoulder and looked shinier than wet seal’s fur. Or how her face had relaxed in her sleep, and her full, petal-pink lips had crooked up in a smile like she was having a good dream. Her eyes had been a stunning shade of green, like rain engorged moss on the north side of a tree. Even her dark eyebrows arched perfectly and gave away every emotion she experienced. And why was it so damned attractive that she was put off by him? Went out of her way to ignore him, even. Was it the challenge in her frustrated looks that had him basically begging to give her a ride?
    She had to be visiting kinfolk in The Landing because no tourist ended up there this close to winter. In the summer, tourism was a way of life, but once the snow started, sightseers scattered like roaches under a flashlight. Winters in this part of Alaska weren’t for the weak at heart. Only the gristliest animals survived its harshness, survived the bone deep loneliness that months of deep snow brought.
    Pulling his eyes off the road again, he frowned at her sleeping form. She didn’t seem tough enough by half.
    As he maneuvered another switchback, Farrah sat up with wide, frightened eyes. “Pull over,” she said in a panicked voice.
    “What? No. This isn’t exactly the best place to get out. We’ll be to the Landing in twenty minutes.”
    “Pull over!” she yelled, grappling for the door handle.
    Aanon cursed and slammed on the brakes. Whether he stopped or not, she was getting out, and her side was teetering on a steep embankment.
    Pouring out of the cab like she had no bones at all, the sound of her retching echoed off the mountain. With the truck thrown into park, the snow crunched under his heavy boots as he jogged around the bed. He froze when he saw her. Holding tightly to her stomach, she got sick right over a guard rail. Shit.
    He’d seen this before, and pity tugged at the hardest parts of him. The girl was in more trouble than she’d let on.
    “It’s okay,” he said as he pulled her hair back into a bunch at the nape of her neck. “Shhh,” he said when she slumped forward.
    “Sorry,” she murmured pitifully.
    Squatting down beside her, he rubbed her back. “How far along are you?”
    Wide green eyes glanced at him before she lowered her chin again. “I don’t know. I haven’t been to a doctor yet. Please don’t tell anyone.”
    Who would he tell? He didn’t know her from Eve, and it was pretty doubtful that out of all the people on the planet, they happened to run with the same friends. “I won’t.”
    Without another word, she climbed into the passenger seat of the truck and shut the door. He waited, stunned,