VAMP RISING (By Moonlight Book 1) Read Free Page A

the poles with childlike clumsiness. She’d clearly been out of her element. If one pole stood straight the other three she’d planted fell. By the time she was nailing one of the stakes into the ground the other five popped up from the impact. At one point the tent’s fabric seemed to have swallowed her and she’d jerked about like a cat trying to get a sock off its head.
                  Initially, Brandon had enjoyed watching her struggle, because he figured it served her right for having the audacity to venture her city slicker ass into his neck of the woods, but eventually he found her endearing. She had gumption. Determination had rolled off her like steam from an engine. She kicked and muttered and huffed and puffed, but didn’t let her frustration stop her. And as he watched from the brush she succeeded. She got the tent to stand. And when she did, she jutted her hip out, planted her fist on it, blew her long blond bangs out of her eyes and seemed to marvel at the accomplishment. 
                  It had been damn cute.
                  Not to mention her sporty figure had been of some interest to him. She was petite, on the short side, but toned. The definition in her legs made them seem longer than they probably were. He had been able to tell her arms were strong, equally toned beneath the gray shirt she’d been wearing. And he had to admit he liked her curves, which had been present, but not enough to hold her back from squatting and thrusting the tent into shape. The woman could get her hands dirty. 
                  Brandon had spent the majority of his day wondering about her. He considered the reasons a city girl would be up here this time of year, and alone for that matter. She was probably trying to prove someone wrong. Maybe that someone was herself. She certainly didn’t belong here. She had Seattle written all over her, all the way down to that hunting knife she’d clearly bought on a whim, a last minute attempt to convince herself the wilderness wouldn’t eat her alive.
                  Technically, it could, which had been the reason Brandon kept circling back to her, as he progressed through his assigned territories. For as much moxie as she had, the terrain was dangerous and if she encountered certain wildlife it could be downright fatal. Deep down he’d started to feel responsible, as though he was her guardian, as though it was his duty to see to it that she’d make it out of here and return to her home city alive and well. Or maybe she wouldn’t return. Maybe she’d stay... The thought had swirled in the back of his mind until he decided, at the very least, nothing was going to happen to her on his watch.
                  But he’d lost sight of her when she’d ascended the midway point along Tucker’s Ravine. At the time he had needed to get to the lake and do a sweep across the perimeter or he wouldn’t have made it back in time for call at the Sanctuary. He’d told himself he’d swing by her campsite on his way home, make sure she’d returned safely, put his mind at ease. So leaving the facility, Brandon started off in that direction, as he tried to make sense of her.  
                  What the hell had she been thinking going up Tucker’s? It was a trail meant for experienced hikers, not powder puffs hoping to gain a sense of personal empowerment, See Dad, I can do anything, I climbed the ravine, now loan me money so I can start my online jewelry business . Not that she was a powder puff. Nothing about her indicated she had a pipe dream about selling homemade tchotchkes over the internet, but she certainly wasn’t an avid trailblazer.
                  When he reached the campsite it was nearly dark. He cut across the clearing, hoping to detect some movement within her tent, any indication she’d returned, but it was still and soundless. He went so far as to place his hand on the