Read Online Alpha's Captive 04 - Haven by V. M. Black - Free Book Online
Authors: V. M. Black
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come on in the bathroom next to her bedroom, which would be followed, as always, by Madisyn and her boyfriend pretending to bicker over breakfast before they went off to work and Harper drifted back off to sleep until it was time for her third shift at the diner….
Instead, she was here, in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night, her hands stiff with the cold that nipped at her nose and cheeks and standing with a far-too-handsome fugitive whose very presence put her in danger.
What happened to her promise to herself that she’d get out of there as soon as she was safe? Was she stupid or crazy?
But without her, he would have died several times over. And she didn’t know if she could keep saving his furry backside, but she had to try, because she couldn’t live with herself unless she knew he was safe, too—somewhere out there. Until then, well, she might as well have been kidnapped, because she was just as tied to him. She couldn’t live with wondering.
Once he had the data, though, she’d be out of there, and that would be it. The end. Finito. That was what she wanted, because it was better that way, even with—especially with—a crazy wolfman with laughing eyes.
“Getting on, then?” she as ked as he slipped on the second loafer, as much to interrupt those thoughts as anything.
“Sure thing, babycakes,” he said, swinging a leg over the motorcycle and settling into the seat.
Harper adjusted her position, sliding forward so that she sat snugly against his back. She wrapped her arms around his lean body. She was no shrimp, but he was tall enough that she only had to duck her head slightly and turn her face to the side to be completely sheltered from the wind.
Resting against him like that felt far too comfortable. Harper tried not to think about it.
Levi paused with one loafered foot still on the ground. “And thanks, Harper. For sticking around, I mean. You were right. I do need you.”
Harper could feel his voice though his body, against her cheek. Her arms tightened slightly around his middle. “Don’t get used to it, wolfman.”
“I’m trying not to.” And with that response, he started the engine, raised the kickstand, and launched them forward along the road.
It was only a short while longer when Levi made a turn onto an even smaller back road. He turned again and again until even the street signs disappeared. The roads dipped and dodged, plunging into narrow valleys and making hairpin switchbacks back up and out again. Trees crowded up on every side, hemming them in, and other times there was nothing to be seen but rough walls of rock as the road sliced through the mountains.
Harper blinked as the motorcycle burst out of the woods at the edge of a steep slope, revealing a sudden glimpse of a valley below, where the dark pointed tops of the pines rolled out over the crinkled feet of the mountains under the bright moon.
They were deep in the Appalachians now. Harper smelled wood smoke and the sharp tang of pine needles, all around, and the silence of the night beyond the roar of the motorcycle was complete.
Finally, Levi turned off onto an unmarked asphalt road so narrow that Harper imagined that a car would brush the reaching branches on either side. The trees closed in overhead to form a tunnel, and she could only make out the vaguest shapes of trunks and underbrush as they passed. Levi steered down the center of the road as it twisted through the trees for half a mile before finally pulling to a stop.
“What is it?” Harper asked, craning to see in front of them around his body.
“The gate,” he said, and he hit the headlight—for her benefit, she assumed.
The gate was tall, a flat black aluminum grate that was simple and utilitarian, making no pretense to any sort of decorative aspirations. There was something beyond it—a swooping sort of movement accompanied by a soft pneumatic sound, and Harper jerked back as she found herself ten feet from some kind of ball with
Instead, she was here, in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night, her hands stiff with the cold that nipped at her nose and cheeks and standing with a far-too-handsome fugitive whose very presence put her in danger.
What happened to her promise to herself that she’d get out of there as soon as she was safe? Was she stupid or crazy?
But without her, he would have died several times over. And she didn’t know if she could keep saving his furry backside, but she had to try, because she couldn’t live with herself unless she knew he was safe, too—somewhere out there. Until then, well, she might as well have been kidnapped, because she was just as tied to him. She couldn’t live with wondering.
Once he had the data, though, she’d be out of there, and that would be it. The end. Finito. That was what she wanted, because it was better that way, even with—especially with—a crazy wolfman with laughing eyes.
“Getting on, then?” she as ked as he slipped on the second loafer, as much to interrupt those thoughts as anything.
“Sure thing, babycakes,” he said, swinging a leg over the motorcycle and settling into the seat.
Harper adjusted her position, sliding forward so that she sat snugly against his back. She wrapped her arms around his lean body. She was no shrimp, but he was tall enough that she only had to duck her head slightly and turn her face to the side to be completely sheltered from the wind.
Resting against him like that felt far too comfortable. Harper tried not to think about it.
Levi paused with one loafered foot still on the ground. “And thanks, Harper. For sticking around, I mean. You were right. I do need you.”
Harper could feel his voice though his body, against her cheek. Her arms tightened slightly around his middle. “Don’t get used to it, wolfman.”
“I’m trying not to.” And with that response, he started the engine, raised the kickstand, and launched them forward along the road.
It was only a short while longer when Levi made a turn onto an even smaller back road. He turned again and again until even the street signs disappeared. The roads dipped and dodged, plunging into narrow valleys and making hairpin switchbacks back up and out again. Trees crowded up on every side, hemming them in, and other times there was nothing to be seen but rough walls of rock as the road sliced through the mountains.
Harper blinked as the motorcycle burst out of the woods at the edge of a steep slope, revealing a sudden glimpse of a valley below, where the dark pointed tops of the pines rolled out over the crinkled feet of the mountains under the bright moon.
They were deep in the Appalachians now. Harper smelled wood smoke and the sharp tang of pine needles, all around, and the silence of the night beyond the roar of the motorcycle was complete.
Finally, Levi turned off onto an unmarked asphalt road so narrow that Harper imagined that a car would brush the reaching branches on either side. The trees closed in overhead to form a tunnel, and she could only make out the vaguest shapes of trunks and underbrush as they passed. Levi steered down the center of the road as it twisted through the trees for half a mile before finally pulling to a stop.
“What is it?” Harper asked, craning to see in front of them around his body.
“The gate,” he said, and he hit the headlight—for her benefit, she assumed.
The gate was tall, a flat black aluminum grate that was simple and utilitarian, making no pretense to any sort of decorative aspirations. There was something beyond it—a swooping sort of movement accompanied by a soft pneumatic sound, and Harper jerked back as she found herself ten feet from some kind of ball with
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