“Hello,” Marshal said, pulling him out of his brief thoughts when it came to telling Ava how he felt.
“You take care of her.Do you understand?”Knox asked.
“Yeah, I’m doing all I can to take care of her.You can count on me.I promise.”
With that, Knox hung up and shoved his cell phone back into his pocket.
The night was so still.This is what he loved about his hunting cabin.There was a light breeze, but not something to cause issues.Just enough to rustle the leaves on the trees.In the distance he heard the hoot of an owl.
Nature.
Calm.
In control, ready to do anything or cause any trouble.
This is what he loved.Nature was beautiful, yet deadly at the same time.Plants gave life, and took it in equal measure.The animals were the same.This is why he loved to go hunting, to get back to nature, to hone his skills.It was what helped keep him the best at what he did.
At the ping of his cell phone, he pulled it back out of his pocket, and he had a little crumb to go and find.
Chapter Six
Ava lifted up her pants, lining up the legs, pressing them together, and placing them across the ironing board.Marshal was downstairs, insistent on doing his cardio workout with one of his trainers, and Ava steered clear of that.
He had invited her to join them, and she’d been stupid enough to agree, but not a second time.Her body had screamed for two days afterward, and all the time, while Marshal was asking how good it felt, her body had been yelling at her,Why?Why did you do this to me?
Cardio was out the window for her.She loved to walk, but that kind of exercise was not for her.She, instead, preferred to do the laundry.It had accumulated over the past week, and she carried all the loads of washing she had done, and there was an ironing board set up in her room.Running the iron over the legs, Ava heard a rap on the door of her bedroom.
Marshal had given her a room that had a nice little veranda for her to step out onto and look over his property.It was late and it was dark.
At the rap again, Ava put the iron down, made her way across the room, and when the face appeared in the glass, she jumped back, putting a hand to her heart.At first, fear rushed down her spine, but that was soon replaced by anticipation as she saw it was Knox staring back at her through the glass.If he was climbing up to her bedroom window, that meant he was avoiding Marshal.She rushed to the window and released the catch.
“Knox,” she said.
And she didn’t have to say another word as within seconds, he pulled her into his arms, and she couldn’t help but pinch herself after she threw her arms around his neck, attempting to convince herself she was awake and this was not a dream.There was pain, and she knew this was real.
She pressed her face against his neck, breathing him in, not wanting to stop.He was real.This was all real.
