Enchantment (17 page)

W
h
ere the hell
am I?
W
ho is
he? Oh
my
God,
Catz.

Her
heart
pounded.
She had to
find a way
out of there. Her
e
y
e
s
glanced
about the roo
m
,
but to
her
horror,
there
were
no
windows,
on
l
y
a
door,
which
was
direct
l
y
behind
the
m
ost
gorgeous guy
s
he’d
ever
seen.
With
her
luck,
he
was
probab
l
y
an
axe
m
urde
r
er.

I
m
ust
be
d
reaming.

If
s
o,
it
was
an
unbelievab
l
y
intense
drea
m
with
a
m
uscular,
hunky
guy
as
the
m
a
in character.
So
it
didn’t
quite
m
ake
sense,
but
it
w
as
the
only
thing
s
he
could
think
of.
She
m
ut
t
ered
to
herself
quiet
l
y
,
“
Wake
up,”
and
closed
her
e
y
es.

W
h
en
I
open
my
eyes, the
scary
dream
will be
gone.

Meeka
slowly
opened
one
e
y
e
at
a
t
i
m
e,
hoping
the
dre
a
m
had
ended.
She’d
wake
up
alone in
her
bed
at
ho
m
e.

Shit!

N
ope,
the
Greek
God
was
still
there.
The
panic
flared
to
frenz
y
.
Her
m
outh
went
dr
y
,
and
s
he
tried
to
slide
even
farther
back
into
the
headboard,
knocking
her
head
against
it
again.

“OW!”

G
i
rl,
you’re
definit
e
ly not
d
reaming.
W
h
y
does
my
head
hurt
so
m
uch?

Conf
u
sion
settled
like
a
hea
v
y
blanket.
She
reached
up
to
the
tender
s
pot,
and,
her
m
emo
r
y ca
m
e
crashing
back.

Cha
p
ter
Seven

Me
m
ories
flooded
her
m
ind
like
a
raging
river.
First
the
phone-call
from
her
parents,
the canoe
trip
down
her
favorite
stre
a
m
with
Catz,
the
stor
m
,
the
startled
creature
and
eventual
l
y falling
out
of the
canoe. She re
m
e
m
b
ered
hitting
her
head, and the trickle of warm blood
running d
o
wn
her
face.
It
had
felt
like
so
m
et
h
ing
heavy
hung
from
her
legs
as
she
slipped
beneath
the
s
urface.
She’d
been
certain
death
was
i
m
mi
n
ent.
Her
last
thoughts
had
been
of
Catz.

She
held
her breath
and
s
wallowed
the
l
u
m
p
in
her
throat.
“
M
y
cat.
Did
y
ou see a
cat
?
”

The
wor
d
s
had
bare
l
y
left
her
m
outh
when
Catz
ju
m
ped
into
her
lap.
Meeka
scooped
her
up in
her
ar
m
s
as
tears
of
j
oy
ran
d
o
wn
her
cheeks.
“You
cra
z
y
cat,
y
o
u
’d
even
follow
m
e
into death,
w
ouldn’t
y
o
u
?
”

Meeka
looked
at
the
stranger
hovering
near
b
y
.
His
broad
shoulders
took
up
m
ost
of
the
s
pace
in
the
s
m
a
l
l,
round
roo
m
,
dwarfing
her.
Was
this
his
roo
m
? It
seemed
unlike
l
y
, considering the
di
m
ensions
of
the
roo
m
,
but
she
w
a
sn’t
about
to
m
ake
a
n
y
j
u
dg
m
e
n
ts.
“
Where
am
I?
H
ow did
I
get
her
e
?
Did
y
ou save
m
e
from
dr
o
wning
?
”
The
w
ords
tu
m
b
l
ed
from
her
lips.

H
i
s
expression
quick
l
y
flashed
through
a
nu
m
ber
of
different
e
m
o
tions.
He
looked
uneas
y
; i
m
p
a
tien
c
e
raced
across
his
face
before
a
careful
l
y
controlled
s
m
ile
for
m
ed
on
his
lips.
Meeka had
never
been
s
o
unco
m
forta
b
le
in
her
life.
The
seconds
she
waited
for
him
to
s
peak
felt
like hou
r
s.

“You’re
in
my
parents’
ho
m
e,
and
th
e
y
’
ve
been
taking
care
of
y
o
u.
You
did
al
m
ost
drown, along
with
y
o
ur…
c
at, but
my
father
saved
y
ou both
and
brought
y
ou here.”

H
i
s
voice
was
m
ascu
l
ine,
with
a
sultry
drawl.

Sexy.

Meeka
couldn’t
believe
she’d
j
u
st
had
that
thought.
S
he
set
Catz
aside
and
m
ade
her
way cautious
l
y
to
the
edge
of
the
bed.
“
I
’m
real
l
y
sorry
to
have
been
a
bother.
I’m
extr
e
m
e
l
y
grateful to
y
o
u
r
father,
but
I
real
l
y
should
get
going.”

Meeka
placed
her
feet
on
the
floor
and
p
u
shed
herself
off
the
bed.
The
room
s
pun.
She staggered
sidewa
y
s,
preparing
herself
for
the
fall,
only
to
be
grasped
around
the
waist
and
held up
by
two
p
o
werful
ar
m
s. She
gasped
and
pre
s
sed
up
against
his
large
chest.

In
an
instant,
the
brute
s
wept
her
up
in
his
ar
m
s
and
deposited
her
back
on
the
bed.
“I
also seem
to
be
in
the
right
place
at
the
right
t
i
m
e
where
y
o
u’
r
e
concerned.
You
still
need
s
o
m
e
t
i
m
e to
recover
from
y
o
u
r
in
j
ur
y
.”

What
should
s
he
sa
y
?
S
he
was
alone
in
God
kn
o
ws
where,
and
what
were
her
thoughts… h
o
w
terrib
l
y
handso
m
e
he
was.
S
he
had
to
get
out
of
there.
“
Real
l
y
,
I’m
fine.
If
I
could
j
u
st borr
o
w
y
o
u
r telephone, I
could
be
out
of
here
and
on
my
w
a
y
.
”

The
s
m
all,
slight
l
y
crooked
grin
on
his
face
sent
a
bolt
of
heat
to
her
cheeks.
H
o
w
dare
he laugh
at
he
r
?

“Precious,
y
o
u
sustained
quite
a
blow
to
the
head.
My
healing
w
a
s
co
m
pl
e
te,
but
y
o
ur
bo
d
y still
needs
rest.
Unfortunate
l
y
,
y
ou will
not
be
able
to
return
ho
m
e just
y
e
t
.”