Book 1
A big thank you to my amazing editor Tex Beethoven who once again worked magic and made this a much better chapter and read, thank you Tex!
Chapter 2
It was late afternoon and Dante was about 45 minutes or so north of Whitefish, Montana, winding his way through some mountains. He had the windows down so the cool air was blowing through his deep black hair, occasionally sweeping it past his eyes and tickling his ears.
The sensation he had been feeling the past day or so was now a constant pulse in his subconscious, one he could barely detect but that was leading him; leading him where he didn't know, but he kept going with it.
Dusk would arrive in the next hour or two and he was peering through the windshield at a sharp hairpin just ahead, when he saw a large blue truck emerge around the turn.
Without warning a deer came bounding out of the foliage right in front of the truck! The truck lurched and swerved, but the back tire hit a patch of sand on the shoulder of the road, and the sudden evasive maneuver in addition to the grit toppled it sideways and the truck rolled downslope off the road, slamming into a large pine in the small ravine on the side of the road! The deer bounded safely away, but left devastation in her wake.
"Fuck!" barked Dante as he slammed on the brakes and turned off the engine , pulling to the side of the road, pulling the parking brake before he bolted from the Chevelle. He made a quick assessment. The cab of the truck was mostly intact, though damaged severely. The smell of gas filled his nose and he could see heat rolling off the overturned truck.
Knowing that a fire or perhaps even an explosion was a very real likelihood, he raced to the truck and struggled to open the door, but it had been partially caved in and wouldn't budge even with him pulling on it as hard as he could. Through the broken window he could see a long mane of hair trailing down from a woman hanging limply upside down from her seatbelt. Blood was slowly dripping to the roof of the interior.
Dante knew he had but a small window of time to get the woman and himself away from the truck before it caught fire or exploded. He grabbed the door with both hands and planted his right foot against the truck body and pulled with all his might! "Come onnnnnn, open goddammit!" Dante roared.
The door groaned and the metal started to shriek, and for the first time since Mosul, that familiar heat and strength invaded his body and he ripped the door from the truck right off its hinges! He and the door tumbled onto the mountain slope, but fortunately not far.
Stumbling, he righted himself, grabbed his pocket knife and urgently cut the seatbelt away from the young woman and eased her gently out of the truck's cab. Flames had already begun and were soon licking all around the truck as he grabbed her and held her tight to his chest as he sprinted as fast as his trick knee allow, up the steep slope and away from the truck.
Moments before he crested the ridge, a tremendous explosion rocked the ravine and forced Dante to his knees as he grunted and tried to stop himself from landing atop the woman and perhaps injure her further. He felt a burning sensation across his side and flanks before a sharp pain erupted on the back of his head, sending a flash through his vision before everything went dark...
***
Lily came to, slowly and groggily. Everything hurt and her head was spinning and she couldn't see anything. As her senses began to clear she realized she was lying on a roadbed, pinned beneath something hard and quite warm.
She moved her hand and started to push away whatever was on top of her only to realize it was an unconscious man! Her head mostly clear, she smelled acrid smoke and felt heat coming from nearby. She groaned and gently shifted the man slightly off her, enough to leave him laying on his side as she sat up.
"What the hell happened..." she trailed off as she remembered coming around the hairpin and seeing the deer jump right in front of her just before her world turned upside down before going black.
Lily looked around to get her bearings and a dozen feet or so down from the slight roadside embankment saw what was left of her truck, a bent and twisted, boiling mass of fire and thick black smoke. As Lily's eyes drifted towards the man next to her she gasped: he was
huge!
She could smell the blood and quickly got to her knees and started to examine the mysterious stranger. He had deep bloody lacerations on his flanks and up his back, and the back of his head had a nasty gash in it that was also weeping blood.
Trying to collect her racing mind, she analyzed where they were and what needed to be done. She knew it would be a good hour-long drive to get to the hospital in Whitefish, her truck wasn't a truck anymore and this man needed help now! She stood up and looked around, locking eyes on the black muscle car parked a little way down the road. She made a snap decision, understanding this was the unconscious man's car, and decided to wrestle him into the car and drive the 10 minutes to her cabin, which is where she was heading in her truck anyway.
Lily had first aid supplies in her home and decided she could help him, clean him up and learn his story. Looking at the man more closely, she saw that he was well over 6 feet, and if she had to guess she would say somewhere around 6'8" or maybe even taller. He had thick, amazingly defined muscles all across his frame. Dark black hair hung messily around his face, falling past his shoulders and running along his strong jawline and cheeks.
Lily's face heated up as she stared at the man, chastising herself for staring like a star-struck teenager. "This is
not
the time for that, and for Goddess sake he just saved your life and is bleeding his life out! Get a grip, you foolish girl!" she hissed to herself.
She rolled the man over onto his back and he let out a quiet groan of pain. "Sorry, I have to do this to be able to pick you up and move you to the car," she said to no one in particular, but felt bad for the pain he must be in.
Lily leaned down and in a move that would have left anyone watching gasping in amazement, lifted him partway onto her shoulders and started to carry/drag him towards the black muscle car. Lily may have only been 5'4" tall and slender, but the curves she did have hid a deceptive strength greater than any normal man.
"Come on, let's go." she ground out as she started to hobble and drag the stranger to the passenger side of his car.
She may have been extremely strong for her size and appearance, but he was still heavier than she could have imagined, and she was struggling with his size and weight as she angled towards the car.
He's got to be at least 300 lbs if he's even a pound!
thought Lily with a smirk.
Shaking her head to clear it, she made it to the door and was able to unlock it through the open window and as gingerly as she could, poured him into the passenger seat. She buckled him in as best she could and closed the door, racing around the front and climbing into the driver's seat. She sent up a silent prayer of thanks that the keys were in the ignition. She turned the Chevelle over and the engine roared to life in a loud bark and throaty rumble. Tires spinning against the loose gravel, she spun a quick one eighty and headed for her cabin...
***
A flash of blood red, that was all Dante remembered and saw in his mind's eye; he was floating in his subconscious and the wild presence that had always called to him was nearer than it had ever been in his life. Dante felt that he could reach out and touch it, but once again he couldn't see what the presence was and couldn't get any closer.
He felt as if he were drifting up to the surface of a still body of water, but at the same time felt his body getting heavier and beginning to ache very seriously. In his mind he began swimming upwards instead of just drifting and as his head breached the surface, he woke up.
"Fuckkkkkkkkkkk..." Dante groaned as he regained his senses.
"That about sums it up perfectly," replied a sweet melodic voice with a touch of humor to it.
Dante froze and tried to take stock of the situation, realizing he was lying face down on a bed he didn't recognize. He rolled carefully onto his back and sat up. As he opened his eyes he stared into the face of the single most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in any part of the world!
She had blood red hair draping well past her shoulders, but because she was sitting down, he didn't know how long it really was. She had a sculpted oval face with a delicate nose, high cheekbones, cream-like perfect skin and full, pink, pouty lips.
As he slowly worked his way up her face he froze once again as their eyes met. Emerald green pools with streaks of liquid gold pulled him in and he felt like he was plunging into their depths.
He startled and pulled himself back into himself. "I'm sorry for staring like that, you startled me, and I wasn't fully present yet." said Dante quietly.
Lily's eyes were wide and glued to Dante's face. Like him, she was frozen and with her eyes locked on his. She had never seen eyes like his before, they were bright liquid silver, looking like sterling silver had been melted down and was almost glowing. Dante's black hair was partially shielding his face, but he brought a hand up and brushed it out of his face and smoothed it down the back of his head.
