The unrusted parts of the old padlock gleamed in the dull morning light, causing Carter to ask himself a few questions. Will Sloane notice the cellar door is locked? If she does, will she ask why? What will I tell her?

His stomach twisted at the thought of lying to her or withholding information, but he wasn't so sure she'd understand why he had to take the woman. His thoughts drifted to his return to the trap.

She'd been delirious when he got back to her. But she managed to squeak out a cry for help, fat tears falling from her swollen eyes.

Carter maneuvered his way down into the hole to see that one of the spikes had gone through her upper thigh. He figured she'd been stepping backwards and was pretty lucky she'd been caught there rather than her calf. Otherwise, her skull would have been impaled by another spike behind her.

"I need you to use your good leg." He gestured at the shaking extremity.

"No. I can't." She wailed, her voice reminding him of a whiny child.

"Yes you can. You have to." His patience was already running thin with her.

"It hurts too bad." Her sobs made it hard to understand her words. She shook her head from side to side, her hair sticking to her face.

"I know it hurts. But it's either help me out or you'll be stuck here and end up being eaten by the wild animals." He had sat back a little to watch her reaction, expecting it to scare her enough to try to help him save her.

With wide eyes and her mouth forming an "O", all she did was stare back, her crying an odd choking sound. "What?"

It took all his effort not to roll his eyes at her. It was clear that she didn't have the experience with hiking that Sloane did. The woman didn't even have a bag.

"Come on." He didn't give her a chance to protest. Gripping her thigh, he lifted her leg before she could register what was going to happen. It was always easiest to just pull whatever body part was impaled with a quick upward thrust, but this time, he found himself comparing this "rescue" to Sloane's. Even then, he'd wanted to be as careful with her as possible. That didn't matter right now.

Her scream could match that of an injured animal. It was followed by retching sounds and a soft, wet splatter as her stomach emptied itself.

His grin of satisfaction disappeared when he saw that her chin rested against her chest. The woman had passed out.

At some point, he thought about just leaving her, letting the animals have her. But his need to hunt was on the verge of explosion. There was a good chance he'd end up chasing her down before she was even ready. But it was a chance he was more than willing to take.

Once out of the hole, covered in dirt, he lay there panting. The woman was still unconscious and he cursed her under his breath as he shot her nasty glare. When he was ready to get going, he slung her over his shoulder as if she were nothing more than a carcass.

Sloane's snores, now much stronger and louder than when he'd left, greeted him as he nudged open the door. The dead weight over his shoulder made it a bit challenging to close the door with a small click, but he managed. The snores from the bedroom didn't change.

It took him several minutes to make it down the cellar stairs, sweat gliding down his face and back. Without any care, he let the woman slide off his shoulder and fall to the bed. Once she stopped bouncing, he grabbed an ankle and put the metal cuff around it.

With a heavy sigh, he looked down to see her sprawled out as if she were just sleeping. Her leg couldn't heal fast enough. If he didn't have any self control, he'd plunge a knife into her throat right then. The thought sent a thrill through him and he closed his eyes. A few scenarios of how he’d hunt her flashed through his mind.

Instead of giving in, he turned away and went upstairs, securing the padlock in place.

"Mornin'." A soft hand slid along his shoulder, bringing him back to the present.

"Mornin'. You sleep good?" He twisted in his chair to watch Sloane make herself a cup of coffee.

"Mm. Yeah." Leaning against the counter, she sipped her coffee. Her brow furrowed a little and she looked as if she had something to say.

"I have an idea." Jumping up and rushing to her, he grabbed her hands before she could voice any concerns she might have had.

"Yeah?" A small smile played along her lips as she gave him an inquisitive look.

"Let's go for a hike."

The smile widened and her face lit up. Her posture even straightened as she began to bounce in excitement.

"Yeah. I'll show you where all the traps are, that way if you decide to go for a hike while I'm working, you won't get hurt."

"Ooh! This is great!"

"And…" A devilish gleam was in his eyes as he took a step closer to her, their bodies touching. "We can take your tent, camp out."

She returned the look, giving him a small shimmy to further tempt him. "Might be a little hard to do stuff in that small thing."

"Then we get inventive."

Her laugh rang out and she pushed away from the counter. "I'm totally on. You wanna get started now?"

His arms wrapped around her waist, holding her tight. "Yeah. I mean, we need to make a lunch or something, right?"

She laughed again and nodded. "Yeah. You get the tent and the rest of my supplies. I'll get everything packed."

"Deal."

They separated; she going to the bedroom to get dressed and him outside. When he returned, she had an insulated lunch box sitting open on the counter, the makings for sandwiches scattered around.

"I wondered where you had put that stuff."

He checked her expression to see that she didn't look mad, just thoughtful. "Didn't see any point in throwing out perfectly good stuff. Plus, I planned on us using it at some point anyway. It all just depended on if you came around."

With adoration swimming in her gaze, he knew she no longer held any anger toward him about their beginning. And he knew what he would tell her if she asked about the locked cellar door.

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