LITMIR.BIZ

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had been recently disturbed, sticks just as recently snapped underfoot, more prints where there was clear earth.

      He figured she wanted to leave the forest behind her as soon as possible. It looked like once she’d chosen her direction, she had managed to stick to it. It didn’t take Chase long to discover bright sunlight ahead of him.

      Clearing the last of the trees, he reached another rail fence. On the other side was an open pasture. He was disappointed not to see her in the pasture or the field beyond it. Damn. Had he lost her altogether?

      He stood there, trying to decide what to try next. Off to one end of the pasture was a horse shelter, enclosed against the weather on three sides, with the fourth side left wide-open for the animals to enter.

      No sign of any horses in the pasture now, just the silent shelter. Chase wondered. Did it bear investigating? With no other alternative, it seemed like a good idea.

      Hand on one of the fence posts, he vaulted over the top rail, cleared the barrier and strode toward the shelter. The dung in the pasture, though not recent, was evidence horses were grazed here at one time and apparently had been moved elsewhere.

      He reached the shelter and looked inside. It was deserted. Nothing in there but a stack of hay keeping dry under the roof. Wasted moments, he told himself. He needed to get back to his search.

      Chase was just turning away, ready to look elsewhere, when out of the corner of his eye he saw the hay quiver slightly. Or had he imagined it? Must have. All the same...

      He went back inside and squatted on his heels beside the mound, waiting quietly. There was no further movement. He was about to get to his feet when he heard it. A faint rustling inside the pile.

      Probably a small creature. Maybe a mouse. At least he hoped it was nothing large.

      Willing to take the risk, he plunged his hands into the stack, where his fingers probed around in the vicinity of the rustling. Almost immediately he encountered warm flesh. Yep, something wild had burrowed into the hay all right. Except it was of the human variety. No doubt of that when his hands closed around a pair of very nice, smooth-skinned ankles.

      Grasping them tightly, because the body they were attached to began to resist, he dragged Haley Adams out of the hay where she’d been hiding.

      “Now just look what we’ve turned up here,” he gloated.

      He was pleased with what he’d hooked, but once she spit the bits of hay out of her mouth, she was anything but a docile catch. Managing to twist her legs free of his grip, she flipped over on her back, and when he tried to grab her again, she fought him like the animal he’d been worried about.

      She kicked, she clawed, she punched, she jabbed, she writhed and rolled and heaved. She even managed to yell language at him that he hadn’t heard since the army, though never from the women in the ranks, tough as some of them were. No question of it. Haley Adams was one pissed-off female.

      The only way Chase could subdue her in the end was to pin her down by lowering his body full length on hers. She went totally still then. Maybe because she was as instantly aware of their intimate contact as he was. And God help him, that soft, womanly flesh beneath his weight not only felt good, it smelled good.

      There was a long silence. Their gazes met and locked in a battle of wills. Or was it that? Was it maybe not so much a conflict as it was a shared desire? Chase’s gaze drifted down to her parted lips. He might not have even considered kissing those lips if she hadn’t used that moment to start squirming.

      It was a bad movement. He felt himself beginning to grow hard.

      “Let me up,” she whispered. “You’re suffocating me.”

      His only defense against her breathy plea was a dry “You could have suffocated inside that hay.”

      “The hay wasn’t heavy. You are.”

      He was suddenly angry with his arousal. Angry with himself for his urge to kiss that seductive mouth just inches under his. And angry because he had to remind himself he’d forgotten to give her hell for her escape.

      Levering himself off her, he got to his feet. Once he was standing, he reached down, caught her by the wrist and pulled her up.

      “You can let me go now.”

      His laugh was a husky one. “What? And watch you take off again?”

      “Oh, now, you’re not going to hang on to me all the way back to the car.”

      “That’s exactly what I’m going to do, sweetheart. Only it’s not going to be by the wrist.”

      Before she could object, Chase shifted his grip higher on her arm, whirled her around, bent his knees low enough to collect and balance her weight and slung her up and over his shoulder.

      When he came erect again, she was swinging headfirst down his back with her lower half dangling down his chest. It was a maneuver he’d learned in the rangers and used effectively a couple of times to transport wounded soldiers to the nearest dressing station.

      Holding the load in place was achieved by splaying the fingers of one hand firmly over the rump. It was just a position when it came to a wounded buddy, but it took on a whole new meaning with this cargo. Haley Adams had one hell of a spectacular bottom for a man to hold on to.

      “I’m not going to ride like this! Put me down!”

      “Not a chance.”

      He struck off across the pasture, knowing she couldn’t be comfortable bouncing along with each of his steps. Too bad. She didn’t deserve comfort.

      “How you doing back there, Haley? Comfy enough?”

      He missed her muffled reply, but from the sound of it, it couldn’t have been very friendly. Managing to scramble across the fence while still bearing her over his shoulder, he achieved a more or less direct path through the woods. She was just as tightly in his possession when they crossed the second fence and arrived back at the highway where his SUV safely waited for them. Thankfully, the cops hadn’t gotten there yet to tow it away.

      Nor did he release her until his free hand produced the keys from his pocket, unlocked the doors, opened the front passenger one and flung her down into the seat with a warning.

      “You try any more dumb stunts like that, and I’ll handcuff you.”

      * * *

      His promise had merit, Haley reluctantly decided when they were rolling up the highway again. It had been stupid of her to make a run for it without money, then hide in a pile of hay like a child.

      She would do better the next time. Like, for instance, avoiding his body on top of hers. There had been something much too effectively sensual about both that and his hot hand pressed against her backside afterward. She much preferred him in an unpleasant mood. Safer, right?

      But she wasn’t certain of that. There was an element of danger about him.

      It was better not to look at him. She turned her head away, staring out the window. Off both sides of the four-lane were high, forested slopes. Even though many of them had been denuded in long, vertical swaths by lumbering, there was a beauty about them enhanced by the majestic Cascade Range behind them.

      “You feeling okay?”

      He hadn’t spoken a word in miles. His deep voice coming out of nowhere like this startled her. She stole a glance at him. The man had no heart, and yet she swore she could see a guilty expression on that square-jawed face.

      She assumed he was referring to the way she’d been treated when he caught up with her at the horse shelter. “How would you feel if you’d been tossed around like a sack of potatoes?”

      “You saying the merchandise ended up bruised?”

      “Let’s just say it’s a bit tender.”

      She hoped she was wearing a wounded look on her face. There was nothing frail

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