Chapter 3

Warning: Any form of stereotyping is there for gags – not provocation…

Arella’s POV

When you’re alone in the woods--- sure, you fantasize about naked men all the time. Hell, my vibrator had been many different men – most of which were fictional characters in the steamy novels I read. But at the back of my mind, I’d always known that the moment the bliss was gone and I opened my eyes, they’d be gone too.

This guy, however, didn’t go anywhere!

And yeah, he was butt-naked too…

Turning off the ATV, I took another glance at the man. Had someone spiked the bottles of Bailley’s I’d asked Donna to send me or was there seriously a naked man lying right in front of me?

Because he was hot!

What?

I was a hot-blooded woman – sue me for noticing that a passed-out guy was hot! And after all the men I’d seen out here, he looked like he’d just stepped out of a wet dream. A very nice ass and broad shoulders, toned legs, and--- did I mention the nice ass?

It was an exceptionally nice ass…

Anyway---

With my kind of luck, he’d turned out to be some dumbass redneck, who got too drunk or smoked too much weed. That could explain his naked state, and what he was doing out in the middle of freaking nowhere!

“This is why we don’t do drugs, kids,” I mumbled to Tiny, my pet chameleon who was currently a mix between green and yellow--- against a brown and black backdrop.

“You’ll get it eventually,” I encouraged him, as I did every day despite knowing he never would, and patted his head. His eyes rolled, trying to track a fly that he most likely wasn’t going to catch either. I didn’t know what was wrong with the animal, but he kept me company when nobody else wanted me, so why not accept his weirdness?

Normal was overrated anyway…

I walked over to the seemingly passed-out dude and nudged him with my booth. Yep! Out cold… But that’s when I noticed some blood on the ground close to his head and I inspected it. Oh, I’d already seen the bear trap stuck to one of his legs, but considering that he’d most likely been one of the people putting it up, I was calling it Karma…

Unprofessional?

Sure…

Did I care?

Nope!

I didn’t like poachers and I hated those inhumane traps that looked more like torture devices than a method of capturing these animals. Hell, I was convinced that these people didn’t hunt for the sake of food or survival, but because they got a sick pleasure out of torturing and hurting these animals.

Concluding that there wasn’t any sign of trauma to his head, I went to work on his leg. A portable stretcher, a metal rod to pry open the stupid trap, some medical supplies, and my radio. I tried calling it in but all I got was static. A groan and frustrated sigh left my lips as I looked to the heavens and cursed the stupid satellites hovering above us as if all of this was their fault. I was in one of the few regions of Yellowstone where they had to use a transmitter, otherwise, you wouldn’t get a radio signal or any cell service. Last year I dealt with a couple of poachers who’d had the brilliant idea of knocking down the damned thing, leaving us stranded out here in the wilderness. And yes, I may or may not have taken my time repairing it while they were my prisoners.

My cellar was very, very uncomfortable for 3 grown-ass men…

But what else was a girl to do? I only had one--- handheld gun, a shotgun, a rifle, a machete, a utility knife, and an arsenal of other nick-nacks that all could double as a weapon, but the sheriff didn’t need to know that. All he needed to know was that I was a female, alone in the woods and I really, REALLY, felt it was necessary to protect myself.

Cursing, I guessed these guys had done the same, seeing that I didn’t get a signal. But there was nothing I could do about that now. First, I needed to help the hottie with the nice ass and get him somewhere safe. Then I’d deal with the transmitter and the remaining sadist.

“This is going to hurt you, more than it’s going to hurt me,” I warned the man with a sly grin. “But don’t worry about it. You’re unconscious after all and--- and I’m talking to myself.”

It was a habit that came from being alone – most of the year. Not that I was complaining. I liked being out here and I loved being a ranger. I didn’t get discomfited by the solitude or the loneliness that sometimes could hit a person hard out here. Besides, humans weren’t all that great either. I’d tried the dating thing – TWICE! – and got cheated on both times.

I guess I really knew how to pick them…

Anyway---

I liked being on my own. I learned the hard way, that relying on people and depending on them, would only leave you with heartache and broken dreams.

It wasn’t worth it…

As carefully as I could, without jostling his leg too much, I turned him over--- and quickly stood and walked back to the ATV.

Damn!

I’d forgotten that naked butts also meant exposed dicks!

Grabbing a blanket and covering him up, I set to work on his leg. Or at least I would have if I hadn’t suddenly noticed how handsome he was. Not in the traditional way anyway, with his cleft chin and high cheekbones. There was something harsh and hard about his features, and his almost black hair and unkept beard made him look more like a movie villain than a hot superhero. Oh, his body could totally give Superman a run for his money, but despite him being unconscious, he was scowling. As if even in his dreams something displeased him.

“I bet you look really nice if you smile though,” I mused, despite knowing he couldn’t hear me. But that was all the time I allowed myself to idle. If I’d been unconscious and vulnerable on the ground, I don’t think I would like it if someone was leering at me – if I knew it or not.

As carefully as I could, I got the metal rod between the deadly teeth of the trap and pushed to get it open. The man hissed and groaned – although it sounded so much like a growl, I jumped up and looked around, expecting to see a wolf somewhere close by.

That was--- odd!

I bent over, looking for the levers that would open the stupid thing and, while stepping on them, I used the rod to carefully pry his leg free. If everything went well, the man would remain unconscious, and I’d get him free within a minute.

But when has anything ever gone according to plan in my life?

The man startled awake, and he made a sound that was part howl, part animalistic roar. And then he began to trash, more in a wild state of panic than any real effort to get away.

Which didn’t make my job any easier…

“You’re not helping the situation,” I hissed sarcastically, as I held on with all my might to pry the stupid trap open. Sweat was dripping from my brows within seconds and a part of me wished that I’d parked the ATV on top of him to hold him down.

Strong mother cock sucker!

“HOLD STILL!” I bellowed angrily when an especially hard kick almost sent me flying and the teeth digging back into his leg. Perhaps I should just let him lose the freaking foot, the ungrateful little shit! I continued cursing under my breath, barely noticing that the man had stilled. But the moment he did, he pushed down hard and with a jubilated sigh, I got him free.

That’s one hurdle down---

“Helena?”

The man suddenly crooked in a broken voice. Surprised, I looked up and--- and met a pair of the most stunning dark blue eyes I’d ever seen before. They were the shade of midnight that I’d only ever imagined in movies or novels. So dark, they were almost black, yet so distinctively blue, they looked like sapphires.

Helena?

His wife, perhaps?

“I’m sorry,” I said, this time gentling my voice, as I quickly moved to his side. “You were hurt and I’m trying to help you.” I doubted that my words reached him. His gaze followed my every move, but I could see them glaze over with something that reminded me of a man lost in a fevered trance. His brows were sweaty and cold, and his dark hair stuck to his forehead.

Well, poacher or no, I couldn’t just let him suffer.

Reaching for my med-kid I prepared a syringe of morphine and one mild sedative. Because of my fight with the metal death trap, my hands were shaking uncontrollably. I just barely managed to dosage the morphine right, before I found a thick muscle in his thigh to administer it.

Not that it was hard to find a thick muscle on this guy.

Hell, he was thick muscles ALL over…

Focus girl, I mused to myself and tried to shake off my fascination with his body. Mind out of the gutter…

He made that grunt/growl thing again and this time, he tried to grab me. I barely managed to doge him and almost fell on my ass as he took a swipe at me.

“Hey!” I snapped, which earned me a feverish glare. “That’s not nice!”

He let out a menacing growl – and yes! This time there was no mistaking that it was a growl. Like he was some kind of animal. I’d never heard anything like it before and honestly, my fight or flight response told me I should run! But I’d never done as my instinct told me to do before, and today wasn’t the day I’d start…

“What in the holy mushrooms are you guys smoking?!” I exclaimed, grabbing my medical bag again and plucking out a stronger sedative. Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to give him a sedative at all since I had no idea what he’d ingested. But my main focus had to be keeping him still, treating his wound, and keeping myself alive. Preferably unhurt too, and that meant the big man was going under.

Again, I cursed as I overfilled the syringe, thanks to my unsteady hands.

Stupid trap!

Stupid small-ass syringe!

Stupid man couldn’t stay unconscious!

Stupid---

Suddenly, firm fingers locked around me arm and pulled me forward. I gasped, as I stumbled towards him and landed on a very hard, very solid, and very warm naked chest. Instantly, I pushed down, trying to free myself, but the man held on tight. His chest vibrated when he growled low and stunned, I looked up into his mesmerizing blue eyes. They seemed less feverish all of a sudden and if I hadn’t known any better, I’d say whatever fever he’d had was gone.

How the---?

But then, his grip loosened, and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. His body went lax, and I was unceremoniously released from his grasp.

Shocked, I pushed away from him as if he’d burned me, wondering what the---

And that’s when I saw it!

The syringe lodged in his arm…

Empty!

I must have accidentally pushed it down when he pulled me forward, filling him with the sedative. My heart lodged in my throat as I slowly realized that---

I think I accidentally killed him!

Oops…!