Page 35 of Once Upon a Fable

We continued to stare, neither of us embarrassed to be so blatantly watching. When our eyes weren’t locked in a battle, they were roaming, imprinting.

He was tall but not too tall. His arms once again causing stress to the seams of his taupe shirt while his thighs bulged in the soft material of his slacks. The clothes didn’t fit him or suit him, almost as if they were never his to begin with.

His erection hadn’t faded, and his hips moved just a little, the faintest physical hint of what his eyes were screaming.

Lust.

Squeezing his eyes shut for a second, he reopened them with black determination. The hunger was still there, but this time, it was desire for answers rather than sex. Whatever existed between us was no longer a debate on whether or not he’d pounce on me, but how bad the interrogation would become.

“Where did you come from?” he snapped.

I linked my fingers together, glancing at the PLB by my feet.

Come on, find me. Hurry.

I swallowed. “Michigan.”

“No.” His forehead furrowed into thick annoyance. “I meanhowdid you come here? How the fuck did you find me?”

“I climbed.”

He scowled again, harsh and spiteful. “Climbed?What the hell does that mean?”

Swallowing again, I wished I had water for my throat. “It means I was searching for a boulder someone claimed was nearby. I got lost. I saw your house from the cliff. And I...” I swallowed again and again, pushing through the bruising. “I climbed down to investigate.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

I shrugged. “It’s the truth.”

“So you’re not here to take me back? You didn’t come in via the cave?”

I shook my head. “Take you where? What cave? Oh, you mean the one at the end of the valley? No, I didn’t come—”

“Who else is out there?”

“I—” I closed my mouth. This was the part where I could lie and say I had a group of friends all desperately searching for me. I could convince him that if he didn’t let me go, then others would come looking. Police would come. The army would come. He’d be shot if he put one more bruise on me.

And all of that might be true...if my PLB worked.

Even now, my faint little signal could be on some helicopter dashboard, flashing brightly as they flew to find me.

But...if rescue took a few days. If I had to survive here, on my own, totally at his mercy, the threat that we’d have company might make him lose his temper. He might call my bluff and—

“Well?” He bit the word in two. “Who else knows you’re here?”

I couldn’t stop my gaze latching once again onto my PLB. To the outstretched antenna. To the very clear evidence that other people would know and soon.

His eyes tracked mine, landing on the device.

I winced, waiting for him to smash it and then smash me. However, he just cocked his head and nudged it with a toe. “What’s that?”

He...he doesn’t know?

How shelteredwashe?

What sort of world had I stumbled into?

I bit my tongue. I didn’t want to tell him. Why would I give up myonly hope? But could I lie? Would he believe me?