Page 8 of Saved By the Soldier

I feelmy body being lifted. "Shhh, Emma. It's okay I'm moving you into the bedroom. You were screaming and I don't want you to feel like you’re alone."

I open my eyes and see Luke. I immediately relax, for one moment I thought it was the poachers. Shit, I have to tell him about them tomorrow. He places me on the bed and then moves to the other side.

"We can both stay here tonight, then you don't have to be alone."

I roll onto my side, looking at him.

"Thank you. I was nearly at the end of the nightmare."

"That doesn't matter, you were clearly triggered by our conversation. I'm sorry." He closes his eyes.

"Did you sleep at all?"

"No, not really. I think I dozed until I heard you screaming. I thought you were getting mauled by a bear."

I laugh. I can just imagine Luke hearing me scream and rushing out, ready to tackle a bear. "Do you think you'd have been quick enough to get him off me?"

"Oh, I moved quick. I don't think I've ever got out of bed that quickly." He laughs. "Try and get some sleep, then you'll feel better."

"Thanks, I just hope you don't maul me like that bear you thought was in here." I laugh.

"I can't promise that." We both close our eyes.

Wakingup in the bed next to Luke doesn't feel weird. Except for the fact he's spooning me. And during the night we must have moved and now he's behind me. I try to wiggle out of his hold, but he just holds me tighter. I giggle at myself. It feelsgood being in his muscular arms. He seems the type to be embarrassed, though, so I try to move again.

"Where are you going? To check if the bear has gone?" I feel his body move up and down as he laughs.

"I was trying to get out so it wouldn't be embarrassing." I turn to look at him.

"What's embarrassing? That we naturally, in our sleep, started spooning? Sure, it's natural when two people are in a bed together they spoon. Right?"

I laugh. "No, I don't spoon with my girlfriends? Do you spoon with your male friends?"

"No, I don't." He lets me go, rolls over, and stands up.

"Let's get cleaned up and then have some breakfast. There’s nothing like sitting and sipping coffee and looking out of that large window. It's my favorite place to be in this world." He moves around the bed and leaves the room.

It sounds fantastic. I stretch before standing and go to the bathroom to clean myself up a bit. When I walk into the sitting room, there is a roaring fire and I can smell a pot of coffee, but I can't see Luke. Moving into the kitchen, I grab a cup of the coffee, hold it in both hands and look out of the back window.

"Holy mother of God." Luke is outside chopping wood, and I have seen nothing more attractive in my life. He is hot. But watching the power he has over the ax as it comes down in precisely the right part of the wood is just to die for. I put my coffee cup down and grab my camera. I need photos of this. I could get a lot of money for these on one of those sites that people download photos and use them for book covers and swag. I think they'd love them. But I think I want to keep them just for myself. I could get used to watching him chop logs for hours. He looks up and catches me taking a photo. He smiles and then chops the next log. I take some more pictures and sit in the chair by the window.

He comes in about twenty minutes later with some newly chopped wood. It's funny, I can feel the cold radiating off him. He stands in front of the fire for a while just to warm up.

"I see you found the coffee,” he says, smiling at me.

"I sure did. I just followed the aroma. I took some photos of you chopping the wood. I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not, just as long as you keep them for yourself and don't sell them to anyone." He winks at me.

"I know what you were thinking." He laughs. He seems much more relaxed today. Grabbing himself a coffee, he comes to sit next to me in the other chair.

"The snow is still falling, and the storm seems to be quiet for now. We could try and climb a bit higher, but it might be dangerous."

"I don't want to put us in harm’s way, I've done that already."

"What do you mean?" He looks at me.

“When I first arrived in the forest, I was looking for somewhere to camp for the night. I was tired, and the storm was picking up. I found a spot, but I could hear people talking. So, I looked through the trees and saw men with rifles. I heard an animal cry out. I wondered if it was going to attack me. As I inched further and further into the darkness, I turned off my light, just in case it was the wolves. Grabbing my camera, I was ready to take the photo that I needed. But it wasn't wolves. No, it was much worse. It was a group of men who were harming the animals. I got down on the ground behind a tree and looked at what was happening. I knew the guy. It's Viktor Orlov and his gang of poachers. They heard me, but I outsmarted them and found somewhere to sleep for the night."