Free Hunter's Moon by Felicity Heaton Page B

down his rifle. He pulled the bolt back and checked it was loaded before sliding it back into place.

    His heart thudded heavily against his chest while he
    moved to the door. He took a few deep breaths, his
    senses still firmly focused on the scratching sound. It was too late in the season for bears. It could be a wolf.

    Unlocking the door, he frowned when the noise outside
    stopped. It must have heard the key grating in the lock.
    Maybe it had run off.

    He almost ripped the door open and immediately levelled his gun at the porch.

    His brain took a few seconds to compute what he was
    seeing, but his heart didn’t. It raced at the sight of her naked form. He lowered the gun, unable to find anything to say. He took in the way she was curled up on the
    porch, her hair strewn across her face and her hands
    trembling where they held her upper arms. His gaze
    travelled down the length of her body. The sight of the blood on her leg made his head become painfully clear
    and the world felt real again.

    “Christ,” he cursed and ran into the cabin, almost
    tripping over his boots as he did so.

    He grabbed the white fur blanket off the back of the
    couch and tossed his gun onto the table. Hurrying back to her, he went to wrap the blanket around her but she whimpered and curled up into a tighter ball.
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    Hunter’s Moon – Felicity Heaton

    “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said and held the fur out to her, showing her it. “I just want to get you warm.”

    He eased the blanket towards her and wrapped it around her. When she was safely tucked up inside it, he picked her up, gathering her into his arms. Standing on the
    porch for a few seconds, he scanned the woods in an
    attempt to see if the hunters were nearby but the
    snowfall made it impossible.

    Had they shot her?

    Why the hell was she naked?

    He looked down at her and walked into the cabin. He’d never seen anything like her. She was beautiful but it was the mystery of her that held his attention. He’d
    never seen a woman so young with such silvery grey
    hair before. Here he was worrying that he was going to go grey but she had to be ten years younger than him.
    It suited her somehow. She opened her eyes a little,
    enough for him to see the golden colour of her irises and then her eyelids drooped again. He told himself that they must be a shade of brown and that it was the firelight making them look so yellow. No one on earth had eyes
    that colour.

    Kicking the door shut, he carried her over to the couch and laid her down on it. He checked that her pulse was strong and she murmured, her fine brows knitting into a frown. She shifted a little, pulling the fur up around her bare shoulders and he took it as a good sign that she
    was so conscious. Going back to the door, he locked it and drew the curtain aside enough for him to see the
    outside world.

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    Hunter’s Moon – Felicity Heaton
    The snow was falling fast now. It would have covered
    her tracks to his cabin, hiding them from the hunters.

    Was she one of them?

    Why was she naked?

    Rousing himself, he went into the kitchen and retrieved the medical box he always kept stashed underneath the
    sink. He brought it back into the lounge, picking up the bottle of whisky on his way past, and went to her where she was still laying motionless on the couch.

    He knelt down in front of her and swallowed hard.

    “I shouldn’t have come,” she said in a voice that was
    nothing more than a whisper.

    He could almost hear the pain in it. What was she talking about?

    “I’ve put you in danger.” She frowned this time, her
    eyes opening a little and her lips compressing as she
    braced herself. She must have been in agony.

    “The hunters? Did they do this to you? Did they…” he trailed off, not able to bring himself to mention the nude state she’d been in on his porch for fear that his
    thoughts would get stuck on the image of her that had
    been seared into his mind.

    He shifted into a more comfortable