Free Catching Red by Tara Quan

significant satisfaction. “So why is this happening to me?”
    There was a devilish gleam in his eyes. “You’re smart enough to guess I’ve seen you naked.”
    She frowned. “Of course you have. When I woke up, I smelled like I had taken a dozen baths and was wearing dry clothes. You couldn’t have accomplished it without taking my gear off.”
    Even as her mind dismissed the obvious conclusion as inconsequential, her body reacted to the reminder in an odd manner. Her mouth went dry. Her stomach flipped.
    She forgot to breathe when he trailed his finger from the sensitive spot behind her ear down the slope of her neck. “Am I the first man who has seen you without your clothes on?”
    He was the first man to see her, period. Despite living outside the compound for seven years, she had managed to maintain a safe distance from all men. The few she spotted on her scouting missions posed a greater threat than the undead.
    Life in the wastelands required a ruthlessness that favored the depraved. Those who attracted the attention of other nomads lost their lives more often than not. Time and again she watched from the shadows as groups of bandits wreaked havoc on travelers and small settlements, knowing her only chance at seeing the next morning lay in being unheard and unseen. Fearing men had been too integral a part of her indoctrination to ignore, and she was certain her ingrained wariness of the other sex had helped her survive.
    Yet she was lying next to a man—had been at his mercy for the past five days—and not once had she felt afraid. She licked her lips and avoided his question. “Why does it matter?”
    “It explains why you have no clue what’s happening.” He swung his legs onto the bed.
    She diverted her attention to his bare feet. “Your toes are turning blue.”
    He pulled the blanket out from under them and covered their lower bodies. “On an instinctive level, you recognize the way I look at you—the way I touch you—as indications of interest.”
    She rested her head on the pillow and looked into his eyes. “Interest in what?”
    He caught her chin and ran his thumb over her lower lip. Her heart pounded as she absorbed the warmth emanating from his much larger body. “In something you’re not quite ready for. You don’t need to play dumb. I’m a patient man. I can wait for you to think things through.”
    She raised her hands to his chest to maintain what was left of the distance between them. “And until then?”
    He spanned her lower back and plastered her body against his. “I’ll keep you safe. I’ll keep you warm.” His head tilted forward. Their foreheads touched. “I’ll chase the monsters from your dreams.”
    She clenched her fingers over his shirt as she fought the talons of fear. He had just given voice to everything she didn’t dare admit she needed. “And if what I decide isn’t what you want?”
    His smile was slow, lazy, and filled with confidence. “It will be.”

Chapter 5
    “You know how to ride.” Marcus’ familiar voice held a hint of approval. The horse whinnied in response to its owner’s remark and curved its neck in his direction. Adjusting to the movement, Scarlet nudged it with her leg to make it do a complete turn. Keeping her hands on the mane, she looked down to meet her savior’s sky-blue gaze. Her heart skipped a beat.
    His cheeks and nose were red from the cold. He must have been watching her for quite a while. He was leaning against a tree with his arms folded. Clumps of white gathered in the creases of his worn leather jacket. His boots’ thick dark soles sank a good distance into the powdered ground. Flakes of snow continued to drift onto his pale blond head. The storm had ebbed, but dark gray clouds portended its return. This was a brief respite, not the blizzard’s end.
    His gaze raked her from head to toe, lingering at her slumped shoulders and shaking hands. She was stronger but far from full strength. His brows drew almost