He laughed. “And you’d be welcome to it. Just to see you warm and happy.”
The corner of her mouth turned up in a half smile.
“So how about it? Change into some warm clothes? I’ll make us some snacks.”
She sighed, giving in. She was still shaking from the encounter with the attackers, and even more so from the visions of the creature. The clean clothes, the food, it all sounded great. Especially the food. “Sounds wonderful. Okay. But… what about those guys? Shouldn’t we report it?”
“Haven’t we been through this already tonight?”
She felt angry and hopeless and shook her head. “I guess we have.”
“I’m sorry. I know this is tough.” He walked to his backpack and opened the top. Then he stopped and looked at her over his shoulder. “You’ll get through this, you know. You really amaze me, the way you’ve taken all this in stride, your bravery. I really admire you.”
She shook her head. “Well, we’ll see. Right now I don’t feel so admirable. I just feel scared.”
While Noah unpacked his backpack, Madeline changed in the small bedroom. She pulled on Noah’s clean clothes: a black and purple Capilene turtleneck that zipped up the front; black pile pants, the thin, soft material somehow amazingly warm thanks to the technology of synthetic fabrics; a thick black fleece jacket with a 200 rating-darn warm. She zipped up the jacket, pulled on a clean pair of Thorlos socks, and put on her boots, which were now almost dry. She was glad she’d kept her underwear on up on the mountain. Wearing Noah’s boxers would have been a little too much. The poor guy had already given up most of his wardrobe. But by tomorrow, her jeans and shirt Noah had saved would be completely dry.
As she finished dressing, he knocked on the door.
“Come in,” she said.
Noah entered, then leaned against the doorframe. “Looking good. Want me to check that bandage? You’ve bled through it.”
“Okay.” She looked at herself in the wall mirror. Blood had seeped through the white gauze, and she pulled the bandage aside. The cut on her head looked aggravated and red, the surrounding tissue a dark blue. An image of the tree trunk hurtling toward her head flashed through her mind.
Noah picked up the small bundle of bandages and first aid tape the EMT had given her and joined her by the mirror. He tore open one of the sterile packages. He removed the gauzy patch and gently placed it on her forehead. “Can you hold this in place?”
She reached up and pressed her fingers to the pad.
Quickly he tore off several strips of white first aid tape and affixed the bandage to her skin.
“It looks a lot better already,” he said. “Does it hurt much?”
She gazed at herself in the mirror. “Not really,” she lied, her head still throbbing dully.
“Let’s eat. I’ve got some cheese and crackers… not much, but it’s the only food we’ll find around here at this hour.”
“Sounds delicious.” And it did, too. After hiking, even the simplest food always tasted incomparably good. Cold processed lunchmeat on a flabby slice of white bread became a savory dinner cooked in a French bistro.
He paused at the bedroom door and motioned her through. As she passed him, she caught an alluring scent, along with something else-some indescribable connection-electricity in her stomach diving down to her toes and back up. She glanced back as he closed the door and caught him staring at her. Quickly, he averted his eyes.
From his backpack he’d pulled a small wheel of smoked gouda and some butter crackers in a plastic bag. Rummaging through the pack again, he pulled out a pocket knife. She wondered about the other knife that lay in the pack, the strange silver spike with the elaborate sheath. The temptation to ask him grew as he unfolded a blade and set the cheese on the small wooden table.
“Sorry,” he said with a sheepish grin. “It’s the best I can do.”
“Looks terrific.”
“If I’d known I’d be entertaining a beautiful woman, I’d have brought wine and made my special pasta with mushrooms and cream sauce.” He smiled, his eye contact intense.
“Well, if any beautiful women show up, we’ll just have to let them down gently.”
He laughed, shaking his head.
Instantly she regretted saying it, but having someone call her beautiful was so rare and strange. Usually they desperately tried to avoid her, except George, thankfully. But of course Noah didn’t know about her “gift” yet.
She watched as he leaned over the table, muscular arms slicing away at the cheese, strong hand working the knife, cropped blond hair giving way to his lean, tanned neck-
“Thick or thin?”
“Excuse me?”
“Do you like your slices thick or thin?”
“Either way.”
“Gosh, you’re so picky,” he said, grinning at her over his shoulder. “My clothes aren’t good enough, my cheese isn’t the right thickness. Give a guy a break once in a while.”
She laughed and walked over to the table, eager to nibble at the feast. He returned to slicing, and she peered over his shoulder longingly as he placed a slice on a broken cracker.
He turned his head slightly, inhaled. He stopped moving. “You smell good.”
She cocked an eyebrow.
“It’s the scent of your skin, your breath. You smell-” he leaned forward, breathing her in, “ambrosial.”
“Ambrosial?”
“Mmmmm.”
“Isn’t that what people eat to become Greek gods?”
“Hmm…” He looked down at her, his eyes sparkling. “Let’s find out.” He leaned forward, flexing his teeth, and she grinned and took a step back.
“Noah!” She stopped a few feet away, still facing him.
“How can I find out if you run?” Closing the distance between them again, he said, “Yes, ambrosial… as in delectable, savory, delicious.” His hand found hers, and a rush of excitement tingled through her at his touch.
“Cheese?” she asked suddenly, her old fear rushing into her. She wanted this part to last-this part where he didn’t know she was a freak, where he might just be able to enjoy her company.
His eyes widened, and he leaned back. “Cheese?”
“We were about to eat cheese.”
“We were?”
“With crackers.”
“I see. Well then.” He dropped her hand. “We’ll have to do that. I suddenly feel compelled.”
He turned back to the table and continued placing the slices on the broken crackers.
“Gouda. My favorite,” she said.
He regarded her schemingly out of the corner of his eye. “I’ll have to remember that.”
They ate in silence, hunger overtaking them. Madeline felt a little strange, too, wanting to stare at Noah but afraid of what might happen if she did. Teetering on the edge of a change, she feared it and wanted to lean back from the brink. Everything that had happened since she’d come to the mountain was so startling and amazing, even considering her already unusual life.
Noah glanced up from his crackers and met her gaze briefly, the green of his eyes eerily the same color as his sweater, almost glowing with intensity. She held his gaze for what felt like a full minute, a vague buzzing inside her creating a pleasant sensation as their eyes met. Then she returned her attention to the crackers.
They finished eating in silence, but the tension between them was so thick, Madeline could feel it hanging over the table like a mounting tropical storm. As she finished, she stood up, brushing crumbs off her shirt. Noah stood up, too, staring at her. He came closer, standing before her less than a foot away. She stood her ground, fighting off her desire to flee. He studied her face, his eyes so intense she couldn’t look away.
Then he stepped closer, mere inches away, so close Madeline could feel the heat from his body. Something in his eyes was so powerful she felt her heartbeat pick up, almost as if she anticipated danger.