Selena didn't know how long she stood there, savoring his words, but she was startled from her daze by the same deep voice asking, "May I come in?"
Embarrassed by the realization that she had been blocking the doorway, Selena snapped her eyes down to the scuffed, wide planks of the cabin's floor. Shuffling back several steps, she cleared a space for the stranger to enter.
Without hesitation, Callinan crossed the room to the cabin's large, stone fireplace, moving aside the wooden chairs with a care that seemed like reverence.
It's like he's been here before, she thought.
Sliding a weathered rucksack off his shoulder, Callinan placed it on the floor beside him and, with one fluid motion, stripped away his black coat, draping it along the back of one of the chairs.
Kneeling to unfasten the bag, he withdrew a foil covered package, placing it carefully on the same chair.
The smell of roasted chicken immediately permeated the air, filling Selena with an instant and almost predatory hunger. She traced the fingers of her left hand over her rumbling stomach, hoping he could not hear.
He retrieved a candle from the windowsill and, though the taper burned low, used the dwindling light to inspect the chimney and open the damper, preparing for the fire.
The muscles in his forearms undulated as he untied the bundle of firewood – long, skilled fingers working apart the knot and gently laying aside the coarse rope with which it had been tied.
As she watched the effortless agility of his movements, Selena realized that she was gripping the edge of the still-open door for support.
She knew her eyes were wide as she took in the sight of him. Callinan Keane was the most striking man she had ever seen and, somehow, he was in her family's cabin, starting a fire.
Form-fitting jeans hugged the lines of his long legs and powerful thighs. Before that moment, she had never understood the appeal of admiring a man's ass. Round and perfectly contoured in dark denim, she admired his, as well as every other inch of his body that she could see.
A blue and white flannel shirt highlighted the tight taper of his waist, which broadened into a powerful chest. Open at the collar, the flannel revealed a white undershirt and the shadow of dark chest hair below his collarbone.
Glancing outside into the darkness, Selena felt a moment's hesitation. Cold night air streamed in through the open door, stimulating her mind and senses. She could smell the rain and hear the roll of encroaching thunder in the distance.
Much of what had occurred between them had been initiated by the stranger. Callinan had come to her twice in one night, and she had been too bewildered and shy to utter more than a few syllables.
She still did not know exactly how he had found her, how he knew her name or why he seemed so hauntingly familiar.
Selena realized that she could still run away, through the open door, into the night. She could flee to her car and drive back to the safety of her apartment, the familiarity of her job and the comfortable predictability of her life, never to return to the wild cabin in the woods.
Shutting the door to the cold night air would be her first clear act of acceptance. Callinan would now be in her home, at night, entirely by her choice. It would be up to her what came next.
Selena closed her eyes briefly, straightening her shoulders and blowing out a soft breath between her lips.
It only took the slightest push and the solid wooden door moaned gently to a close.
****
Selena turned her eyes back to Callinan, who seemed unaware of the decision that had been made behind him.
Recalling the box of matches she brought from her apartment and the twigs with which she fueled the wood burning stove, Selena dashed into the kitchen, fumbling in her purse for the matches and grabbing a handful of sticks before returning to the main room.
Drawing a slow, deep breath and swallowing hard, she approached him from behind, kneeling at his side. She held the matches and kindling in her hands, cupped and raised close to her chest, as if in supplication.
The floor was cold beneath her knees and a shiver ran through her body as their eyes met. Her tank top provided her with little warmth and she could feel the heat of his body, so close to her own.
Selena saw in his expressive eyes that she was not alone in her longing, as the dying candle light cast them into deepening shadow.
"Don't be afraid," she heard him utter.
She felt his hands close around her own. His skin was firm, and smooth - almost hot to the touch.
"It won't be long now," he whispered.
Selena saw a flash of lightening outside the window as rain began to patter the glass.
Taking the twigs and matches from her hands, he disbursed the tinder and lit the flame, watching carefully as the small twigs ignited and fire began to crackle throughout.
He stood quickly and, before she could utter a protest, he pulled his coat from the nearby chair, wrapping it around her shoulders.
"You must eat, Selena. It was brave of you to come, but you aren't fully prepared. You'll need meat to keep up your strength."
Kneeling beside her, Callinan placed the foil-wrapped chicken in front of Selena.
"Are there dishes in the...?"
Before he could finish his sentence, Selena had torn open the foil. Overtaken with voracious hunger, the smell of the meat had been too much.
Using her fingers, she tore into the whole roast chicken, ripping it apart, picking out the dark meat first. Juice and fat covered her fingers, dripping on to the foil below.
As the pile of chicken bones accumulated in front of her, something caught her attention.
A faded, cornflower blue, kitchen towel dangled from Callinan's hand, just within her reach.
"I got it from the kitchen a few minutes ago. You seemed...occupied."
Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she apprehensively raised her eyes to meet his.
There was no judgement in his bemused expression and his eyes sparkled, as if he knew a joke she did not.
He hunkered down beside her, placing the towel in her hand. "Next time, I'll bring more chicken," he murmured, with a slight chuckle.
"I'm so....sorry," came her whispered reply. Selena looked down at decimated chicken scraps, before continuing, "I really don't know what came over me."
"I think I do," he responded, sitting down on the floor beside her. "What brought you back to this cabin, Selena? It's been a long time."
She did not reply immediately, turning over her thoughts as she wiped the chicken from her hands and lips.
When she finally spoke, her voice was soft, but resolved, "How do you know I've been here before, Callinan? How do you know my name or anything about my life? I need to know what's going on."
"Yes, you do," Callinan replied, with a slight nod. "You're...," he paused, assessing the fire, before continuing, "I knew your grandmother. We all did."
"We are in the middle of nowhere, Callinan. Who is 'we'?"
"It wasn't nowhere, then. This was a community, Selena. She helped us...the sick...the hungry. She protected people."
Callinan reached out, touching her face, running his thumb from her cheekbone to her jaw, then tilting her chin up to meet the intensity of his gaze. He studied her irises and face closely, his expression was both tender and earnest.
"I think you might have her strength, Selena. Now tell me why you came here tonight."
Her breath caught in her throat as the wind from the mounting storm howled in the chimney.
"I felt restless. I had dreams of...something...in the woods...," she trailed off, uncertain of how much to confess to a man she barely knew.
"Do you think you'll find it here?" he asked, his bewitching blue eyes searching hers, as if looking for a sign.
Without giving her a chance to respond, he brushed his lips against hers. Instinctively, she parted her lips, inviting him to kiss her deeper, moaning softly as he did.
She reached up, twining her fingers into his hair and pulling his mouth to her neck as his coat slipped from her shoulders. Her own boldness would have shocked her, had he not met her unspoken request with an enthusiasm that matched her own.
The stubble on his jaw brushed against her skin and she felt heat begin to pool between her thighs. Selena inhaled his warm, musky fragrance and felt a familiar tingle began to course through her veins.
Lost in the shivering sensation, she rose to her knees, grabbing his waist and pushing herself up to straddle him.
She was beyond rational thought and Callinan seemed to welcome every moment.
Continuing to savor his kisses along her neck, she reached beneath his shirt, tracing her fingers along his defined abdominal muscles - rippling under her fingers as he supported her weight on his lap.
What are you doing, Selena? This isn't you, she thought.
Selena's head buzzed as she grabbed onto his hips, grinding her heat against his taunt body. The sound of her own panting breath filled the air as the fire crackled beside them.
She thought she could hear the pulse of blood in his veins and the smell of him drove her on, pushing her sex against his growing hardness.
His hands moved to her lower back, pressing her body against him, as his lips moved back to her own.
Selena slipped a hand from his waist, reaching for the rough rope he had set aside.
You must stop, Selena, she reproached herself.
"Don't stop, Selena," Callinan murmured against her mouth, as the wind moaned against the window panes.
He ran his fingers up her back to the straps of her tank top, tugging them down over her shoulders. An exquisite tension built between her thighs, urging her past the point of no return, as her fingers closed around the rope.
Visions of the countless ways to utilize the rope on a lover flashed through her mind, many of which would have stunned her that very morning. But before she could devise her plan, a devastating crash of thunder shook her from her trance.
Her eyes fluttered open and she regained awareness of her surroundings, gasping in a breath as Callinan continued his sensual conquest of her mouth.
Wrestling against the ache that pulsed from her core to her chest, she pulled back from Callinan's kiss.
"I can't do this. I..I don't know what's happening to me." Placing her hands against his muscular shoulders, she pushed her body from his, falling backwards onto her bottom.
He did not try to stop her, but met her eyes with a stare of unabashed desire.
Increasingly embarrassed by her own shameless behavior, Selena felt hot tears burn at the back of her eyes. Panic rose in her chest and she looked around frantically to avoid his gaze.
"I'm sorry...you have to go. This isn't me."
"It's ok, Selena. I understand. Please don't be afraid." His soothing voice only increased her feelings of self-reproach.
Shaking her head as her lower lip trembled, she struggled not to cry.
Looking over her shoulder, she saw the stairs to the upper level. Before he could stop her, she ran for the stairs, scrambling up to the second story.
Callinan heard the soft sound of her steps as she ran for the nearest door, slamming it behind her, and sinking her weight onto the cold hard floor.
.