Love Her Softly

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Liam was awake with the dawn. He had checked and reset all his traps the day before to free himself today. Today he had plans of hunting and combing that mountains over for a black stallion he'd seen glimpses of over the years. The giant beast was a beauty of a horse but it had so far eluded capture for four years.

Liam was hoping today would be the day its luck would run out. A horse as nice as that one would fetch a fine price.

He shoved several bites of jerked venison into his mouth, adjusted his fur lined cap and headed out into the cold. He made his way through the snow and pulled open the creaking barn door.

"Good morning, ladies," he greeted the two mares and cow inside.

They weren't very talkative in response but Liam didn't mind. He was a solitary man and liked it that way. Conversation just wasn't for him. He only had a handful of friends and didn't see them too often. They knew he liked his privacy.

Liam busted the ice that had formed on top of their water troughs and refilled their feed bins. He patted his favorite mare's neck. "Honey, I believe I'll let you eat before we head out for the day."

Liam stepped into the spare stall where he stored hay, straw and oats. Bending down, he grabbed up some hey—then yelled in shock, leapt away and dropped the hay to the ground.

He sure as hell hadn't been expecting to see an arm! He was a twenty-seven year old man and had been living out here alone for eleven years and this was certainly a first.

Liam stepped back toward the hay pile and used his hands to quickly uncover the body. It was a young woman with porcelain skin and midnight hair. A large angry welted bruise marred her jaw and her full lips were nearly purple.

Was she dead?

"Ma'am?" he called, nudging her gently in the shoulder.

Liam was relieved when she groaned in protest even though she didn't regain consciousness. He pulled of his glove and laid his bare hand against her face.

He hissed as he jerked his hand away. The woman was damn near frozen solid. It looked like finding that black horse was going to have to wait.

Heaving a sigh, Liam stooped down and lifted the limp woman into his arms. She was light as a feather and he realized she was quite scrawny beneath that oversized, threadbare wool coat full of holes—starvation scrawny.

Where in the hell had she come from?

Liam carried her into his cabin and laid her on the bed. He went to the fire and stoked it up, tossing on several more logs to add more warmth to the air. Town was a good two hour ride away in this weather and she'd likely freeze to death if he tried to take her now.

Looked like he'd have a damn house guest a while. He'd warm her up, get her awake, feed her and then get her wherever it was she'd been heading before she'd ended up in his barn.

Liam spread his bear fur on the floor and returned to the bed. The woman's clothes were wet and would only kill her faster if she kept them on.

He swiftly undressed her, doing his level best to be a decent man and avoid letting his gaze linger on her bare body. He couldn't help but notice several bruises—some old and some recent—and her bones were clearly visible, jutting against her skin.