Chapter 1
On the day we were getting our marriage license, Cohen Hale, my boyfriend and search-and-rescue captain, left me stranded deep in the wilderness to save his first love's cat.
Cohen said, "Stay put. Runa spooks easily. I need to get her down the mountain first."
Darkness fell. Disoriented and alone, I missed my footing and tumbled into a hunting pit lined with thorns.
At my breaking point, a man dropped down into the pit. The metallic scent of blood clung to his skin.
In that tight, dark space, with the storm crashing overhead, the atmosphere grew charged with something raw and electric.
The man tore open his shirt to bandage my wounds, and his hot palm found its way to my waist. "Don't you think you owe me something a little more physical?"
By the time Cohen finally came back for me, the red scratches on the man's neck and the dark purple mark on my collarbone were impossible to miss.
*****
A powerful flashlight beam cut wildly through the rain-soaked woods.
Cohen's ragged voice echoed from above the pit. "Molly. Molly, where are you?"
I leaned back against the damp dirt wall, staring up at the blinding light. The last ember of feeling inside me burned out completely.
He had came too late.
It had been ten full hours since he ditched me to escort Runa down the mountain.
Howard Frost stood beside me, having just finished treating the venomous snake bite on my calf.
His black windbreaker was now draped over my shoulders.
I calmly handed him the branch I'd been using to secure the splint.
Cohen leaned halfway over the pit's edge.
He finally got a clear look at what was going on below.
The flashlight beam pinned itself to Howard's neck.
Three fresh scratch marks scored his skin. I'd dug my nails into him when the pain became unbearable.
And below my disheveled collar, a dark reddish-purple mark blazed against my skin.
That was the mark Howard left behind after sucking the venom.
Cohen's face went from ashen to livid in the beam of light.
He braced himself against the edge with one hand, his voice tight with barely contained rage. "Molly, who the hell is he? What did you two do down there?"
The rescue crew behind him exchanged uncomfortable glances.
The awkwardness in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife.
I didn't even bat an eye.
I reached down and ripped open my pant leg, shredded by thorns.
The bone-deep gash was still oozing dark blood.
The moment Cohen's eyes landed on the wound, his pupils contracted. "Molly, your leg..."
Howard snorted with a smirk.
He bent his knees and launched himself up from the bottom of the six-foot pit.
He towered over Cohen. "Captain Hale, you're late. Another thirty minutes untreated, and she'd be losing that leg."
Cohen's face darkened at the barb.
He moved to jump down and pull me out. "Let me get you up. We're going to the hospital right now."
Howard stepped forward, his broad back blocking Cohen's way at the mouth of the pit.
He grabbed Cohen by the collar. "She's my client now. Touch her, and you'll regret it."
Two tall men faced off in the pouring rain. The tension between them flared.
Cohen's second-in-command rushed in to pull them apart. "Cohen, chill out. Saving her is the priority right now."
I gripped the rope Howard had left behind and forced myself upright. A jolt of pain tore through my leg, and I sucked in a sharp breath.
"Cohen. Pull me up." My voice came out eerily calm
Cohen shoved Howard aside and bent down, hand outstretched.
He tried to explain. "Molly, Runa was in a bad way. Her cat was—"
I cut him off, "Save it."
Using the pull of the rope, I hauled myself out of the pit, ignoring Cohen's hand.
I turned and walked straight to Howard, letting my full weight fall against him.
I looked at Cohen, the man I'd loved for five years. "Cohen, we're done."
He stood frozen, rainwater dripping from his jaw. "Are you insane? Stop acting out."
I pulled the sodden paper from my pocket. The confirmation for our courthouse wedding.
Right in front of Cohen, I tore it in half and let the pieces fall into the mud. "The city hall appointment. I canceled it."
I turned to Howard. "Take me to the hospital. My hero."