Beautiful Stranger (Completed)

CH 2

Xavier

What was I doing? I was flirting. That was what I was doing. She was beautiful. Stunning even with the bruises on her face.

She was African-American with carmel skin and big honey brown eyes I kept finding myself getting lost in.

Her body was...amazing. She was all curves and toned. She had the body of a woman. A very attractive young woman. She looked early twenties but I knew she must have been older.

Whoever had hurt her, had messed her up pretty bad. The strange thing was that, she wasn't crying over it.

Granted, she had just woken up today. I had told her it had been three days but that wasn't true.

It had actually been a week. When I found her, she had been delirious with a really high fever. Honestly, she needed a hospital. But there was no way we could get to one with the weather outside.

We were in Colorado and this was probably one of the worst winters we had ever had. It had been snowing off and on for the past two weeks making travel impossible.

The phone lines were down because of the weather. Even my satellite phone wasn't working. We were on our own until the storm passed over and the snow started to melt.

It wasn't so bad because it also meant whoever she was running from wasn't going to find her in this weather. She was safe until she healed up. But she was safe anyway because I wasn't going to let anyone else hurt her.

"Time for bed." I told her after washing my hands in the bathroom. Her wounds were healing and her feet weren't as in bad of shape as I had initially thought. She just needed time and rest to fully recover.

"The more you rest, the better you will feel." I walked over to where she was sitting by the fire.

My husky, Henry, hadn't left her side since he found her. I had never seen him be so protective over anyone, let alone a stranger.

"I'm not really tired." She was patting Henry who had his head in her lap. "He's so sweet."

"Yeah, he's all bark and no bite." I got on my knees next to them, rubbing my dogs back.

Henry turned his head moving off her lap to lick my face. I smiled before he walked away to his bed. "He's like a big teddy bear." She said.

I smiled at her. I was starting to like her, whoever she was. "Can you help me get cleaned up?" She asked. "I just want to wash my hands and face."

"Yeah, of course." I moved towards her. "Put your arms around my neck."

She did as I picked her up.

I had bathed her the first night she got here. I had too. Her clothes were filthy and I needed to treat her wounds. I wasn't so sure what she'd say about that, so I hadn't mentioned it.

"Thank you..." she was washing her hands in the sink while I helped her lean against my body. "For treating my wounds and keeping me clean."

Our eyes met in the mirror. "You aren't bothered by the fact that I saw you naked?" I asked, wanting to gauge her reaction.

"You don't strike me as a pervert, so no."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "I could be hiding it."

"You could be but I don't think you are." She turned around and I picked her back up. "I saw a chess board. Would you like to play?"

"Yes, I would, very much so."

I carried her back to the sofa this time, laying her down. "Do you want anything else to eat? You barely ate anything besides the soup."