[M] Wild seduction (1/2)

Chapter 7The next morning Kai drove her uphill and far into to wilderness. At least that was her impression as she looked out on the surrounding scenery along the narrow road they were driving on. She had never ventured this far away from a shopping centre in her life. The road was barely drivable at some places and she wondered how anyone would want to stay at this cottage at all. No, hunting lodge. Anyway, what was it for? Shooting wild animals for pleasure? Or kill them before they ate you? A howl was heard as in perfect alignment with her thoughts. She shivered.

"What was that?" she asked suspiciously.

"Just one of the wolves," Kai replied calmly.

"Wolves? Are there wolves here? Do they eat people?" Krystal looked around suspiciously.

She had never liked wild animals, and she had no intention of starting now.

"Don't think so, but you never know," he said and winked at her. Actually winked - he must be enjoying this, she thought glumly. The jerk. The howl came again. She shrank back from the window. Would not look out in case she would see something she didn't want to have any close contact with. She moved closer to Kai. He was a complete asshole but right now he was human and close. That balanced out all his other bad qualities.***

"Here we are," he finally said and drove up to a collection of wood, sheds and something that could resemble a house -- on a good day. "Let me show you around," he said and almost leaped out of the car. She could barely contain her excitement, but crawled after, looking nervously around for the noisy wolf.

"Don't worry," Kai said. "It's only a bachelor looking for a mate. Not a meal."

She shrugged her shoulders. As if that gave her any relief. "I'm sure he would have to eat once in while as well," she murmured ironically.

Kai showed her the place, pointing out adjustments that needed to be done. It didn't look quite as bad from the inside. Still, she already longed for the comforts of her temporary apartment. Here, water and electricity was lacking, which meant chopping wood and carrying water to ensure some standards. Damn, just what she had feared. A primitive life and back to the basic way of living. How annoying. Most of the work consisted in cleaning - of course - and some painting of walls and furniture. Some hunting friends of Kai would be visiting later in the autumn and he said he wanted the place sharpened up a bit.

"Go and get some water, will you?" Kai was running around eager as a pup. She was shaking her head. Where was the upper class and stiff-lipped boss she was used to? He must have been left behind at the office. This fellow was cheerful and seemed almost happy -- despite the harsh environment. She stumbled over a root, falling face first into some muddy soil.

"Damn," she shrieked and gave the culprit a hard kick.

Luckily she didn't bring her designer clothes along. One of the office girls had been nice enough to lend her some hiking boots and matching clothes. Warm clothes. She thanked her now, although she was not sure what all the layers were for. It could never be that cold, she hoped. And the wool was terrible. She was itching just thinking about it, so she had left the wool in her suitcase. Finally locating the river, she threw the bucket into the stream, and barely managed to hold on to the rope as the bucket filled with water and continued downstream much faster than she had anticipated. The stream was quite strong. Damn, that was probably really stupid of her, but finally she managed to pull the bucket close to shore again. Gasping and breathing heavily she tried lifting the thing. Nothing happened. Again. Still no movement. Oh, for God's sake, she thought.

"Kai," she yelled loudly.

"What?" he stopped a few feet away. "What happened to you?" He looked her up and down grinning at the muddy patches on her clothes. "Have you taken a mud bath or something? I suppose it's good for the complexion, right?"

"Very funny. Why don't you help me with this instead?" Krystal said, pointing at the bucket floating around along the rivers edge.

"What? Can't milady carry her own water? Pour out some of it and try again, city girl," he said before turning and walking back to the lodge. She ground her teeth together. The creep annoyed her. No manners, no breeding, she thought.

***

10 half-filled buckets later and she had managed to fill the water tank in the lodge. She was exhausted and sank into a chair. This was not working, she thought. It was pure exhaustion or torture. She was definitely not up to this task and Kai must have known that all along. That was surely why he had given her a task she was bound to mess up. It must also be an added bonus that it would keep her far away from both him and the office.

Damn, she should have thought about this earlier. There was no way she could do anything useful about her assignment from this place. She had to come up with some ideas so that she didn't get stuck up here in the mountain for the rest of the month -- waving goodbye to that promotion she had wanted and worked so hard for. Clearing up this place would definitely not be done in a few days, more like weeks. And she would not spend one more day out here in the wilderness. No, Kai had to be persuaded somehow, but how?

Perhaps she should just bash him over the head and leave him to do the cleaning? Good idea, but how would she find her way back? The roads around here were not exactly littered with road signs. Okay, so she would have to bring the creep as well -- preferably bound and blindfolded. So, it was on to the next plan then. If only she had one.

At the same time Kai came trampling through the door, carrying a large pile of wood in his arms. The pile was so large it would surely have knocked her to the ground quite easily if she had attempted the same stunt. Nice muscles, she thought while admiring his arms and the ease with which he moved around and stashed the wood in the box next to the fire. She continued staring at him as he moved around the lodge. She had been right in her assumption that this man was definitely at ease out here in the wilderness.

Right now it was difficult to imagine the sharp suit-wearing and smooth-looking boss from the day before. His jeans looked worn and the wool sweater looked much more comfortable than she knew it really was. Every item was glued onto a well-kept body and glorified each body part she had a clear recollection of having seen. He looked incredibly manly and as if he could take on the whole world and always end up on top. Finally he seemed to be tired of her staring and looked her way.

"What is this, Miss Laziness? Get to work. There's a lot to be done before dark. With this speed I will not make it downhill before darkness falls."