The large male creature, whatever he was, put a lot of distance between her and the two men they'd left behind. Casey was being kidnapped. She was afraid he would drop her as he moved at that rapid pace and exhausted himself hauling her extra weight, but he didn't slow down at all. Whatever he was, he was damn strong, since he seemed to be able to run for miles.

Harsh breathing was the only indication that carrying her was difficult for him.

They finally slowed to a walk as the sound of water reached her ears. She lifted her head, shoving at her hair to get it out of her face. She looked around at the world upside down. A large rock formation stood to the left with the river ahead. Casey suddenly knew exactly where they were on her property but it was almost on the border of one of her neighbors. A forty-foot waterfall hid a small cave behind the flowing water. She knew the place well. It was one of her favorite places to swim.

The man stopped to sniff the air as he studied the area. Slowly bending over, he loosened his arm around the back of her legs as his other hand braced her back as he put her down. She was totally released as he straightened up.

Casey stared up at the man, speechless. His hand clamped down on her wrist and his head jerked toward the water. She turned to glance at the highest point of the river, noticing the water cascading down into the narrower river flow below the drop. The hand on her wrist squeezed gently to draw her attention to him.

"You want me to walk for the water?"

He nodded.

"You really can't talk?"

He shook his head.

Her heart pounded in her chest. "Shit. You can't say words, can you? But you understand me?"

He gave a nod. He motioned his head in the direction of the water again.

Casey took a deep breath before turning to walk for the river. He kept hold of her wrist, moving next to her down to the water's edge. She stopped to look up at him and noticed again that he was a huge son of a bitch. He had to be six foot five or six foot six.

"I could use a drink." She tugged on her wrist.

He frowned, shaking his head, pointing to the waterfall. She followed his finger.

Frowning back, she met his exceptional eyes. She wasn't sure what he wanted her to do.

Irritation crossed his features. With a hard jerk her body abruptly collided with his much larger one. Before she could protest she ended up back in his arms. He lifted her against his chest so that she was cradled in his arms and walked into the water carrying her toward the waterfall.

Apprehension filled Casey. Was he going to drown her? She wrapped her arms tight around his neck as the water got really deep. He continued forward until the water touched her chin before stopping. Their gazes locked as he released her legs. Her body started to float away from his in the current and would have except that they still held on to each other. She eased her hold to grip his shoulders. They were at face level with only inches between their noses.

Casey studied his features curiously. This was the closest she'd gotten to his face. He was handsome. Tan skin covered his strong masculine bones. His full lips looked a little pouty making them appear sexy. The shape of his nose was strange but somehow it looked good on him. It made her want to run her fingers over it. From the tiny lines by his eyes she pegged him in his mid thirties, just a few years older than she. Her gaze met his again. He studied her with curiosity too. She saw it sparkling in his extraordinary eyes.

He pointed to the waterfall. Her gaze followed his finger before she looked back at him.

He growled at her in that soft tone she was starting to think was sexy.

"You want me to swim for the waterfall?"

He nodded.

"Why?"

Irritation flashed again on his face. He brought his free hand up to make a claw of it, motioning with it. He pointed to the waterfall and everything fell into place for Casey.

"You know about the cave behind it, don't you? Do you want us swim there to climb into the cave?"

He nodded. The frustration faded from his features and his arm around her back loosened.

He jerked his head toward the waterfall before he looked back at the embankment. He growled, trying to communicate something to her so she glanced at the woods. He must be worried about the deputies following them. No one knew about the cave so Casey wondered how this guy had discovered it. He released her completely so she could make her way across the river where he wanted her to go.

Her clothes were heavy as she swam. Casey didn't want to be found either. Getting arrested wasn't on her list of things she ever wanted to do again. She paddled against the current heading for the waterfall. The river got deep enough that the bottom was untouchable for him so he swam close behind her. The worst part about going to the cave was swimming under the pounding waterfall that tore at her clothing and tried to push her deep under the surface. Relief hit her when she cleared the heavy curtain of water to reach the other side.

It was dim behind the screen of water but she could see well enough to make out the area around her. Clawing at the rocks, she started to climb out of the water toward the cave about four feet over her head. The stranger surfaced from under the waterfall as she crawled into the rocky cave. It wasn't very big but it was drier about five feet or so inside. She scrambled away from the wet ledge to make room. She sat on her ass to watch as the guy followed her deeper into the cave. His attention focused on Casey.

With his wet hair plastered back she got another good look at his face. He had humanlike features but his nose was definitely wrong and the thick-lipped mouth was wrong too. In the darkened cave his eyes looked eerie as they seemed to glow in the dim light.

He pointed behind her so she turned, taking a good look at the interior of the cave.

Surprise struck her. She hadn't been in the cave in months. There was a sleeping bag spread out along the back wall with a backpack next to it. None of that had been there on her last visit.