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.

Beaten, bruised, skinny, frozen and hiding in a hay pile in his barn. Who the hell was this woman?

Liam wrapped her up tight in a thick quick before laying her upon the bear fur, close to the fire's warmth.

It was with a bit of annoyance that Liam realized he couldn't leave the cabin at all until she woke up. He didn't want her waking up and being terrified in strange surroundings.... He didn't like being cooped up.

Sighing with defeat, Liam strung her clothes up to dry before the fire and set about cooking breakfast. There wasn't any sense in gnawing on jerky all day when he had plenty of time to cook a good meal.

The scent of bacon frying teased Emma's senses and stirred her into consciousness. It had been a long time since her mama had cooked bacon. Where had her pa gotten the money for a hog?

Emma sank deeper into the fur and quilt she was bundled up in. Never in her life could she remember being so very warm.

Memories flashed through her mind. Supper burnt. Her father flying into a fit of rage. Her mother's death. The freezing cold as she had trekked down the mountain and the hay pile she'd buried herself inside.....

But it wasn't hay she was covered in now—and where were her clothes?

Opening her eyes just a crack, Emma saw a man standing at the other side of the one room cabin. He was tall and broad beneath his buckskin shirt tucked into pants of the same material.

He seemed to feel her eyes on him because he turned toward her. Emma swallowed hard. His skin was tanned from the sun. Messy brown hair fell across his brow and hung to the collar of his shirt. He had brown eyes and the unmistakable look of exactly what she'd been running from.

A mountain man.

"Nice to see you're finally awake."

Emma frowned. He didn't talk like any mountain person she knew.

"Not a real talkative person are you?" He shrugged. "Good, I don't like a lot of chit chat." He sat a plate of bacon on the table beside a heaping pile of potatoes and eggs. "Breakfast is ready."

Emma's mouth watered at the sight of so much food. Had he cooked it himself? Emma hadn't known that men knew how to do such things. Women's duties is what her pa would have called them.

"Can I..." Emma's voice trembled and she licked her lips. "I'm not dressed."

She was certain she saw color rise on his cheeks as he headed for the door. "I'll step out while you dress. Your clothes are hanging behind you. They were wet and half frozen so I had to remove them. I didn't do anything improper..." His jaw snapped closed as he seemed to realize he'd been rambling.

Without another word, he strode out the door and slammed it behind him.

Emma was quick to rise and yank her worn and tattered clothes on—mindful of the soreness in her back from being slammed against the wall so roughly the night before. She rushed clumsily through her task, not wanting the stranger to return and see her.

Then again, he'd already seen her bare of clothes.

Swallowing hard, Emma shoved her hair behind her ears and simply stood awkwardly upon the bear fur. She still was quite unsure if this man was friend or foe.

He lived very close to the mountain and dressed in skins like a mountain man—but he hadn't yelled or been cruel to her. He had even saved her life.

Emma stood there a long while, simply chewing her lip and staring at all that food. She was starving but she didn't dare touch it without permission.

The ma returned and frowned when he saw her standing where he'd left her. "Aren't you going to eat?"

"C...can I?"

The man tilted his head and studied her as if she were the strangest puzzle he'd ever seen. Then he shook his head and headed for the table. "I can't eat it all myself."

Emma stepped gingerly to the table, the pain in her back quite intense. She could feel his sharp gaze on her as she sat down across from him at the table.

Hesitantly, Emma placed one strip of bacon and a spoonful of eggs upon her plate. The man's brown eyes narrowed and his firm jaw tightened.

Had Emma done something wrong?

He reached out toward her and Emma whimpered as she ducked away.

"God almighty, lady," he grumbled as he grabbed several more strips of bacon and tossed them on her plate.

Emma's face heated and flamed red. "Thank ya, sir."

"Liam," he quickly amended before shoving a large forkful of eggs into his mouth.

Emma took a small bite of her own and realized he was staring at her expectantly. She frowned, unsure of what he wanted.

Liam seemed quite annoyed and Emma felt her own temper rise—though, she would never be foolish enough to be rude to a man.

"When someone tells you their name, it's custom to tell them your name back," Liam informed her.

"Emma," she quickly replied, eager to please him and avoid his anger.

Liam simply nodded and continued his meal in silence. Emma did the same.

The food was delicious but her stomach, unaccustomed to such large meals, could barely hold any at all. Her place was more than half full when she pushed it away.

Liam grunted his displeasure. "You need to eat more. You're skin and bones."

Emma couldn't explain the hurt in her gut at his insult. It wasn't her fault there had never been enough food.

Liam stood and began to clear the table. Emma opened her mouth to offer to help but was silenced when a voice rang out from outside.

"Liam McIntyre? It's Silas Hawke. I need to speak with you!"