GARRETT (Heart River Valley: Montana Protectors #2)

Chapter 8

Garrett

T he cold air burns my lungs as I step outside, watching her figure grow smaller against the white landscape. My hands clench and unclench at my sides, fighting the urge to go after her. To explain. To beg her to understand.

But maybe this is better. Cleaner. A clean break hurts less in the long run - right? Better to walk away now than to risk heartbreak. Better to leave before Rachel becomes as essential as breathing.

Except she already is.

The thought hits me like a physical blow. When did this stubborn, brilliant woman work her way so deep under my skin? When did her smile become the best part of my day? When did-

Her scream splits the air.

I’m running before my brain can process what I heard, boots pounding against packed snow. The cold wind tears at my face but I barely feel it. All I can think is: not again not again not again.

The cracked ice tells the story in jagged lines. The dark hole in the middle speaks of absence.

“RACHEL!”

The river. The current. She’ll be swept downstream under the ice. My heart pounds so hard I can barely think, but my body moves on autopilot. I sprint along the bank, scanning the ice for movement.

There - a flash of movement under the surface. My blood turns to ice in my veins.

Not again. She’s my everything - I can’t lose her.

The thought barely registers as I run ahead of where I saw her, dropping to my knees. My fist slams into the ice, again and again. Pain shoots up my arm but I barely feel it. Blood smears across the white surface but I keep punching, making the hole bigger. My knuckles are raw, probably broken, but none of that matters.

The hole is barely big enough when I plunge my arms into the water. The cold is like knives, but I reach deeper, straining.

Something brushes my fingertips.

I grab hold and pull with everything I have, hauling her limp body through the hole. She gasps for breath. Her lips are blue. She looks at me, and then her eyes roll back.

“Don’t you dare,” I growl, lifting her in my arms. “Don’t you dare leave me.”

The cabin seems miles away but I run anyway, cradling her against my chest. Inside, I strip off her wet clothes with shaking hands, wrap her in every blanket I can find. I rub her arms, her legs, trying to warm her slowly like I learned in wilderness training.

“Come on, baby. Come back to me.”

Her eyes flutter open, unfocused.

“Garrett?”

The sound of my name on her blue-tinged lips breaks something inside me. All my careful walls crumble to dust.

“I thought I lost you.” My voice is rough, raw. “When I saw you under that ice, I- God, Rachel. I can’t lose you. I can’t lose someone I love again.”

Her eyes widen slightly. “Love?”

“Yes, damn it. I love you. I’ve been fighting it because I’m terrified of getting hurt again, but watching you trapped under that ice...” I pull her closer, pressing my face into her damp hair. “I don’t want to leave. I don’t want Colorado or any other job if it means being away from you. You’re home to me now. You’re everything.”

Her cold fingers touch my cheek. “You’re bleeding.”

“Worth it.” I catch her hand, press a kiss to her palm. “Everything’s worth it if it means keeping you.”

“Stay,” she whispers, and it sounds like a prayer. “Stay with me.”

I gather her closer, feeling her shiver against me. “I love you, Rachel. I’m not going anywhere.”

She burrows deeper into the blankets, her body still trembling but her eyes clearer now. “Good. Because I love you too, you stubborn idiot. Even if your timing seriously needs work.”

I laugh, the sound rough with relief. “My timing?”

“Couldn’t you have figured this out before I had to fall through the ice? A nice dinner conversation maybe? Or even a dramatic kiss in the snow?”

“You’re the one who decided to go ice skating without skates.”

“I was making a point.”

“About what? How good I look playing the hero?”

She tries to glare but can’t quite manage it. “About how much I hate goodbyes. Although I have to admit...” Her lips curve into a weak smile. “The whole carrying me to safety thing was pretty hot. Even if I was mostly unconscious for it.”

I press my forehead to hers, breathing her in. “How about we skip the near-death experiences from now on?”

“Deal.” She shivers again. “Although right now I wouldn’t mind if you did that body heat sharing thing they talk about in survival guides.”

“That’s a very unsubtle way of asking me to get under these blankets with you.”

“Are you complaining?”

I’m already kicking off my boots. “Not even a little bit.”

She curls into me as I slide under the blankets, her cold nose pressing against my neck. “For the record,” she murmurs, “I vote we stick to getting steamy in less literal ways from now on.”

I press a kiss to her forehead, her cheek, finally her lips. “Whatever you want, baby.”

I kiss her slowly at first, needing to feel her alive, warm, here. Her lips are cold, but they soften against mine, parting on a shaky breath.

“You’re freezing,” I murmur, rubbing my hands over her arms, down her back, feeling the way she shudders against me.

“Not for long,” she whispers, her voice a challenge, a promise.

I groan, the sound pulled from somewhere deep in my chest. My hands tighten around her hips, dragging her flush against me. She gasps, but she doesn’t pull away. No, she presses closer, her cold fingers tracing the ridges of my stomach, her touch like fire against my too-hot skin.

Something snaps inside me.

I roll her beneath me in a single movement, the blankets tangling around us. My hands bracket her face, my mouth taking hers in a kiss that’s nothing like the soft, careful ones before. This is raw, claiming, desperate.

Her fingers curl into my hair, nails scraping lightly over my scalp as she arches into me, like she wants to crawl inside my skin, like she needs this as badly as I do.

“You almost died,” I growl against her lips, my hands moving over her body, feeling her, grounding myself in her warmth.

“But I didn’t,” she breathes, eyes locked on mine. “I’m right here.”

Right here. And she’s mine.

I strip the last of the blankets away, pressing my body over hers, letting her feel exactly how much I want her. A shudder racks through her, but this time, it has nothing to do with the cold.

“Garrett,” she gasps as my mouth moves down her neck, my teeth scraping over the delicate skin there. I need to mark her, to brand her, to remind myself that she’s here, alive, mine.

I worship every inch of her, my hands and mouth relentless, my body shaking with the force of everything I feel. Because this isn’t just need. This isn’t just sex.

This is her.

Rachel.

The only woman who’s ever made me feel like this, who’s ever made me want more.

I spread her legs wider, settling between them, my mouth hovering just above where she’s already wet and aching for me. Her breath hitches, fingers twisting in the sheets as I trail slow, teasing kisses up the inside of her thighs.

“Garrett, please,” she whimpers, her hips shifting, desperate for more.

I smirk against her skin. “Patience, baby. I’m going to take my time with you.”

And I do.

I press a soft kiss to her center, then another, inhaling the sweet, intoxicating scent of her. My tongue flicks out, tasting her, and she jerks, a soft gasp spilling from her lips.

I groan, gripping her thighs and spreading her open wider, baring her completely to me. “So perfect,” I rasp before diving in.

She cries out, her back arching as I lick, suck, and tease, my tongue flicking over her sensitive bud before sliding lower, plunging inside her. She’s so wet, so warm, and the way she responds—grinding against my mouth, moaning my name—only makes me hungrier.

I suck her clit between my lips, flicking my tongue over it in slow, deliberate circles. Her thighs tremble, her breath coming in ragged pants, her hands flying to my hair, tugging hard as she gets closer.

“Garrett—oh God, I—”

I press two fingers into her, curling them just right, stroking that spot inside her that makes her fall apart.

“That’s it,” I growl, pumping my fingers in and out, my tongue working her faster. “Come for me, baby.”

She shatters, her entire body going taut as a strangled moan rips from her throat. I keep going, lapping up everything she gives me, drawing out her pleasure until she’s trembling, until she’s gasping my name like a prayer.

Only then do I pull back, my mouth glistening with her arousal, my cock so painfully hard I can barely think straight.

I crawl up her body, kissing her deeply, letting her taste herself on my lips. “Now,” I rasp, pressing against her, sliding my cock along her slick heat. “I’m going to make you mine.”

Her nails dig into my shoulders as she wraps her legs around my waist, pulling me in, her eyes dark and pleading. “Do it.”

I thrust into her in one slow, deep stroke, and we both moan at the sensation. She’s so tight, so perfect, gripping me like she never wants to let go.

“Jesus, Rachel,” I grind out, my forehead pressing against hers. “You feel like fucking heaven.”

I start moving, slow at first, letting her feel every inch of me stretching her, filling her. Her hips lift, meeting my thrusts, her breathy moans driving me insane.

“You feel that?” I growl, my lips brushing her ear. “This is mine. You’re mine.”

“Yes,” she gasps, raking her nails down my back.

I grip the headboard for leverage, thrusting harder, faster, the sound of skin meeting skin filling the room. She’s close—I can feel it in the way her body tightens, in the way her breath catches.

But I’m not done with her yet.

I pull out suddenly, flipping her onto her stomach before she can protest. She gasps as I grip her hips, dragging her up onto her knees, her back arching, her ass high in the air.

“Garrett—”

I yank her back against me, my cock sliding between her soaked folds before I thrust deep, burying myself inside her again. She cries out, her fingers clenching the sheets as I set a brutal pace, fucking her hard and deep, claiming every inch of her.

“You like this, baby?” I growl, fisting her hair and tugging her head back so she has no choice but to take everything I give her.

“Yes,” she sobs, her body shuddering with pleasure.

I slap her ass, loving the way she clenches around me. “Say it.”

“I love it,” she gasps. “I love how you take me.”

I grip her hips, pounding into her, feeling her tighten, knowing she’s right there on the edge again. I slide a hand beneath her, finding her clit, rubbing tight circles as I thrust even harder.

“Come for me,” I growl, yanking her head back again, my lips brushing her ear. “Let me feel you.”

She screams my name as she explodes around me, her body convulsing, gripping me like a vice.

The feel of her coming apart, the sound of her moaning for me, the way she’s completely, utterly mine—it pushes me over the edge.

I thrust once, twice more, then bury myself as deep as I can, spilling inside her with a guttural groan.

For a long moment, there’s nothing but the sound of our ragged breathing, our bodies tangled together, both of us completely wrecked.

I ease her down onto the bed, still inside her, pressing kisses along her shoulder.

“Think you can be convinced to stay?” she murmurs sleepily.

I chuckle, shifting so I can slide deeper into her again, already hardening.

“I think I was always yours, Rachel,” I murmur, nipping at her neck. “I was just too damn stupid to see it.”

She sighs happily, pressing back against me. “I love hearing that.”

I grin. “Good,” I whisper. “Because I’m not done with you yet.”

And I spend the rest of the night proving it.