Chapter 26
TWENTY-SIX
Merritt couldn’t decide if being roasted alive was a good thing or bad. Like a marshmallow kept over the flames too long, she oozed and lost shape.
But unlike the sweet treat, she was sticky with sweat. It pooled in all the normal places and even some she never imagined, like the inside of her elbows. If she didn’t move, her body would likely combust.
Tiikaan groaned and pulled her tighter against his side. Despite sweating more than an armadillo in the desert in summer, she snuggled in.
Encased in her sleeping bag, which had been pulled into his, and wrapped in his arms, she felt like a burrito set on the griddle to toast up, especially with her back to the fire.
She always assumed she was claustrophobic. Wasn’t everyone? So why was she willing to be roasted alive just to be held by a man?
Tiikaan’s hand rubbed up her back, then softly brushed the sweaty hair from her face. She had to look a mess.
But when she leaned back enough to peek at him, his expression, as his fingers pushed paths against her scalp and around her ear, made her feel like he’d found something precious.
He wasn’t just a man.
He was her safe place.
Had been from practically their first meeting. With him, after a lifetime of pretending, she could just be herself.
“Morning, Skeeter.” He kissed her forehead as it furrowed.
“Skeeter?” She pushed back and lifted an eyebrow.
“All night long you had this little wheezing snore come out with every breath.” His mouth twitched on one side as her mouth gaped with a gasp. “It was like a little mosquito buzzing near my ear.”
“Excuse me, but I do not snore.” She had a hard time holding in her smile.
“You totally do.” He pressed a quick kiss on her lips. “But it’s cute, so I won’t give you too hard a time.”
“Mosquitoes aren’t cute.” She pouted as he unwrapped himself from around her. “They’re annoying.”
“Yeah, but being snuggled up to the most beautiful woman in the world kind of overrides the annoying part.”
He shrugged as he grabbed his boots from where he’d propped them by the fire and checked the inside of them. “Though I kept smacking at my face every time your hair would tickle my nose. ”
She laughed. “You did not.”
He just smiled at her, this sexy grin that made dimples visible through his beard, and a warm, electric current surged through her veins, making her pulse skip and jump like she just hit turbulence.
The urge to pull him back into their makeshift cocoon was overwhelming. Her fingers twitched with the desire to trace the lines of his face, to feel the rough texture of his beard against her palm.
She longed to press her lips against his, to lose herself in a kiss that would make the world disappear—her uncle’s betrayal, the wilderness surrounding them, all of it fading away until there was nothing left but the two of them.
But reality crashed over her like an icy wave. One didn’t survive the Alaskan wilderness on kisses and wishes.
Merritt bit her lower lip, her eyes drinking in every detail of Tiikaan’s face as if to memorize it. The way his eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled, the strong line of his jaw, the messy hair that made her want to run her fingers through it.
He set his boots aside and closed the space between them in a breath, as if reading her mind. His fingers plunged into her messy hair, holding her captive.
Merritt’s heart thundered in her chest, a wild rhythm that matched the rushing of the nearby river. Time seemed to slow as Tiikaan’s face drew closer, his warm breath mingling with hers.
When their lips met, it was like coming home .
Soft and gentle at first, then deepening with a passion that made her toes curl inside her socks. The world faded away, leaving only the two of them in that moment. His beard tickled her chin, a reminder of his rugged strength that made her feel utterly safe and cherished.
Merritt melted into the kiss, her hands finding their way to his shoulders, feeling the solid warmth beneath his shirt. A tiny sigh escaped her, half contentment, half longing for more. This was what she’d been missing her whole life—this connection, this feeling of belonging.
As they parted, she kept her eyes closed for a moment, savoring the lingering sensation. When she finally looked up at him, she saw her own emotions reflected in his eyes—wonder, affection, and an abundance of protective fierceness that made her heart skip a beat.
“Come on, Skeet.” His growly voice sent a delicious shiver down her back. “We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”
But before Merritt could respond, Tiikaan’s lips found hers again, stealing her breath and her thoughts in one swift motion.
This kiss was different—playful, almost teasing.
His mouth left hers, trailing a path of featherlight kisses along her jawline toward her ear. Each touch sent sparks dancing across her skin, and she couldn’t help the giggle that bubbled up from her chest as his beard tickled her sensitive neck.
The sound of her own laughter surprised her .
How long had it been since she’d felt this light, this carefree?
In the midst of danger and uncertainty, Tiikaan had given her a moment of pure joy. Her heart swelled with affection for this man who could make her forget their perilous situation, even if just for a moment.
As his lips reached her ear, Merritt’s giggles subsided into a contented sigh. He wasn’t doing a very good job getting ready for their long day of surviving the Alaskan wilderness. But there was no way on God’s green earth that she would stop him.
Instead, she simply leaned in, savoring the feeling of being cherished, protected, and completely understood without a single word being spoken. His lips found hers again, unrelenting in their claim of her.
With a groan, he leaned his forehead to hers. They both sucked air like they’d just almost drowned, and his heart battered against her hand.
“You’re dangerous.” His breath blew across her tingling lips, enticing her to lean forward and forget about ever leaving their makeshift shelter, but his words made her cringe.
Being with her almost got him killed. Because of her and her messed-up family, there was a possibility of him dying in the mountains, his body never found. If anything, she was more a danger to him than anything Alaska had to offer.
She schooled her expression and pushed him away. “What’s the plan, mountain man?”
With one last peck, he sat next to her and pulled his boot on. “We eat, pack up camp, then head up and over the mountain.”
“Why not follow the river to civilization?” Not that she questioned his plan, but didn’t Bear Grylls say to follow water? “Or backtrack up the river to the plane?”
“There’s no telling how far we were swept downstream, and we won’t be able to make it back to the plane in time for rescue anyway. With the storm past, I would be surprised if the search party hasn’t already arrived.”
“Too bad the only one being saved is the murderer.” Merritt pushed aside the horrible words about her uncle that wanted to spew from her lips and focused on their own survival. “So, we’re going into the mountains instead of following the river?”
“We’ll most likely follow the river, kind of.” He handed her boots to her, then dug in his pack. “I want to get to higher ground. The overgrowth along the water would be a nightmare to traverse, plus make being spotted by search parties near impossible.”
He tossed her a protein bar, then pulled his map out.
“From higher ground, we can see if there are any landmarks that will tell us where we are exactly. Just sucks that the glacier sits in a pretty isolated bowl surrounded to the west by sheer cliffs. Getting back to it might be next to impossible.”
Tapping a spot on the paper, he traced his finger along a river. “But if we follow the river up on the ridgeline, we’ll make better time, be more visible, and all water leads to civilization, right?”
“Yeah. Okay.”
But it wasn’t .
Not even close.
All she saw on the map was the sprawling space between them and the nearest village. For hundreds of miles, there was nothing but mountains and tundra.
How would they ever make it? And more importantly, how could anyone possibly find them?