Chapter 3
FALLING IN A SNOWSTORM
brIDGER
Should I tell her now that she had duct tape covered in bits of leaves stuck in her hair? Or that she had a smear of dust across the bridge of her nose like the cutest smattering of fake freckles? Probably not.
“You’ve, uh, got something right here.” I reached out and rubbed my thumb across her cheek, and then found myself cupping her chin and tilting her face up so I could stare into those sparkling eyes.
Her lips parted just the tiniest bit, and her tongue peeked out, wetting her lips. “Oh, do I? I’m sure I’m a mess.”
The hottest fucking mess I’d ever met.
I was not a mess kind of guy. Until my agent flipped my whole damn career upside down by committing me to four more years with the worst team in the league, my life was ordered and predictable. Work hard, play hard, rest hard. Make a plan and stick to it to get what you want.
My gaze flicked down to her lips and back up. “Yeah, you are. Do you want me to help you?”
What the fuck was I saying? I just came up here chasing after Bear. Figured I should check on the city slicker to make sure she wasn’t being stupid.
There was a storm coming, and since I knew good and well this cabin wasn’t severe weather ready, it wasn’t like I was going to let her ride out the night with the wind blowing through this place and freezing her to death.
“I think mother nature is going to insist.” April glanced outside and I turned my head to see what she was seeing.
Holy shit. That storm rolled in quick. I’d thought I tell her to head into town and get a room at our little B&B. But it was looking like Bear and I were going to be stuck up here in this disaster. We were going to die if I didn’t do something right quick to make sure we didn’t.
So I did the best thing I knew to warm up. I kissed April.
The moment my lips touched hers, there were no chills to be found.
I licked along the seam of her lips and the snowy mountains turned into volcanoes.
Our tongues slid against each other, and the polar fucking ice caps melted.
She moaned into my mouth and the Earth turned into the surface of the sun.
But it was her soft whimper as I deepened the kiss further, exploring every part of her mouth with my own, that melted my god damned socks off.
April gripped my shirt and slipped her hands into my hair. She was no shy, wilting flower waiting for my mouth and tongue to take hers. She gave as good as she was getting.
By the time we broke apart, both gasping for air, I think she’d counted every one of my teeth and my tonsils with her tongue as her guide.
She blinked slowly as if waking from a long, languid nap, and damn if I didn’t want to see what she actually looked like waking up in my arms. “If your plan was to distract me from the fact that your dog is actually a bear and we’re about to be stuck in a snowstorm with only a chocolate candy bar, a half bottle of whiskey I found, and that tiny stove for heat, umm, it worked. ”
“That was exactly my plan. How did you guess?” I hadn’t come up here with the intention to do anything but check that she was safe and prepared for the storm. “But also, we should probably at least shut the door so we don’t actually freeze to death.”
Neither of us moved. I didn’t want to let her go. It was like she had a spell on me, and I didn’t mind one bit.
Wait, what had she said about not having supplies? Damn. I knew she wasn’t prepared. I was going to murder Tex later for selling her this place and not making sure she didn’t die up here on the mountain. “No food or water?”
She smiled lazily, not concerned even a little bit. “Can one survive on kisses alone?”
Yes.
Dammit. No. But I was going to die trying.
No, no I wasn’t. We could kiss and hopefully do lots more from the warmth and safety of my cabin. “Get your coat on. We’ll hike back down to my place.”
She glanced out the door, then back at me, and out the door again. “Umm. I am wearing my coat.”
Shit. I glanced around the room to see if there was an old blanket lying around or something we could wrap her in. The wind chill was going to be brutal. No way I was letting her get frostbite. “I suppose those are the best shoes you have?”
“I guess I’m not very well prepared. I’ve never spent a lot of time anyplace that it snows. I didn’t know it would be quite so cold or happen so fast.” She gave me a chagrined smirk. “Well, there are some fuzzy slippers in my suitcase.”
This was about to be a fucking survival situation so I absolutely should not be imagining her in nothing but those slippers.
Get your head in the game, Kingman. “If you’ve got flannel pjs in there too, we’ll take it.
But we’ve got to move before the snow starts drifting. It’s not that far. Come on.”
“No chance we can drive? My rental has seat heaters, which are heaven on a tight back.”
“Can’t get there from here. No road between my place and yours. Just a trail. The visibility is going down quick, and we’d have to drive all the way down the mountain to get you anywhere else safe. I think a quick hike is our best bet.”
The kind of hike that would get icy and slippery and someone wearing heels could break an ankle. We’d just have to hold hands the whole way so I could make sure she stayed upright.
April made a face like what we were about to do was the worst idea ever, and she wasn’t entirely wrong. I zipped up her coat and expertly wrapped my scarf around her neck, ensuring every bit of exposed skin was covered.
I wanted to be able to savor that skin later, and I couldn’t do that if she got frostbite. It would be a damn shame if that soft spot in the small of her throat turned blue.
I slipped my own gloves onto her little hands, and had to keep myself from growling, irritated that she wasn’t already wrapped up in blankets, in front of the rolling fireplace, wearing nothing but a smile.
“Mrph mrr mss.” Her words were muffled through the scarf.
I pulled one inch of it down. “What?”
“Let’s do this.”
I gave her a quick nod and took her hand in mine, leading her and Bear out into the fucking blizzard.
The sharp gusts of snow stung our faces, swirling around us.
April’s boots no sooner left the interior of her cabin than she was sinking into the soft folds of powder.
A few steps past her car, and I couldn’t see her feet.
It was a good fucking thing I’d walked this trail a billion times over the years.
Each and every step we took, she nearly toppled over. But she gripped my hand tight, and there was no way I was letting her veer off the path.
But then the wind picked up and every flake of snow that had accumulated on the mountain for the last ten years swirled around us. I could barely see two feet in front of my face. But I could see Bear’s big old wagging tail. He loved a good snowstorm, this was like his playground.
I squeezed April’s hand. It was hard to talk in this wind and she hadn’t said a word since we started walking. “We’re almost there. Just a few more minutes.”
She nodded, but her eyes were about as big around as my biceps. I hated that she was scared. I didn’t even know this woman, so I shouldn’t have a pounding behind my heart wanting to make everything right with the world for her.
Another hundred yards, and my cabin was finally in sight, its inviting light glowing through the snowflakes.
I pointed and her tight shoulders went from up around her ears back to normal as she let some of her worry go.
She pulled down the scarf and blew out a long steamy breath.
“It’s so cute. Not what I’d expect for a big growly dude like you. ”
She shook her head back and forth, let go of my hand and pressed a glove to her face, her eyes doing a dance of confusion. “My nose hairs are frozen. Is that even a thing? How—”
She was the one that was cute. My cabin was average.
Before I could even tell her so, April slipped, her body vanishing beneath a thick white blanket of fluffy wet and cold snowflakes.
My whole body went heavy and still like rocks as I watched April slip beneath the snow.
Bear dove in, snuffling all around, clearing the area all surrounding her.
He barked at me like he was saying, “hurry up and save her, dummy.”
I stumbled towards her, my hands trembling as I scooped through the snow.
She reached up for me, and I pulled her up and straight into my arms, picking her up like a rescued princess.
The fear intertwined with a strange sense of familiarity as I held her against my chest, as if I had done it a thousand times before.
She squealed and wrapped her arms around my neck. As if I’d ever drop her.
I took long strides, carrying her like some kind of Victorian romance heroine who needed rescuing. I was no Mr. Willoughby, but I was a linebacker and I rushed up the stairs and through the door of the cabin like I was scoring a touchdown.
Bear followed us in, and I kicked the door shut, taking a deep breath and soaking up the heat.
He went straight into the kitchen and curled up in his plush bed next to the water heater.
He’d never be the curl up in front of the fireplace dog.
Not since the forest fire he’d been rescued from as a pup.
April’s teeth clattered and I set her back on her feet in front of the fire, but still holding her in my arms, not wanting to let go just yet.
Some stray strands of hair begged my fingers to brush them away from her forehead, and I couldn’t resist one more soft touch before I set to getting her warm.
The protective instincts I didn’t even realize I had for her had not just kicked in, they were kicking my ass.
April was mine. She belonged with me, and I wanted nothing more than to be hers.
But this was too fast. No one fell in love after one meeting and a hike down a mountain in a snowstorm. Not in real life anyway.
She looked up at me like I was her hero. I wanted to be.
“Good thing you’re the biggest man I’ve ever met in my life.” Her voice came out soft and breathy. “I’m not sure I’d trust anyone else to pick me up and carry me like that.”
Her arms were still wrapped around my shoulders, and I wasn’t moving an inch. “You should be carried everywhere.”
That sounded like I was chastising her, and I cursed my tongue for being such a grump. I’d been cranky with everyone around me for so long, I wasn’t sure I knew how to talk any other way.
I’d do it again right now and carry her to my bed if she’d let me. I swallowed hard and cleared my throat. “We should get you warmed up.”
“Yes, we should.” She pulled off the gloves I’d put on her and reached for the zipper of my jacket. “With body heat. Lots and lots of shared body heat.”
April’s naughty little grin melted my icy fucking heart in more ways than one.
For the first time in what felt like a thousand years, the corners of my mouth turned up in a genuine smile.
Not because I was about to get laid—not that I was sad about that.
But because I’d found someone who made me want to be happy.
That smile on my face grew as I reached for her jacket too. “Yep. Everyone knows that’s the best way to get warm. I’m practically hot already.”
April giggled, and it went first to my soul, and then straight to my cock. “Ooh, I wanna be hot.”
“You are so fucking hot.” That just slipped out and I wasn’t sorry.
April blushed and I couldn’t wait to do that to every inch of her skin from head to toe and everywhere in between.