Chapter 51
Chapter Fifty-One
Cat
I clutch Kindra’s waist as the snowmobile barrels down the side of the road. We chose this instead of the sleigh, figuring we could possibly catch them. The horses’ hooves aren’t meant for icy roads, but snowmobiles thrive on the snowy conditions. We don’t drive on the road, though. Kindra sticks to the shoulder, where the snow is thick enough to support the vehicle’s weight.
Twenty minutes into our speedrun, she slows the snowmobile as lights brighten the road ahead of us. I’m shocked that we’ve caught up to them so quickly, but then I peer around her shoulder and spot a massive moose lying in the middle of the road.
And to our right, with its back half wedged in a snowbank, is the limo.
“Bennett!” I scream.
I leap from the back of the snowmobile and rush toward the accident. A crumpled mess of mangled metal releases tendrils of steam at the front of the limo. Brown fur clings to the point of impact. Stepping closer, I see the driver.
His head lolls at an unnatural angle. Well, half of it does. He’s either missing a chunk of his forehead or it’s been pushed to the back of his brain. Peering through the shattered glass, I search for any sign of Bennett, but I don’t see him.
“Help me dig!” I shout to Kindra.
She hurries over, and like two psychotic hounds, we begin shoveling fistfuls of snow away from the back doors. When we finally have enough clearance, I wrench the door open and look inside.
Bennett slumps in his seat. A large knot protrudes from the right side of his head. He must have been knocked unconscious. At least, I hope he’s just unconscious.
“What do we do?” I plead with Kindra. “We aren’t supposed to move him, right? But what if he’s cold? What if he needs CPR?”
“Check for a pulse!”
I tear off my glove and lean into the car, but when I put my fingers to his neck, I feel nothing. My fingers are numb from bone-deep cold. I cram them into my mouth and suck, willing warmth into the tips, but it’s taking too long. Closing my eyes, I swirl my tongue around and around until?—
“Me next,” Bennett croaks.
My eyes fly open, and I practically throw myself on top of him. “Oh god, I thought you were dead. Where do you hurt? How many fingers am I holding up?”
Bennett smiles and rights himself with a quick shake of his head. “Calm down, Florence Nightingale. I’ll be fine. I’ve taken worse hits than this, but check on the driver.”
His fingertips go to the knot on his head, and he winces as he pulls his hand away. I’m surprised he isn’t bleeding.
Boots crunch beside the open door. “He’s gone, Bennett,” Kindra says.
“Damn.” Bennett swipes his hand down his face and unfastens his seat belt. “This is my fucking fault. I should have just asked you to come with me.”
“Yeah, you should have,” I say. “Instead, you decided you wanted to live on the island alone again.”
“Who’s going to the island?” Kindra asks. “I thought your mom was sick. Why are we going to the island?”
“No one,” I say. “I’ll explain later.”
Bennett moves to get out of the car, and Kindra and I try to stop him. He just looks at us and swats our hands away. I ease out of his way.
He pulls himself out of the wreckage and stands on shaking legs. “I still need to get to my mom. Nothing has changed. I’m not getting checked out by a doctor or any dumb shit like that. We have to get to the airport.”
“We?” I say, shocked that he’s willing to take me with him. I figured I’d have to sneak onto the plane, that he’d be too stubborn to let me remain by his side.
He doesn’t respond to me, though. He walks to the front of the limo and hangs his head. “Well, we aren’t going in this. Fuck!” His boot jets out and collides with the flattened front tire.
Kindra winces, then takes a cautious step toward him. “If you guys can wait here, I’ll go back to the mansion for help. I can’t call a car, but Ezra can.”
Bennett shakes his head. “I don’t have that kind of time.”
“Then take the snowmobile.”
Bennett and I turn to face Kindra.
“I’m serious,” she says. “Take the snowmobile. I’ll walk back.”
“You’ll get frostbite,” Bennett says. “I get that it would go with your frigid persona, but I doubt my brother will want to suck your toes if they turn black.”
Instead of getting angry, Kindra’s eyes soften. “Thanks for the concern, but my socks are double insulated, and the mansion isn’t that far off. I’ll be okay. And besides, this is mostly my fault, so I need to make it right.”
“No, it was my fault.” I step over part of the front bumper and stand beside Kindra. “I was the one who was too afraid to be honest.”
“Because of me,” Kindra says. “I made it hard, and I wasn’t a good friend. Let me fix it!”
“Freezing to death isn’t going to fix it!” I yell. “And there is nothing to fix!”
A snowmobile engine rumbles in the distance, and the three of us turn to see two headlights buzzing toward us. When they pull to a stop beside us, we’re shocked to see Ezra, with Maverick and Grim on the second machine.
“What are you doing out here?” Kindra shouts. “I told you I could handle it!”
Ezra climbs off the snowmobile and tightens his hood around his head. “I just wanted to be sure you were okay. I was worried about you, and aren’t you glad? You three would have been in a sorry state had we not shown up.”
Bennett motions toward Grim and Maverick. “And what about those two? Were they worried too?”
“Backup,” Maverick says with a thumbs-up.
Grim just glares at the woods.
“Shit, what happened to the limo?” Ezra asks.
“We hit something . . . big. I don’t fucking know,” Bennett says, “but the driver is dead, and I still need to get to that jet.”
Kindra turns to the two men on the snowmobile. “You two, get the driver’s body back to the mansion so that Jim can figure out how to handle this part.” She faces Ezra. “You and I will ride ahead and ensure a clear path to the airport.”
“On snowmobiles?” Ezra asks. “You can’t be serious. These things aren’t meant to run on asphalt.”
“That’s why we’ll run along the side of the road and clear any debris ahead of them.” Kindra takes Ezra’s hands in hers and looks up at him. “Your brother needs to see his mom, and we need to help them get to that plane.”
“Everyone has done enough,” I say. “Bennett and I can make it to the airport. It’s not that far, right?”
Ezra looks at Kindra. “They might make it.”
“No!” Kindra stomps her foot, which is code for an upcoming explosion if Ezra isn’t careful with what he says next.
His shoulders drop. “Guys, you heard her. Do what the boss says. And if we aren’t back in an hour, send the sleigh.”
“That is all we will have left,” Grim says with a dry laugh.
As everyone moves to their stations, Bennett and I head for the snowmobile. Grim and Maverick walk toward the car, and I turn away. I don’t want to see that man’s face again.
Kindra and Ezra climb onto their snowmobile, and she looks back at me. “We’re going. Give us a ten-minute head start, and don’t go too fast. If there’s trouble anywhere ahead, we’ll need time to clear it before you plow into us.”
I nod at her, and Bennett and I walk toward our machine as they speed away into the night, their lone headlight disappearing over the next hill. Minutes later, Grim and Maverick head in the opposite direction as the driver’s body bounces behind them, leaving a gory trail.
“I hate that for the poor guy,” Bennett says with a shake of his head as he looks at his feet. “If I hadn’t told him to turn around . . .”
“You were coming back for me,” I whisper.
Still looking at his feet, Bennett nods. “Yeah. I wanted you to meet my mom before . . .”
He blows out a breath to keep himself from crying, and I step closer. His arms wrap around me, and he pulls me against his chest and allows himself to break. It’s only a slight crack in his armor, but he’s made of tough material. A slight crack for Bennett is like a crevasse for anyone else. The tears falling against my coat are his humanity, leaking out, unprotected.
I wind my arms around his waist and hold him closer. As cold nibbles the tip of my nose, I wait for him to speak. Several silent minutes pass this way, with two lost people finding themselves on a cold Alaskan night.
“Look up, kitten,” he whispers. “Please look up and tell me what you see.”
So I do. I tip back my head and peer into the night sky.
“Oh my gosh,” I breathe.
In my panic to reach Bennett, I’d gone blind to Alaska’s beauty, not once looking up on the short drive to reach him. Now that I’m in his arms, however, my eyes can focus, and the magnificence running across the stars can’t be described with words.
Bennett pulls me against him until I can scarcely draw my next breath. He clings to me like a man lost in a storm. “Tell me what you see.”
I lick my lips and rest my head on his chest. I stare upward, but I’m not looking at the lights. I’m looking at him.
“It’s magnificent. Literally breathtaking. It’s something I never imagined I’d experience in my lifetime, and now, here it is.”
Bennett smirks down at me, with tears still brimming in his eyes. “I meant the Northern Lights, not me, dumbass.”
“That’s what I meant too,” I say, then stick out my tongue.
He kisses the tip of my nose. “Better be careful about making ugly faces like that. It’ll stick that way.”
My tongue slides back into my mouth.
“Damn, too late,” he says through a hoarse laugh.
I swat his arm and laugh with him. The time for feigned outrage is finally over.
“Kiss me, Bennett,” I say.
He looks down and brushes the hair from my forehead. The gesture is becoming so familiar to me now, and I sometimes find myself wishing my hair would fall over my eyes, just so that I can feel that gentle touch.
“With pleasure,” he whispers.
His hand supports the back of my head as he leans down and places his lips on mine. In the dark, under the Aurora Borealis, we tangle ourselves in each other’s arms and find a moment of peace. Worries slip away. Fear evaporates, carried off by the icy wind.
“I don’t want to do this alone anymore,” he whispers as he pulls back. “That’s why I came back for you. I want you by my side, Cat. Will you stay on my island with me?”
“Yes, as long as I’m the only one with a standing invitation.”
He smirks and raises his scarred eyebrow. “You’re receiving the first and last invitation, kitten. I can promise you that.”
“What about Shorty? Can he come?”
Bennett grumbles under his breath, and I swat his shoulder again. A little harder this time.
“Yes, the stupid feline can come.” He leans down and kisses me once more. With a contented sigh, he pulls away and grabs my hand, leading me toward the snowmobile. “I think we’ve given them enough time, and I don’t know how long my mother has. Let’s not waste another moment.”
I squeeze his hand. “We’ve done enough of that, haven’t we?”
Bennett straddles the seat, then holds my hand as I climb on behind him. I fish a spare pair of goggles from the saddlebag and hand them to him. They aren’t as nice as his personal set, but neither of us brought any luggage along, so we have to make do with what’s available.
He slides them on, raises his hood, and looks back at me. “What about you? Do you have goggles?”
“I don’t need any. I’ll keep my eyes shut.”
“You trust me?”
I smile and hug him tighter. “I do.”
Bennett starts the engine, and the snowmobile jerks forward. With a deep breath, I close my eyes and hold on tight.