Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
ERIN
“ I have confidence in you,” I insist, still clenching my eyes closed. “But I don’t like the ascent or the descent. I think I must have died in a plane crash or something in a previous life. I’ll have to ask my cousin, Haley, about that.”
“Haley would know about your past lives?” He doesn’t sound so sure.
“Maybe. I don’t know. Are we down yet?” I do not want to have the first panic attack of my life sitting next to the man that I’ve fallen in love with while he’s trying to show me his ranch.
“Almost,” he murmurs. After a few minutes, I finally hear him say, “Yes. We’re down.”
I crack one eye open, and when I see that we’re level again, I open the other one. “Whew.”
“So, aside from a possible fatal plane crash in a past life, you don’t know why you’re afraid of heights?”
“Not really. There wasn’t one specific incident or anything, if that’s what you mean.” I reach into my pocket and pull out a peppermint and pop it into my mouth. “Mint?”
“Sure.” He accepts it. “So, no specific scary heights incident.”
“Nope. But I’ve known since I was little that I didn’t want to go on the scary rides at the fair or at any of the amusement parks. They make me feel sick, and I don’t like being up high.”
“A lot of people get motion sick.”
“I know, and it sucks. Anyway, I avoid it.”
“How do you do in a plane? When you travel?”
“Not bad, actually. I just make sure I’m in an aisle seat toward the front of the plane. Did you know that if you’re prone to motion sickness, it’s not usually as bumpy toward the front of the plane when they hit that unexpected rough air?”
“I don’t think I’ve heard that, but I did know that you’re the safest in the middle of the plane.”
“You know, I have a theory that if you’re going down, there is no safest place to be. Other than the ground, that is.”
I turn in the seat so I can look at him.
“Are you the thrill seeker type?”
“No.” He smiles over at me. “Definitely not. But I don’t mind roller coasters. Johnny loves them, too. The ones he’s allowed to ride, anyway. However, Holly is just like you. They make her sick.”
“Then she and I can eat funnel cakes while we watch you two risk your lives on a roller coaster.” I stop and frown.
“What’s wrong?”
“I shouldn’t just assume that you’d invite me to a carnival or something. That’s a huge assumption.”
“Oh, we’d invite you,” he assures me and reaches out to take my hand, pulls it up to his lips, and nibbles on my knuckles. “We like having you around, Doc.”
“That’s nice to hear. Holy shit!” I pull my hand out of his and point. “What is that ?”
“What does it look like?” He puts the Jeep in park and turns off the engine.
“A hole in the side of the mountain, with a door.”
“That’s pretty much what it is.” He smiles over at me, and then hops out and lifts the cooler out of the back. “I figured we could stop here and eat.”
“Is something going to walk out of there?” I demand, still not moving from the Jeep.
“I hope not.” He closes the back hatch and walks over to a level spot on the ground, spreads out a big blanket, and sets the cooler on the corner of it. Then he smiles over at me and gestures for me to join him.
He doesn’t look particularly worried, so I decide not to worry about it either.
“This was a gold mine,” he says as we sit on the blanket. “From the mid-1800s. Western Montana was full of gold rush people, mining for the stuff.”
“Is there gold in there?” I ask as I accept a turkey sandwich from him.
“I doubt it. It was closed and sealed up about seventy years ago for safety reasons. Animals would live in there, and kids could get hurt when they were exploring shit they shouldn’t. The mine was abandoned before my ancestors bought the property. It was deemed useless, so the story goes that the property was cheap.”
“Do you know how much your many-times great-grandfather paid for it?”
“I’ve heard twenty-five dollars and a bottle of whiskey.” He grins over at me. “I’d say it was a good investment.”
“I’d say you’re right. And when did the Lexingtons buy their land?”
Remington frowns over at me. “Why do we have to ruin a perfectly nice day by talking about them?”
“I’m curious.”
“A year later,” he replies.
“So, the Wilds were here first.”
“Yes. We were. Their land is on the other side of that fence.” He points to a wooden fence about a hundred yards away. “These days, there’s no shooting at each other and shit like that. But I have cameras on this side, and they have cameras on theirs, just to make sure that nothing shitty happens.”
“I think you’re both paranoid,” I reply, with a bite of sandwich in my mouth. “Sure, back in the day, with no TV or any forms of entertainment, maybe a family feud was the way to go, but come on, Rem. It’s way in the future, and maybe you could let bygones be bygones.”
He watches me and looks absolutely stunned that I’d even suggest something like that.
“Millie told me about Holden, and it sounds like he’s an upstanding kind of guy. I mean, he totally had her back with those horrible tourists and everything.”
Rem sets his sandwich aside and holds up a finger. “Wait. What tourists?”
“Oh.” I cringe and then take a huge bite of the sandwich so I can’t talk while I try to think up a way to get myself out of this.
“Erin.”
I hold up a finger, concentrating on chewing my food. I would have thought that between Millie and Chase, Rem would have heard about the horrible tourist situation.
Unfortunately not, I guess.
“It’s nothing,” I say at last. “Totally nothing to get worked up about.”
“Do I look like I’m worked up?”
“You look like you’re on the verge of it.”
He laughs and takes a bite. “I guess I can piece it together. Some tourists were being obnoxious. Millie called them out on it, and when she might have gotten hurt, Holden stepped in on her behalf.”
“Punched the guy right in the face,” I confirm. “And, for what it’s worth, she wasn’t thrilled that it was Holden who stood up for her. But he did. So that tells me that their family isn’t all bad.”
“Holden just took over the business,” Remington says. “Like mine, his dad retired. I don’t have a beef with him.”
“Good.”
“But I don’t like him, either.”
I roll my eyes and dig into the cooler for the little apple tartlets that I included and break one open.
“You know as well as I do,” Rem continues, “that there are players or teams that your dad didn’t get along with. There were rivalries there.”
“It’s a sport ,” I reply. “That’s not the same thing as despising your neighbor for the better part of two centuries, Grumpy. That’s just stupid.”
“Ah, well.” He shrugs and grabs his own apple tartlet. “It’s tradition.”
He starts to say something else, but I stop him, listening.
“I think I heard something,” I whisper. We’re both still as we wait and listen, and then Remington stands, pulls me to my feet, and we hurry to the Jeep.
When I’m safely inside, he grabs the gun.
“You’re not going back out there,” I say.
“Hell yes, I am. You stay here, you hear me?”
“I’ll stay. I don’t want to get eaten by a bear or a mama moose.”
“Me either.” His face is grim as he walks to the back of the Jeep so he has a wider vision of our area, and then I see him hightail it to the driver’s side and climb in. “It’s a motherfucking grizzly bear.”
“ What ?” My voice is a squeak. “Where?”
“It’s still about twenty yards away. I can’t let it eat our lunch.”
“I don’t mind sharing.”
“No, I’ll explain later, but just stay here.”
Before I can protest, Remington jumps out of the Jeep and runs to where we were just sitting, grabs all of our supplies in his arms, and runs back to me, tossing everything unceremoniously into the back and shutting the door. The bear stops on the grass, staring at Rem.
“He looks irritated at you.”
“I’m sure he is. But he’s not allowed to eat human food, or we’d have to have him put down.”
“Oh, my God.” I frown over at Rem before turning my gaze back to the bear. “Holy shit, he’s a she, and she’s a mama.”
Two tiny, little fuzzy cubs come sauntering along behind her, bouncy and playful.
“We have to go,” Rem says and starts the engine. That startles all three bears, and the mama rises up on her hind legs. “Jesus H. Christ, she’s big.”
“Could she get into the Jeep?”
“Easily,” he confirms and starts to back away. “But she can’t catch us. She won’t want to. She just wants us gone.”
“Happy to oblige.”
Rem nods and then turns the wheel and takes off in the direction that we came. I look in the mirror and see that the mama bear isn’t chasing us. She’s standing with her cubs, watching us leave.
“I need to make sure I let the guys know she’s out here,” he says. “We’ll need to keep an eye out. She’ll eat my cattle if we’re not diligent.”
“I didn’t even think of that,” I admit with a sigh.
“They don’t often. They’d rather eat fish and berries or smaller rodents. But if it was a harsh winter, and they’re starving, they’ll eat whatever they can get. I don’t like that she’s on my land. I’ll call Fish and Wildlife and have her tracked.”
“Good idea. Wow, my first bear in the wild. She was gorgeous. And her babies are just so adorable. Makes you want to hug them.”
“Have you heard of the idiots in national parks who try to pet baby bison or pick up bear cubs?”
“Yeah. Even I know that they’re ridiculous to think they can touch wildlife.”
“The thing that breaks my heart is, they have to put the animal down after that happens. If they’ve been touched by humans, their mother will reject them, or even kill them.”
“I didn’t know that. God, that’s awful.”
“I don’t want this mama to be put down; I just don’t want her to try to pick off my cattle.”
“Why don’t you make a couple of calls now?” I suggest.
He nods and comes to a stop, and when I glance around, I realize we’re at the special spot that Millie brought me to that morning. It feels like a lifetime ago.
While he talks, I step out of the Jeep and lean against the door, my arms folded over my chest, enjoying the magical view of the mountains. This is a special place. The whole ranch is, but this particular spot speaks to me. I’m sure it’s the same way for Millie and her family.
A little fawn walks out of the trees and eyes me, his tail swishing.
“Don’t worry, little guy. I’m gonna stay right here.”
His mama steps out right behind him, chewing and cocking her ears. I stay perfectly still, watching them until they both march back into the trees.
“I love seeing all the animals,” I confess to Remington as he joins me, his call obviously finished. “They add another layer of peace to this view.”
“I spoke with Lucky and Fish and Wildlife. It’s going to be taken care of.”
“What do you mean?”
“They’ll monitor her and the cubs. Make sure they stay away from the cattle. Chances are, they’ll wander away from the ranch. They don’t like people so much.”
“I can’t blame them.”
We’re standing side by side, arms crossed, staring at the view. I lean my head on his shoulder, and I feel him kiss the top of my head.
“If you want, we can eat some more,” he offers.
“Not yet.” I’m not usually the type to jump someone’s body, but damn it, I want him. I turn to him and glide my hand up his chest and into his hair. “Rem?”
“Yeah?”
“I think it’s time for that forest sex now.”
His eyes spark and lower to my mouth before he frames my face in his hands and kisses the breath right out of me.
“I never stop wanting you,” he growls against my lips. “It’s a constant ache, a constant fire that rolls through me every single minute that I’m awake.”
“That’s actually really good to know because I thought maybe it was just me.”
He laughs and kisses me some more, his clever hands unfastening my jeans and pulling my shirt out of them so his hands can roam.
“I’m not getting naked in the woods,” I inform him.
“No need to,” he says and turns me to face the Jeep. Suddenly, my jeans are around my knees, and Rem pulls my hips back, my hands braced on the side of the vehicle.
I want him to go fast, but he doesn’t move fast enough. I can hear his zipper and the sound of his jeans being pushed down.
His hand glides down my torso and around the front of me to my pussy.
“You’re already so damn wet for me.” His lips are near my ear, his breath hot on my neck. “I never stop wanting all of you, in any way I can get you.”
He takes one of my hands in his and guides it down to my clit, and with our fingers twined together, we rub that hard nub of sensation, making me moan in delight. He slides inside of me now, and it’s almost too much to bear.
“God, listen to those sounds you make, the way you always meet me, thrust for fucking thrust.”
“So good,” I moan and look back at him, over my shoulder. “It’s just so fucking good.”
He kisses me and pushes me over the edge, into nothing but fireworks.
My body is throbbing , begging for relief, but also never wanting him to stop.
“I’m not stopping,” he says.
I must have said that out loud.
“You’re mine , Erin.”
“God, yes.” I’m tightening again already, and he must feel it because his thrusts grow harder, and finally, we’re both falling over that delicious edge together, into oblivion.
He’s breathing hard, his forehead resting on my back as we try to steady ourselves. When he’s sure that we both have our feet under us, he pulls out, and before righting his own clothes, his first order of business is getting me straightened out.
“I’m okay,” I say with a smile as I fasten my jeans. “I didn’t think I’d enjoy outside sex.”
“And now?”
“Ten out of ten stars. Would highly recommend.”
“Oh, we can definitely do this under the stars sometime.”
“That’s not what I—” I stop when he just grins at me. “Yeah. Yeah, that would be fun. You know what I want to try next?”
“What’s that?”
“The chairs on the front porch. They’re so comfortable.”
“Your wish is my command,” he says before kissing my forehead.