Chapter 6
Except, I couldn’t. I did fine with the top half. I tossed my wet parka behind me, hoping it landed somewhere near the front door and the hooks meant for hanging outerwear. Next came my long-sleeved T-shirt and bra, both damp with sweat. I wished being topless in Hawk’s presence was more exciting, but I was so cold that all I wanted was to put on dry clothes. I gave a discreet sniff to my armpit. I’d worked up a good sweat hauling my ass up the side of the ravine. Fortunately, my deodorant was holding up. I pulled the black silk long underwear top over my head without a problem. The fleece came next, falling around me like a blanket.
Leaning back, I worked on the snap of my hiking pants. From the waist down, I was soaking wet, the snap frozen, the fabric clinging to my skin. I had winter hiking pants, insulated and waterproof. Too bad they were stowed in the pack beside me. It hadn’t been that cold when I’d left, and the snow hadn’t been forecast to fall until later. Since I hadn’t been planning to roll around on the ground, I’d worn lighter hiking pants that morning. Great for a walk in the woods in cool weather. Not ideal for rolling around in the snow.
My numb fingers slipped off the snap. Fuck. I had to lie down all the way to get enough leverage to pull it open, but the floor behind me was wet from my parka.
“Quinn?”
How did he know? I hadn’t made a sound.
“The snap on my pants is stuck,” I admitted, “And if I lean all the way back to get to it, I’ll get wet again.”
“Hang on.” Hawk moved to kneel beside me. “Try not to put any weight on your foot.”
Like that was going to happen. I nodded in agreement.
Hawk looped an arm around my back and hauled me up. The second my weight settled on my left foot, his hands went to my waistband. Warm breath puffed on the side of my neck. I caught a glimpse of Hawk’s eyes, locked on his hands at my waist, all his focus on that snap. With a jerk, he ripped it free, the snap popping loose and the zipper tearing all the way down, exposing my plain gray undies.
A flush hit my cheeks, the only part of me that was actually warm. Why couldn’t I have been wearing something sexy? Something lacy or a thong. Anything but my boring, gray, quick-dry underwear. Perfect for hand-washing on a hiking trip and a complete dud for seduction. Not that I was seducing anyone in my current situation. But still, this was not the way I’d imagined Hawk first seeing me in my underwear.
And worse, the undies had to go, too. They were as wet as the hiking pants. And though they dried quickly, that was on a line, not on my damp, clammy skin.
Sucking in a deep breath, I braced myself. Hawk had to get me settled so he could do what he needed to do outside before it got dark. We didn’t have time for me to make this complicated. I was sure Hawk had seen plenty of women’s bodies. Most of those bodies were likely a lot more impressive than mine. Hawk wasn’t a flirt. He didn’t have to be. With his rugged looks and that body, I’d bet he had women fighting to let him take off their undies. Much sexier undies than mine.
Ugh.Time to get over myself. I shifted, trying to get my cold fingers under the waistband of my now unsnapped pants. The fabric resisted, snagging on my damp skin. I shoved, rocking back against Hawk, instinctively leaning into my right ankle. I gasped at the sudden throb of pain.
Hawk’s hands closed over my arms. “Stay still. Hang on to me, and I’ll get them.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, leaning back into Hawk, dizzy with embarrassment and arousal as he hooked his fingers in the waistband of my pants and shoved them down, taking my panties with them. I tried to focus on keeping my balance, tried not to think about Hawk leaning down to shove the pants to my feet, his soft, damp hair brushing my naked hip.
I sucked in a breath, desperate to pretend I wasn’t so aware of him. Inch by inch, he pushed my wet clothes down my legs.
“I’m not looking,” he said, his breath grazing my bare hip, sending heat everywhere.
“I know,” I whispered, the faint sound all I could manage. I believed he wasn’t looking. He was Hawk. He wouldn’t lie to me. Not about this.
“Lift your right foot. I’ll be careful.”
He eased the wet, tangled fabric over my swollen foot. The scruff of his jaw brushed the side of my leg, short-circuiting my brain.
“Fuck,” he murmured as we both saw our next problem. He couldn’t get my wet clothes off my left leg when I couldn’t stand on my right foot. “Hang on.”
He stood, lifting me, my wet pants tangled on my left foot, dragging on the floor behind us. Hawk sat on the edge of the leather sofa, settling me beside him. Handing me the dry underwear and long underwear bottoms I’d taken from my pack, he leaned down to tug the wet clothes off my left foot, his head determinedly turned away from my half-naked body.
“Did your father airlift in all this furniture?” he asked.
“That’s my guess,” I said, leaning down to hook the undies and long underwear over my feet, biting my lip to stay silent as my right ankle protested. “Overkill, but I’m not complaining.”
“At least he went for comfortable.”
I agreed but didn’t say so. I had my underwear and the waistband of the long underwear to my knees, but that was as far as I could go without standing up. Crap.
My voice squeaked and broke as I asked, “Can you…?”
“I’ve got you,” Hawk said, his words clipped. “Stand up on your left foot and lean on me. I won’t?—”
“I know you won’t,” I choked out, suffocating in embarrassment.
I braced on his shoulder, and in one smooth pull he had my clothes on.
“Sit here. I’ll wrap your ankle before I go take a look around outside.”
I sat, staring into the lively flames behind the glass door of the woodstove. I could finally feel the tendrils of warmth heating the cabin. Now that my wet clothes were off, the silk long underwear and fleece could do their job, leveraging my own body heat to keep me warm. I shivered, partly from the cold but mostly from Hawk’s hand, curving around my right foot.
“Lie back. I’m going to wrap this.” I nodded. “It”s going to hurt.”
I nodded again. “It”s okay. Do what you have to do.” I knew he didn”t want to hurt me. He didn”t have a choice. He hesitated, his fingers a warm weight on my skin. “Hawk, it”s okay. It”ll hurt less later if you wrap it now. Just go for it. Don”t worry about me.”
The look he shot me told me that was an idiotic statement, and I hid a smile. I shouldn’t like that he worried about me. Not as much as I did. Something inside me loved it, soaked up every bit of care he tossed my way. Maybe it was just that I’d been terrified and then almost froze to death. It was a survival reaction. That was all. I was grateful. And I had a crush on him. Appreciating him and wanting to see him naked didn’t mean I needed him to care about me.
All of that rolled around in my head. I ignored my complicated feelings in favor of the question that had been bothering me since we got to the cabin.
“Why were you there?” I asked, hissing in a breath a second later as he began wrapping my ankle. The compression of the bandage sent nauseating pain rolling through me.
“Why was I where?” he asked, head bent, eyes glued to my foot.
“On the trail to the cabin. Did you know?”
“That someone was going to jump you on the trail?” he asked.
I nodded, my teeth clenching as he tightened the bandage, wrapping it around my ankle.
Hawk shook his head. “I was looking for you, but the timing was luck. I was down in the surveillance room, and they had the radio on the weather service. The storm shifted, and the snow is going to be a lot worse than we thought.”
I nodded, not surprised. “How much are we going to get?”
“When I left, they were saying it could be a foot. Maybe eighteen inches. At this point, they”re just guessing.”
“Did they say how long it would be coming down?” I asked, wondering if I was going to get my forest fairyland the next day. It couldn’t still be snowing tomorrow. Could it? Neither of us could hike back down to the Manor with this much snow on the ground—the trail was narrow and rocky. Not exactly dangerous, but definitely treacherous in places when it wasn’t covered with a foot and a half of snow. With snow on it, it was impassable. We’d have to wait until it melted.
Hawk shrugged one shoulder in a short jerk that told me he’d worked out the same logic I had—that we weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. I saw he was almost finished with the bandage. Now that he was on the second layer, it didn’t hurt as much.
“Do we have enough food?” he asked.
“There”s plenty,” I assured him. “Not anything up to the standards of Finn”s creations, but we won’t starve, even if we’re stuck here for a week.”
Now that the pain had lessened, my brain went immediately to what two people stuck in a cabin for a week could get up to. I blushed, but if Hawk saw it, he didn’t react.
Hawk nodded, using the little metal clamps that came with the bandage to secure the end. Lifting my foot, he stood, setting my wrapped ankle on a pillow. He grabbed the blanket draped over the back of the sofa and laid it over me. Digging in his pocket, he pulled out a packet containing a single dose of ibuprofen that I recognized from the first aid kit where he’d found the bandage. I had more in my pack, but this would do for now.
My fingers fumbled to tear it open. I was still so fucking cold. I wasn’t going to die of hypothermia, not now, but it was still slowing me down. Hawk plucked the packet from my hands, trading it for the bottle of water he must have pulled from the side of my pack. A second later, the two blue tablets dropped into my palm.
“I’ll be back in a minute.” He snagged the plastic bag he’d had earlier and went outside, returning with the full bag, tied shut.
Setting it on top of my foot, he pressed gently, molding the snow-filled bag around my ankle. Cold seeped through the bandage.
“Don’t move,” he ordered, turning to add another log to the fire. “I want to scout the woods around the cabin. I’ll be back in thirty minutes or less. I’m locking the door behind me. I’ll knock three times when I get back so you know it’s me.” He dragged my pack to the side of the sofa, digging in a side pocket to retrieve my gun and handing it to me.
His implication was clear. I didn’t ask what I should do if he didn’t return in thirty minutes because I knew what his answer would be. If he didn’t return, it meant he was dead, and I’d have to defend myself as best I could.
“Go,” I said. “I’ll stay put. I promise.”
Hawk grunted at that, his eyes landing on me for less than a second. He’d barely looked at me since he’d pulled off my clothes. Had I embarrassed him? Repulsed him? No. I was no bombshell, but I wasn’t gross. Maybe he was just annoyed at the situation. Or freaked out. Hopefully, I’d have time to figure it out later.
“Be careful,” I said, knowing it was dumb. Hawk knew what he was doing out there. Probably better than I did. Definitely, when it came to scouting for the nutjob who’d attacked me.
Hawk didn’t respond to my concern, focused on lighting the kerosene lantern I had on the kitchen table. When he was done, and a golden glow illuminated the kitchen area, he said, “Keep your weapon close. I wouldn’t leave if I didn’t think it was safe, but?—”
“I know. I’ve got it.” I set the gun on the top of the pack beside me. “Go, before it gets too dark.”
With a nod, he left, locking the door behind him.