Chapter 6
Sam
Without a group of lawyers to babysit as they hiked down a trail, I was able to take my ATV down the mountain.
I pushed it as hard as I dared through the storm.
Amanda's inhaler was secure in my pack. The weather was getting worse—much worse than the forecast had predicted—but the trail was still navigable.
I'd be at the bottom of the mountain in twenty minutes, tops.
Twenty minutes, and I'd have Jess safe in my arms. To hell what any of her coworkers thought. God, I wanted her.
The soft glow of the lodge at the bottom of the mountain was welcome and I was glad everyone had made it. But as I got closer, something felt wrong. Then, I saw my brothers clustered together outside in what looked like an intense discussion. What the hell were they doing outside in this weather?
My stomach dropped.
I killed the engine and was off the ATV before it fully stopped, my boots hitting the ground at a run.
"—can't just go back out in this—" Kevin was saying.
"We have to do something!" That was Neil, his voice tight with stress.
"What's going on?" I demanded.
All three of them turned to face me, and the expressions on their faces made all my happy thoughts die and I knew something was terribly wrong.
"Who did we lose?"
They looked at each other.
"Where's Jess?" The question came out deadly quiet.
The silence that followed lasted maybe three seconds.
It felt like a lifetime.
"We don't know," Shane finally said.
The world tilted sideways. "What do you mean you don't know?"
"She's not here, Sam." Kevin's voice was carefully controlled—the tone he used when he was trying to keep me from doing something reckless. "We thought we got everyone else down safe, but—"
"She’s not here," Neil finished, his face stricken.
Not here. Jess wasn't here.
"How?" The word came out as a snarl. "How the fuck did you lose her?"
"Sam—" Kevin tried to step closer, but I was moving now, heading for my ATV, my mind already calculating routes and survival odds.
“When was the last time you saw her?”
“We had just passed the Campsite Alpha when I had to carry Amanda,” Shane said. “Jess had been holding on to my pack.”
She'd been alone for at least forty minutes.
Maybe longer. In conditions that could kill an experienced mountaineer in an hour.
And Jess—my brave, stubborn, beautiful city lawyer who'd only learned basic survival this week—was out there somewhere.
Probably terrified. Definitely cold. Possibly— No.
Not going there. She was alive. She had to be alive.
“I’ll start there,” I said.
“We’ll go with you.”
“No. You stay here. Keep the lawyers calm and safe. I’ll find her.”
Shane unslung his pack and handed it to me. “There’s a med kit in here and storm supplies. Don’t risk coming back if you can shelter in place safely.”
“I know what I’m doing.” I had to stop myself from snarling at him. They were worried about Jess. I could see that in their eyes.
“Radio if you can,” Neil said.
“Be safe,” Kevin said.
I nodded and took off on the ATV, not looking back.
I pushed the machine too fast, too reckless, but it didn’t matter.
Luckily, I knew this mountain like the back of my hand.
And when I got close to Campsite Alpha, one of the many camping sites I had on the mountain, I saw a shape through the swirling snow. Dark against white.
A tent.
My heart stopped, then started again in double-time.
She'd done it. She'd actually fucking done it.
I could see from here that it was properly erected—guy lines tight, structure solid, exactly like I'd taught her. That expensive four-season mountaineering tent I'd mocked her for buying was standing firm against winds that had taken down lesser shelters.
I approached the tent, my hands shaking as I reached for the zipper. She could be hypothermic. Could be injured.
"Jess," I called, making my voice carry through the tent fabric. "Jess, it's Sam. I'm coming in."
I unzipped the vestibule and then the inner door, crawling inside the tent.
And there she was.
Wrapped in her sleeping bag like a burrito, her emergency blanket around her shoulders, sitting upright and very much alive. Her face was pale, her hair escaping from her braid in wild tangles, and she had never looked more beautiful.
"Sam?" Her voice was hoarse, disbelieving. "You're really here?"
"I'm really here." I couldn't move for a second, couldn't do anything but stare at her and convince myself she was real. "Are you hurt?"
"No. Cold, but not hurt." Her voice cracked. "I did everything you taught me.”
She didn't get to finish because I was already moving, pulling her into my arms—sleeping bag and all—holding her so tight she probably couldn't breathe.
But she was alive. She was here.
"I thought—" The words stuck in my throat. "When they said you were missing—"
"I'm okay." Her face pressed against my neck, and I felt her shaking. "I'm okay, Sam. I'm okay."
I pulled back just enough to cup her face in my hands, my eyes scanning for injuries, for signs of frostbite, for anything wrong.
"Let me see you," I said, forcing myself into assessment mode even though what I wanted to do was kiss her senseless. "Hands."
She held out her hands, and I stripped off her gloves to check her fingers. Cold but not dangerously so. Good color, good capillary refill.
"Feet."
She hesitated. "Sam, I'm fine."
"Feet. Now."
She wiggled out of the sleeping bag enough to extend her legs, and I unlaced her boots with shaking hands. Her socks were dry, and when I checked her toes, they were cold but healthy.
No frostbite. No signs of hypothermia beyond the expected chill.
She'd really done it. She'd survived.
"You did perfect," I said, my voice shaking with emotion. "You did absolutely fucking perfect, baby."
And then she was crying, tears streaming down her face as she launched herself at me.
"I was so scared," she sobbed against my chest. "I fell and everyone was gone and I couldn't see anything and I thought—I thought—"
"Shh." I held her while she shook, one hand stroking her hair. "You're safe now. I've got you. You're safe."
"I was so scared something happened to you."
"Me? I’m fine. I'm right here."
She pulled back to look at my face, her hands coming up to frame my jaw like she needed to touch me to believe I was real.
"You came for me," she whispered.
"Of course I came for you." I pressed my forehead to hers. "You're mine. Did you really think I'd let anything keep me from you?"
My radio crackled. "Sam? Status?"
I pulled it out with one hand, keeping the other wrapped around Jess. "I found her. She's okay. No injuries, no frostbite. Tent's solid. We're going to reinforce the shelter and wait out the storm here. Too dangerous to try moving in these conditions."
"Copy that." Kevin's relief was audible even through the static.
I clicked off the radio and turned my full attention back to Jess.
She was watching me with an expression that looked like the beginning of what I'd been feeling since I first saw her.
"I need to reinforce this tent," I said, forcing myself to be practical. "Add some gear, build a windbreak. Then we're going to get you properly warm. Okay?"
She nodded, and I forced myself to release her and crawled back outside.
The next thirty minutes were a blur of activity. I added extra guy lines to her tent, piled snow as a windbreak on the windward side, set up my own tent's rain fly as additional protection over hers. By the time I was done, her tent was as secure as any structure could be in these conditions.
Then I gathered my gear—sleeping bag, pad, emergency supplies—and hauled everything inside. I sealed the vestibule and inner door behind me, and suddenly we were cocooned in our own little world. The storm was muffled now, distant.
"Okay," I said, unrolling my sleeping bag. "First priority is getting your core temperature up. You're colder than I want. We're going to combine sleeping bags for maximum insulation and use body heat to warm you up. That means skin-to-skin contact. You okay with that?"
Her eyes darkened. "Yes."
"This is medical, Jess. Not—" I stopped, because that was a lie. Everything between us was charged now. Had been since the moment we met. "I'm not going to pretend I don't want you. Can't pretend that anymore. Not after almost losing you."
"I don't want you to pretend," she said.
"We'll take it slow," I said. "Get you warm first. Everything else can wait."
Even though I was already hard just from being near her. Even though every instinct I had was screaming to claim her, mark her, make her mine in every way possible. But she deserved better than desperate fumbling in a tent. Deserved to be warm and safe before I took her.
"Help me with these bags," I said, laying out my sleeping pad beside hers.
We worked together to zip the sleeping bags together, creating one large cocoon. Modern sleeping bags weren't really designed for this, but we made it work—her mummy bag and my rectangular one combining into something that would fit both of us if we stayed close.
Very close.
"Okay," I said, stripping off my outer layers down to my base layer thermals. "Keep your base layers on for now. We'll do full skin-to-skin if needed, but let's start here."
She nodded and started stripping out of her outer layers. I tried not to watch, tried to focus on organizing our gear.
But I couldn't help it. Couldn't help watching as she revealed the body I'd been fantasizing about for two days. Even in thermal underwear, she was gorgeous—all curves and soft skin and feminine perfection.
Mine. This woman was mine.
"Sam?" Her voice was uncertain. "Are you okay?"
"No," I said honestly. "I'm about two seconds from losing control. From throwing you down and claiming you right here. From making you mine in every way possible."
Her breath hitched. "What's stopping you?"
"You're cold. You need to warm up. You need—"