Chapter Twelve
Reed
We wake to the scent of damp leaves and the birds calling in layers as the sun filters through the trees. Nikki is still against my chest, the soft sounds stirring in her throat as she comes to terms with the morning light.
“What time is it?” she sighs in the sweetest little voice, tucking her arms around me tighter.
“Don’t matter. We’re on our own timeline now, remember?”
She hums under her breath and stays still a moment longer before twisting the tips of her fingers in circles against my chest. “Do we have food out here on our own timeline, ‘cause I’m starving. I started making cake last night, but then I went out and didn’t get a chance to eat before some big ogre carried me off into the woods. ”
“Sounds like a real prick,” I say, cuddling her closer. “I hear he’s got great hair, though.”
She looks toward me and rolls her eyes playfully. “Great dick too. Last night was amazing.”
“You’re not in pain this morning?”
“Nothing I wouldn’t do again.”
I lean over and kiss her slowly, lingering on her bottom lip before giving some attention to the top. Somehow, she always tastes like wild berries. “Well then, I’d say we find you some breakfast and get you up on Daddy’s cock where you belong.”
She smiles against my lips before letting out a gentle sigh.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I just…” She closes her eyes and shakes her head back and forth.
“Last night was incredible, and now we’re here, we woke up together, and it feels so good.
I don’t know… maybe we should stay out in the woods with no cell service forever.
I mean, I’m sure my father and Troy have called a thousand times by now.
Heck, maybe the whole town is looking for me. I don’t ever want to go back.”
I kiss her forehead again. “Maybe we’ll just have to get further away.”
“Oh yeah?” She grins. “Where are we going?”
“Not sure. That’s the fun part of a road trip. We just drive and see where we end up.”
“My God that sounds good. I mean, I’m pretty sure I lost the sale with Troy, and I’m not at breakfast this morning with Mulligan, so I doubt that’s going to go through either, which means a road trip with Daddy is exactly what I need!
” She grins as she cuddles into my side, and I feel a sense of relief I’ve been aching for.
She’s finally mine. My little kitten belongs to me, and nothing can change that. I won’t let it.
“Good! I’ve got a few granola bars in my saddlebag. You can snack on those before we head out to that diner out in Whiskey Falls. You remember me taking you there back in the day?”
Her pretty brown eyes widen as she nods. “The mountain stack of pancakes? Yeah, how could I forget? They have the best huckleberry syrup in the state.”
“Good.” I kiss her forehead and squeeze her in tighter, my lips massaging hers again in the cool chill of the morning air. “You don’t mind that you’ll be on my bike?”
“I mind greatly,” she grins, “but I did feel pretty safe last night in your arms. It’s much better than holding on for dear life in the back.”
“In the front it is then. You can—”
“Knock, knock,” Kade’s voice echoes through the campsite. “You in there talking to yourself? You’re getting more senile by the second.”
Shit. My chest tightens, though I’m unsure why. I’ve been planning to stop here for weeks, and I’ve been looking forward to catching up with my buddy, but I wasn’t expecting Nikki to be with me.
Kade isn’t one to keep his thoughts to himself. If he sees you’re making a shit decision, he’s certainly going to point it out.
I kiss my kitten on the top of her head, and slide to the edge of the air mattress. I’ll be glad to get off this thing tonight. My back is killing me.
“Should I stay here?” she whispers low, that soft, innocent gaze staring up at me.
“Not at all.” I help her up from the bed and pull her naked body against mine, the breeze from the slightly unzipped side vent sending tiny bumps over her arms. I brush my hands down over them quickly in an effort to warm her as I whisper low against her ear, “I have a feeling he’s the least of the judgment we’re going to get today. I’ll handle him.”
She grins wide and tips up onto her toes for a kiss, then twists back to grab her sundress off the edge of the air mattress. “I’m right behind you.”
My chest lifts, and there’s a warm upward swell behind my sternum at the thought of her trusting me to handle the situation, though there’s a part of me that’s nervous myself.
Kade can be gruff sometimes, and I’m not in the mood to deal with any of that this morning.
Right now, I want to go back to touching the woman I’ve been trying not to touch for years.
With Nikki’s dress in place and my jeans buckled, I unzip the tent and step out into the fresh morning air to see my buddy standing by the fire with deep set brows and the stoic intensity of a man who’s been personally wronged by sunlight.
“Hey, man.” I reach out for his hand, and he reciprocates with a firm shake. “Thanks for setting everything up. How the hell are you?”
He shakes his head and crosses his arms over his chest, inadvertently showing off the dragon tattoo he has on his left forearm.
“Real question is, how are you? Security caught you coming in last night, but I didn’t see your guest.” He bends to the side to get a better look at the woman I’ve brought with me, and my stomach tightens, ready for his response.
“Oh,” he clears his throat, birds singing in the trees, “Nikki Sage? I haven’t seen you in ages. What are you doing up here with this old man?”
“Hey!” She smiles and reaches toward him for a hug. “Yeah, it’s me. This place is gorgeous. I didn’t know you owned it.”
“Officially bought the place a couple of years ago, but my buddies and I just opened the outfitters this year. Not sure how long we’ll last with all the shit people in town are talking, though.” He shrugs and drags his hand back through his hair.
I shake my head. “You know how folks are. Give it another year and they’ll forget all about the ex-con shit, and you’ll just be a few guys up in the mountains running an outfitters.
Hell, Rugged Mountain has plenty of parolees.
People talk for a while, then they get over it.
The guy who just opened that plow company was in jail for ten years for some drug trafficking thing.
It was all the mountain was talking about the first winter he was here.
Now he’s got more business than he knows what to do with and everyone’s grandma is baking him cookies.
” I slap my buddy on the back. “It’ll work out. ”
“Appreciate the vote of confidence. Guess we’ll see.
” He glances toward my bike, then back at me.
“I’ve got that part for that Indian Scout you’re fixing up, but you guys know there’s a big storm rolling in today, right?
Supposed to be coming in soon. They’re calling for golf ball-sized hail and bad winds.
You might want to stay up at my place until it passes or head back into town until morning.
News says it’s going to get real bad on account of that temperature drop we had last night. ”
Fuck. Neither of those options are ideal. I want to be alone and free to touch my little kitten, however I choose. That, and if we can get out of this conversation without him circling back to why Nikki is here, that’d be ideal. The less time we’re together, the better those chances become.
“We should probably head out,” I say with a nod. “I’ll check my phone for updates and see if we can skirt around the worst of it.”
He laughs under his breath. “You won’t be skirtin’ this thing. It’s huge. Supposed to blanket the whole state of Colorado. You do you, but you better find a place to hunker down. Towns only an hour back. If I were you, I’d head home and restart the trip tomorrow.”
I nod slowly and draw in a deep breath. “Thanks for the update, man. Appreciate it.”
“Sure,” he says, walking back to the truck to grab my part out of the back. It’s a rear fender and it’ll fit perfectly in the saddlebag of my bike. “My buddy said he has other rare parts if you need them. He’s dismantling his grandpa’s scout for parts. Couldn’t get it running.”
“That’s too bad,” I say, my hand on the small of Nikki’s back. “Thanks for the help.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he says, glancing toward me. “I thought you were doing the road trip on your own?”
“I was going to, then plans changed.” I glance toward Nikki and reach for her hand, fully ready to declare our love out loud, but she steps in and cuts the moment clean, gripping hold of my arm playfully.
“Reed is taking me to shoot some pictures.” Her voice has turned so light and bubbly that two chipmunks scurry up near her feet to try and be her friend. “Turns out I’m a terrible realtor, but I was good at taking pictures once, so… we’ll see if that still stands.”
That’s not at all what’s happening. What the fuck?
One second, we’re in the tent lying in each other’s arms, content with telling the world our love is real. The next, she’s… doing whatever this is.
I stand in place, jaw tight, trying to keep my face neutral while everything inside of me knots up.
Her conversation with Kade continues, but I have no idea what they’re talking about. I can’t focus with the amount of pressure echoing in my ears.
I should shut my fucking mouth and go with the flow. I know she’s not trying to hurt me. She’s afraid. We’ve got decades between us, and I’m her dad’s best friend. Plus, Kade is a very intimidating guy. It makes sense that she’d be afraid right now.
I should be understanding, but for some reason my hands flex at my sides, my breath gets tight, and there’s a coiling heat under my sternum that claws to be let out.
Jesus Christ.
I draw in a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to settle my nerves, but the more I try to calm myself, the stronger the pull to claim her gets.
Nikki giggles sweetly and stares up at me as though it’s my turn to speak, but I have no idea what we’re even talking about, so instead of answering, I lean into her ear and whisper low, “I’m going to spank your little ass so hard.”
She blinks up at me, lips threatening a smile as she continues her charade. “Yeah, I guess we should get going.”
Kade glances up at the gray clouds moving in over the pines. “Be safe out there. Looks like this thing might be moving in early. Oh, and don’t be alarmed if you see smoke on the other side of the camp. I’ve got another couple out here for a long weekend.”
“Will do, buddy.” I nod. “We’ll have to catch up again soon when we’ve got more time.”
He waves without looking back, walking with that heavy certainty he always has, his shoulders squared like the world has never seen him hesitate.
I’m guessing that’s because it hasn’t, though I still don’t understand why he had to spend five years in prison for stepping in when a woman was being assaulted, but the courts said the situation looked like retaliation instead of protection, and he was lucky to get five years considering he was looking at ten.
He climbs up into his truck and slams the door with a solid thud that echoes through the trees, dust kicking up and catching in the morning light as he drives away.
There’s so much we could’ve caught up on, but I’m glad he’s leaving.
I have to teach my little girl a very hard lesson, and I need to teach it to her right the fuck now.