Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Chloe
I’m so cold I can no longer feel my toes. Or my fingers.
Obviously, I’ve made a wrong turn. My instincts were off.
Then again, it’s snowing so hard, I could be walking in circles for all I know.
This is it. No one knows I’m here. I’m going to freeze to death out here.
And all because I couldn’t wait to get some crappy article written for a silly website so I could write another romance novel that I was probably never going to publish. Just like the rest of the books that I’d written and was too scared to do anything with.
I’m going to die having never even tried to make it.
I’m going to die a virgin.
I don’t know why it’s that last thought that breaks me.
I drop to my knees in the snow and start crying, but the tears freeze instantly on my cheeks. It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters any—
“Chloe!”
I jerk my head up at the sound of my name being called. Is someone looking for me or am I so cold that I’m hallucinating? Is that one of the signs of hypothermia? My brain must be shutting down.
“Chloe!”
There it is again. My name is being called by a voice I only sort of recognize.
And then I’m being lifted off my knees, to my feet, and big, strong arms are wrapped around me.
“It’s okay, Chloe. I’ve got you,” the voice says. “It’s going to be okay.”
I’m too tired to keep my eyes open, and I’m only vaguely aware of being lifted into the man’s arms.
“Stay with me, Chloe. I’m going to get you warm.”
It’s the last thing I hear before I close my eyes and let myself sleep.
Ryder
Shit.
She’s so cold.
Too cold.
I followed her tracks away from the easy Lodge Loop and up into the mountains, much deeper into the forest than I would have thought she’d been able to get to. She must have really been moving.
My heart clenches at the thought that she’d been so scared she hiked faster and faster in an effort to get to safety when she was only moving farther away with each step.
Did I get here too late? I was never going to forgive myself if something happened to my girl because of me.
I need to get her warm. Quickly.
The lodge is too far away. She needs heat soon.
We’re closer to the little hunting shack my brothers and I used to use for whitetail and now mostly only use for overnight guest excursions.
It’s going to have to do. But I know I won’t be able to navigate the sled up there through the thick trees in this deep snow.
I set Chloe down long enough to strap my own snowshoes on and radio Briggs to let him know I’ve found her and we’re headed to the shack to ride out the storm.
Then I scoop her up, cradling her close to my chest, and move as quickly as I can.
She’s succumbed to sleep, the body’s way of protecting itself.
I have to get her warmed up quickly, so when I reach the shack, I put her fully dressed on the bed and pull a quilt over her while I work to get the fire started.
Fortunately, we keep the cabin well stocked, including a supply of dry firewood.
It doesn’t take long before it’s roaring and the little cabin heats up.
“Chloe.” She’s so beautiful. So innocent and sweet. And I’ll be dammed if I let anything happen to her. “Wake up, Chloe.”
She’s still too cold.
I don’t even stop to think about what the consequences might be, because the only thing that matters is Chloe and making sure she’s okay.
“Come on. We need to get you out of these clothes.”
She groans in her sleep as I tug her clothes off. Being a perfect gentleman, I do my very best to avert my gaze when she’s down to wearing only a bright-blue cotton bra and matching panties. Her tits are small but full. The perfect size for me to fill my hands.
Okay, maybe I’m not exactly a perfect gentleman.
I strip down myself and join her in the bed, pulling as many blankets and quilts overtop of us as I can.
Her skin is cold, but I’m operating at a much higher body temperature.
A situation that may or may not be exacerbated by the fact that I have her sweet little body pressed up to mine.
My hands rub all over her thighs, back, and stomach as I work to get some heat back in her body.
My dick is hard and hot, pressed into her back, and when she finally moans and squirms against me as she wakes up, rubbing her juicy ass cheeks against my hard-on, I have to swallow a groan.
“What’s…Ryder?”
She tries to turn to see me, but my arms and legs are wrapped tight around her in an effort to give her as much of my body heat as possible.
“It’s okay, Chloe. You were freezing. I’m just trying to warm you up. That’s all. I swear.”
Despite the fact that my dick would way rather be warming her up in a whole different way. It’s not the time or place.
“I thought I was dreaming,” she says, her voice low and thick with sleep and oh-so-sexy. “You saved me and took me to bed.”
“That’s exactly what I—”
“It was hot. You made me feel things.”
I freeze, one hand on her back, the other on her upper thigh. “What kind of things?”
She moans, and I can no longer tell whether she’s fully awake or not. “Sexy things,” she says. “Things I’ve never felt before. Things I’ve only written about.”
Her body is warm now. I probably don’t need to be lying next to her, rubbing her the way I am, but I can’t seem to help myself. Besides, she obviously likes it. Chloe has wiggled her way back into me; her ass is grinding against my cock in a way that feels like delicious torture.
And now I’m even more curious about this little kitten of a woman lying in my arms. “What do you mean, you’ve only written about sexy things?”
She exhales slowly, and her body melts a little more into mine. “Are you sure I’m not dreaming?”
She’s fully awake now, but she doesn’t move away from me.
“You’re absolutely not dreaming, Chloe. We’re just talking now. I don’t have to keep—”
“No.” She tenses a little in my arms before relaxing again. “Don’t stop. I’m still so cold.”
A smile plays at my lips, but her wish is my command.
I don’t fully understand what kind of spell this little slip of a woman holds over me, but what I do know for sure is that when I saw her in the snow, half frozen, it sent a shot of fear through me like I’ve never felt before.
Not even when my own life was in danger.
I don’t know what it is, or why it is, but the idea of losing her when I just found her is too much to bear.
Once more, I move my hands slowly over her soft body. “I won’t stop,” I tell her. “Tell me about your writing.”