Rustling fabric makes me twist my head. Damned if she doesn’t drag the sleeping bag across the floor for me to use.
When I tilt my head to argue, she places an index finger over my lips. “As the fire dies down, we’ll need to share body heat. Undress, soldier.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Once our wet clothes are situated near the fire, I grab her wrists. Directing her to my lap, I cover us up.
One chaste kiss on her chapped lips later, I press her head to my shoulder. “We’ll get through this. I promise. Grab a few Z’s. I’ll keep an eye out.”
When her breath steadies, I cross my legs so I can cradle her better.
The storm rattles the cabin walls. The firelight dances. Ice pings the windows. I am one with the night.
At some point, she stirs. “Is it my turn?”
“No. Go back to sleep.” I have no intention of sharing the watch. I’ve gone for days with nothing more than catnaps. Tonight’s no different.
She yawns and stretches with a cute snort of annoyance. “Nope. Not happening. I’m wide awake. How about we talk?”
Shifting her weight off me, I uncurl my numb limbs. “You start.”
She laughs, a little rueful, then snuggles her nose into my neck. “Not much to tell. Mom and Dad owned a small dairy farm. I had a lot of cousins. They were my best friends. They loved helping take care of the cows.”
“Sounds like fun.” As I picture the idyllic scene, she shakes her head.
“What part exactly? Getting up at the ass-crack of dawn? Shoveling manure? Lifting a forty-pound bale of hay? Basically, we kids were their indentured servants.”
A half-hearted chuckle later, I stretch my feet out in front of the fire. When the attraction between us sizzles, a glimmer of wonder streaks across her face. I open my bent legs to hug her to me.
Under the spell of her cedar-cinnamon scent, my palm inches down her tense coiled back.
“How many siblings do you have?”
Her weighty sigh says more than the words to follow. “Five. Once my three older sisters married, they moved away. My little brother lives in Arizona near my parents. Only me and the oldest stayed here.”
“You two must be close, yeah?” I smooth her hair, loving how the silk glides against my skin.
She hesitates while she curls her fingers around mine. “Not so much, to be honest.”
Voice pitched down, her glances drift to the fire. “Kade wanted the farmland, but Dad sold it out from under him. Soon after, Gram died, leaving her house to me. You can see why he might be bitter. This is the most we’ve spoken in years.”
I get it. Families are complicated. I mean, my family was no picnic. But O’Malley’s? That’s a lot to unpack. No mystery why she has intimacy issues. “What about your daughter? Where does she fit in?”
She leans back into my chest, eyes closed, her golden eyelashes resting against her windburned skin. In the dying light of the fire, her jaw tightens with pure strength and raw beauty. It takes my breath away.
Her words jumble together, tangled in exhaustion. “Peter was my high school sweetheart. I had Mackenzie, he lost his job, so I enlisted. He cheated while I defended our country. WhenI came back, he wanted a divorce. I had no work, no money…I should’ve left the state, but Mack needed a father.” A long silence falls upon us.
As I’m thinking she’s drifted off, she exhales, throat tight. “Dante’s job saved me. Now he’s dead. It’s all my fault.”
“No way, honey. You didn’t pull the trigger.” Chin on her head, I wrap my arms around her.
She jerks away, tossing her head wildly. “You don’t understand. I might as well have. Because of The Incident, he made a deal with Bourdin.”
I swivel her to face me, my hands firm on her hips. “Babe, you can’t own his actions.”
Doubt-filled eyes stare back as her thighs straddle me. For the longest time, neither of us move.
I’m not sure who inches forward first, but at this moment, our lips hover a breath apart, electricity sparking between them.
As if on cue, a smoldering log snaps. She jumps, our mouths crash, and teeth bump. We freeze for a millisecond before laughter bubbles up. Still giggling, she slides her soft palms behind my ears. Those clever fingers thread through my hair. Holding me in place, her hungry mouth devours mine. Slow at first, she teases, tastes, then claims me.
