“Hall. Hall Evers.”
She let out a shaky breath. “I’m Cassidy, uh, Cassidy Mitchell.”
Cassidy.I turned the name over in my mind, liking the way it sounded.
She was still shivering. Her nightgown was short, barely reaching mid-thigh. I could see goosebumps rising on her bare arms.
I tried not to notice how low-cut the nightgown was, and how the hem fell short on her thighs. I noticed anyway. She was only half-dressed, with her thick curves on display.
“My clothes,” she said, glancing back at the house. “My shoes. I should get…”
“No.” The word came out sharper than I intended. I softened my voice. “The smoke’s too strong. Everything in there will be saturated. You’ll make yourself sick breathing it in.”
Her face crumpled. “But everything I own is in there.”
“I’ll give you clothes. Whatever you need.” I didn’t know if I had anything that would fit her, but I’d figure it out. I’d figure everything out. I just needed to get her somewhere warm and safe.
Cassidy looked up at me then, her eyes latching onto mine like I was something solid in a world that had just fallen apart. Like I was a hero.
I wasn’t a hero. I’d just done what needed doing. But the way she looked at me made me want to be one.
“Okay,” she whispered. “Okay.”
“Come on, then, Cassidy,” I rumbled as I guided her up the mountain.
The trail was familiar to me, even in the dark. I’d walked it a thousand times and knew every root and rock by feel. But she didn’t.
Within minutes she stumbled.
I turned back to see her hobbling, her bare feet torn up by the rough ground. Blood smeared across a flat stone where she’d stepped.
“Stop,” I said.
“I’m fine. I can make it.”
She couldn’t, we both knew it.
So I closed the distance between us and scooped her up into my arms.
Cassidy let out a startled sound, her hands flying to my shoulders. “You don’t have to…”
“I know.” I didn’t put her down.
She was soft. That was the first thing I noticed. Soft and warm against my bare chest, her curves fitting against me in a way that made my blood heat despite the cold.
My body responded before my brain could stop it. It was just a stirring low in my gut at first.
Then a tightening in my chest. Followed by a flicker of life in my cock. I gritted my teeth and focused on the trail, putting one foot in front of the other.
She was vulnerable and scared, and thiswasn’tthe time. I heard the soft hitch in her breath as she tried not to cry.
Then shedidcry. They were quiet sobs that shook her whole body, her tears soaking into my bare skin. She pressed her face against my chest and wept, and something inside me cracked open.
“It’s going to be okay,” I murmured.
The words felt clumsy in my mouth. I wasn’t good at comfort or reassurance or any of the soft things people needed.
But I tried anyway. “I’ve got you. You’re safe now.”
