“Ash is pretty capable of living on his own with a bit of outside assistance—either from me or my parents.If I get called away, I know I can count on my parents to do some extra check-ins.His girlfriend’s parents are also very involved.Jess and Ash met at a day program they used to attend.They just clicked.Our families are good friends now.”
He clenched his jaw to stop from asking if there was anyone special in her life.Any close friends that she met through her volunteer work.He wanted to know what she was like as a kid, although he had a picture in his mind—a mini version of the spunky adult.He doubted she would’ve been into dolls or frilly dresses.She struck him as the type who would wade knee-deep in a pond to catch a frog with her bare hands.He bet she’d spent time with her legs dangling over the curve of a tree branch or watching an ant colony, just to observe the inner workings.In short, she was interesting as fuck.Like no one he’d ever met, and that was dangerous.
“You need rest.”The softness of his voice surprised him.“Close your eyes and try to sleep.Once we’re warm, I’ll get some food into you.”
Her stomach growled loudly at the mention of food, and he hated that their priority had to be staying warm right now.“Think DoorDash comes out this way?”
“Not a fucking chance, babe.”He had no idea where the endearment came from.He’d never once called a woman babe, sweetheart, or anything else for that matter.He was always good about maintaining his distance.At keeping his emotional walls in place.Maybe it was the intense situation they’d shared, but he didn’t think so.He’d saved women before and never felt a sliver of emotional attachment.In this case, though, she’d saved him.
If she hadn’t been so quick to think, to wrap her legs around the sapling to hold her in place, he most likely would’ve been killed by the boulder or the landslide itself.He’d known he was too heavy for her to hold, and he had no intention of using her as a human rope.Ivy was intuitive, though.Somehow, she sensed that he was going to let go of her and she dug her short nails into his skin, doing her damnedest to hang on to him.Small crescents marked his arm, and he hated to admit he liked the way they looked there.No one, aside from his brothers in arms, had ever done anything so selfless for him.
As her breathing deepened, he pulled the emergency blanket more tightly around them.Despite their differences in height, she fit up against him like her body had been made for him alone.He closed his eyes, knowing he wouldn’t fall asleep.He’d struggled with insomnia since he left the SEALS.With the storm continuing at full force outside, their small cave felt especially warm.The arm that was wrapped tightly around her waist rose and fell with her breaths.He absently nestled closer to her, the sleek strands of her hair brushing against his cheek.With the scent of her shampoo in his nostrils, something fruity like mandarin oranges and cranberries, he fell into a deep sleep.
*
Hours later, Judewoke disoriented.Something wasn’t right.He kept his eyes closed and took stock of his surroundings.It was light out, and for some reason, that seemed wrong.The surface he slept on was hard, but the body curled into him was so damn soft.Ivy.Everything came rushing back.His trip to the cabin.Drowning his anguish in alcohol.Finding the woman and learning how she came to be lying unconscious in the woods.Then there was the landslide.The laughter.The last thing he remembered was coating his lungs in her fruit punch scent.Nothing was wrong, but something was different.
For the first time he could remember, he woke peacefully.Not soaked in sweat from a nightmare.His family being slaughtered.His teammates taking enemy fire and dropping to the ground around him.Raiding homes that concealed some of the most abhorrent shit he’d ever witnessed.Victims’ eyes that were dull and flat, stripped of hope and innocence from the trauma they’d endured.He’d slept.The memories that visited his nightmares were, for once, silent.Ivy snuggled in closer, her lush ass pressing against him.He nearly groaned as his body reacted accordingly, and heat fired through his blood.
There was no way he could escape their cocoon without waking her.Propping himself up on his forearm, he moved his hand from her stomach to her shoulder.“Ivy,” he whispered.She rolled to her back, blinking up at him.The sight of her sleepy, trusting eyes had his balls tightening.Yeah, he needed to get up.Now.
“Morning.”Her lips curved, and the smile shot straight through his chest.
“Can’t believe it, but I think you’re right.”He glanced toward the entrance of the cave where light was streaming through the gaps in the trees.
“Did you get any sleep?”She lifted her hands to rub her eyes, displacing the hand that was on her shoulder.His palm brushed down her back with the movement, and he failed to ignore how soft her skin felt.
“Surprisingly, yeah.”His voice had dropped an octave or two, but if she recognized the desire in his voice, she simply ignored it.
“Surprising because of the accommodations, your bunkmate, or because sleep isn’t something you get often?”There was a teasing light glinting in her eyes, and her lips were curved into a cute little grin.
“My bunkmate?”He found himself grinning along with her.It wasn’t smart to enjoy this woman’s company, but once they got out of the forest, they’d go their separate ways.Why that caused a sudden ache in his chest, he wasn’t sure.
She shrugged.“I’ve been told I’m a snorer.”
“When you’ve slept in a barracks with four other men, no amount of snoring is going to bother you.”He wasn’t about to tell her that he’d fallen into a deep sleep, probably the deepest of his adult life, with her cradled in his arms.“And to answer your original question, sleep isn’t something that comes easily to me.”
“Were you a soldier?”
“Navy SEAL.”He shifted, but didn’t throw the thermal blanket off, not wanting to leave her exposed.“I’m going to get up and check on our clothes, then I’ll heat something for us to eat.”He maneuvered the blanket, so it covered only her, and quickly started out of the tent.
“How can I help?”
He glanced back and saw that Ivy was sitting up, the blanket tucked under her arms, leaving her shoulders bare.Her willingness to be an active participant in their survival and offer him help was something new to him.He was always quick to turn down assistance others offered, but those offers were few and far between.The way Ivy was staring up at him, eyes wide and eager to please, along with the sincerity of her question pulled at him in a way he’d never experienced.
“Let me get you some clothes, then I’ll show you how to heat an MRE.”
She smiled so brightly, it nearly knocked him back.He wasn’t sure if she was always this easy to please or just found joy where she could get it.Either way, he envied that quality.She would have every right to be complaining right now after two near-death experiences the day prior, the possibility of danger from what she’d overheard, her truck being stolen, and a night on the ground with a total stranger.He walked to the spot he’d left their clothes and touched the fabric of his jeans, then hers.They were mostly dry, and with the sun shining and the long hike ahead of them, they wouldn’t have to worry about the dangers of hypothermia.After yanking on his jeans and shirt, he carried her clothes, or his rather, back to the tent and wiggled the fabric.
“Housekeeping.”He tossed them to her, and she grinned and grabbed them.Housekeeping?He rolled his eyes.This wasn’t him.He wasn’t playful or carefree.A few grunts and some curt instructions were more his style, but something about Ivy made him…the fuck if he knew.Less of an asshole maybe?
His life had no room for sunshine and roses.No room for miscalculation or error.People’s lives depended on his task force’s ability to swiftly uncover and shut down trafficking rings in the United States.He scowled as he made his way over to his pack and began sifting through the contents of the MRE.
“Okay, put me to work,” Ivy chirped.
He looked up, startled that he didn’t notice her approach.He wasn’t sure if it was the good night’s sleep, too much alcohol from the previous day, or that Ivy was particularly nimble, but she’d gotten the drop on him.Hadn’t made a fucking peep dressing or getting out of the tent.Now she stood next to where he crouched over the backpack, looking fresh and pretty.Two things he had no business noticing.
Not trusting his voice, he jerked his chin toward the space beside him, and she sat on the ground at his side.Appreciation at her ability to follow his nonverbal cues popped into his head, and he roughly shoved it back down.
