Page 38 of Mountain Men Heroes

He nodded in agreement, taking another painful step. “It could mean our business going under for good. Savage Excursions tailors to the tourists’ every need. If a fancy lodge moves in and takes that business from us how can we go up against that kind of money?”

Dusk settled in and Ethan pushed faster as they made the rest of the way back to the cabin in silence. She could tell his mind clicked over all the details but had just as little luck as she did in finding answers.

Back at the cabin, getting up the stairs again nearly killed them both.

Still wearing her waders, she turned and gave a kick to the door. Inside, she leaned them both on the back of the couch. “Shower now, then food. We need to clean your wound and all the various cuts and scrapes you got.”

He didn’t seem in the mood to argue.

She shucked off the waders and clicked on several lamps scattered across the open space of the shared dining and living room. Soft white light poured over the room. Like her, he preferred sparse furniture and open spaces. Small earth-toned rugs dotted the wood flooring. One by the back door and another by the front with one more in front of the floor to ceiling bookcase situated by the fireplace. Stacked river rock made up the entire hearth and invited one to sit a spell by the warmth with a good book or maybe a meal.

Ethan merely nodded as she maneuvered him to the bathroom.

With a flick, light drenched the room and revealed a small sink to the left and beige walls that led to smooth wooden floors throughout the entire cabin. Another rug, this one the color of his eyes, warmed the flooring by the tub. To the left towels, stacked in size from smallest to biggest, lined the top of the chest of drawers he’d refurbished last winter.

Now the towels served as a cushion for Ethan where he leaned on them for support. His face looked like it gained a little color back which made her feel a lot better. He tucked an arm close and moved to pull his shirt off, but she reached out and stopped him with a light touch.

“Let me.”

With evening in full swing, the Alaska midnight sun barely kissed the horizon where it would stay until sunup. The window above the shower allowed a small amount of sunlight in, enough to hit the dangling crystals of the light fixtures that said a woman, at some point, called this place home. A fraction of her heart ached at the thought.

The rainbow effect played over his chest and across his face. He dropped his arms and leaned in closer, causing the colorful lights to bounce off his irises. He pulled her in close and brushed her lips with his. “Better than any medicine.”

A groan tickled the back of her throat. He totally destroyed her with that single word. She looked between the shower and his gaze. On one shoulder, the good doctor angel whispered for her to take care of him and put him to bed. The devilish angel on her left shoulder shucked her scrubs and commanded she heed the plea in his eyes for her to do her naughtiest to him.

Her heart filled and swelled with so much love, so much need for this one man, that it pained her not to shout it out for everyone to hear. Every second that ticked by, the bad angel gained ground.

His eyes slid closed as she ran her fingers beneath his shirt and lifted the material over his head to reveal solid muscle and abs that went on way past the button of his jeans. After tossing the shirt aside, she set to work on the offending jeans—slung low from the lack of a belt.

Her mouth went dry. Every touch, every caress of a finger over his skin made hard muscle tremble. Drowning in the need to care for him, she leaned in. Softly, she pressed her lips to each inch she exposed and reveled in how his body relaxed under her attention.

She started with the bruises and worked her way to each scrape until she heard him growling.

“Remy.” His head fell back against the wall as he chucked her name out.

Ten seconds. She would stay here for ten seconds and if he called her again like that, she wouldn’t—couldn’t— resist what he pulled to the surface. And it would be all his fault.

“Baby, look at me.” His hand slid up the back of her head and dug deep into the locks of her hair that had fallen free from her ponytail to hang loosely down her back.

She complied.

“You’re killing me, baby. Every second you touch me, you bring something to life inside me. Something I’m not sure I wanted before you. I can’t even feel the pain anymore. What the hell have you done to me?” The tangled mesh of tension that served as the underbelly to their relationship slipped away to leave a newly found peace. Would it last? Could she trust it? Trust that it wasn’t the emotions of the moment speaking? She was so damned confused. One second he pushed her away and the next he pulled her in with words she didn’t quite know how to interpret.

Kneeling by his feet, the crest of his cock teasing her closer, she shoved everything else to the back of her mind. For now, she would care for him in whatever manner he wanted and all the matters of the heart could be examined later.

With his pants opened at the waist, she slipped her thumbs inside the zipper and slowly pulled the sides open.

Metal rasped against metal and in less than five seconds she had him stripped of jeans, boots and every stitch of clothing he wore. Bared to her, she could care for him in all ways.

Angling away from him, she rose, scraping her nails lightly over the hardened flesh of his cock then higher to his chiseled abs. He gasped and caught her hand, bringing it to his chest.

“I could say the same thing to you, you know. You do things to me that have me wondering what living with a gruff, frustratingly possessive mountain man would be like.” Every word he’d spoken, she’d felt deep in her heart. Damn it. Her voice shook, and he picked up on it with how his heartbeat quickened beneath her palm.

Faster than she thought he could move, he had her pinned against him and the ends of her shirt fisted in his fingers.

“No.” She put a hand on his. “Right now, right here, this is for you. I get to do to you what I want.” She pulled back, but it did nothing to kill the sweet heat radiating between them. “I’m not sure either one of us would survive the shower if I let you undress me.”

“I’m willing to try if you are.”

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