Page 84 of Snowed In With the Mountain Man
His heart ached. Fear and worry and every protective instinct he hadn’t even known he’d possessed reared up in him, and he tightened his grip on her waist.
“I’m fine.” He nodded. “Can you keep going?”
Her face was so white it terrified him, and her shaking sent a new spike of desperation surging through his body. She managed a nod, and they set off again, stumbling and limping their way to the cabin door.
29
The blast of heat when they entered the cabin brought both bliss and pain.
Dahlia hissed as her throbbing foot brushed against the doorframe, but the second she was inside, she hobbled toward the fire.
JJ’s hands were firm and sure on her waist as he helped her navigate into a chair. “We need to get you out of those wet clothes.”
Her trembling grew worse in front of the fire, and she couldn’t say if it was because of the cold, the heat of the flames, or the low rumble of his voice.
She shut her eyes. Now was not the time to be thinking about JJ’s voice. Or his hands. Or notice the fact that he was currently… stripping?
Her eyes widened and her discomfort temporarily fled as she turned to see JJ pulling off his sweater and the flannel underneath. He yanked them over his head, exposing skin and muscle and—
Yep, she was right. JJ had a six-pack. Or maybe it was eight.
She really shouldn’t be counting.
Darting her eyes away, she clasped her hands together and tried to stop shaking, but she couldn’t. She also couldn’t keep her gaze on the floor, and two seconds later, her eyes were tracking back to study the tall, muscular mountain man.
“Wet clothes will only make you colder,” he started saying.
There was nothing at all seductive in his voice. He was in full survival mode.
Which… she should be too.
She shook her head and tried to pull her sweater off, but with hands so shaky, it took three times to get it over her head.
“I’ll draw a hot bath.” He disappeared through the bathroom door, and she closed her eyes.
A hot bath. Another full-body shiver racked her from head to toe. The thought was delicious.
Even sitting in front of the fire, she felt frozen to the bone. The fire’s heat was scorching her skin, making her extremities burn as they came back to life.
She was suddenly overwhelmingly grateful that JJ had turned the water and electricity on so a bath was possible. She wasn’t sure anything else would help.
His voice came from the bathroom, where the bathtub’s faucet made a racket as it churned out water. “Lia, can you get those clothes off yourself, or do you need help?”
She winced as she stood, her throbbing ankle protesting. Her fingers trembled, but she managed to pull off her shirt. “I got it.”
Her clothes fell onto the hardwood floor with a wet splat. It took a few tries, but she finally unbuttoned her jeans and shoved them down her thighs.
As she did, a towel landed on the floor next to her.
She wrapped it around herself, the shaking so violent now it nearly made her topple over. But she clutched the towel around herself tightly and managed to wiggle out of her underwear and bra.
She was still shivering like one of those wind-up toys that bounced around a table when JJ came out of the bathroom shirtless and scrubbing a hand through his damp locks. The flakes covering his dark hair had melted into his beard as well. He gave it a scratch as he quickly took her in.
His expression was grim as she stood there trembling before him.
She would never be warm again. At that point, it felt like a certainty.
JJ walked to her and within four easy strides was wrapping his arms around her body. “I know this is awkward, but do us both a favor and give me a hug. We need to get warm.”
