Page 118 of Never Die for a Sinner
“Fuck,” I curse, stopping and searching through the trees. “Where are you, baby?”
I walk until it’s nearly pitch-black overhead, and though the rain soaked through my clothes long ago, I keep going. I’m going to find her, whether it kills me or not, because I’m supposed to protect her. That’s my fucking job.
I’m deep in the trees, and the trail that I thought might be hers died off long ago. I don’t stop, though, even as my toes go numb and my mind starts to come up with the worst. It’s like my nightmare playing over and over again in real time, only now, it’s ice instead of fire that’s going to take her from me.
And then I spot it.
A small footprint in the mud that I fuckingknowis hers.
“Ava!”
It’s by pure chance that I hear it. A whispered groan carried on the wind whipping through the trees from somewhere nearby.
I don’t think I’ve ever felt pure, unadulterated relief until the moment my flashlight lands on her, lying at the bottom of a steep drop-off.
“Fuck, Ava.” I slip down the rocks to land beside her small form, nestled in a bed of weeds and mud.
She’s soaking wet and filthy, barely shivering when I reach her. Her face is pale, and her eyes are shut. On her head, a cut oozes blood, and her lip is busted from the fall.
“Fuck,” I curse under my breath, trying to shield her with my body. She’s in nothing but a thin jacket and leggings, and the rain is heavy overhead. “Sweetheart, look at me.”
She doesn’t. Not even when I lift her into my arms and cradle her against my chest.
“Ava.” I shake her, but she’s out of it, her head lolling into my shoulder. “Fuck. Fuck.” Struggling to stand in the mud, I hoist her up into my arms, holding her close.
I’ve got to get her out of the cold, and the cabin isn’t far. I cradle her to me, ignoring the answering ache in my feet and hands from the cold, and start the harsh trek toward the only place of solace this deep in the woods.
It’s difficult, carrying her small form through the dark and wet night, but I don’t let her go. I walk for what feels like hours, but it’s probably only twenty minutes until the silhouette of the cabin is lit up by a streak of lightning across the sky.
I sit Ava on her feet on the porch, and she groans, barely able to hold herself up. I pin her to the side of the cabin with my bodyand fish my keys out of my pocket to unlock the door before she falls over. Picking her back up, I carry her in and kick the door shut behind me.
I lay Ava down on the old couch before I head to the fireplace and toss a couple logs in. Luckily, last time I was here, I left a few stacked to the side so they’re dry. I light them, casting the room in a warm glow.
Grabbing the first aid kit I find in the bathroom, I pull up a chair and sit down beside her to clean her cut. She must have taken a nasty fall, judging by the mud caked on her clothes and the cut on her forehead. She won’t need stitches, but I clean it, placing a bandage over it to keep it from bleeding.
She doesn’t stir the entire time.
“Come on, Ava,” I say, but it sounds more like pleading with the ache in my chest. “Look at me.”
She doesn’t, not even when I start to undress her, hanging her soaking wet clothes on the back of the chairs at the small kitchen table. I remove everything until she’s completely naked before I shed my own.
Grabbing the end of the mattress from the bed, I slide it onto the floor in front of the fireplace before I cover it with whatever blankets I can find.
Lifting Ava from the couch, I carry her over to the fire, wrapping us both inside the blankets and pulling her against my bare chest.
I have no fucking idea what I’m doing, but I’ve always heard skin to skin is best when hypothermia is at stake, so I hold her tighter, ignoring the way my dick responds and pressing a kiss to her forehead.
“Levi?” Ava breathes, not yet opening her eyes to look at me.
“I’m here, little ghost,” I whisper, ignoring the irony behind her nickname and the feelings in my chest.
She shivers, burying her face into the crook of my neck, and I let her, holding her as tightly as I can while I watch the fire over her shoulder.
Fuck, if I hadn’t found her, there’s no way she would have survived out there through the night. Not with the rain pelting down from above and the cold setting in with the night.
“You came for me?” she says softly, interrupting my thoughts of how I found her, lifeless and freezing on the forest floor.
Leaning back, I look down at her. Her lashes sit heavily on her cheeks, and she’s not fully awake, but some of the color is returning to her face, and a shiver of relief rolls through me.
