Page 85 of Mountain Rescue
Jack lifted a hand and waved. “And I’ll call Noah and tell him to get the cabin door replaced.”
“You good with dinner at Jack’s?” Dallas said, picking her up after they drove away.
“What are you doing? I can walk.”
“And I can make sure you don’t have to. I promised you a date tonight, so if you want to go out, just us, I’ll tell Jack we have other plans. Or after what you went through today, would you rather stay at the cabin tonight? I’ll cook for you.”
“I’m good with dinner at Jack’s, but maybe we don’t hang around after we eat.” She actually would prefer to stay in with him, especially since she’d be leaving soon, but she also wanted to see Nichole.
“That works. You really were amazing today, but don’t ever scare me like that again.”
“I’ll try not to. How did you know to come look for me?”
“Hargrove’s man told me Ebers put a tracker on the Jeep. That meant he knew we’d moved to this cabin. All I could think was, what if I didn’t find you before...” He shook his head as if he couldn’t finish that thought, then stared down at her, his emotions fully open to her for the first time since she’d met him.
Did he even realize he was letting her see the depth of his fear when he didn’t know what Robert might have done to her? She put her hand on his cheek. “Hey, I’m safe, and it’s over. He’ll rot in prison, and that will be the worst punishment for a man like him.” She sure hoped that would be the outcome. “You can put me down now.”
The ghost of a smile appeared as he stared down at her. “I could, but I won’t.” He carried her straight to the bathroom and lowered her to the counter.
“First, I have to do this.” His mouth crashed down on hers, his hands landed on her hips, and he pushed his body between her legs.
He kissed her as if he was a starving man, and she was the meal that would sustain his life. He wasn’t gentle, and she didn’t want gentle. After almost dying, she needed his raw hunger. He made her feel alive. His tongue tangled with hers...no, they fought, their two tongues. A feverish battle of wills.
She put her hands on his jeans and fumbled for the button. “Need you,” she murmured against his mouth.
“Let me take care of your feet first.”
“Later. I need you now, Dallas, so much.” She needed him to make her forget, to erase the image of Robert telling her to get on her knees.
A growl deep from his throat was her only answer. He broke the kiss, yanked his shirt over his head, and then her shirt and bra were next to go. Their jeans, his boxer briefs, and her panties quickly followed.
“Wow. You’re good at that clothes removal stuff. You learn that in SEAL school or from cowboying?”
He laughed. “It’s all about motivation, sugar, and you have me very motivated.” His expression sobered. “Are you sure about this? After what you’ve been—”
She put her fingers over his lips. “Make me forget.”
“Thinking of him having his hands on you isn’t something I want to remember either.”
“Let’s forget together then.” He picked up the condom, and she took it from him. “Let me.”
“With pleasure.”
It was hot the way he watched her put the condom on him, and as he slid inside her, his eyes never left hers, and in their depths, she saw desire and something else. She wanted to believe it was love she saw, or at least, the beginning of love.
He wrapped his hand around her neck. “I can’t go easy, Rachel. Not now.”
“I don’t want easy. Not today.” She needed that raw hunger she’d seen on his face when he’d torn off their clothes. At hearing her answer, he seemed to surrender to whatever this thing between them was.
That thrilled her because he’d been closed off to her particular talent until recently. It had to mean that he was healing, that he was done with hiding. She didn’t think he even knew he’d closed himself off from the world, from his friends and family. There was nothing more she wanted than to see him happy. She wanted that more than she wanted her own happiness.
Was that love?
His mouth came down on hers, his tongue found hers, he dug his fingers into the skin of her hips, and then he plunged deep inside her. As his thrusts grew faster, harder, she wrapped her legs around his waist, and her arms around his neck. He made a strangled noise when she clenched her core muscles around him.
“Aah. Good, Rachel. Feels so damn good.”
She did it again, and he went wild. Pleasure grew inside her, building until she couldn’t contain it anymore, and she screamed his name. His body stilled, a great shudder traveled through him, then he buried his face against her neck, and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight.
