“When we find shelter for the night, I’ll clean and massage your feet, bandage them if needed. Okay?”
His words touch me. I didn’t know men like Hudson even existed, apart from my dad. “Thank you, but you don’t have to.”
“I want to,” he says darkly.
My foot slides off the edge, but Hudson’s right there, protectively holding me against the cliff.
“Steady now,” he growls. “We’re almost there, Hadleigh. Stay with me.”
I whimper, panic washing over me again. I’m learning to sit with it, push through despite my insides crumbling.
Hudson reaches out to push a stray hair from my cheek. My face burns, and I look away, trying to hide the blush.
He encourages. “Almost home free.”
“Okay.”
With a few more steep steps, Hudson pulls me to the top, and we both collapse onto the ground. The wind swirls around us, and thunder booms. Disappointment rushes me, the distance between us mere feet, yet an impassable gulf. I long for his arms, wondering if the closest we’re ever going to get was on the cliff when he comforted and talked me through my fear of heights.
A flash of white light fills the darkening sky. “Fuck!” Hudson exclaims. “Come on.”
Jumping to his feet, the air sizzling with electricity, he grabs my hand and pulls me up. Removing his leather jacket, he wraps it around my shoulders. The tender move warms and reassures me despite the electricity flashing overhead. “I would’ve offered this to you earlier, but I was afraid it might make you slip on the climb.”
“Thank you,” I whisper.
He grabs my hand, dragging me into the woods, sprinting against the storm. My stomach knots and twists, thinking about where Hudson and I would be now had he not forced me to take the trail. I owe this man my life multiple times over.
Adrenaline and fear course through my veins, pushing me further than stamina ever has. I wonder if it’s the same for this brute of a man. I can’t imagine it is. He moves through the woods with a robust grace, like it’s second nature.
Another percussive clap shatters the atmosphere, followed by a burst of light. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
“See that dip in the terrain?” Hudson points, rushing toward a small grouping of short trees. “Lone trees and tall trees tend to attract most of the action. So, this is where we need to be.”
“What about that overhang?” I ask, eyes straying towards a cluster of rocks with a space beneath.
“No good in lightning. We must spread out, crouch down, and minimize our exposure to the ground. Like this.” He demonstrates, getting as low to the ground as possible on the balls of his feet. “Cover your ears if it helps,” he adds, the creases deepening in his forehead.
Never have I seen a more gorgeous man in my life. He’s all strength, stamina, and survivalist knowledge, and it’s sexy as fuck. As a SoCal girl, I never knew I could find a tatted, motorcycle-riding mountain man so attractive. I crouch a distance from Hudson, mirroring his body positioning, and feeling lonely and vulnerable. I long to melt into his arms and feel his mouth on mine.
“Once this passes, we’ll find shelter,” he yells.
I nod, eyes squeezed shut. “Remind me to wear something other than a little black dress on our next date,” I tease, covering my ears as thick sheets of rain pelt us, and the sky crackles and crinkles overhead.
“If I do things right, you won’t wear anything at all on our second date,” he replies throatily.
His words stun me, making me do a double-take.
Hudson smiles naughtily, and my insides officially melt into gooey, useless warmth. A good guy with the confidence of a bad boy? Hell, yeah.
Thunder shakes the ground, and lightning fractures the sky. Fraught minutes pass as I count the time between booms and strikes, realizing the storm is directly overhead. I tremble and shake violently, trying to hold still and maintain the position Hudson showed me. I feel naked, laid out, and helpless before nature.
Popping and cracking sounds a distance away. I turn my head, watching an old, rotten widowmaker tree topple in a cloud of splinters.
I look up, my eyes locking with Hudson’s snapping green ones. Death and destruction surround us as the gale blows, and the river in the gorge roars. Chaos crashes and smashes overhead. Despite everything, sparks from his gaze simmer, lighting my skin and igniting my need.
“How you can be so goddamned hot crouching on the ground during a lightning storm, I’ll never understand,” Hudson calls across the distance between us.
My mouth quirks as another boom and crash sound nearby. Over the howling wind, I reply, “I could say the same about you, you know.”