Page 43 of Holiday Hostage
We should be together.
The single sentence beat against my skull so hard it was a wonder I didn’t fall over dead. My teeth chattered when a burst of wind whipped between the trees.
Tarron cursed and shrugged out of his heavy overcoat. He held it out to me. “I should have made sure your clothes were suited for this.”
“Not your fault that I was kidnapped and had my outerwear taken.” I tried to wave off the offer of his coat. “You need that.”
“I’m fine.” His red cheeks and cracked lips said otherwise, but he continued to shake the coat in my direction.
I shot a look over my shoulder.
Our tracks stretched out in a long, winding path that ducked around trees and beneath limbs. “They’re going to catch up.”
“Of course they are.” Tarron grew impatient enough to ignore my hunched shoulders and pulled my arms away from my stomach, guiding them into the coat sleeves and buttoning it up to my chin.
He pulled the fur-lined hood up and tightened it so that nothing but my eyes and nose were left uncovered.
It smelled like him, like aged whiskey and sin, a heady combination that brought a new level of heat to my body.
“What if they were killed trying to create a distraction?” I clamped my hands together over my mouth. “Shit. I didn’t mean to say that out loud. The cold is getting to me.”
“Mav and Reed are too damned good to be taken out by the likes of those men.” He sounded so confident that I almost believed him.
Almost.
He betrayed his words when a worried little crease appeared between his eyes.
I liked them all too much to consider any of them dying for me.
The horrible showdown happening at the ranger station couldn’t be the worst thing they’d ever faced.
Fuck me. I shouldn’t have feelings for them already, but how could I not after what happened last night?
I’d never fallen for anyone this hard…or this fast. They put their lives on the line for me, and they’d been willing to do anything to please me.
Tarron headed out again, taking his time and breaking a trail for me to follow.
He reached a hand behind him, offering it to me without hesitation.
I took it, and we trudged ahead step by weary step.
My legs ached.
Hell, my whole body ached.
I needed a two-hour soak in a hot tub and a whole bottle of painkillers to work out the stress it had endured.
“Tell me a story. About the three of you.” My toe caught on something under the snow, and my forward momentum pitched me into Tarron’s back.
He whirled to catch me, dragging me close to his chest in a mimicry of how we’d snuggled together last night. “What do you want to know?”
“Anything.” Everything. “Reed told me you were Rangers together. And that you went into the private sector after your contracts were up.”
“What else did he say?” A curious expression lifted the corners of Tarron’s mouth.
He had a nice mouth, with full, firm lips. His blonde hair was a mess of snarls after dealing with the snow and wind.
I ran my hands through the strands, trying to put them in order.
