Page 61 of Holiday Hostage
“How to light a fire.” Mav bundled some sticks together and reached into one of the many cargo pockets on his camo pants.
“Anytime you’re heading into the wilderness, you should have one of these.” He held up a small tin and shook it. “Everythingyou need to start a fire without having to try rubbing two sticks together.”
“Wouldn’t be a bad idea to have one with you at all times. You never know when these things will come in handy.” Tarron joined the conversation as he slung his medical bag onto the ice and pawed through it.
“Better to be overprepared than to get out here and need something you thought irrelevant.”
“True.” Mav dipped his head in agreement. “But if you’re strapped for space, things you can keep in your pockets or in a bag strapped close enough there’s no way you’ll lose it are best. Backpacks are great, but as you have now realized, they can get lost or taken from you.”
“Or drown you.” I shuddered at the memory of standing on the riverbank with my pack beneath the tree. “If I’d had my backpack on and gotten into the water, I’d have drowned.”
“Unless you could get out of it.” Reed motioned at Tarron’s bag. “Most of our equipment has quick-release buckles for emergencies. The downside is that they can be taken from you. Since we’re experts on self-defense and hand-to-hand combat, it’s less of an issue for us.”
Maverick talked me through each step as he built up the small pile of sticks and added fluff from the tin into the middle.
“It’s easier when you’re in a place with walls. If you were out there, it would be almost impossible to light a fire in the open.”
“Finding a good place to shelter is a priority if you’re lost in the wilderness.” Tarron finished organizing his bag and strapped it to his back with asnickof the metal clip.
“What do I look for in a shelter?” I settled in with my back to the wall and listened as each of them gave me tips and tricks for living in the wild.
When they slowed to a stop, I made a show of massaging my temples. “That’s a lot of information, but it’s stuff I was hoping to learn on my survival retreat.”
“Like I said.” Tarron grinned and patted my leg. “Better to be prepared.”
“Yeah, well. I should have hired your three to be my guides from the start. I would have learned more and been safer.” A delicious shiver ran the length of my spine, and I winked. “Not to mention the incredible bonus sex that my previous guide didn’t offer.”
Reed laughed loud and long, slapping Tarron on the shoulder when he ventured within range. “Yeah, nowthatis not something we offer everyone we rescue. You’re definitely a one-of-a-kind situation.”
The words warmed me. One of a kind.
No one but Dad had ever said that.
He was my only parent, and he had to say it. It was like part of the parental code or something.
But hearing it from Reed had a different meaning, and I relished the way the words took the awful situation we were in and made it bearable.
They made this whole thing bearable.
Maverick locked eyes with me. He had a way of holding me with nothing more than the steel in his eyes.
Pleasure spiked in my center without a single touch.
He took my hand and curled both of his around it. “We are the only men who get to provide you with that kind of service.”
It was a warning given with a sense of possessiveness that I would have called anyone else out on.
I was the owner of my own body, my mind, and my heart. No one got to tell me what to do with any of it.
But I felt the same way about them. Imagining them with any other woman caused a horrible jealousy to burn hot in my veins.
Tarron and Reed closed in from either side so I was surrounded by hunky men.
Reed pushed my hood away from my face and tilted my chin so I stared at him. “You belong to us now.”
“And we might just have to keep you all for us. No one else.” Tarron pressed a lingering kiss to my temple. “What do you think about that for a Christmas present?”
I hauled him close and kissed him full on the lips. “I think that sounds like a damned fine idea. I also think I’m freezing my ass off, and I’ve learned enough for today. I’m ready to go inside where it’s warm.”
