Page 242 of Screwged for Christmas

She connected gazes with Damon, who had never left her side since walking through Reaper’s front door hours ago. He’d even helped her set up a Christmas tree to help bring a little peace for Reaper’s family as they healed.

She looked around. If not for her help tonight many more lives would have been lost. She knew that as fact and facts never let her down.

Fact: Her instincts screamed for her to run far and fast. She almost agreed. Almost.

Tonight she’d learned something no Texan knew.

Fact: no one can run when snowbound.

CHAPTER 10

“Where are we going?”

Ivy could barely hear her own voice over the rip of the snowmobile’s loud motor. The wide headlight beam cut through the forest as Damon dodged the machine around felled trees and suspicious-looking hillsides that looked like trouble spelled with a huge freaking capital T. She didn’t dare look back so she couldn’t say for sure. Besides, she had her glasses tucked inside her jacket and blissfully let him steer them to wherever they were going. Since he detoured away from where she knew he had parked the truck, she leaned forward and asked again.

“Are we lost or what?” With only a small headlight from the snowmobile, it was possible.

A warm rumble of laughter carried through her hands. It was the only sign she had that he actually registered what she had said.

Darkness rapidly swallowed up the space immediately behind the bright spotlight like a headlight and all she could see to the sides and rear of them were massive pines, their branches hung low like craggy arms reaching for them through the night. She shook herself mentally. After the events of the night she was waiting for a hoard of cloaked men to jump out.

“We’re almost there,” Damon shouted and she squeezed her arms around him to signal she heard.

They crested a ridge and came to a sudden stop before continuing down the slope at a slower pace. In the distance, she could make out the rooftop of a cabin that took all of three minutes to reach. Damon killed the engine and helped her dismount.

“Trust me. Follow me.”

She didn’t have a choice. Ivy followed his steps as they slowly rounded the edge of the cabin. Damon led them to the top of the porch. In seconds he had the key pulled out of some hiding spot above the door and them inside.

He made fast work of loading the fireplace as she found the light switches.

“Amazing they still work with how hard it’s coming down out there.”

“One thing about Alaskan homes, they are sturdy and can take a beating.”

“I know the feeling. It takes a sturdy anything to survive out here.” Soft lighting filled the open space that held a dining room table, rustic and a little worn, a couch pushed to the middle of the room to face a large window set to overlook something she bet was spectacular in the daytime. She twirled and peeled off one layer of clothing after the other as the heat built from the roaring fire.

Down to a single sweater, a pair of gloves and her snow pants and boots, Ivy made herself useful by fetching more wood from the wood box by the front door. “Here.” She passed four more logs over as Damon tossed each onto the growing blaze. “I don’t really think you can make it too big, do you?”

Damon laughed and stole a kiss.

“Hey, that was unfair.”

“I know. But delicious. Love the taste of fresh snow on your lips.”

“That’s beside the point, Damon Savage.”

“Then what is the point, angel?” he asked as he stood and nailed her with a look that said it was time they got things out in the open.

Fine. “I’m leaving as soon as the storm lets up.”

The small crease lines at the corners of his eyes and between his brow deepened and she knew her words caught his attention. “Oh yeah? Wanna make a bet?”

Fact: she might have met her match in stubbornness.

Heat swelled through the small cabin, and she peeled off the last sweater over top her pullover long sleeve and mimicked his posture. Crossing her arms over her chest drew the cotton material tight across her breasts and made the Santa face iron on look wide-eyed. His eyes shot to her cleavage poking out from her V-neck. He might as well have reached between them and pinched her nipples into tight little berries. They puckered the second his gaze roamed over them and now she couldn’t release her arms if she wanted to. No way she’d give him an ounce of ground if she was to win the standoff.

“Don’t think I didn’t see what you did tonight. Or last night as it were. You can’t go around canceling people’s flights whenever you fancy.”

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