They walked down a makeshift path riddled with branches and roots sticking up from the ground at odd angles. If Reese came this way, he had no idea how she would’ve made it through without any light and not fallen and broken her neck.
“Kill the lights,” Luke said. Garrett and Tanner flicked off the flashlights.
“What do you have?” Tanner asked.
Luke pulled back a bushy branch and pointed into the darkness. There was a small clearing lit up by a sliver of moonlight peeking in through the canopy of trees. At the base of the largest tree trunk was - “Reese,” Garrett breathed.
Her head jerked up, but not even the smudges of dirt and dried blood could take away from the beautiful sight of her smile when she saw him. “I knew you’d find me,” she said, coming to her feet and running toward him. He caught her with an oomph, wrapping his arms around her as she held on to him tighter than he’d ever been held before. “I knew you’d come.”
Garrett sucked in a breath as something inside him cracked at her words. A sense of never wanting to let her go washed over him, but now wasn’t the time to think about that. He needed to assess her injuries and get her out of these woods to some place safe. “I was never going to stop looking for you,” he admitted.
Reese pulled back and raised her head to meet his gaze. Even in the shitty situation they’d found themselves in, Garrett couldn’t deny the chemistry between them. It was taking all his self-control not to close the two inches between them and kiss this woman senseless until they both forgot where they were. But he wouldn’t do that. She was hurt and needed his protection, not -
She pressed her lips to his, soft and supple, like a tenuous gift that she wasn’t sure he’d accept. Well fuck that, every nerve ending in his body lit up like a damn firework, igniting needs and desires he hadn’t felt in - ever. He let her take the lead, not wanting to take more than she was willing to give, but the longer he let their mouths move together in this sensual, slow dance, the more everything inside him screamed to take over and show her just how much he really wanted her.
When he couldn’t hold back any longer, he gave in. Cupping the back of her neck, he angled her head to deepen the kiss andshe let out a soft moan that had his dick coming to life. Shit, this was the worst timing ever, but she felt so good. Too good. He pulled back, carefully caressing the nape of her neck.
“Sorry,” she said sheepishly. “I probably shouldn’t have done that -”
“Don’t.” He pressed a finger to her mouth. He didn’t want to hear her regrets or that she’d only done it out of some sense of gratitude or overwhelming relief. He’d never make her do anything she didn’t want to do, but that was the best damn kiss of his life. “I need to get you out of here,” he said more gruffly than he’d meant to. He was definitely not in control of his voice right now. “It only took me this long to get here because I didn’t have a cell signal where I was.”
The guys had obviously seen everything, but he could hear them busying themselves with whoever Reese had tied up so thoroughly.
“I didn’t know if the gadget thing actually worked, but I’m glad it did. I think I kind of tested its limits tonight what with being in the water and then falling out of the van and then running -”
He placed a soft hand on her shoulder. She was talking fast, trying to get everything out all at once, but at his touch, she winced and he immediately removed it. “You’re hurt.”
Reese sighed. “I’m okay, Garrett. Really. No hospital needed.”
He hadn’t forgotten her aversion to hospitals. “We’ll see.” He shrugged the first aid bag from his shoulder, and turned on his flashlight, careful to aim it away from her eyes, and his. He carefully illuminated every exposed inch of her body, the leather jacket that looked like it had been put through a cheese grater, the torn flesh on her hands and legs, the scratch across her cheek. The soaking wet clothes that were plastered to her. Seeingthe evidence of everything she’d gone tonight, only made her words echo in his mind even louder.
Being in the water. Falling out of the van. Running.
Someone was going to pay for what they’d put her through. “Any chance of broken bones?” He asked, trying to hide the horror in his voice at the sight of all her injuries.
Reese shook her head. “No.”
He let out what felt like a breath that wasn’t his. “Any sprains?”
“No. I think the worst of it will be on my legs. They got pretty scraped up when he yanked me off the dock and then again on the road when…oh and my hands.”
He shone his flashlight on her hands again and swallowed hard taking in the sight of dried blood and tortured flesh. “I’ll be okay,” she said.
“Shouldn’t I be the one reassuring you?” He asked in total awe of the woman standing before him.
“Just you being here is reassuring enough,” Reese smiled. “I knew you’d come. I just had to keep going until you got here.”
“You did amazing, and I want to hear all about it as soon as we get out of here. I have antibiotic ointment at home. I don’t think any of these cuts are deep enough for stitches.”
“They’re not,” she said quickly, then gestured over his shoulder. “Is he going to be okay?”
Garrett glanced at the guy on the ground. Luke and Tanner had been working to loosen the ropes around his feet. “He’s alive and he’s under arrest. That’s about as good as it’s going to get for him. How did you overpower him?” The guy was at least a hundred pounds heavier and nearly a foot taller than her.
Reese gestured at a large branch overhead. “I waited for him up there, then I used my legs to choke him until he passed out. He didn’t see me until it was too late. I dropped my shoe to draw him in.”
“Damn,” Luke said, not bothering to hide how impressed he was.
“Good thinking,” Tanner added.
