Page 44
“You are fucking hot when you’re angry.”
The heat that rushed through me had nothing to do with the thermal tent or blanket. But he wasn’t distracting me now that he’d made a breakthrough. “So how does all this equal you causing tech issues?” I pressed.
“I don’t know, but I have a theory. I was so good at quieting my emotions that when they started to surface again, the intense energy messed with the tech.”
“Hmm.” My mounting anxiety longed for release, and my body knew exactly what release it wanted. I ran a finger over his lower lip. This close to him, I longed to suck it in my mouth.
I shook myself. “It’s a reasonable theory, but we need more evidence. What brought your emotions back to the surface if you became so good at suppressing them?”
“I don’t like that word,” he said.
“Suppress? It’s what you’re doing. And meditation or not, it isn’t healthy. Calm is good in tough situations, but feeling is what makes us human, Austin. You can’t make yourself a machine so that you don’t hurt.”
“Good or bad, you’re the one that brings my emotions to the surface. I don’t know if it’s timing or chemistry or fate, but you get right in my soul, Rosi, right through all my barriers.”
I couldn’t help but smile at that. It was the best compliment I’d ever had. And the truth was, he got to me just as much.
“I am still angry about you doing that ridiculous news conference. But it did make me realize something about myself too. I’ve been looking for validation from others when their opinions shouldn’t matter. From now on, I trust myself, and if you don’t like it, you can bite me.”
“Can I bite you if I do like it?” Austin asked, nipping at my finger and making me laugh.
“Behave and I might forgive you for past choices, so long as you promise to talk to me in the future.”
“I’ll do whatever you want. But, Rosi, I mean it. I’m dangerous to be around. I take risks for a living.”
“Oh, and being with someone who hunts monsters that keep nests full of the bones of their victims isn’t a risk?” I asked, squeezing his face in my hand. “Seriously though, Austin. Please don’t push me away. I’ll make that decision for myself.”
Reaching for a tendril of my hair, he tucked it back behind my ear, which elicited shivers throughout my body. “I couldn’t stay away from you if I wanted to. You have my word.”
“Maybe you should stay away for your own good,” I said before I could stop myself. “Since we’re being all honest, I should probably tell you that I’ve been having nightmares that may or may not be premonitions.”
Austin cupped my cheek and waited with so much patience for me to continue that he made it harder to talk instead of easier. But I pushed through. “It started before I came here, and each vision has been more detailed than the last. They all include a monster. Something I’ve never seen before, though I can’t get a great look at it, at least that I remember.”
“What does it do?”
“It chases us,” I said and fought the urge to stuff a curl in my mouth.
Austin didn’t flinch. “Us?”
I nodded. “You are running with me in the snow. We’re headed toward the resort when it catches up.” Tears fell as I recalled the blood and the horror that gripped me when I woke.
“I won’t let it hurt you, Rosi.”
“It isn’t me that dies in the dream, Austin.”
We lay silently for several minutes as Austin continued to cup my face and stare. Finally, he smiled sadly, wiping at a stray tear with his thumb. “I am on your side, just like I said. Besides, if it happens out in the snow, then we should be safer in here for tonight.”
I moved back, pulling out of his grip as I leaned up on my elbows. “I appreciate you trying to make me feel better, but I don’t want you to die for me, Austin.”
“I’m not planning on it,” he said, still far too calm. “Even if there’s truth in the dream, that doesn’t mean it has to happen exactly that way. Maybe it was a warning so we could do things differently.”
The fact that he once again did not dismiss me or my experiences made my heart warm and swell. But it made the pain at the possibility of losing him that much sharper.
“What if—”
“Rosi, I’ve looked death in the face more than once and made it out alive. I will do anything for you.”
“Will you do what I want or what you think you should?” I challenged, scooting closer again because it hurt to be too far from him.
“What you want—as long as you tell me what that is.”
I relaxed. I had already said I didn’t want him dying for me. But there were other things I wanted and needed from him. “Maybe I should test that out,” I mused.
Austin grinned. “Try me.”
I licked my lips and took stock of my feelings. I was bursting with extremes. On the one hand, I was frightened out of my wits by what real-life nightmare might be out there, and I was in shock from the crash. I craved a distraction. On the other, I was smitten by the man next to me and undeniably attracted to him. So smart or not, the solution I had in mind solved both issues in one way or another. Besides the meds should be working for him by now.
“Take off your clothes,” I commanded.
Austin watched me as he slipped his pants off along with the dark-blue briefs I doubted that obnoxious news woman would ever have enough imagination to predict.
“Did you want to examine me for further bruises?” he asked.
“I don’t remember asking you to talk,” I said, placing a finger against his lips. He held up his hands in surrender.
“Good. Now help me take off my clothes. I believe I read somewhere that skin-to-skin contact helps keep people warm in these situations.”
Austin rolled his eyes, letting me know how silly that was when we were protected by the tech of the tent. But he reached for my shirt and slowly lifted it, skimming my sides with his hands as he did so. Gooseflesh rose at his touch, and I nearly moaned because I’d missed it so much. I’d become addicted to Austin Cooper after one long, beautiful night. He was my drug of choice and possibly just as dangerous as the worst of them in the long term.
