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A light knock sounded on the door, and with a grunt, I got out of bed and yanked my jeans up my legs, going to the door to open it. The flight attendant’s cheeks burned red the moment her eyes landed on me.
“Um, we’re about to land, Mr. Jackson,” she informed me.
“Thanks,” I grunted.
I shut the door and finished getting dressed before I woke Juliana up. She was groggy – definitely jet-lagged – so her movements were slow and a little sloppy. “Come on, baby girl,” I coaxed as I helped her up from the bed, being patient with her. “I’ll get the flight attendant to get you a cup of coffee when we land,” I promised. I knew coffee was bad for the baby, but she was miserable. I could tell. I just wanted her to feel a little bit better. “I just need you to get dressed for me.”
She huffed and rubbed her eyes. I pressed a kiss to the top of her head and helped her back into her panties and jeans before I hooked her bra behind her and helped her into her shirt. After I zipped her up in her jacket and put her boots back on her feet, I led her out to the seats we’d previously been sitting in once she was dressed and bundled up for landing.
“Coffee,” I told the flight attendant before she could open her mouth. “One cup. Hazelnut flavored creamer. Make it extra sweet.” Juliana was going to need every bit of energy she could for the long day we had ahead of us.
She nodded and scurried off. I buckled Juliana in before buckling myself. The flight attendant came back with Juliana’s coffee in record-breaking time, and it was even a little cooled off so Juliana could gulp it down.
Once we landed, I waited for the guards to check the area around where we landed before I led Juliana off the plane. I wasn’t taking any chances that someone had tracked us, and I wanted her in the safety of the plane while we waited.
And when we got off, I cursed my brother all to hell. He hadn’t been kidding. It was fucking cold.
Juliana started shivering the moment we were off the warm plane. I wrapped my arm around her, dragging her closer to my body. “Just a few steps, baby girl,” I soothed. The wind bit into my cheeks. “We’re almost to the car,” I promised.
I didn’t bother mentioning it would probably be even colder once we got to the mountains.
Fuck you, James, I mentally thought, hoping my thoughts would transmit to him some fucking how. Because New York didn’t have shit on wherever the hell he’d thrown us to.
I quickly hustled Juliana into the car and nodded once at the driver before I slid in as well. He shut the door behind me and walked around the car. Juliana huddled up close to me, her teeth chattering.
“Is it going to be colder in the mountains?” she asked me.
I sighed. “Unfortunately, baby girl. But we’ll deal, you hear me? When we get to the cabin, I promise I will get a fire going as soon as possible.”
“I kind of hate your brother right now,” she mumbled.
I barked out a laugh and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “You and me both, baby.” But I also knew he was doing whatever he could to keep her safe.
~*~*~
Once we got to the mountains, I helped Juliana out of the car. The driver pulled off a beat later. Jaxon appeared out of the woods, announcing his presence to me before he emerged. I grunted in greeting, my arms wrapped tightly around Juliana who was already shivering. He handed me a thick coat. “For her,” he explained at my questioning look. “It’s going to be dark soon, and it’s going to get really cold.” He handed me a ski mask as well. “She might feel better with this as well.”
“Thanks,” I told him, meaning it. I bundled her up and pulled the ski mask over her face, pressing a kiss to her cold lips afterward. Jaxon grabbed my bag from me and shouldered it. “It’s going to take us a few hours to get up to the cabin,” he told me. “But I’ve got a couple of men getting a fire going. You’re on your own for more wood tomorrow, but you’ll have enough to get you through the night and tomorrow morning.”
I nodded at him in thanks. Jaxon always looked out for us. I honestly didn’t know why James hadn’t given him a higher ranking yet. “James gave me a map,” I told him.
“I told him a map isn’t going to do you much fucking good if it’s too dark for you to read it.”
I snorted. “Good thinking. Bet he took that information with grace.”
Jaxon barked out a laugh. “Pretty sure he had an urge to hit me.”
I snickered. Grabbing Juliana’s gloved hand in mine, we followed Jaxon into the woods. He held branches out of the way for Juliana, and I helped her over the rough terrain. It got worse the higher we went, the incline becoming steeper, the ground becoming a bit rockier and uneven, but she clung to me, managing to keep her balance by using me.
Jaxon was patient, just as I was. She wasn’t used to this kind of thing, and I knew it was beginning to take its toll on her.
We stopped every hour so she could drink some water. I knew she wouldn’t feel thirsty. The cold prevented most people from feeling their thirst, but Jaxon and I had both been through enough survival training to understand you had to stay hydrated whether you felt the thirst or not.
Day light was breaking out over the horizon when we finally made it to the cabin. I’d carried Juliana on my back for the last hour. Her steps had been getting sluggish, and she was getting too tired to continue. I was terrified of pushing her too far, so I’d ordered her onto my back, and Jaxon helped keep me steady on the more uneven parts of our trek.
There was a mattress on the floor in front of the fireplace when we walked in. I quickly set Juliana on it and stripped her out of her wet boots and her jackets, pulling her mask and gloves off of her as well. Jaxon had a thick blanket and a thick comforter ready when I was done, and I quickly wrapped her up in it, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “You did so good, baby girl,” I praised. She yawned. “I’m proud of you. Sit here for a few minutes, okay? I’m going to get you something to eat, and then we can sleep.”
She nodded, yawning again as she did so, her teeth no longer chattering. I pressed a kiss to her lips and got up, walking into the kitchen. James was right. If we were here more than a week, we would quickly run out of supplies. But that was fine. I knew how to live off the land.
Jaxon clapped a hand to my shoulder. “I’m heading out,” he told me. “I’ll touch base with you around noon.”
“Got it. Thanks, man.”
He nodded once and strode out of the cabin, closing the door behind him. I quickly poured a can of beef stew into a pot and set it over the fire before wrapping my body around Juliana’s. She sighed in contentment.
“Maybe being here won’t be so bad,” she said softly.
“Why’s that, baby?” I asked her, honestly curious.
“Because it’s just us,” she explained. “The outside world doesn’t exist here.” She shrugged. “I didn’t know how much I needed the break from reality until we got here.”
I pressed my lips to the top of her head. “We’ll make the most of our time here, then,” I promised her. I got up from the mattress and stirred the stew before going back to the kitchen area to grab two bowls and another spoon. After dishing out the food, I fed Juliana before finally eating myself. Once I was done and had everything cleaned up, I crawled beneath the blankets with her and pulled her tightly into my arms, both of us falling asleep within minutes.
~*~*~
When I woke up a couple of hours later, Juliana was quietly snoring beside me, the front of her body facing the fire. I pressed a kiss to the back of her head before I eased off the mattress, tucking the blanket around her so she would still feel warm and secure.
I pulled my boots back on and grabbed my jacket, going outside to see what animal I could kill for some kind of protein. My brother had grabbed us as many canned goods as he could, but Juliana and I would both need more sustenance than he had supplied us with.
After finding a small rabbit, I skinned and gutted it before going to roast it over the fire. Juliana was still sleeping when I entered the cabin, her lips slightly parted.
She was so fucking beautiful.
I brushed my fingers over her forehead and cheek before I went back outside to gather some wood for the next couple of days with thoughts of making love to my sweet, little submissive in front of the fire circling around in my head.
