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Butknowing I hurt her digs into me. Physically hurting her hurts me, too. I don’t remember ever experiencing that before. The urge to care for and protect her seems to leech from my bone marrow and out into my blood. It’s basal in the most gripping way how I ache for this woman.
“Keep going and lower yourself down.”
She says nothing but does as I ask, and her tennis shoes disappear into the darkness.
“Mait—”
Her face appears. “You stole my pants!” Her breathing is fast, and there’s an accusation in her eyes.
I laugh, and Kraine barks. It feels good to be laughing again. “For good reason. Let’s get Kraine in there.”
“He doesn’t like people touching him, so…”
I lift Kraine like nothing and get the German Shepherd through the snug hole.
“That’s weird. He doesn’t usually like men.”
I ignore her comment when the roar of what’s coming fills my ears. If I had my work gear, I’d be setting up my thermal fire shelter and buckling down inside, but I have to do this the old fashion way.
“My ruck.” I pass the sack.
“And my pants, Jake!”
“Right.” Unhappily, I hand them through. I turn around and out of the corner of my eye, I catch movement. It’s only briefly, but I swear I saw…
No, there’s no one stupid enough to be out here right now. Well, except for us. Probably an animal.
I shimmy my way through the hole. I don’t remember it being quite this small, but I slide through with my soft cargo pants shielding most of me.
Landing on my feet, I look at her as she scrambles to put on her pants. Her underwear glistens with a damp spot, and my eyes magnetize to the area. Juice or sweat? It doesn’t matter. All I want to do is bury myself between her legs and never come out.
A goddess of the forest.
My heart pounds quickly.
But when she looks at me, her clenched jaw has me cooling down quickly in the chilly cave air.
I lower my head. “Sorry, but I had to. That fire is—”
“I know. It’s not you.”
I look straight at her again.
She continues, “If you couldn’t tell, I’ve got some walls that feel like medieval workers built them. They’re boulders upon boulders, and I’m not sure what can take them down, but I am thankful for what you did and had to do. You saved me, Jake.”
The roar outside becomes a freight train and Maitlyn shivers. She gives me the most prominent doe eyes, and my arms shake to hold her and settle her safely inside them.
“Let’s get away from this entrance. It can blow embers inside up to twenty feet, and we’ll need to be protected.”
She nods and starts off leading the way with the lamp helmet on her cute little head. I study her and admire how resilient she is. She’s stronger than she thinks she is. And I find it to be incredibly attractive. With the quiet strength she’s slowly finding within herself, I can only imagine how irresistible she’ll be when she harnesses it.
And now I’m the one that might need to be protected.
From my heart.
CHAPTEREIGHT
MAITLYN
