Chapter 4

Four

S hafts of late afternoon sunlight combed through the fresh spring leaves to fan out across the ground at her feet. Glints of garnet caught her eye, and she slowed.

Blood. So, she did hit him. Or at least nicked him, if he made it this far. There didn't seem to be enough that signaled a grave wound as Ethan had said.

If he was here, she didn't want to be. Unease bubbled in the pit of her stomach. With a little effort, she shoved it down with a couple of big deep breaths. Her waders thumped on the wood of the dock, giving her position away so she slowed, careful to make as little noise as possible. Each step made the pier gently rock in the waves. Ripples of anxiety froze her in place. She crouched forward a little and scanned the darkened wooded area at her back before she hightailed it the rest of the way to the plane at the end of the dock.

She'd been so worried about him spotting her, she failed to see the state of the plane until she was almost beside it.

Metal that once served as a door hung sideways off the hinges with deep gashes from what she assumed was an ax where the handle once was. Acid boiled like a tar pit in her stomach and caused a wave of panic to tumble through her limbs. With each step closer the harder it became to stand.

Fluffy cotton tufts tumbled across the once pristine tan leather bench to catch on the dry grass by the bank and scatter across the water. A curtain of multicolored wires hung like gnarled vines from holes that weren't there when they'd left the plane yesterday.

They were so screwed. This thing would never fly them home even if Ethan was capable. Remy laid a hand to the door still warm from the day's sunshine, and her heart broke for Ethan. He treated this plane as a parent did a child.

"Let me see, baby."

Remy nearly jumped out of her skin at the gruff, low voice. "Ethan, damn you. You're supposed to be back at the cabin."

Ethan clenched his fist at his side. "Like I'll sit around and let anything happen to you. Not now or ever. Now let me see the damage, Doc," he gruffly said, pinning her with an unwavering look. "Please," he added quietly.

She stepped aside but worked the meanest glare she could muster while being freaked the hell out. When she managed a closed door behind them and cut off any possible escape route, she'd go full-scale doctor on him and make damn sure he listened.

Right now, she had to admit having him close eased the bubbling acid in her stomach, and she'd take it. Selfish as it sounded.

"The radio. It's gone." He worked hard to keep the worry out of his tone, but she knew him too well not to hear the small fractures in his words. The deep line between his brows returned, only deeper. If he wasn't careful, it would become a permanent fixture to his looks.

Somewhere between the cabin and here, he'd found a big stick to use as a cane. She eased by it, careful not to hit his leg for a better look at what they were dealing with. "Son of a bitch." Reaching over the torn seats, Remy retrieved the white metal box left open on the cockpit floor. "He took most of the first-aid supplies too, but I think there's enough here to help."

"Fucker. He took the whole damn thing." Ethan held up the casing that housed the radio which tied them to home base. And any hopes of a rescue.

"Who does this guy think he is?" What kind of asshat did this kind of thing to the people that took him in? One more thing went wrong and she might spare the whole Savage crew the hassle and do him in herself with how mad she felt.

Ethan's voice broke through her thoughts. "A first-rate douche, that's who." Ethan banged his fist into the ripped upholstery of the pilot's seat. Pain weighed on him and made his shoulder droop forward.

Blood soaked through her scarf and trailed down his calf to wet his sock. "You're not looking too hot, and we're not going to figure anything out here." Perspiration wet the tips of his hair from the exertion of the walk and plastered it against his forehead.

Several months ago, several feet of snow covered everything in sight. Now thousands of purple wildflower clusters burst from the ground to form a fragrant carpet that swayed in the gentle breeze. Everything around them gave off a peaceful vibe. But after today she'd never look at the woods the same.

Ethan, hurt as he was, still towered over her. His power evident in every move he made. She eased under his arm and guided him to lean on her. "I can shimmy together something to care for your wound from the things back at the cabin and what I have here until we can work out plan B."

"Plan B, huh?" A light sheen of sweat covered him, and she could tell the extra effort to follow her out here was taking a toll.

Pain-filled eyes peered down at her as if calculating the options and the limits of his body. The angles of his face sharpened in the rapidly dimming daylight, and his muscles bulged beneath the clean T-shirt he'd slipped on.

Ethan looked down his chest at her with a ferocious mixture of amber and lava. His gaze landed on her bruised cheek.

Wrapping his free arm around her shoulder, he pulled her in close. "This isn't over, Remy. He'll pay. Not only for what he did to you but for nearly killing my brother and his mate in that avalanche last month and now us."

"That's right. I forgot about that." She turned and rested a hand on his chest. "You think it was him then too?"

"Brax? Yes. There's no doubt. He's up to something bigger than we all thought. I know it and my brother, Drake, said as much, too. You were at Damon's bar the night when Esme and Drake showed the evidence of Brax provoking the avalanche, don't you remember? We just have to find out why, and now why he's poisoning the water supply."

Esme was Drake's new fiancée. She arrived in town at the peak of winter to scatter her father's ashes on the side of the mountain that carried her name. Long story short, Brax nearly killed her, but luckily failed. The only good thing that came out of that was the rekindled love those two have for each other.

"I do remember." But for some reason, she didn't make the connection since Savage Ridge was three hours away from where they currently were. "What do you think he wants? Do you think he followed us out here?"

"Who the hell knows. Land maybe? His family's property is just over the ridge too. I just don't know. He's working for a big-time cooperation looking to move in on this land with a lodge that would bring in some high rollers. He always did like money. They already bought the land attached to ours north of here. That's the only thing I can come up with. He's always been a selfish prick."

She took a little more of his weight and hoped her glasses didn't decide to fall the rest of the way off. "If that happens, the Savage family faces a problem, right? From the lodge, I mean."

He nodded in agreement, taking another painful step. "It could mean our business going under for good. Savage Excursions tailors to the tourists' every need. If a fancy lodge moves in and takes that business from us how can we go up against that kind of money?"

Dusk settled in and Ethan pushed faster as they made the rest of the way back to the cabin in silence. She could tell his mind clicked over all the details but had just as little luck as she did in finding answers.

Back at the cabin, getting up the stairs again nearly killed them both.

Still wearing her waders, she turned and gave a kick to the door. Inside, she leaned them both on the back of the couch. "Shower now, then food. We need to clean your wound and all the various cuts and scrapes you got."

He didn't seem in the mood to argue.

She shucked off the waders and clicked on several lamps scattered across the open space of the shared dining and living room. Soft white light poured over the room. Like her, he preferred sparse furniture and open spaces. Small earth-toned rugs dotted the wood flooring. One by the back door and another by the front with one more in front of the floor to ceiling bookcase situated by the fireplace. Stacked river rock made up the entire hearth and invited one to sit a spell by the warmth with a good book or maybe a meal.

Ethan merely nodded as she maneuvered him to the bathroom.

With a flick, light drenched the room and revealed a small sink to the left and beige walls that led to smooth wooden floors throughout the entire cabin. Another rug, this one the color of his eyes, warmed the flooring by the tub. To the left towels, stacked in size from smallest to biggest, lined the top of the chest of drawers he'd refurbished last winter.

Now the towels served as a cushion for Ethan where he leaned on them for support. His face looked like it gained a little color back which made her feel a lot better. He tucked an arm close and moved to pull his shirt off, but she reached out and stopped him with a light touch.

"Let me."

With evening in full swing, the Alaska midnight sun barely kissed the horizon where it would stay until sunup. The window above the shower allowed a small amount of sunlight in, enough to hit the dangling crystals of the light fixtures that said a woman, at some point, called this place home. A fraction of her heart ached at the thought.

The rainbow effect played over his chest and across his face. He dropped his arms and leaned in closer, causing the colorful lights to bounce off his irises. He pulled her in close and brushed her lips with his. "Better than any medicine."

A groan tickled the back of her throat. He totally destroyed her with that single word. She looked between the shower and his gaze. On one shoulder, the good doctor angel whispered for her to take care of him and put him to bed. The devilish angel on her left shoulder shucked her scrubs and commanded she heed the plea in his eyes for her to do her naughtiest to him.

Her heart filled and swelled with so much love, so much need for this one man, that it pained her not to shout it out for everyone to hear. Every second that ticked by, the bad angel gained ground.

His eyes slid closed as she ran her fingers beneath his shirt and lifted the material over his head to reveal solid muscle and abs that went on way past the button of his jeans. After tossing the shirt aside, she set to work on the offending jeans—slung low from the lack of a belt.

Her mouth went dry. Every touch, every caress of a finger over his skin made hard muscle tremble. Drowning in the need to care for him, she leaned in. Softly, she pressed her lips to each inch she exposed and reveled in how his body relaxed under her attention.

She started with the bruises and worked her way to each scrape until she heard him growling.

"Remy." His head fell back against the wall as he chucked her name out.

Ten seconds. She would stay here for ten seconds and if he called her again like that, she wouldn't—couldn't— resist what he pulled to the surface. And it would be all his fault.

"Baby, look at me." His hand slid up the back of her head and dug deep into the locks of her hair that had fallen free from her ponytail to hang loosely down her back.

She complied.

"You're killing me, baby. Every second you touch me, you bring something to life inside me. Something I'm not sure I wanted before you. I can't even feel the pain anymore. What the hell have you done to me?" The tangled mesh of tension that served as the underbelly to their relationship slipped away to leave a newly found peace. Would it last? Could she trust it? Trust that it wasn't the emotions of the moment speaking? She was so damned confused. One second he pushed her away and the next he pulled her in with words she didn't quite know how to interpret.

Kneeling by his feet, the crest of his cock teasing her closer, she shoved everything else to the back of her mind. For now, she would care for him in whatever manner he wanted and all the matters of the heart could be examined later.

With his pants opened at the waist, she slipped her thumbs inside the zipper and slowly pulled the sides open.

Metal rasped against metal and in less than five seconds she had him stripped of jeans, boots and every stitch of clothing he wore. Bared to her, she could care for him in all ways.

Angling away from him, she rose, scraping her nails lightly over the hardened flesh of his cock then higher to his chiseled abs. He gasped and caught her hand, bringing it to his chest.

"I could say the same thing to you, you know. You do things to me that have me wondering what living with a gruff, frustratingly possessive mountain man would be like." Every word he'd spoken, she'd felt deep in her heart. Damn it. Her voice shook, and he picked up on it with how his heartbeat quickened beneath her palm.

Faster than she thought he could move, he had her pinned against him and the ends of her shirt fisted in his fingers.

"No." She put a hand on his. "Right now, right here, this is for you. I get to do to you what I want." She pulled back, but it did nothing to kill the sweet heat radiating between them. "I'm not sure either one of us would survive the shower if I let you undress me."

"I'm willing to try if you are."

Yes! With his head angled back and his lids lowered, she had to be crazy or insane to deny the man what he wanted. He'd taken a bullet all because he wanted to protect her. She owed him and never let it be said she didn't pay her debts.

He didn't help her resolve in refusing his wishes either when he made sexy into something she could reach out and touch, lick and eat, and she was hungry.