by Lilly Holden
Whether I lived through Ryder’s threatening looks every time I uttered what I was convinced was a truly fabulous nickname for our little snowbound adventure remained to be seen. Considering that, during an example of what he termed “learning to trust”, he was stupid enough to share with me the nickname given to him by his SEAL buddies, I think he should have shut up and accepted his lot in life.
“Speaking of blizzards, after dinner we should have another lesson in sharing body warmth.” Ryder was proficient in survival skills, including keeping warm in a blizzard. The fact we had a fireplace, a wood burning stove, and the cabin was basically weathertight were beside the point in his eyes.
“I have to say, over the last few days, you’ve given me lots of hands-on training on raising my cardio rate. Those extra bonus lessons on learning the finer techniques of snuggling weren’t bad either.” I spooned my last mouthful of stew into my mouth.
Ryder nodded, his expression deadpan. “Put it down to my SEAL training. I’m prepared to go that extra mile.” He reached over and took my bowl and spoon and put them next to his on the floor, then gathered me in his arms, my back to his chest as we stretched out on the sofa.
I twisted my neck to see his face. “How about we snuggle here for a little bit and let dinner settle before we revisit Sexy Hypothermia 101?”
“We can do that.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“Can you tell me anything about your time as a SEAL?” I rushed on to add, “I don’t mean confidential stuff. I’m talking about why you enlisted, your friends from that time, that kind of stuff.”
“I enlisted not long after high school. College should have been a natural choice for me. All in my family have degrees.” He played with a lock of my hair with one hand, winding the long curl around his finger. “Problem was, I had no idea what I wanted to study. I wanted a challenge but had no idea which way to go. Then my older brother said I should try the military.”
I was shocked at what Ryder shared. He’d always seemed so focused, goal orientated. But I guess we all go through periods of indecision, but that time itself doesn’t define us.
“What made you choose the SEALs though?”
“I guessed their selection process was the hardest, and I had something to prove to myself, that I needed to get outside of my safe little bubble and test myself.”
Being brave. Stepping outside the bubble.
I sat up and turned to face Ryder.
“How hard was your training?”
Those beautiful clear blue eyes focused on me, held my gaze. “Fucking unbelievably hard but the most rewarding thing I’ve done in my life.” With his free hand he reached out and took hold of one of my hands, absently rubbing his thumb over my knuckles. “There’s a one-in-four rate of success. Each year about one thousand recruits get into SEAL training. Roughly two-hundred and fifty complete training.”
“Wow. Those are tough odds.”
Ryder would have known that going in.
“So is facing down a bunch on insurgents in the dark. So you’d want to know you’re up to the task and have had the best training to ensure you make it out of there alive.” Ryder tilted his head to the side and regarded me. “In life, we all take risks; some have better odds than others. But either we go out and experience life, or we sit at home in a corner wondering for the next fifty years what may have been if only we’d trusted ourselves to take a chance once in a while.”
“I’ve been thinking about that the past couple of days.” I licked my lips and forced myself not to look away from him. “The what may have been question.”
He said nothing, but held my gaze as he continued to rub my hand with his thumb.
I guessed Ryder wasn’t purposely making it hard for me to actually get the words out, but he wasn’t going easy on me either.
However, if I wanted something bad enough, I should be able to say that’s how I felt.
“Fifty years seems a long time to have regrets.” I blew out a huge breath. “I don’t want that for my future. It’s time I was a little more brave and told you that I’ve got some feelings for you that scare the heck out of me, but if my dad could walk past a bookstore and fall for a woman he saw through the window, then it makes sense to me that after four days I’m completely in love with you.” Tears pooled in my eyes, and I blinked before they ran down my cheeks. “I mean, I have no idea how this will play out, but you know…” I shrugged. “We can have fun finding that out.”
Ryder sat up and cradled my face in his hands. “You bet we can, Princess.” He lowered his head, and I closed my eyes, giving myself over to his slow, drugging kiss.
Leaning in to his chest, his strength, my body thrilled at the feel of his arms wrapping tight around me. Nothing in the world was better than being held in Ryder’s strong embrace. The world could be on fire and I’d feel safe.
After what seemed so much later, we pulled apart, my lips tingling from his thorough job of kissing me senseless.
“What are we going to tell everyone?” I picked up my locket and ran it along my gold chain. “I haven’t even seen Lance yet.”
“I’m going to give you a little time, but I’m warning you, Paige, my intention is to make us official. Ring official.” His low commanding tone left no room for negotiation.
Good thing I wasn’t in disagreement.
“I’m fine with that,” I said around my chuckle.
Ryder dropped his gaze to my locket. “You wear that all the time?”
“It was a gift from my dad.” I opened the heart-shaped locket, revealing the photo of me and my father. “On my sixteenth birthday.”
He gently grasped the locket between his large fingers, turning it on an angle to see the photo better. “You must treasure this.”
“I do,” I smiled. “I’ve only taken it off once since Dad put it around my neck. I was hugging Uncle Felix and the chain got caught in his cuff-link. He had a new chain made for me and had the locket cleaned, too.”
Though I appreciated the gesture from my uncle, the three days I’d not felt the chain around my neck had been unsettling.
Ryder held the locket up to see a detail near the bottom. “There’s something behind the filigree design on the back.
“What are you talking about?”
Ryder’s brow creased with his frown. “Give me a second.” He rose from the sofa and went to his duffel and withdrew a small pocket flashlight and a small wallet sized black leather satchel.
“Honey, I don’t think we need to—”
“One sec and I’ll know what I’m looking at.” He switched on the flashlight and pulled out what looked like a fine pair of tweezers with long pincers. Holding the light between his teeth, he fiddled with the locket under my hawk-like gaze. After about twenty seconds, he delicately removed a tiny metal object the size of a small grain of rice from the inside of the filigree design from the locket’s back.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a tracking device. Something that definitely shouldn’t be in your locket.” Ryder sprang up from the sofa and moved to the satellite phone he had grabbed from the garage early yesterday morning.
“A tracking device? Why would anyone want to—”
Glass flew as a bullet smashed through the front left window of the cabin, the broken glass hitting my arms and face.
I didn’t have time to scream before Ryder launched himself on top of me, knocking me to the ground and covering me with his body.
He rolled off a second later. “Get to the bathroom. Keep low.”
I nodded, the urgency in his voice taking precedence over my shock, but not before I noticed Ryder reach under the leg of his jeans and remove a weapon from an ankle holster.
Heck, I didn’t even know he was carrying a weapon.
As I crawled over the floor, bits of glass cut into my hands and knees, but I didn’t think about the pain. My fear was for Ryder.
I’d made it halfway before
there was another shot, this time blasting through the right front window. I kept going, and heard shots fired from within the cabin.
Ryder.
Seconds later, the front door was smashed open and a man dressed in black and wearing a balaclava stormed in, a lethal looking large automatic weapon in his hands.
“Drop your weapon or I’ll shoot the girl,” he yelled, his gun pointed directly at me as he came to yank me to my feet by my hair.
I looked toward Ryder, horror flooding me my blood turned icy cold and watched as he threw his hand gun to the ground about six feet in front of him. His face was granite hard, eyes coldly remote as he stared back at my attacker.
The man dragged me to the middle of the room, his cruel grip on my hair worse than the cuts on my bare feet from the broken glass.
“This is all such a shame.”
I turned my shocked gaze to the doorway as Uncle Felix sauntered in, his black ski jacket covered in flecks of snow, his emotionless dark eyes flicking over me before landing on Ryder. “I’d hoped to do this an easier way. Get Lance to agree you were a screw-up and make me Trustee of your inheritance after your birthday. So simple. But Lance had to complicate my plans.” He sighed. “And now I have to make it so your inheritance goes to your next living relative.”
“You.” The word came out whispered.
“You really are a son of a bitch, Felix,” Ryder stated, his tone flat and lethal. I watched as he backed away towards the fireplace.
Did he think to try and get around the sofa or something? If so, he was going in the wrong direction.
“True, I’m not nice. But then with five hundred and fifty million at stake, I don’t care, either. Of course now that there will be bodies, I’ll have to find a way of blaming this on James. I’m sure he’s left enough messages on your phone, Paige, to help me on that score. ”
Ryder kept backing up. His hands in the air at shoulder height and his back only a foot from hitting the mantelpiece. “You’ll leave a trail somewhere, Felix. Arrogant pricks like you always do.”
“Who’s going to tell them, Nolan? Are you going to send a message from the grave?”
Before Ryder could answer, a small metal canister landed in the middle of the cabin. The next moment blinding flashes enveloped the room along with deafening crashing sounds. I felt the grip on my hair go loose, and I fell to the ground only seconds later to be picked up and carried backwards as a man pressed my face into his chest and put his hands over my ears.
Ryder.
I don’t know how long the chaos lasted. Thirty seconds? A minute.
But soon the cabin was flooded with light from a couple of high beam lights.
My ears were still ringing from the flash-bang thingy thrown into the cabin, but after blinking a few times, my sight was returning without the blurred vision.
I looked up at Ryder and flung myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck.
“Are you okay?” He gently, but firmly, moved my arms from his neck and inspected my hands, cursing a blue streak at the sight of the cuts and scratches.
“I’m alive,” I said on a sob. “So are you.”
This time I reached up and pulled his head down, claiming a quick kiss. “What about you? Are you injured?” I did a quick scan with my gaze. No blood. Only then did I notice another gun, this one a different shape than the one he held earlier in his hand. “Where did you get that?”
“Hidden in a box on the mantle. We always keep one on hand in case of emergencies.”
Good grief. These guys really did plan for anything.
I turned to survey the cabin.
Uncle Felix and his goon were lying on their stomachs, their hands cuffed behind them as a giant of a man patted them down for more weapons
“Paige.” I faintly heard my name as Lance came into view.
Tall, so handsome and looking lethal as fuck dressed all in black and wearing some type of bulletproof vest, I could only shake my head. “Lance.” This man had been like a big brother to me for so many years. Only the last two had we drifted apart with our busy lives.
“Come here, kid.”
I fell against him, remembering again how good it felt to have him hug me. Hard. Uncompromising. But loving and loyal when you cracked through his hard outer shell, Lance had been my rock.
Just like my dad before him.
“Everything will be okay, Paige. I promise.”
“I know.” I stepped back, seeing the questioning look in his gaze before Ryder came up beside me and put an arm around my shoulders, pulling me tight to his side.
Lance’s face wiped of all gentleness. His expression stone-cold hard.
I fought the urge to take a step back and looked up at Ryder, who, to my amazement, was totally unfazed by the living, breathing threat not two feet in front of him.
“Stand down, Lance. I’ll explain later in private, but yes, we’re together, and you have no say in the matter.”
Okay, that wasn’t how I would have worded the news, but whatever. “We’re in love, Lance. I know that sounds rushed, but—”
Lance held up a black gloved hand and looked to the ceiling. “First Jake, then Deke. And now Hollywood. What the hell is happening to my team?”
“We’re finding love, boss. You should give it a try. Fix your mood right up.” Ryder suggested, grinning. “And not that I’m questioning your awesome timing, but how did you know this was going down?”
“I looked into some of those incidents Felix used as proof Paige was going off the rails. Found out many were easily explained when you dug further. That got me curious and I set our boys to investigate Felix’s bank accounts. The guy’s been taking company funds to pay for his gambling debts. He needs Paige’s inheritance to cover his tracks.”
“You’re kidding?” I couldn’t keep the incredulous tone out of my voice.
“No, and I’m sure we’ve only just hit the surface. We bugged his home, car and office and cloned his phone. We heard him set up this hit in real time and raced up to stop the fucker.” Lance nodded to the satellite phone lying on the floor. “We tried calling but communications are down, the blizzard’s screwing with everything.”
Lance gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’m helping with clean up, but we’re not done talking, kid.”
“I know.” No way would Lance let me get off so easily without interrogating me about Ryder.
Then Lance glanced back to Ryder. “Low body fat percentage or not, my threat stands.”
“Understood.” Ryder held out his hand and I held my breath.
Lance accepted Ryder’s handshake and then with a quick nod, turned and pulled Uncle Felix to his feet, rather roughly by the loud complaints. Not that Lance took any notice. The other man who held the gun to my head was nowhere to be seen. I didn’t even want to know what had happened to him.
The giant who I had seen performing the weapons check reentered the cabin. Dressed all in black and with short black hair, he was a poster boy for sexy commandos.
He walked up to Ryder and slapped him on the arm. “You’re either the bravest son of a bitch I know, or the dumbest. Don’t fuck this up.”
“Have some faith in me, asshole.” Far from offended, Ryder’s gaze lit with humor.
The giant’s dark eyes settled on me and I felt his clear and piercing stare all the way down to my toes.
“I’m Eli Ford. Friend of Ryder’s.” He glanced at Ryder then back to me. “You’ve got a good one here, but we’re obligated to give him hell.” Then Eli’s face transformed with his smile, ramping him up from dangerous commando to sexy dark badass. “By the way, his nickname’s—”
“Hollywood.” I giggled. “He shared. But did you know I’ve dubbed our time in the cabin “Hollywood on Ice.” Ignoring Ryder’s foul curse, I kept going. “Don’t you think that’s hilarious?”
Eli gave me a slow, sexy smile, and I pitied the woman who ever attempted to go up against him. She’d be waving the white flag in seconds. “I like yo
u, Paige. So will Jake. Deke’s gonna fucking love you.”
Ryder, clearly over Eli and I getting acquainted, lifted me up in his arms. “You got transport ready?”
Eli’s chuckle didn’t help Ryder’s mood. “Yeah. County Sheriff’s just arrived with a couple of deputies. We’ll grab your gear, fix the fires and Lance will drive us back to Denver.”
“I’ll check over Paige’s wounds while you finish up here, then we’ll roll.” Ryder took me to the bed and dug into my duffel, pulling out a thermal coat as Eli grabbed Ryder’s bag and then mine. “Time to get you warmed up and eventually back to my place.”
“Your place?”
Ryder didn’t stop as he helped me into the puffy jacket. “I need your wounds taken care of and then in my bed tonight, Princess.” He met my gaze. “Can you do that for me?” I remembered that when we’d talked about risks earlier, we hadn’t covered me nearly being shot and him having to stand there and watch. My SEAL needed some reassurance.
“Of course, honey.”
After Ryder removed most of the glass and put temporary dressings on my wounds, we began our epic journey home via a local ER and me getting six stiches in my foot. But three hours later, I was freshly showered and with my man holding me in his arms as we lay in his bed.
“Tomorrow.”
I blinked at my view of his chest. “What?”
“Tomorrow. We make plans to put a ring on you.”
“Is this the adrenaline talking or something you’ll want to do in the light of day?”
“Both. I told you minutes before those fuckers invaded the cabin I wanted to give you my ring. And then I had to stand by and watch that asshole put a gun to your head. I’m not waiting any longer than I have to, Princess. You with me on this?”
If the situation were reversed, I’d so be demanding we make plans now.
“I’m in.” I felt his kiss on top of my head as I snuggled against him. “Besides, at the cabin you kept telling me I needed a goal. This one I’ll kick out of the park.”