Blizzard (BearPaw Resort #2)

by Cambria Hebert

  I wrapped my legs around his ass and held him deep, rocking against his dick. Liam shoved his face into the pillow beside my head, muffling his shout.

  His body quivered and spasmed. His hips involuntarily thrust into me with each aftershock. I cradled his cock inside me until he groaned and rolled off me onto the mattress.

  “I just love you,” I told him.

  “Ahh, sweetheart, I just love you, too.”

  We slipped under the covers, and I pressed as close to him as I could get. Charlie leapt back on the bed and took up the rest of the available space.

  And for a little while, everything was perfect.

  Liam

  “I want to learn how to shoot.”

  Bellamy’s announcement made the perfect bite of pumpkin bread in my mouth turn into tasteless sawdust.

  “Excuse me?” I said, pausing mid-chew. A crumb fell out of my lips onto the island where Alex and I were stuffing our faces.

  “Shoot what?” Alex asked dubiously. Clearly, he wasn’t as alarmed by her sudden announcement because he was still able to chew. Loudly. “Pictures with a camera?”

  Bellamy turned from the stove where she was scrambling up some eggs. For a minute, I forgot she was spouting off insane comments because she looked hot as hell standing there with a spatula in her hand and an apron tied around her. Her hair was so long it brushed against the tie at her waist.

  “A gun.” She elaborated, then turned back to the eggs.

  My best friend and I looked at each other, back to her, and then back at each other. “Did you hear that, too, or am I hallucinating?” Alex wondered.

  “You’re being ridiculous,” Bellamy called over her shoulder.

  I threw the chunk of bread in my hand onto the plate she made me use and stalked around to where she stood. “You just announced you want to shoot a gun like you ask for a refill of coffee.”

  Bells made a sound and thrust her cup out at me. “Actually, I could use some more.”

  “Is this the twilight zone?” Alex asked from behind us.

  “Now, baby.” I reasoned, filling up her coffee. “You have to realize how out of character this sounds. You hate guns.”

  Bellamy flipped off the cooktop and piled all the perfectly scrambled eggs into a large bowl, sprinkling some cheese over them before putting the bowl on the island.

  I caught her wrist when she was done and gently tugged her around.

  “I hate feeling helpless more.”

  Her blunt statement felt like that time I landed wrong on a halfpipe and broke a couple ribs.

  Like shit.

  So shitty, in fact, I could only stand there and hear the words echo inside my head for what felt like endless moments.

  Alex, of course, had a comeback ready. “I saw you with that knife last night, girl. You ain’t the definition of helpless.”

  She looked at Alex, her voice matter-of-fact. “If you hadn’t gotten there when you did, I’d probably be dead right now.”

  “Don’t say that!” I burst out, angry.

  Bells glanced back at me, her blue eyes wide. I felt my nostrils flare, and I took a breath, trying to calm down. She was not going to die.

  I took her by the shoulders, giving them a little shake. “Don’t even think that ever again.”

  “Liam…” She lifted her palm toward my face.

  I pulled away. “You don’t feel safe.”

  “How can I? How can any of us? The mob wants me dead, Liam. Perry Crone himself has ordered a hit on me. He’s not going to stop until—”

  I glanced up sharply, daring her to say the D-word just one more time.

  She pressed her lips together, saying nothing at all.

  “You didn’t even want guns in this house. Guns scare you, and now you want me to teach you how to shoot one?”

  “It’s a good idea,” Alex inserted. I looked at him as if he were fucking insane, but he merely shrugged. “Learning to use something she’s so afraid of would be taking her power back.”

  Bellamy nodded enthusiastically. “I can’t just sit here and wait for the next time they come. I won’t cower behind you like some heroine in a superhero movie. I want to do something.”

  “No,” I stated, flat.

  “No?” Bellamy raised her eyebrow. Then she glanced at Alex. “No?”

  Alex made a sound beneath his breath and shoved a huge forkful of eggs in his mouth as if that would make him unavailable for the shitstorm brewing.

  “No,” I repeated, not an ounce of give in my voice.

  Bellamy stepped up to me, the red apron shifting as she moved. She barely came to my shoulder. She had to tip her chin back so she could glare into my eyes. The spatula still had egg on the end, but she poked it into my bare chest regardless. “You do not get to tell me what to do.”

  Alex made a sound of agreement. “Dude thinks he’s the boss of err’body.”

  I looked up sharply, and he shoved more eggs in his mouth. Bastard better not eat all of them.

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea,” I said, gently taking the spatula and tossing it into the sink. I was pretty sure there was egg stuck to my chest, but I wasn’t about to glance down to check. We were in the midst of a staring battle.

  Backing down would mean defeat.

  “Well, if you don’t think it’s a good idea…” Bells said, and I smirked.

  Victory would be mine.

  “Alex will teach me.” She finished swiftly, spinning away from me and walking toward Alex.

  I felt my eyes widen as she sauntered her damn fine ass away. “What the fuck?” I roared. “If anyone is teaching you to use a deadly weapon, it’s going to be me.”

  “Thanks for breakfast.” Alex started to rise from his stool. “But I need to be going.”

  “Sit down!” Bells and I yelled at the same time.

  “Aww, man,” Alex whined, returning to his seat.

  Charlie trotted over to his side and laid his big head on Alex’s leg. Alex gave him some bacon.

  Bellamy whirled to face me. She did that adorable thing where she slammed her fists on her hips and looked at me with blue fire in her eyes. One day I was going to have to tell her she turned me on when she got mad.

  “Liam Daniel Mattison,” she announced.

  Ah, shit. All three names.

  Alex grimaced.

  “You just had the balls to tell me no, so I found someone who thinks it’s a good idea to teach me.”

  “I’m Switzerland!” Alex chimed in. “Neutral.”

  We ignored him.

  “I thought you liked my balls,” I deadpanned.

  Hey, the sarcasm worked for my bro. It would work for me, too. Right?

  Bellamy blinked. “That was illegal use of balls.”

  “No such thing,” Alex and I said at the same time.

  Bellamy threw her hands up in the air. “This is ridiculous. I wasn’t asking for your permission to learn how to protect myself. You said no, and I said I’m doing it anyway.” Turning back to Alex, she said, “You taught Liam how to shoot, right?”

  “Uh, yeah.”

  “So you’re going to teach me, too.”

  I narrowed my eyes on my best friend, practically firing laser beams out of the slits in warning.

  Alex heaved a giant, relenting sigh. “Fine.”

  I started to growl, and Alex looked up. “What the fuck you want me to say? If I say no, she’ll find someone else to teach her, and he won’t know his head from his ass. Then what? I ain’t having your girl running around BearPaw with a gun some asshead taught her how to use.”

  Asshead?

  “Is that the same as an ass taxi?” Bellamy deadpanned.

  Alex and I burst out laughing.

  The second we were done, Alex met my stare. “If you ain’t gonna do it, then I will.”

  “So you’re forcing my hand.” I surmised, pissed.

  Bellamy came forward, slipping her hands around my waist. I didn’t look down at her. I couldn’t. I’d m
elt.

  I didn’t want to melt.

  “No one is forcing you, Liam. How many more times will Crone’s men come after me before I fight back?”

  “You shouldn’t have to fight at all.” No one should have to fight for their life. And Christ, it was my job to protect her.

  I was doing a bang-up job of that, wasn’t I? So good that now she wanted to tote a gun around.

  A sudden urge slapped me so hard it actually shocked me. It was brief, like a bolt of lightning, but it left behind a sizzling scar. For the first time in a long time, I actually felt the urge for a bottle. A few pills. Not even the whole bottle. Just a couple, just something to numb the worst of my demons so I could be here for everyone.

  “In my nightmare last night, he killed you.” Her voice was small and quiet.

  My eyes flew down to her, and the brief pull of addiction was wiped out by something greater.

  Her.

  All I could see was her bowed head, but if the look in her eyes matched the tone of her voice, I was about to be slayed.

  “He killed you right in front of me, and I stood there and watched.”

  Unable to stay so frigid with her so close, I reached for her, curling my hands around her waist. “Bells…”

  Her face lifted, and yes, what I saw in the depths of her jewel-toned eyes slayed me. “I won’t be helpless, Liam.”

  Locking my arms around her, Bells folded right against my chest. Rubbing my chin lightly over the top of her head, I spoke. “All right, sweetheart. You want to learn to shoot, then I’ll teach you.”

  “Alex, too.”

  I glanced at my bro. He shrugged. “My afternoon’s free.”

  Today? Damn. I was hoping for a couple days to get used to this idea. I was hoping maybe she’d change her mind.

  Deep down, though, I knew this was the best. I was even fucking proud of her. To literally pick up something she feared so much, something with the absolute power to kill, and take its power away…

  That was something.

  “Alex, too.” I agreed, pulling her a little tighter into my chest.

  “Can I go home now?” he asked, sipping on some coffee. “I mean, I love you guys, but I need to take a shower.”

  Bellamy laughed against my shirt, the sound muffled but distinct.

  “Go,” I told him.

  He stood but hesitated and looked at my girl. “Uh, Bells?”

  My eyes narrowed a little at the use of the nickname.

  Bellamy pulled away from me long enough to hug him. “We’ll pick you up later,” she said and returned to her place in my arms.

  On his way out the door, Alex muttered something about having a secondhand girlfriend. I couldn’t help it. I laughed.

  Secondhand girlfriend = all of the work but none of the benefits.

  He was so wrapped I’d be jealous if it wasn’t funny as hell.

  Once the door was shut, he gave me the finger through the window. I laughed harder.

  Bellamy looked up to see why I was laughing, but the sound died away.

  “Hey,” I murmured, picking her up and sitting her on the kitchen counter. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there last night. I should have been, not Alex.”

  “It’s okay.”

  But it wasn’t. Bellamy might not think so, but she was biased and scared.

  I needed to do better. Starting now.

  Bellamy

  Learning to shoot wasn’t as terrifying as I thought it would be. The range where Liam and Alex went wasn’t some seedy hole in the wall that made it seem like the people who went there were all in training to be murderers.

  Although, wasn’t that the reason I was there?

  Okay, so maybe that was a little bit of a stretch, but I went there to learn to defend myself, and as surprising as it might be, my personal philosophy for this current situation was shoot to kill.

  I refrained from sharing that little wealth of thought with Liam because he was already on edge. The entire time we were there, he was extremely focused, almost to the point of being cold.

  What saved the situation from feeling so clinical was the way he felt against me. Every time he slid up behind me, fitting his body against mine to show me how to hold the gun or how to aim, I felt his deep intake of breath and the electricity between us crackled.

  Liam didn’t acknowledge it, though. He remained fixated on making sure I understood the mechanics of a weapon and the proper way to use one. Then he gave me a ten-minute lecture on how I should aim to wound to give myself enough time to flee.

  You know, in the knee, the foot, or something that would make any attacker unable to give chase.

  Hence the reason I kept my little shoot-to-kill mantra to myself. I was so weary of running. Of looking over my shoulder every single day. I just wanted this over, and if I had the chance to make that happen, I was going to take it.

  Alex seemed to be of same mind because when he spent a little time with me at the targets, his instructions were more on par with aiming for a kill shot.

  By the time we got back from the range, it was almost dinnertime, and I felt frazzled and a little stressed out. I’d been nauseous half the day, and I knew it was likely because I needed to eat something. We were due at Liam’s parents for dinner. I had steaks already marinating and baked potatoes ready for the oven.

  The thought of food was unappealing, so I opted to put it off a little bit longer. Backtracking to the door, I leaned out. The wintry air was heavy with the scent of snow, and the sky was dense and gray. There was a forecasted blizzard heading toward BearPaw Mountain, and I couldn’t help but feel perhaps this was the calm before the storm.

  “I’m going to take a shower,” I called across the deck to where Liam was standing in the yard with Charlie. “Want to join?”

  He glanced around, a red ball clutched in his hand. Before speaking, he threw it, and the dog barked, taking off after it through the cold. “Like you even have to ask.” He smiled fast, the white of his teeth matching the pristine snow on the ground.

  There he was. The more relaxed, snow-loving man I knew so well.

  Charlie nearly collided with him as he bounded back with the ball, snow flying up around his legs and spraying Liam, who laughed and bent to get the toy.

  He missed the snow. The mountain. Being outside.

  His entire life had been turned upside down since I’d showed up here that night. Most of it was my fault, some of it just cruel fate.

  The urge to protect him had always been there of course. But seeing him out in the snow now made it stronger somehow. Liam was so good. A man with demons but a man who put everyone he loved ahead of himself.

  He was hell bent on protecting me. Who would protect him?

  I would.

  He was the reason I went to that range today. He was the reason I shoved the fear of guns deep. I realized it wasn’t myself I felt frantic to protect; it was Liam. The way Spidey continued to taunt me with Liam’s safety and the nightmare I had was the final straw.

  His booted feet made a thunderous sound as he rushed up the deck stairs with Charlie beside him. I smiled as he approached, shaking his head to fling off the freshly fallen snowflakes from the dark-blond strands.

  “Why aren’t you naked yet?” he demanded playfully.

  “You want me to get naked right here? Right now?” I reached for the zipper on the coat.

  He caught my hand and growled like a bear. “Woman, keep them goods to yourself ‘til we get in the house. That’s for my eyes only.”

  I giggled and went inside ahead of him.

  “Go ahead, sweetheart. I’ll be there in a few. I’m just going to put some stuff up.”

  He meant the guns.

  “Okay,” I called out as I went down the hall. I’d just have to ask him to show me where they were later. I liked this more relaxed Liam. I hadn’t seen him enough today, so I wasn’t going to ask now.

  In the bedroom, I stripped off all my clothes, then went into the bathroom to turn on the
shower so the water could heat. After putting my hair in a knot on top of my head, Liam still hadn’t joined me. The mirror was steaming up, and I wondered what could be taking so long.

  Wrapping a white, fluffy towel around me as I went, I stepped into the hallway. At the other end, the closet was open, the door blocking where I figured he was standing on the other side.

  “Liam?” I called out, securing the end of the towel around me.

  Stillness smacked into me first, causing my bare feet to stutter against the floor.

  The damp strands of his hair poked around the edge of the door, followed quickly by his face. Gone was the relaxed Liam I’d just left in the snow. Back was the man enveloped by cold.

  “Liam?”

  His hand shot out and grasped the edge of the door. He shoved it closed just enough to reveal what was lying at his feet.

  “What the fuck is this?” His voice was harsh, and he stabbed a finger down at the duffle.

  “M-my emergency bag…” I stuttered, queasiness washing over me.

  “It’s packed,” he clipped out. “Why the fuck is your emergency bag packed and in the closet, ready to go?”

  “I put it there.”

  He stared down at it, anger swirling around him. The muscles in the side of his jaw clenched.

  “Why would you do that, Bellamy?” His silvery, stormy eyes flashed up to mine. “Are you planning to run away?”

  Liam

  First the gun and now this?

  Bellamy was standing at the end of the hallway, wrapped in nothing but a towel and all her hair pulled up, revealing every feature.

  Including the alarm in her eyes.

  I stabbed a finger at the bag again. “Are you planning to leave me?”

  “No!” She gasped. “I just…” She fretted, her stare dropping to the floor.

  Anger burst inside me, and I slammed the closet door shut, then kicked the bag against the wood. Charlie slinked off behind me into the living room.

  “Just what?” I demanded.

  Bellamy lifted her chin. “I learned a long time ago that sometimes you need an escape plan.”

  I let out a lot of curse words. Yeah, yeah, I cussed too much.