by J. H. Croix
I thanked the stars I had a wall behind me and Cade holding me up because otherwise I’d have melted into a puddle. We remained like that for several long moments, our breath heaving. As my pulse slowed, I ran a hand through his damp, rumpled curls and traced along his neck to his shoulder, following the tidy square outline of the gauze over his stitches.
He lifted his head, catching my eyes. “You can only ask once an hour if I’m okay,” he said, a sly grin curling the corner of his mouth.
I giggled. “I can manage that.” I reached up to trace his brows, sobering as I looked at him. “I love you, and I went a little crazy missing you.”
“Ditto.” He paused, his throat working with a swallow and his gaze direct to my heart. “I know it’s been a long time apart. Just focus on what matters—us. Don’t let anything or anyone else tell you otherwise.”
At that, he dipped his head and caught my lips in a quick, fierce kiss before tightening his grip on me and spinning away from the wall. “I think we need another shower.”
Not much later, we were lounging on the bed with takeout pizza between us. I looked over at him propped on the pillows, his ridiculously muscled chest gleaming in the soft light, and thought maybe I could figure out how to love him as fiercely as I did and not lose my mind.
Epilogue
Amelia
I looked to the sky, dusky blue and dotted with clouds, and watched a helicopter descend to the helipad behind Willow Brook’s Fire & Rescue station. The rotating wind created by its blades sent dust spinning in a circle across the open lot around the landing pad. The helicopter rocked on its landing, but settled quickly. It was a midsummer’s late evening in Willow Brook. Cade had been gone a full two weeks up north at a wildfire. I was chomping to race across the lot to tackle him, but I knew I had to hang back until the pilot and the rest of the passengers disembarked.
A gust of wind blew my hair wild. I brushed it back to see Cade climbing off the helicopter. My heart started banging in my chest, and I forgot to hold back. Dashing across the lot, I collided with him just as he was turning and slinging his gear bag over his shoulder. Amidst six firefighters from his crew and the pilot, he stumbled when I flung my arms around him.
He caught me fast against him, his laugh muffled in my hair.
“Amelia, how many times do we need to remind you you’re not supposed to charge out here until it’s clear?” the pilot asked.
I stepped back just enough to lift my head and looked over at Fred. Fred had been the pilot injured in the crash last year. He was still flying and had now added several routes for the Willow Brook hotshot crews to his rotation. He winked at me and then sobered. “Technically, I have to tell you that, so I’ll just keep at it. Maybe someday you’ll listen.”
Cade’s hand slipped down my back in a heated pass and gave my bottom a squeeze. “No she won’t. She’s more stubborn than me,” he said with a chuckle.
I looked to Cade, colliding with his green gaze, and heat slid through my veins. Two weeks apart, and all I had to do was get near him and my body went wild. It was safe to say our chemistry wasn’t wearing out yet. Fire season in Alaska, which stretched from spring to fall, meant he was gone every few weeks. The absences that had initially amped up my worry didn’t anymore. They only made me a lust-addled wild woman when he returned.
My breath caught, and I almost forgot where we were. Until a balled up towel landed on Cade’s head.
“What the hell?” he muttered as he yanked it off and glanced around.
Beck was approaching from the station and flashed a grin. “Just keeping the PDA to a minimum. How’d it go out there?” he asked, clapping Cade on the shoulder when he reached them and retrieved the towel he’d thrown at Cade.
Cade kept his arm tight around my waist as we walked into the station. I didn’t pay a bit of attention to the conversation around us, while Cade updated Beck and the other guys. I soaked up the feel of his warmth and strength for a few minutes until I decided enough was enough.
“Okay, guys. Cade’s done for now,” I announced, curling my hand into his and tugging him away.
Beck arched a brow. “Sure you don’t want him to shower first?”
I glanced over, scanning his chiseled features and rumpled brown curls. Truth be told, he was obviously in dire need of a shower. Dirt streaked his arms, soot streaked his face, and he’d likely slept in what he was wearing at the moment. Impatient though I was to have him all to myself, I reluctantly released his hand. “Fine. Maybe you’d like a shower first?” I asked, canting my eyes up to Cade.
He threw one of his devastating grins at me—my belly clenched and heat rolled through me—before nodding. “Might be nice. Give me five.”
At that, he lifted my hand and dropped a kiss in the center of my palm before sauntering behind the rest of the crew into the back rooms at the station. I pushed through the door into the front and plunked down in a chair by Maisie’s desk.
Maisie finished up a call and glanced my way. Her wide brown eyes were so similar to her grandmother’s eyes I sometimes felt a pang from missing Carol’s presence here.
“Waiting for Cade?” Maisie asked, managing sort of a smile.
“Yeah. Figured it was fair to let him shower first. It’s not like he can’t as soon as we get home, but it’s been days, so…” I let my words trail off with a shrug.
What I was thinking wasn’t polite to say in good company. Even with Lucy, I probably wouldn’t say what I was thinking, which was I couldn’t wait to get Cade naked and all to myself. I certainly didn’t know Maisie the way I knew Lucy, so I wasn’t about to say a thing.
Maisie’s cheeks flushed slightly, and she nodded. “Yeah, they practically run to the locker room for showers when they get back. They didn’t have a stopover in Fairbanks this time either, so…”
“They’re filthy,” I finished for her with a grin.
At that moment, the door from the back swung open and Beck strolled through. Beck managed the local crew for Willow Brook, which occasionally rotated out to the fires in need of hotshot teams, but they were back up rather than primary like Cade’s team. Maisie’s cheeks went from pink to cherry red, and she ducked her gaze down, suddenly busy typing something. I watched with interest.
Beck nodded in my direction and leaned his elbow on the counter. “You have a chance to submit those orders?” he asked Maisie.
Maisie’s hair, pulled back in a slapdash ponytail with wild curls escaping willy-nilly, bounced when she nodded, but she didn’t say a word, still typing away. Beck reached across the counter and snagged one of her curls, pulling it out and letting it bounce back.
By this point, I was fascinated. Beck took his duties as a ladies man seriously. He was ever cool and definitely didn’t tease like this. He didn’t need to, what with his black curls, flashing green eyes and body honed from steel. I might only get that crazy zing when Cade was around, but I wasn’t blind.
Maisie whipped her head up just as Cade shouldered through the door. Whatever she meant to say, she bit her lip and stopped, her cheeks flaming and her eyes snapping at Beck. Cade barely glanced their way. “See you tomorrow, Maisie,” he said.
At her nod, Beck spoke. “Meet us later at Wildlands?”
Cade glanced my way as I stood, sending my belly twirling with flutters, before looking back to Beck. “Nope. See you tomorrow,” he replied with a wink as he strode to me, caught my hand in his and kept walking. Beck’s laughter faded behind us as the door swung shut.
On the drive home with Cade’s hand a hot brand resting on my thigh, I asked, “So what’s with Beck teasing Maisie?”
“Ah. Saw that, did ya? Yeah, he’s got a thing for her and doesn’t even know it yet.”
I whipped my eyes off the road to him. “Beck has a thing for Maisie?”
Cade chuckled. “Uh huh.”
I forgot what I was going to say next when he slid his hand between my thighs. “Pull over,” he said, his gravelly voice sending a hot shiver over my
skin.
Fireweed blew in the breeze, an undulating wave of fuchsia flanking the highway. The sun was setting behind us, its light glinting in the rear view mirror amidst the streaks of red and gold flung across the sky. Denali stood in the distance, immense and regal. I knew precisely where he meant for me to pull over. A narrow dirt road just ahead that wove through the trees toward a lake hidden in the woods. This stretch of highway in Willow Brook was mostly empty of any homes with the tract of forest part of a dedicated land preservation area. We’d visited almost all of our old haunts in the year since we’d reconciled, yet we hadn’t come down here. This used to be a place we made out, way back when we needed somewhere to go.
With heat sliding through my veins and all of my attention narrowed to Cade, I turned into the road, almost hidden amongst the tall grass and fireweed. Within seconds, we were hidden in the canopy of spruce boughs. I could barely think straight with him choosing now to tease me to madness by unbuttoning my jeans and sliding his hand inside. I managed to yank the car into a tiny parking area beside the lake and spun to kiss him.
In a tangle of limbs and kisses, we managed to get my jeans off and his shoved out of the way. Straddling him, I sank down, savoring the delicious stretch of his cock inside of me. I took him to the hilt and stilled when he said my name.
He trailed the backs of his fingers down my cheek. “I missed you,” he said gruffly.
Emotion welled, and I had to catch my breath before I could speak. “Me too.”
“I have an idea.” His finger traced my lips, and I drew it in my mouth for a beat before he tugged it free, trailing a damp path down my neck and along my collarbone.
“What?” I choked out.
Because really, if I couldn’t move soon, I might explode.
“Let’s get married soon.”
My heart flew skyward. “You mean it?”
“I don’t know why we haven’t yet. I was thinking about it while I was away. I figure if I miss you so damn much, I’d better make it official. I was kinda thinking there was no point in the whole wedding planning, but if you wanted…”
I held his face in my hands and peppered his cheeks and lips with kisses. “No wedding. It’s not my thing. I hate planning and everything that goes with it—it’s just silly. Let’s just go to the courthouse and be done with it. We can have a big party after.”
“Perfect,” he murmured against my lips.
He leaned back for a beat, his eyes saying far more than words ever could. On the heels of a breath, he gripped my hips and lifted me, only to bring me sliding back down roughly.
Two weeks without him with my body at the very end of its restraint, my climax was upon me almost instantly. My head bumped the ceiling of the car. Held fast against him, I barely noticed.
Epilogue
Cade
I sat at the counter in the kitchen, staring out into the field outside. This land I’d once upon a time imagined would be mine with Amelia. That was another time, but the land was ours, the home was ours, she was mine, and I was hers. Her back was to me as she set the timer on the oven. After I couldn’t wait to be inside of her and had to make do with a quickie on a back road, my eyes traveled over the flare of her hips and lush curve of her bottom. Her amber hair was damp from a shower, and her feet were bare. I was bone tired, but happy as hell.
The life of a hotshot firefighter wasn’t glamorous. It was damn hard work and dangerous to boot. I’d become accustomed to it long before I’d moved back to Willow Brook. I hadn’t realized how fucking lonely I’d been in between stints out fighting fires. Coming home to Amelia felt so good and so right, thinking about life without her was bleak. That’s what had gotten me thinking about marrying her finally. It wasn’t that I’d doubted we’d be together, just that I hadn’t thought much about making it official. The relief I’d felt when she didn’t even hesitate was so profound, it reminded me how far we’d come in making our way back to each other.
I slid off the stool and circled the counter to wrap my arms around her. I felt her momentary jump, but she instantly relaxed against me and rested her head back on my shoulder, rolling to catch my eyes. “Yes?”
“Nothing. Just this.” I dipped my head and caught her lips in a kiss.
***
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In the meantime, please enjoy the following excerpt from Christmas on the Last Frontier, another one of my holiday stories!
xoxo
JH Croix
Excerpt: Christmas on the Last Frontier by J.H. Croix; all rights reserved
Chapter 1
Marley Adams walked up the old ski trail, taking in the view around her. The air held a bite of winter though fall had yet to entirely pass. Cresting the top of the trail where an abandoned ski lift sat, she turned and looked behind her. Her breath caught in her throat. Kachemak Bay lay sparkling in the sun. Mountains rose behind it on the far shore, snow-tipped and bright. She was home. Home was Diamond Creek, Alaska, a fishing village and tourist mecca in Southcentral Alaska. Breathtaking views, wildlife galore, and a tight-knit community of independent, hardy souls. The place she couldn’t wait to get away from once she graduated high school. Today, she let her heart soak it in, the one and only place that ever felt like home.
She breathed in the bracing autumn air, scented with spruce and the hint of snow to come. The ground danced with color. Most of fall in Alaska happened underfoot as the landscape was heavily forested with evergreens. She turned around and eyed the ski lift. The lift swayed and creaked in the breeze. It felt like a lifetime ago when her parents had brought her up here with her sister to ski when they were little girls. The exhilaration of rushing down the bunny slope and tumbling into the soft net at the bottom was vivid in her memory. Sometime during her childhood, the ski lodge had closed and stayed empty all the years since.
Curiosity drew her to walk up to the tiny building by the lift. She wiped her arm over the smudged window and peered inside. A woodstove sat in the corner and a bench along one wall. A first aid kit was on the floor and a discarded jacket on the bench.
“Excuse me, are you aware you’re trespassing?”
Marley leapt away from the window with a squeak, whirling around to find a man leaning against the corner of the building. The man in question had short brown hair, gray eyes, sharp features, and a body that looked as if it had been sculpted in stone. Even though it was chilly enough for her to wear a lightweight jacket, he wore nothing over the t-shirt that hugged his muscled chest and arms. His legs were rock-hard and encased in sleek running pants. He looked as if he was out for a run. His gray eyes held hers. They were bright gray, as if they held lightning inside. His energy was potent masculinity. He didn’t seem unfriendly, but neither did he appear welcoming. Against all reason, her body hummed at the sight of him. He was just…pure man.
“You startled me,” she finally replied.
The man arched a brow and remained silent.
“Um, I hiked up the old ski trail. I didn’t know that was a problem. We used to do it all the time when I was growing up.”
The man nodded slowly. His gray eyes left her and traveled around the view, landing back on the small building he leaned against. “Right. Should have guessed that,” he finally said.
Marley had never seen this man and though she’d lived away from Diamond Creek for over a decade, she came home for visits every year and knew most of the locals. If she didn’t know them, her parents did. As far as she knew, no one had lived at Last Frontier Lodge for years. Residents still lamented its closure.
“Are you from around here?” she finally asked.
The man’s mouth tightened. If she’d known him, she might have thought sadness flashed through his eyes.
“Depends on how you define that.”
“I grew up in Diamond Creek. I used to ski here when I was a little girl. I ha
ven’t lived in town for a while, but last I knew, this place was closed and empty.” She took a breath, gathering her courage. Her heart raced wildly, and she struggled to keep her composure. Whoever this man was, he had a hell of an effect on her. She couldn’t even think clearly enough to introduce herself. “I’m Marley Adams. I live down the road from here,” she finally said, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the little cabin on her parents’ property where she’d recently moved.
Those gray eyes landed on her again. For a minute, she thought he wasn’t going to respond. He cleared his throat. “I’m Gage Hamilton. My grandparents used to own this place. I was born in Diamond Creek, but my parents moved away when I was little. My, uh…” He paused and closed his eyes, grimacing slightly. When he opened his eyes again, she knew for sure what she saw was sadness. “…grandmother died recently and left the lodge to me and my younger siblings. I always loved it here when we came to visit, so I moved here. I’m planning to fix the place up and reopen, hopefully this winter.”
“Oh. I’m so sorry about your grandmother,” Marley said, uncertain what else to offer.
Gage nodded tightly. “Thanks. I was pretty close to her. Still getting used to the fact that she’s gone.”
Marley nodded, curiosity swirling inside, but she sensed now wasn’t the time to ask the many questions as she had. “It’s great you’re planning to reopen the ski lodge. People still talk about it back when it was open. Aside from staying busy with locals, this place was hopping all winter long with tourists.”
“That’s what I’m hoping for.” He paused and glanced at her again, his eyes softer. “I didn’t mean to sound harsh when I asked about the trespassing thing. I came up for a run and didn’t know who you were, so…”