I should have just dropped to my knees, but just like yesterday—when Emmett caught me—my body overcompensated for the forward motion, jerking back with too much force. My heel edge caught and, since I was facing up the slope, I crashed backward, my lower back hitting first a split second before my helmet ricocheted off the unforgiving ground.
The blackness that consumed me was similar to when I’d been toppled by waves in the ocean before. The feeling of not being able to breathe was familiar to me—in this case because the wind had been knocked out of my lungs and not my body being incased by water.
I’d have to say this was worse. Being surrounded by air and unable to breathe.
Having what I wanted right in front of me and being unable to take it.
Air. Emmett. Blackness.
God no.
I yelled to someone—I didn’t even know who—to go get ski patrol as I dropped everything and ran up the slope to where she lay completely still.
I saw the whole thing go down—the way she turned too fast, the second she lost her balance and overcompensated, and especially the moment she fell backward. If she’d been riding a board that I’d made, she never would have caught that edge.
The sound of her helmet smacking against the snow and ice was all I could hear. She fell back so hard that after her head hit the ground her legs and the snowboard came up and over her head, effectively making her do a reverse summersault, finally landing on her stomach.
I told her to fucking wait for me.
What was it with Ryder women not knowing how to listen?
What was it with them and their damn head injuries?
“Ally!” I slid to a stop on my knees, flipping her over towards me. Throwing my gloves off, I unbuckled her helmet; my hands were shaking so fucking bad. She didn’t answer me and my heart froze; I moved her goggles up and didn’t see blue staring back at me; the damn thing in my chest shattered.
Carefully, I slid both things off of her head, glancing down the trail.
Where the fuck was ski patrol?
She groaned. Thank you, God.
“Ally,” I rasped, my hands cupping her face. “What the fuck were you thinking?”
I’d never been so scared in my whole damn life and fuck if that realization didn’t make me irritable.
This was why I could never be her fucking prince. She could have died and all I could think about was taking her over my knee for scaring the living fuck out of me.
“That… was not… fun.” Her beautiful face scrunched as she briefly opened her eyes to look up at me.
“No, I bet it wasn’t, sunshine,” I ground out.
“W-why are there two of you?”
Shit. “Because that’s how much fucking trouble you are in for not listening to me.” There was a hint of a smile before her eyes closed again and her head tilted towards my chest. “No, Ally. I need you to talk to me.” If she had a severe head injury or internal bleeding, I didn’t want her falling asleep.
“No,” she murmured softly, barely there. “You’re mad at me. Don’t want to talk when you’re mad…”
Jesus. I brushed my thumb back and forth over her cheek.
“No, Ally. I’m not mad at you, alright?” Her eyes opened again.
“Don’t believe you.”
“Christ.” I wasn’t mad. I was hurting. “I’m angry because you hurt yourself. I’m angry because you scared the shit out of me, sunshine.” I heard the snowmobile zooming up the slope—fucking finally. She was watching me still, so I didn’t stop; I needed her to be ok. “I’m angry because I wasn’t there to stop it.” I saw the sled pull up on the other side of her, but I couldn’t stop myself from adding, “And I’m angry because I now know that losing you would fucking kill me.”
She still looked at me as though she was in a fog and I wondered if she would even remember this later.
“She’s conscious. Fell back and smacked her head and then flipped.”
The two men knelt down next to her and instinctively my arms tightened. Mine.
“Has she been responsive the whole time?”
“No. When I got to her, she was out, but then came to. Not sure if anything is broken. I just took off her helmet and goggles incase…” No need to finish that thought. “I kept her awake.”
“Good. Anything broken?”
“I don’t think so.” At least nothing obvious.
“Alright, let’s get her down to the medic.” They stood, unhooking the stretcher from the back of the snowmobile. “Ok, if you could help Tom lift her, we can slide this underneath.”
“Emmett…”
“Now’s not the time for your sass, sunshine,” I tried to tease her—for both her benefit and mine. “Let’s make sure you’re ok and then you can bite my head off.”
Quickly and efficiently we got her on the board. I was tempted to force one of them to stay behind so I could ride down, but I knew that was going too far. So I jogged down the rest of the slope behind them, not giving two shits that I’d left my board and gear in the middle of the trail.
“Emmett!” My head jerked as Tammy ran up to me.
“She’s fine.” I didn’t know that; why would I say that?
Because I needed her to be.
“What happened?”
“She fell backward and hit her head. I told her to fucking wait for me… She’ll be fine. They are just going to check her out.” Tammy nodded silently. “I’ll take her home. Can you just grab my shit from the bunny slope? I left all of it somewhere in the middle—I don’t even know…” God, I sounded like a blubbering mess.
“Of course. I’ll come over to first aid as soon as I’m done.”
She’d checked out. Minor concussion but no serious damage. Not yet, at least; she would need to be re-evaluated once I was done with her.
Tammy had shown up about halfway through their examination and we both stood like worried fucking parents waiting for the doctor to check everything out. Even as soon as they brought her in, she was looking much better. She’d been white as snow out on the trail, but once she was inside the first-aid quarters, her color had returned and she was much more alert.
Ruth called while we were waiting. I sent it to voicemail. Not now. I’d almost lost one person, I couldn’t deal with losing another.
“I’ll call Chance,” Tammy had offered and I didn’t fight her for the opportunity.
“I’ll call Cup of Joe and tell them she’s not coming in later or tomorrow,” I said.
She returned a few minutes later. “Is he coming?” I didn’t want him here—and not just because I was looking at his sister in a way that I shouldn’t, but because I needed to be the one to take her home and make sure that she was okay; if he were here, I would have to relinquish that to him.
“No. He and Nick went into Denver for the weekend. I’m assuming… well, it doesn’t matter. He said he won’t be back until later tomorrow night but to have her call him as soon as she’s released.”
A half an hour later—with most of that time spent as Ally reassured Tammy that she was fine—we were in the car on the way to her house. I had her call Chance, leaving me to brood silently as I picked up some take-out from this BBQ joint that I loved; the food was phenomenal even when I wasn’t high. There were so many things I wanted to say to her—so many things that encompassed a wide range of emotions.
I got back in the car, handing her the take-out bag. “How do you feel?” Keep it simple.
“Sore. Very sore.” Her throat was dry. I was making her a fucking cup of tea as soon as we got there. “This smells amazing.”
“How’s your head?”
“Surprisingly, not too bad. The doctor gave me a bunch of Motrin to take and that helped a lot.” She stared at her hands clasped in her lap as she spoke. “Even with the helmet, I have a feeling I’m going to have a giant bump on my head tomorrow.”
“Yeah, you’re lucky that’s all you’re going to have.” I threw my truck in park in her drive.
&nbs
p; I followed her into the house. She wanted to move fast, but she was so sore that she couldn’t.
“Where are you going?” I watched her attempt the stairs.
“I’m grabbing a bathing suit and getting in the Jacuzzi. My muscles need it.”
“Ally,” I growled, standing at the bottom of the steps. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I think you just need to lie down and relax.”
My phone began buzzing in my pocket. Christ, not now.
“My head is fine, Emmett! The doctor said so. My muscles, though, are killing me.”
My phone kept buzzing. “Just… Just wait.” I swore under my breath and pulled my cell out, answering the call; I didn’t need to look to know who it was.
“What?” I opened the front door and stepped outside.
“I’m sorry, Emmett. I know you don’t want to know—don’t want to hear this. But I just spoke to the doctors. Miriam has taken a turn for the worse. I know I originally told you a year, but it’s spread to her lymph nodes; they are saying two months now, maybe three tops.”
My body vibrated with anger as Ruth spoke too fast for me to stop her.
“Her memory is going faster. I know I promised that I wouldn’t, but I’m begging you. Please come and see her.”
Silence. Never-ending silence.
I wanted to say no—like I had all the other times, but I couldn’t force the damn syllable off of my tongue. I turned around, glancing through the window to see Ally disappearing through the back door. Fuck.
“I’ll think about it.” Click.
One fucking fire at a time.
14. I hate the way he can tune my body just as expertly as he does with his snowboards; he carves my need, shapes my desire, and sharpens my pleasure perfectly for him.
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU doing?” Emmett demanded angrily.
I winced as I heard the door slam, but I felt too good to move.
The heat from the water seeped into my sorely abused muscles and it was like I could feel each fiber relaxing. I knew he was going to be mad that I didn’t listen to him—again—but my body needed this.
“Just for a few minutes,” I sighed. “Please…” I begged.
I hazarded a peek, my asshole in shining armor glaring at me, arms crossed over the sculpted muscles of his chest.
“If you weren’t already injured…”
“I know… I just need a few minutes though. Then you can yell at me all you want.”
He laughed harshly. “If you think yelling is all I want to do to you…”
I sucked in a breath; yes, in fact, it is possible to get goosebumps while soaking in over one-hundred-degree water.
“Who was on the phone?” I asked, my eyes closed and my head tipped back.
The question had been gnawing at me ever since I heard him storm out of the house.
“Who is Dylan?” he countered as he sat on the ledge of the stone retaining wall, watching me like I was going to pass out and drown at any second.
I stared at him, debating. Finally, my conclusion was that I wanted Emmett more than I wanted to keep Dylan to myself. If he was going to break his rules, it would only be once he’d taken everything from me—everything I had, everything I wanted, everything I loved. That was the price I was willing to pay to get what I needed—to get him.
“My ex-boyfriend,” I confessed, watching as my answer made his body immediately tense before I asked again, “Who was on the phone?”
“My cousin… and step-sister.”
“I didn’t know you had a sister,” I replied, refusing to let my surprise at it show.
“Is he why you came here?” he asked intuitively.
“Yes.” My chin tipped up slightly as he stood. My turn. “Why are you mad that she’s calling you?”
His hands gripped the edge of the Jacuzzi opposite me. His eyes grazed over the murky water that just barely hinted at my red bikini underneath. “Because she wants me to do something that I don’t want to do.” Vague. “Why did you break up?” he volleyed.
Two could play at that game.
“It didn’t work out.” I moved through the water towards him, keeping everything below my neck submerged. “What does she want you do to?”
I was in front of him now, our eyes locked. This war of questions had escalated quickly—just like everything else between us. We pushed deeper through the levels of personal details because it was the only way to take more without giving into desire.
“She wants me to visit Miriam.” Our breaths mingled with the steam in the cold air. “How long ago did it end?”
“Almost two years.” My voice had turned breathless; our proximity was torture. I could see his arousal against his jeans. “Who is Miriam?”
His eyes darkened. This time the pause was pregnant. This time I wasn’t sure he was going to answer, that he was going to pull back in defeat. “My mother.” But I thought… I’d heard the rumors… Addict… Overdose… Foster care…
“Emmett…” I whispered, rising up slightly, the water now below my breasts; my nipples were already hard; the frigid temperature outside could do nothing to make them worse.
He eyes never left mine though and I knew what he was going to ask before I heard the rough words rasp over my body. “Did you love him?”
I watched the way his delicious mouth moved as he spoke. It was so close to mine, I just wanted to taste it.
In the same way, it seemed he knew what my answer was going to be and instead of subjecting himself to it, his mouth crushed mine.
Punishing. Possessing. Obliterating.
The weapons of our words had been exchanged for those of our touch. His hand cupped the back of my head, making sure to avoid the spot where I was bruised, before he pulled me up, angling my head roughly against his.
His hand cupped my breast, squeezing deliciously hard. The water held in my suit wrung out and ran down my body as I arched against him, losing myself in the onslaught.
“When we’re on the mountain, you will listen to me,” he growled, biting down on my lip at the same time as he pinched my nipple through my suit.
Holy crap.
Sharp pain, exquisite pleasure. I gasped as my body was overwhelmed with sensations: the heat from the water, the cold of the air, his mouth devouring mine, his fingers teasing my breast, turning me hot and cold and everything in between. I needed more.
“Say it,” he commanded, his hand pulling back.
“I will… listen to you…”
My reward? His hand dove underneath the surface of the water, underneath the edge of my bottoms, and one finger slipped inside of me. He swallowed my gasp that turned into a moan as that finger curled against that spot inside of me that only he knew. I swayed, my head feeling light; my hands reached for the edge of the tub to steady me.
“Fuck,” he rasped.
Cold. Everything was cold—because Emmett was gone.
He’d stepped at least three feet away from the tub, leaving me hanging on the edge. “I can’t… you were just…” Injured? “You are…” Chance’s sister?
God, I was really getting annoyed with his reasons.
He was the one to break our stare-down and stalk inside. Not so fast, there, King Emmett; this is my castle.
I hopped from the tub, not bothering with my towel as I threw the door open. Startled, he spun around.
“Where are you going?” I demanded angrily; he wasn’t walking away this time.
“What the fuck are you wearing?” His was voice low and grating.
“A bikini.” Ok, it may have been the one I bought for spring break three years ago before Dylan and I were together; it may have been pretty small—but hey, it was spring break in Florida!
“And did you actually pay for it? Or did they just make you one out of the scraps for a normal bathing suit?” he sneered.
“I bought it.” I folded my arms over my chest, knowing what that would do for his view. Maybe just a little of throwing myself at him…
He
rubbed a hand over his forehead. “I can’t… I have to get out of here.”
“Emmett!” I yelled as he turned away from me again. Only once those dark, tortured eyes met mine did I say the words that I knew would cut ties with all thoughts of leaving. They better for they were going to cut into my soul.
“I loved him. I loved Dylan.”
I watched his possessiveness consume him. Anger overriding his misguided sense of respect for my brother. He was angry—and only partially because of Dylan; mostly because he couldn’t fight his desire any longer.
A second later, his mouth was on mine. I dripped water from the hot tub onto the floor. The rest of it soaked into his clothes as he crushed me to him, his tongue punishing me for my admission. He kissed me as though he wanted to remove a layer of skin—anything that might have a trace of Dylan on it. To say it was rough was putting it mildly. To say it consumed me was the understatement of the century.
“Did he kiss you nicely?” he taunted me.
“Yes.” He growled and spun me away from him. It was dark out by now and with the lights on inside, all I could see was our reflection in the glass of the door: my hair piled on top of my head so it wouldn’t get wet, my tiny red bikini barely covering… anything, his hand gripped on my breast, the other planted on my hip, and his eyes waiting for mine as he bit into the skin of my neck.
“I’m not nice, Ally.” He pinched my nipple hard again. I saw myself gasp and felt the pleasure that seared straight down to my sex.
I rolled my ass back against his dick. “I didn’t ask you to be,” I returned with a strangled voice.
He growled against my skin. Ripping my bikini to the side, his thumb rolled over my naked nipple. Waves of my orgasm lapped at my feet.
“Not yet. Not allowed,” he demanded roughly.
I whimpered, my head lolling to the side, giving better access to the side of my neck. His other hand drifted down over my core, palming me through the damp material of my suit.
The Winter Games Page 56
