He shoved against the man’s broad chest, pushing him backwards so both of his feet were in the snow again.
“We going to have a problem here, Lowe?” Saint slid him a curious look, one that had a sharp edge to it that screamed he didn’t like how Lowe was behaving and was close to putting him in his place.
“She’s hurt, all right? That’s why she’s here.” Lowe positively growled those words.
It wasn’t the truth. Well, it was, but he was omitting something important.
“I’m Cameo. I’m a ranger and… I’m in a little trouble. A lot of trouble. Lowe found me in the woods and helped me.” She limped forwards a step so she could see Saint better. “I don’t want to be a burden or cause trouble though. If—”
“You’re staying,” Lowe snarled and flicked her a hard look. “I said I would help you deal with this and I will. We will. Knox will help too.”
His blue eyes shifted to Saint.
“I’m keeping my word. Cameo stays here. I’m helping her with her problem and I suggest you don’t try to stop me.”
Saint looked as surprised as she was as Lowe issued that threat, as he squared up to Saint and glared at him, looking close to punching him.
“Lowe,” she said gently and he looked over his shoulder at her, the hard edges of his expression instantly softening. “I don’t want you to fight with your friends because of me.”
Saint looked from Lowe to Cameo and back again. “Getting awfully territorial for someone who doesn’t own this property. I have to remind you who does?”
This was exactly what she had feared. Lowe loved this place. It clearly meant a lot to him. She didn’t want him to end up kicked out because of her.
She hopped towards him and placed her hand against his back, on his left shoulder. It was tense beneath her palm, but as he looked at her again, his muscles began to relax.
He huffed.
“Cameo stays.” His blue eyes slid to Saint and his voice lost its hard edge. “I need her to stay.”
Saint stared at him for a few seconds and then nodded. “We’ll talk more about this tomorrow. I was going to suggest you come with me and Knox to the wedding celebration, but maybe it’s not such a wise idea. You stay here. Keep an eye on your guest. Make sure she stays inside.”
That sounded ominous to Cameo.
She didn’t get a chance to ask him what he meant by it though. He walked away from them, heading back towards his cabin, and Lowe was quick to help her inside. His grip on her arm was firm, but she swore his hand was shaking as he helped her to the couch.
Because he had gone from one confrontation to another?
He released her and closed the door, removed his jacket and hung it on the peg. He lingered with his hand on it for a few seconds before turning back to face her. His blue eyes held a worried edge as he ran his fingers through his blond hair, mussing it.
“You shouldn’t get into fights with your friends over me.” She couldn’t hold those words back, needed them out there, needed him to know that she hadn’t liked the fact he had almost come to blows with Saint.
He looked over his shoulder in the direction of Saint’s cabin and sighed. “I know. It’s not like me, Cameo. I swear, I’m not normally like this.”
When he looked back at her, his blue eyes were earnest. He closed the gap between them in only two long strides, dropped to his knees beside her and slid his hand along her jaw, turning her face towards him.
“Something about you… Cameo… you make me wild.”
A thrill bolted through her, set her blood aflame as his gaze fell to her lips.
Cameo leaned forwards and kissed him, because he made her wild too, made her bold and a little reckless. He groaned and slipped his hand into her hair, twisted it around his fingers and clutched it tightly as he stole control of the kiss, as his mouth mastered hers and he pulled her closer. She pressed her hands to his chest, trembled at the feel of the hard slabs of his pectorals beneath her palms and how fiercely his heart was beating, matching the frantic pace of hers.
She lost track of time as she kissed him, relishing every sweep of his lips over hers, every tantalising brush of their tongues that stirred heat in her veins, rousing a fierce need for more. She tried to twist towards him to get closer still, aching as fire swept through her, as her mind raced to imagine his hands on her bare skin.
Loosed a muffled grunt as that fire blazed up her leg.
Lowe set her back and looked down at it, and she cursed when she caught the look in his eyes, one that said a kiss was as far as it was going to go. She appreciated that he didn’t want to hurt her, but he had to know it was killing her to stop now, when she was just getting fired up.
“I should probably let you rest.” He didn’t look as if he wanted to do that, not at all.
The heat in his eyes said he wanted to kiss her again, that the God knew how many minutes they had spent kissing each other hadn’t been enough for him. It hadn’t been enough for her. She toyed with the buttons of his shirt, tempted to hook her fingers in the gap between the two sides of it and tug him to her to coax him into kissing her again. He must have read her mind, because he lifted his hand and curled his fingers around hers, his touch electric, sending a shiver bolting up her arm.
“How about I make us some lunch? I can get some steaks from the larder.” He drew her hand away from his shirt and swept his thumb over her fingers. “If you want, I can carry you out there. You could pick what you want from the shelves and the freezer. There’s an… ah… outhouse too.”
Just the mention of that made her think about how much coffee she’d had this morning and that instantly made her want to use the bathroom, something she had noticed his cabin lacked. It hadn’t been a problem before, when she had been slightly dehydrated, but it was a big problem now she had been guzzling coffee and he had put it in her head.
“That does sound good.” She glanced at the window above the kitchen sink. “But Saint said I had to stay indoors.”
Lowe huffed. “What Saint doesn’t know won’t kill him. He’ll be gone until late. We’re the only two here.”
It suddenly hit her that they were. She had been kissing Lowe for long enough that they were bound to be alone now thanks to the wedding on the property next door. No Saint. No Knox. Just her and Lowe in a cabin. The wicked glint in Lowe’s eyes said he had just thought the same thing.
She held her hand out to Lowe.
When he took it, she pulled him down to her and kissed him again, feeling a little giddy as he claimed her lips, kissed her hard and groaned in a way that sounded a lot like a growl. He swept her up into his arms, pulling a surprised gasp from her lips, and kept kissing her as he turned with her.
Disappointingly towards the door of the cabin and not the stairs to his bedroom.
“Let’s go raid the larder.” He grinned at her, dimples forming in his cheeks. “I have a recipe I know you’ll love.”
He was determined to make her eat, but she was determined to keep on kissing him, even if it was the only thing he would do.
“I know what I want for dessert.” She stroked the short hair at the nape of his neck and his gaze grew heated as he looked down at her and stepped out onto the deck.
“You do?” Lowe rumbled. “What’s that?”
“More of this.” She lifted her head and kissed him again.
His grip on her tightened, drawing her closer to him, and he groaned as his tongue tangled with hers.
He broke away from her and breathed against her tingling lips, “Sounds good to me. I want to spend all afternoon and evening kissing you.”
She shivered at that, the thought of lazing on the couch just kissing him warming every inch of her. She wanted more, but he was right. She was in no condition to take things further and the sensible part of her was finally making its voice heard, told her that taking things slow was the right way to go.
So kissing him would have to be enough for her.
For now.
&nbs
p; But as soon as her leg was feeling better, she would let the wild side he had awakened in her out to play.
She would have all of him.
Chapter 12
Lowe was in heaven as he woke with Cameo tucked against his side. He looked down at the top of her head and sifted the fingers of his left hand through her hair, stroking from the dark roots to the blonde tips as he absorbed the feel of her sleeping with her head on his chest, curled close to him. The moment she had settled against him last night, he had wished he had removed his long sleeve white T-shirt so he could feel her skin against his. He wanted to be under the blue covers with her, nude and pressed against her, but when she had gotten sleepy last night, laying with her on top of the covers while she was beneath them seemed like the most sensible thing to do.
He didn’t want to rush things.
Which was a change.
With Cameo, he wanted to take his time and savour everything, and he certainly felt as if he had done that yesterday.
A day that had looked as if it was going to turn out bad, had ended up being one of the best days of his life.
Spending the afternoon alone with Cameo in his cabin had been blissful. They had spent most of it making out on his couch, had lazed together and watched some TV shows on his tablet, and then she had fallen asleep in his arms.
Lowe feathered his fingers over her shoulder and angled his head away from her so he could watch her sleeping. She looked so peaceful, as if in his arms was the place she wanted to be most in the world. It was the place he certainly wanted her to be.
Gods, if all he could do was kiss her and hold her like this forever, it would be enough for him.
Someone knocked on the door.
Lowe growled low in his throat, careful not to wake Cameo, the calm he had felt evaporating as he sensed not one but three people on his deck. None of which were Knox. He could feel Saint though.
His alpha had come to talk with Cameo just as he had threatened.
He growled again as he slipped his arm out from beneath her and waited, making sure she was still sound asleep, and then eased from the bed. Saint would just have to wait until she’d had enough rest. She needed her sleep right now. He felt sure her leg was getting better, but she was human and it took time for them to heal. Sleeping would give her the time and rest her body needed to get stronger again.
Lowe padded across the loft floor to the staircase and paused there, looked back at her as she burrowed into the pillows and curled up. An ache throbbed deep in his chest, a need to go to her and shuck his jeans and T-shirt and slide into bed behind her. He wanted to draw her to him and hold her while she slept, her back pressed to his front.
He forced himself to head downstairs instead, rubbing sleep from his eyes as he went.
When he opened the door of his cabin, he wasn’t surprised to see Holly tucked close to Saint, her black weatherproof clothing blending with his and her fall of onyx hair spilling from beneath a violet woollen hat.
He was surprised to see the other female who stood just behind the couple—an olive-skinned beauty with rich brown eyes flecked with gold and glossy raven waves tumbling around the shoulders of her oat-coloured jacket.
The doctor from Cougar Creek.
“Saint came to me this morning and mentioned someone was injured.” Her voice dropped to a whisper, her dark gaze cautious as she glanced past him into the cabin. “A human. Can I see her?”
Lowe nodded and stepped back, more than happy to let her into his home. “I wanted to come and ask you for help, but I wasn’t sure how well it would go down.”
He still wasn’t sure. One glance at the clearing had him wondering if this was a good idea. Yasmin and Holly weren’t the only ones who had come from Cougar Creek to Black Ridge this morning. Flint stood near the firepit with Knox, huddled down into a navy jacket and matching scarf, with his dark woollen hat pulled low on his forehead. The cougar male didn’t look happy about being at the Ridge, was scowling in Lowe’s direction, and Lowe had the feeling the only thing stopping him from closing the distance between him and his mate was Knox.
“Ignore him. He’s grouchy because I insisted on coming. He hasn’t got the message yet.” Yasmin looked ready to roll her eyes as she glanced at her mate.
“Message?” Lowe frowned at her.
Yasmin looked at Saint and Holly. “We’re family now.”
He looked at his alpha and could see in his dark eyes as he gazed down at Holly that something had happened between them.
“Congrats?” he said, pleased for Saint and for Holly too.
“Thanks.” Saint grinned at him and then down at Holly, tightened his arm around her shoulders and drew her to him for a brief kiss.
It was good to see Saint happy and he was glad things with Holly had worked out.
Some immortals went their entire lifetime without finding their fated one.
He looked up at the ceiling, to Cameo where she slept soundly in his bed, that feeling flowing through him again, one he wanted to draw into focus. Right now, it came and went, and he wasn’t sure whether she was his mate or not. If he took the next step with her, he would know without a doubt, but she was in no condition to be intimate with him.
Even when she had given him looks yesterday that had said she wanted to be.
“Follow me. She’s resting upstairs.” Lowe led the way up to the loft bedroom, Yasmin hot on his heels. He got the feeling she didn’t want to linger and upset her mate any more than he already was. Lowe couldn’t blame Flint for feeling protective of her. Cougar Creek and Black Ridge had never gotten along, but hopefully the mating of Saint and Holly would go some way towards repairing the rift between the two prides and would be the start of a new day for them, one where they would be friends rather than foes. When he turned a corner in the staircase and noticed the heavy black bag Yasmin was carrying, he held his hand out for it. She waved him away and he shrugged and looked down at Saint, where he stood in the kitchen. “Don’t suppose you’d put some coffee on?”
“No problem. I could use some myself. Didn’t get much sleep last night.” Saint smiled up at him, the smirk of a very happy bear.
Holly slapped his chest and he growled and kissed her again.
Lowe left them to it and carried on up the stairs, crossed the loft to the bed and gently stroked Cameo’s hair from her face. “Wake up, Cameo.”
She murmured and her nose wrinkled.
“Come on, Cameo. Time to wake up.” He tried again.
This time, she frowned and her eyes fluttered open, and she twisted onto her back, a sleepy smile curling her lips.
“I thought you’d wake me with a kiss,” she husked, her voice low and laced with sleep.
Gods, he wanted to kiss her. He really did. He stepped aside and her sky-blue eyes widened as she saw Yasmin. She was quick to sit up, a panicked look flitting across her beautiful face.
Lowe glanced at Yasmin and grimaced as he found Saint standing on the step just behind her, a questioning look in his dark eyes. He stared at the male, sure that Saint would say something about what Cameo had said.
Saint just shrugged. “Where do you keep your coffee?”
“Bottom left cupboard.” Relief blasted through Lowe as Saint turned away and trudged back down the stairs.
Clearly, staying up all night with his new mate had put his alpha in a very good mood, one where he would even let the fact Lowe had been kissing a human slide.
“I’m sorry I startled you.” Yasmin’s voice softened, taking on a tone that made her sound every bit the doctor she was. “I’m a doctor from the neighbouring property. I’ve come to take a look at your… leg… was it?”
Cameo nodded and smiled, her eyes brightening with it as she drew back the blue covers, revealing her bare left leg. Damn, Lowe was thankful that Saint had gone back downstairs because if the male had been up here, he might have erupted in his direction. Just the thought of Saint seeing Cameo like this, so much naked skin on show, was enough to have him
wanting to head downstairs to force the male to leave.
“Lowe mentioned there was a doctor nearby.” Cameo’s gentle voice calmed him, soothing his raging bear side.
In fact, she tamed that part of him so quickly he could only stare at her in shock. His bear side was notoriously grouchy, didn’t usually back down when the mood to fight struck him, but something about Cameo had it calm in an instant. Because she was his fated one?
He stared at her, needing to know the answer to that question. He suspected she was, but he could be mistaken. He glanced down at the floorboards as Cameo spoke to Yasmin while she inspected her leg, tuned into Saint and Holly as they murmured things to each other.
Tender things.
Lowe scrubbed a hand over his mouth and looked back at Cameo. He wanted that kind of relationship for himself, wanted Cameo to be the other half of his soul, the one female in this world he could mate with and spend the rest of his life with by binding them together.
Cameo’s blue eyes slid to him as Yasmin checked her leg, her look softening as her gaze met his, a warmth emerging in it that drew him to her, filled the darkest corners of his heart with light and worsened the ache in his chest.
She had to be his mate.
He had never felt like this around a female before, both sides of him reacting fiercely to her. Both the bear and the man in him wanted to be close to her, calmed whenever she was near him and raged if she was in danger.
She had to be his fated one.
She smiled slightly, kissable lips curling, tempting him to capture them with his own and spend another day worshipping them.
That smile faltered when Yasmin spoke.
“It’s definitely a fracture. Hairline at most… maybe. It’s hard to tell without an x-ray.” Yasmin offered Cameo a consolatory smile. “It doesn’t seem bad though. I would say it should be healed in…” She glanced at Lowe and Lowe gave her a look he hoped conveyed that he knew what she was and what he wanted her to do. She nodded, the barest dip of her chin as she looked back at Cameo. “I’d say no more than two weeks.”
Cameo’s face brightened. “Really? That soon? That’s… wow. That’s great. I thought it would be a month or more.”
Rescued by her Bear (Black Ridge Bears Shifter Romance Series Book 2) Page 12
