Chapter Thirteen
Ryder reached out for Irene. He bolted upright when he only found cold blankets. The house had chilled during the night, and despite his effort to put enough wood on, the fire had consumed most of the logs already. He slipped on his underwear and raced through the house.
The bathroom door was slightly ajar. Irene sat on the bathroom floor, next to the tub.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
Irene looked up from the floor, shaking out her wet hands.
“I’m washing out our clothes,” she said.
He looked into the tub and saw their clothes soaking in a pool of now brownish water.
“Just let me finish here, and I’ll come back to bed,” she said with a smile.
Ryder nodded and walked back into the living room. He opened the front door and grabbed out an armful of logs for the fire. When he came in, Irene stood there, already waiting for him.
“Aren’t you cold going out like that?”
Ryder shrugged. It was cold, but he hadn’t been out for more than a minute.
He tossed the logs back onto the fire and watched as she hung the clothes up near the fireplace.
“There,” she said. “They should be dry by morning.”
Irene scurried back over to the covers with him.
Not even bothering to ask, he pulled her shirt up over her head and tossed it to the side. She was completely naked underneath.
He sighed and pulled her back against him again.
“I like this,” he rumbled.
Irene turned in his arms. “Me too.”
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her even closer. He breathed in deeply and wrinkled his nose.
“It does make you smell like me,” he whispered.
He grunted when she pinched his side and chuckled as they drifted off to sleep.
* * *
“Ryder,” Charlie called over the walkie-talkie. “Ryder, do you read me?”
He jumped up from his spot on the floor and raced to the radio.
“Yeah,” he said, somewhat out of breath.
“I got your chopper,” he said. “Plus, you probably got snow up there, but we got a lot of rain down below. The fire is all but out. Lot of fucking damage to the forest, but at least it’s out. You just need to get to the chopper.”
Ryder looked over to Irene on the floor, who grinned from ear to ear. She raced over and gave him a kiss before running off to the bathroom.
“Just give me the time and place.” Ryder glanced outside. There was about a foot and a half of snow from what he could tell. If they needed to go far, he was going to have to get creative. There might even be some boots and a coat for Irene to wear. His coat worked, but it was too large on her and made walking harder.
All this weather likely had scared Kert off. The man may have been an obsessed and vicious thug, but a snow-covered mountain wasn’t exactly his natural hunting ground.
“Two is the soonest I can get them there,” Charlie said. “I tried for earlier, but they want to make sure that the snow is fully settled, and there won’t be any major shifts while they are picking you up.”
“That’s fine,” Ryder said. “It will give us time to prepare for the walk. How far?”
“Not far,” Charlie said. “About an hour.”
“Shit.” Ryder looked at Irene’s little shoes on the floor. “Think your friend would mind if we borrowed a coat from him? Maybe some boots?”
“Check the hall closet,” Charlie said. “Just stay out of his room. He’s funny about his space.”
Ryder nodded. He could understand that.
“Thanks,” he said.
Ryder set the walkie-talkie down as Irene came back into the room and climbed back under the covers.
“Shouldn’t we get out of bed?” Irene asked.
Ryder grinned at her.
“You trying to get away from me?” He yanked her closer and laughed when she started to laugh. It was a nice way to start the morning, the only way he ever wanted to start a morning.
Irene leaned her chin on his chest and looked up at him.
“No, but shouldn’t we be getting things together?”
He glanced at the clock.
“It’s only eight.” He gave a wide smile. “I think we have some other business to take care of.”
Irene rolled her eyes and tried to scoot away, but his strong arms held her in place.
His hands moved down her body and stroked between her legs a few times.
Irene moaned.
“Do you think we should get up?” he asked.
Her nails bit into his arm, but she shook her head.
“Tell me what you want,” he said into her ear as he continued to stroke her.
“You,” she whispered. “Ryder, I want you.”
“God, I want you too, baby,” he whispered.
* * *
It wasn’t as drawn out as the night before, but when they had finished, Irene felt just as shaken as she had then. On shaky legs, she made her way to the bathroom and quickly got around. When she came back, she was happy to find that the clothes had all dried nicely, and Ryder was making breakfast. She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his middle.
“A girl could get used to this.”
He turned in her arms and leaned down for a kiss.
“Maybe you should get used to this.” He smiled.
He handed her a plate with an omelet and went back to making his own. She took her plate and sat at the table. Watching him cook was going to be her new favorite thing to do. She’d never really seen many men do that, and she had to admit, it was sexy as hell.
Ryder sat the table. They spent a few minutes eating before he pulled out a list.
“So, it’s about an hour away,” he said. “But I think we need to leave with plenty of time. Who knows how clear things are, and with the snow this deep, it’s going to take us a bit longer. I think three hours should just about do it.”
“So two hours to get ready,” she said.
“When we finish, we’ll pack up some food.” He took a bite and then looked at her. “Never know what’s going to happen.”
She wondered if he was thinking of Wolf. After everything she had told him, it was hard not to think that Wolf might be out there. Still, she found it hard to believe that he’d just be able to brush off a major snowstorm without a cabin like the one they had.
“Think we’ll actually make it out of here?” she asked.
He looked up and grinned. “We could always come back here if things don’t work out.”
Irene shook her head and smiled. At least he was seeing the positive. She stood up and took her plate to the sink and started the water. Ryder placed his dish in and turned to the list.
“I’m going to see if there are any snow shoes out in that shed.” He pointed out the window to the shed behind the cabin. “You’ll want to do these things on this list and gather the rest of the items.”
Irene scanned the list. It all seemed fairly simple. Coat, hat, shoes, food.
She nodded.
He moved the hair off her neck and kissed her there.
“I love that your hair is down,” he whispered in her ear.
Lust rolled through her. She turned in his arms and kissed him deeply.
“Don’t get used to it,” she whispered. “I didn’t have a ponytail holder.”
Ryder grinned and shook his head.
“Who knew you were such a ballbuster.” He laughed.
Irene grinned. She’d certainly never thought of herself that way, but she was seeing a lot of things in a whole new light.
She watched him get ready to go outside. The leather jacket didn’t seem like it would be enough, but he didn’t want to wait for her to look around.
When he opened the door, the cool air filled the room instantly. She placed her hands in the hot water just to get warm again. Through the little kitchen window, she could see him trudging through the deep snow. It was easily going to come to her knees when she walked and would likely slow them down quite a bit.
Several times he came out of the shed with something and held it up for her to see, but she had no idea what snow equipment looked like or what it did. He seemed excited though and that was a good thing.
When she finished with the dishes, she set to work with the list. Food was easy. Crackers and meat. Something that could last and wouldn’t have to be heated. Luckily, Ryder had a can opener on him and several more protein bars. She filled several jugs of water as well.
Winter clothes were next. She went to the hall closet first. Inside was a coat that would likely fit her and a pair of gloves. The gloves would be great for him, but she would also need something for her own hands. Irene started thinking that maybe a pair of men’s socks would work. Surely, the friend of Charlie’s wouldn’t mind if she took a pair of his socks.
Irene went down the hall to his room and opened the door. Inside she was surprised to find the walls covered with children’s drawings. She smiled at cute pony and family pictures hanging from the wall. She went to the dresser and opened the top drawer. She pulled out a thick pair of socks and shut the drawer.
She turned to leave but stopped and went back to the dresser. Irene picked up a picture that was sitting on top and stared at it in shock. There staring back at her was Jess and Victoria with their grandmother when they were just kids. Her stomach churned as she tried to piece together why Charlie’s friend would have such an old picture of them.
Dazed, Irene walked through the house with the picture in hand and stepped out on the front porch, the cold air biting at her.
She glanced up and found Ryder not far away.
“Oh, good,” she said. “Why would there be a picture of Jess here?”
“Irene, go inside,” Ryder said, his voice deadly serious.
Her eyes shot up.
“Don’t you fucking move, or I’m gonna shoot your man,” Wolf said.
Wolf and Ryder had their guns drawn and ready to shoot. Irene moved to stand next to Ryder.
“Go in the goddamn house,” Ryder ground out to her.
She placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed.
“Not if it means risking you,” she said.
Wolf laughed. It grated on her ears, high pitched and hollow, like he had been laughing for hours and just wouldn’t stop.
“Where is she?” He giggled.
Irene shook her head. He had to be talking about Victoria. So, he hadn’t realized she’d escaped after all. It made his continued hunting of them make slightly more sense in retrospect. Slightly.
“Sitting in a hospital, nice and comfortable,” Ryder said. “She left with the chopper.”
Wolf closed his mouth and glared at them.
“Bullshit!” he screamed. “You’re fucking liars. Where is that fucking Tamm bitch?”
Irene shook her head.
“What did you hope to gain by this?” She stepped forward. “Did you think she was just carrying around her share with her?”
Wolf frowned. It was obvious that he hadn’t thought about it much other than that he was going to set things on fire and kill them, not much a plan if you were trying to gain money.
“Shut your bitch up.” He spit on the ground.
Ryder pointed a finger at him. “Don’t call her a bitch.”
“Oh,” Wolf said. “Don’t like that? What if I call her a whore instead?”
Irene placed a hand on Ryder. Getting angry wasn’t going to solve anything.
“Know what I don’t like? I don’t like some bitch making a fool out of me,” he grumbled. “The Tamm family owes me. I’m getting what I’m owed, one way or another.”
He shifted his aim to Irene. “If I can’t take out Tamm, maybe I’ll just take you out.”
“Over my dead body.” Ryder stepped in between.
Wolf smiled. “Fine. I saw your gun when you pulled it and your damn slide. You’re fucking out of bullets.”
“Bullshit,” Ryder said.
“Then shoot me, pussy.” Wolf grinned.
Irene swallowed hard. All their hard work just to have it tossed away.
“I thought so,” Wolf said. “Tell your boyfriend good-bye.”
Ryder turned and sheltered her with his own body.
“His gun might not be loaded,” said another voice, “but mine sure the fuck is.”