“No sign of Gavin?” Sloane asked when Ben returned to his cabin.

Once he’d gotten her to his place in the mountains, he’d gone back out to search the trails for the jerk until the skies opened up, making visibility impossible. “Fresh snow covered any tracks I might have found,” he said while she moved toward the fireplace he’d stocked with wood and kindling only a day earlier.

“I don’t know what I’d have done if he’d been killed…” her voice trailed off.

He dropped his backpack to the ground. “Asshole made the right decision to leave us the fuck alone. But I’ll rest easier when I get cell phone coverage again. Then I’ll call in the shooting to the sheriff.” Ben pulled off his gloves and tossed them into the basket by the front door. “Not that we can get him arrested unless I can prove he’s the bastard who took pot shots at us today.” He had no proof. Plus, it was too late to contact the local rental facilities to check if Gavin picked up his snowmobile from any of them.

During his hunt, one thing continued to plague his thoughts. If Gavin wanted Sloane to give him another chance, why’d he come after her with a gun?

Unless… pressure built in his lungs and his heart stopped for a nanosecond before resuming at warp ten. Fuck. Bastard wasn’t shooting at Sloane. Gavin had been after him. But the idiot had put all of them in danger with his dumbass scheme.

Not that he’d tell Sloane. She’d blame herself for her ex’s attempts to get Ben out of the way.

He unzipped his jacket while walking toward Sloane, who stood trembling by the fireplace. “Babe, we’re okay.” He pulled her into his arms. “You’ve got nothing to worry about while I’m with you. Got that?”

Her shoulders shook. “How could I have been so blind? I fell for a mirage and believed his lies. Bad enough he destroyed my credit and nearly bankrupted me in the process… but he’s also a monster. How could I have missed all the truth?”

“Gavin is sick and manipulative as hell. Sometimes it’s hard to recognize the signs until you’re in too deep,” he said, tightening his hold. Hearing the sob in her voice and feeling the shudders wracking her shoulders made him want to find Gavin Chandler and make him pay for the pain he’d caused Sloane.

But the only person who deserved his attention was crying in his arms. He tilted her chin up. “Babe, when shit like this happens with people you once trusted, you've just got to tell yourself they’re doing the best they can with what they have.”

“Maybe Gavin’s doing the best with what he has, but he’s gone crazy.” Sloane sniffed and gulped in deep breaths. “I know he had a tough childhood after his sister arrived—she stole his parents’ attention after they’d spent years grooming him to win beauty pageants. He rallied, but I honestly don’t know everything he had to do to land his modeling career. I do know times were rough, but he never wanted to talk about those days. If only I had pressed him, learned more… maybe I could have helped him.”

His throat thickened with unspoken emotion. She had such a big heart. That’s why she hadn't recognized the danger signs until too late. “You can’t fix a broken man—only he can fix himself.” He cradled her damp cheeks and swept the tears from them with his thumbs. “So stop shouldering all this guilt and let me help you move on.”

“He’s not going to disappear easily,” Sloane said. “I don’t want to deal with him stalking me for the rest of my life.”

“He’ll find someone else to latch onto eventually.” Ben lowered his forehead to hers. “Trust me to protect you until that happens. Don’t let him get under your skin anymore. Otherwise, he wins.”

Sloane feathered her fingers over his jaw and mouth. “You’re a smart man, Ben Lawson,” she said. “I’m making sure he doesn’t crawl into my mind again. From this point forward, I’m not reacting to him. I’m taking action.”

Ben’s exact thoughts. “I’ll contact the sheriff when we get cell phone coverage again. But your ex isn’t coming here tonight with zip visibility in this winter storm.”

“No. He’s a jerk, but he’s not stupid enough to risk his neck.”

“And we can’t get out until morning now.” Then he’d follow up on checking Gavin’s whereabouts. And he’d use the ace up his sleeve to expedite matters. His connection with the Brotherhood Protectors and Hank Patterson. They’d dig up some intel on Gavin that he could use if necessary.

He held her gaze with his. “Try to relax.”

“Easier said than done.”

“We can start by rebooting our date.” Ben caressed her cheeks. “If you want to…”

The lines marring her forehead faded, and she gave him a tentative smile. “We’re here. Can’t go anywhere.”

An invisible weight lifted from his shoulders. Sloane had been freaked out, but she’d rallied like a trooper. “Exactly,” he said. “Why don’t you get comfortable while I get the fire going?”

“I’ll do more than get comfortable.” She brushed her lips against his. “I assume you’ve got this place stocked with food and booze.”

“You assume right.”

“Build that fire.” She looked at the fur rug covering the hardwood planked floor. “I’ll pull together a fireside picnic for two. I also assume you have plans for making use of the rug.”

A sparkle of mischief danced in her chocolate brown eyes. He liked seeing it there. He liked knowing he’d put it there even more. “You assume right again.”

“Excellent.” She kissed him and then moved around him to walk to the small, modernized kitchen located next to the entryway. “I’ll be back soon.”

He checked out her sexy backside as she shrugged off her coat, her ski pants swish-swishing while she sashayed toward the front. Her full hips accentuated her tiny waist when she stretched to hang up her jacket.

Hardening, Ben told himself to stand down long enough to get a fire roaring because he wanted to keep his woman warm. Then he wanted to make her hot for him. Getting naked on the fur rug had been his ultimate goal.

He placed the kindling and added the dried-out logs, stacking them. When he reached for the lighter stick and flicked the flame to life, a thought shook him to the core. He’d never brought a woman to his cabin before. Not even his last girlfriend. And he’d been ready to pop the question only to discover her in bed with another man when he’d returned home unexpectedly from his tour.

He held the flame to the paper and kindling, glancing over his shoulder at Sloane while she hauled out cheese and meats from the fridge and then closed the door with a swing of her hips.

His heart tip-tilted and the floor beneath his knees shifted, making him dizzy for a brief moment. As the burning kindling flickered in the fireplace, licking the bottom logs with tongues of fire, his brain shot pings of possibilities through his mind.

Sloane wasn’t like any woman he’d ever known. Could she be the kind of woman who could handle the long stretches of time alone when he went overseas again? And what about the multiple moves they’d have to make if she chose to be with him? He pushed down the idea. No. Not when her life and career meant staying in the USA, close to her family and the people in the film-making industry.

He stood on shaky legs and tunneled his fingers through his hair. Maybe not. But maybe he’d be willing to give up his career to be with her and find a new path.

Fire crackled and popped, sending sparks up the chute. Sloane leaned back on the cushion Ben had propped against the sofa behind them. This was the life. A warm room, awesome food, and an incredibly sexy man beside her. One she couldn’t wait to devour now that they’d finished their fireside picnic.

Earlier, she’d traded her ski pants for yoga pants and a simple long sleeved T-shirt, no bra required. Ben’s arm draped around her shoulders, and he traced lazy circles on her forearm. Zings of electricity charged along her nerves, and a wet, hot ache settled between her thighs.

“Mmm. Feels nice,” she murmured, stretching her legs and hooking one of Ben’s with her foot. Her heart thudded behind her ribcage… and the wanting shimmering in the glow of the firelight mingled with a deeper need to connect with him.

He skimmed his hand over her breast, tweaked the tight nipple through the jersey. “So does this,” he said, rolling the sensitive tip between his finger and thumb.

Every cell in her body came alive and hummed with desire. “Yes… very.” She arched her back, thrusting her breast into his hand.

He laughed, then moved them both to lie full length on the fur rug, hovering over her before dipping his head low to suck her nipple through her shirt.

“Oh… Ben…” She clutched him to her, loving the way his mouth felt on her. Loving the way he commanded her body without demanding total control.

Loving him in every way a woman loved her man.

The lines of their temporary arrangement faded with the thought. Even before now, a part of her had already fallen for him.

Now the rest of her followed as he slowly moved to her other breast and proceeded to suck and lick her nipple.

“Sweet mother of God.” She writhed beneath him, expecting him to quicken his assault on her senses.

Instead, he moved back to her mouth, teasing her lips open with gentle brushes and licks. Each tender motion sent shocks of hot, electrifying sensations throughout her body. But more than desire vibrated through her veins… the tenderness behind his strength made her heart ache with longing.

His erection brushed against her, and she cruised her hands down his muscular back until she reached his jeans' waistband and tugged his shirt free.

He broke their kiss long enough to draw it over his head and toss it aside. “Now yours has to go.” Ben pulled her T-shirt off, and for a moment, he just stared at her breasts with dark, gleaming eyes. “They’re gorgeous. I love them.”

“And I love how you treat them.” Sloane arched her back, heat and need spiraling through her.

Ben cupped them and they responded instantly to his touch, filling his palms. He squeezed and plucked her nipples and then lowered his head and sucked one into his hot mouth, lightly grazing his teeth over the sensitive bud while tweaking her other one.

Her clit pulsed and her folds grew slick with her cream. The exquisite aching tremors building between her legs grew stronger, and she rocked her hips into his groin, desperation driving her motions. “Ben, please…” She wanted him in her now.

Ben kissed his way down her torso, his tongue leaving a hot trail while he stroked her through her damp pants. When he reached her belly, he hitched her yoga pants down and cruised lower until he’d removed them completely.

Kneeling between her legs, he slid his fingers between her folds and teased her bundle of nerves. “You’re so incredibly wet,” he said, not breaking his gaze from hers. “I want to make you wetter… hear you scream my name when I make you come with my mouth.”

Her heart skipped a beat and then accelerated with a rush of heat. Desire whipped through her, and she bucked beneath him. “You know I will.” He’d gone down on her multiple times since they’d first had sex, and she couldn’t wait to feel his tongue on her again.

“I love it when you do.” Ben rubbed her clit slowly, circling the bud, and pushed two fingers into her. She mewled, spreading her legs even more. “That’s it, babe, come for me.” He drove in and out of her as he positioned himself between her thighs, then he hooked her legs over his shoulders and replaced his thumb with his tongue.

She clutched the fur rug and held on for the ride, helpless while he sent her rocketing higher… higher still, toward the pinnacle of her orgasm. He sucked her clit into his hot mouth, licking her folds, teasing her with his teeth, and working her bud with his tongue.

She cried his name, bucking into his mouth as the tension coiling in her whipped through her.

He swept his tongue over her slit and licked inside, drinking the first waves of her building orgasm. The incredible sensation of his fingers fucking her while he simultaneously stroked her with his tongue sent more need spiraling through her.

He increased the pressure, sucking her harder and plunging into her faster… faster… bringing her closer to the edge… knowing as only a man who knows his woman knows how to give her the release she craves.

Pleasure… pain… rippled through her as her orgasm pounded through her entire body until she shattered completely. She screamed his name again, blindly reaching for him as fireworks exploded behind her eyes.

Aftershocks still trembling through her, she heard the sound of his harsh intakes of breath and the rustling of him removing his pants… And when she opened her eyes, he knelt between her legs with his hard cock in his big hands. He nudged it between her soaking wet folds and then he stroked all the way in to the hilt.

“God. You’re perfect.”

Perfect for him. No other man. No other man had given her multiple orgasms… Hell… how could she walk away from him? Tears pricked behind her eyes and she reached for him, pulling him over her to hold him.

He captured her mouth with his, and she tasted her essence on his lips while he loved her with his body, slowly rocking in and out of her… going deeper with every drive.

Completing her, stroke after stroke. She didn’t know where she ended or where he began. She only knew she wanted the amazing sensation of Ben loving her so thoroughly to go on forever…

“Sloane… come with me… stay with me…”

The tension coiling in her sex snapped, whipping the first tremors along her nerves and pulsing hot in her veins. “God. Yes.” Yes. I want to stay with you… A sob throbbed inside her throat and she lifted her hips to take him in all the way… her orgasm rocketing through her.

He rammed deep one last time, stiffening in her arms while calling her name as his release exploded into her with powerful bursts of energy. And she stayed with him, holding him until he shuddered and collapsed on top of her, breathing heavily.

And she held him with every ounce of strength still remaining in her while she still had him.