Always.
Rushing to clutch her in my arms instead, holding her like I’ll never let go.
Because I can’t now.
I know she’s already mine and I won’t rest until I claim her properly.
Mine.
Chapter Five
Stacey
I know I fainted, but mostly from his touch. Not from the cold or my fear.
I know he has me now, and that part of me I’ve blocked out for so long when it comes to Ranger Ben Slater starts to bubble up inside me.
Starts to boil over in my body long before the sensation reaches my mind.
I mew and twist, moan and sigh against his hard body, feeling his warmth pressing closer to me.
Almost tasting his breath as he leans over to tell me he has me, that I’m safe now.
The strobing lights make my eyes narrow, but I can make out his face against them.
Ben Slater, the man himself superimposed against his own billboard, a determined smile on his face as he tells me everything’s fine now.
His thick hands cupping my soaking rear end as well as my back, holding me tight as he promises to get me a blanket soon.
All I can do is make little sounds, feeling something inside me wanting to burst, wanting to gush over more than his warm hands.
Wanting whatever he had out back in those woods buried deep inside me.
That much I know for sure.
He explains slowly that he has to set me down on the back seat of his truck, and that he’s getting a warm, dry blanket for me when I see his face twist in annoyance.
I hear another voice.
A man’s voice.
“What the god damned hell you doin’ there boy?” The thin voice grouses.
Ignoring it for now, Ben sets me down and I hear the rustle of a foil space blanket, then the home comfort of a wool blanket over my entire body.
I wonder if I imagined the other voice, but it’s there again, and once Ben sees I’m snug he spins on his heel, blocking the side door to his ranger’s truck.
“Ranger Ben Slater, Sir. I need you to step back,” I hear him say firmly.
“You… You’ve got a girl, half-naked. Putting her into your truck!” The voice continues.
Ben doesn’t flinch. He only lets out a low growl and if I didn’t know better, he mouths the word ‘mine’, just so I can see and hear it.
Just for me.
“You can ride up front with cuffs on if you want, Sir. I’m rescuing a stranded motorist and can charge you with obstruction if you want to try and get in my way?” Ben suggests, sounding more forceful now.
The thin voice whines again, and Ben reminds it that he sounds familiar, like someone who used the reserved frequency to talk shit while he’s out here doing his job.
“What’s it gonna be, pal, cuffs and night-night? Or you just get back in your truck and get to the nearest shelter like you know you should? Hurricane force winds are coming, and neither your fat ass nor your truck will stand up to either of ‘em, least of all against me if I have to get serious about it,” he adds with supreme authority.
There’s the squelch of feet in mud and the sound of a big rig grinding through gears to get moving before Ben turns back to me, sliding a seatbelt around me, leaning over to comfort me.
“You’re okay, Stacey. I got you,” he reminds me.
“A little drive and we’ll get you to the ranger’s station. Get you warm and dry. Cleaned up and fed properly,” he promises me, that winning smile creeping through his chiseled jaw.
I try to tell him thank you, but can only move my lips.
He presses a firm hand high on one of my thighs and narrows his eyes, telling me without words we have to keep moving.
Even though I could stay like this forever, wondering if it’s even real, I nod and let him bundle me into the back some more before I feel the truck pull away from everything that made me feel scared, cold, and lonely.
Humming through what sounds like the storm of the century towards what I somehow know will be just Ben and me.
At least for a night. Maybe even tomorrow.
I must sigh in between sleep a hundred times, partly from the warmth of his truck but mostly from the knowledge that I’m his now.
In his hands and totally safe.
Rescued like those hikers were, but it means oh so much more to me than that.
I want Ben more than anything, and I only hope he knows it. Fate has brought us together and even the idea of the rental car, my dad, and the whole trip home.
It all seems so far away as I lay wrapped in the perfect cocoon of Ben’s blankets, having him bring me back to his stronghold.
I peep up a few times between closing my lids and see his dark, intense eyes meeting mine. His mouth is hard with determination as he brings me to safety.