“You hungry?” There was an awkward edge to his eyes as he said that and it dawned on her that it was because she was staring at him. He patted his stomach. “You must be hungry, because I’m ravenous.”
He glanced over his shoulder at the cave mouth, lingered looking in that direction. Avoiding her as she continued staring at him, couldn’t quite convince herself to stop. Yesterday, she hadn’t noticed just how big he was, although she had noticed how handsome he was. She had put that down to shock at the time, but in the cold light of day, he was still as gorgeous as she had thought him when her brain had been addled by pain and fear.
He cleared his throat. “Shouldn’t be more than half a day to my cabin. Think you can make it that far?”
Did he mean walking or without food? The thought of trekking half a day wasn’t appealing either way. She was hungry, as ravenous as he was, her stomach constantly growling at her for food, and her leg was aching again. She wasn’t sure she could hop for half a day, not when hunger was draining what precious strength she had.
Lowe stepped out into the open and she followed him, the thought of trying to walk becoming even less appealing as she saw just how much snow had made it through the forest canopy and settled on the ground.
He cast her a look, one that told her he wanted to say something but he thought she wouldn’t like it, and scrubbed his nape, teasing short blond hairs that stuck out from beneath his hat.
“Cameo… I get that… Well, I just think… I know…” He huffed. “I’m going to be blunt. I get you want to walk, but you’re going to find it hard going in these conditions with your injury, and I’m really damned hungry and I want to get back to the cabin and get you warmed up before your condition gets worse… so I’m going to carry you, and you can be mad at me all you want about it, but it isn’t going to change the fact you’re getting carried.”
Before she could even form a protest, he stooped and scooped her up into his arms as if she weighed nothing. Damsel in distress wasn’t her scene, but the way Lowe’s arms tensed against her back and beneath her knees, how gently he held her despite how firm his muscles were against her, and the way it brought their faces close together, felt too good for her to even want to complain and be mad at him.
He stared at her, his lips parting slightly, his gaze holding hers.
After a long silence that felt too comfortable, he muttered something beneath his breath, something she felt sure had been a comment about how she felt pressed against him, and shook his head, as if trying to rouse himself.
Or shake an urge away.
Cameo’s gaze fell to his mouth as he started walking and she shook her own head, dislodging the sudden urge that came over her, the tempting thought of kissing him. He might be holding her like a damsel, treating her like a princess, but that didn’t mean she had to go all soft over him and start thinking about things like kissing him as if he was some white knight who deserved a token of gratitude from her.
She tucked her hands in her lap, unsure what to do with them, and tried to keep her eyes off him as he walked. As he carried her. It was fine at first, and he was making far quicker progress than they would have had she been trying to walk, but a feeling slowly crept up on her as they left the cave behind and followed the slope downwards into the heart of the valley. She felt awkward, ashamed, like a burden. She had been trained in how to deal with the mountains and she had been so confident in her skills, and part of her felt that this whole affair had only proven how wrong she had been about that, even when the rest knew that even the most experienced ranger wouldn’t have been able to deal with what had happened to her.
Cameo glanced at Lowe, that shame eating away at her. He wasn’t complaining about carrying her, but he looked strained, his handsome features pinched tightly, and she was sure it was because of her. He needed to rest at least and she needed out of his arms, even if it was only for a moment, until the feeling that she was being a burden and being weak passed.
“Put me down.”
He didn’t acknowledge her, just kept walking.
She pressed her hands to his chest. “Stop and put me down.”
His blue gaze slid to meet hers. “Why?”
“So I can walk. I… You look tired. I’m being a burden.” She hated admitting that. Putting it out there only made her feel weak, vulnerable in a way.
He scoffed. “I’m not tired. Not like you weigh anything. You’re like a feather.”
Soft and easily broken? She knew feathers were really quite strong, but only when they were together, and she was tired and imagined herself as the downy, bendy sort that couldn’t hold up to much.
“Put me down.” She pressed harder against his chest, tried not to notice just how firm his muscles were beneath her palms and the thick layers of his clothing.
He huffed and scowled at her, but he did put her down. The moment he released her, she wobbled on the slippery ground and was forced to put her left leg down. She gritted her teeth and cried out as pain blazed up her shin, turned her head and made her want to vomit.
“Will you just let me carry you?” Lowe snapped as he caught hold of her arm to keep her upright, his grip strong enough that she could lean into it for support. When she risked a glance at him, his face was as dark as a thundercloud. “Believe me, you aren’t a damned burden when you’re in my arms, but you’re a burden when you’re trying to walk. I can’t take seeing you in pain.”
He slammed his mouth shut.
Cameo stared at him, wide-eyed and stunned by what he had said.
He averted his gaze and refused to look at her again, even when she leaned towards him, trying to see his eyes, needing to see in them what he had meant by that outburst. She had figured him for a gentle man, despite his size and appearance, but even the more sensitive men she had known had never reacted as fiercely as he had to the sight of her in pain. Being a ranger had its perils, and more than once she had been hurt in the field, suffering the odd sprain here and the occasional cut there. The men she had been assigned to work with had fussed over her a little, had helped her out so she wouldn’t hurt as much, but not a single one of them had looked ready to pull rank on her or demanded she let them carry her as Lowe had.
None of them had looked furious all because they could see how much pain she was in.
Lowe finally looked at her, and the fury was still there in his blue eyes, a striking need to take care of her that some part of her felt she should find unnerving, maybe even belittling, but the majority of her found oddly appealing.
She nodded and he was quick to scoop her back up into his arms. He turned his profile to her as he started walking again, a troubled edge to his blue eyes that had nothing to do with navigating the treacherous terrain. He didn’t like what he had said to her. Had it made him feel vulnerable? Open to her lashing out at him? Or maybe he was worried she would fear him because he had revealed how deeply he wanted to take care of her?
She wasn’t afraid of him.
He was as large as a mountain and as rugged as stone, and one look at him was all it took to see he could handle himself, but he was gentle and caring too. Kind. He didn’t know her, yet he wanted to take care of her and was helping her. Without him, she was sure she would have died out in the forest, whether it was from cold, an animal attack or the other man finding her.