Cameo had the feeling she wasn’t the only one with a deep protective streak.
Saint gave Lowe a hard look and tried to pass him, but Lowe didn’t let him. The man’s dark eyes shifted to her and he frowned, narrowing them on her. It didn’t go down well with Lowe.
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.