Unwrapping His Mountain Package

“To Mr. Black.”

Dane growled, his teeth flashing.

“Okay, so we get ourselves out of here and then…?”

“And then we go somewhere,” he growled quietly. “Somewhere where no one can find us?”

“Like the people you work for?” I said quietly.

Dane tensed, looking deeply into the fire.

“I don’t work for them,” he muttered, shaking his head. “I mean, I do, here and there. But not like that. The whole bring you to…” He growled. “That isn’t what I do. I don’t smuggle people, Holly.”

I nodded slowly, pulling close to him and feeling the heat of him and of the fire wash over me.

“It started when I was in the Marines,” Dane said quietly. “When we were over there, I saw all the shit going on and all the people it was destroying that had nothing to do with it. And both sides were doing it — us and them. Villages bombed, wells poisoned, crops burned. People lost their ability to survive just because some terrorist asshole picked their village to hide in. The drones would come in and level the place, and those people who survived would have nothing.”

He swore, taking a drink of the whiskey.

“I didn’t know…” I whispered, my fingers entwining with his.

“I know you didn’t,” he said quietly, turning and kissing me. “But I want you to know this, because I want you to know me.”

I kissed him again, letting my lips linger on his and tasting the whiskey on his lips as the storm raged outside and the fire crackled in front of us.

“These people didn’t deserve to die or watch their kids die just because a war picked their country to play out in. But, you know, they’re the ‘enemy.’ That’s how we’re supposed to see them. But, no way. Not the ones I knew or saw. They just wanted to live. And I couldn’t let them die like that, not when it was our bullets blasting into their lives.”

“So what’d you do?”

“I started bringing people things they need to survive. Medicine, food, water. It was against the rules, big time. But I wasn’t going to let that stop me. I started getting good at hiding stuff when I left base — first in my own clothes and body armor, and then bigger loads in hidden places on trucks and Humvees. I got real good, until a guy in my squad ratted me out after I wouldn’t give him a cut. Motherfucker thought I was making a profit and wanted in. I told him to go fuck himself, and the next day…”

Dane growled, his body tightening as he kicked at a bit of wood on the ground, knocking it into the flames.

“The next day, I was arrested, court martialed, dishonorably discharged, and sent home.”

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, squeezing his hand.

“It is what it is.” He smiled. “Turns out, one of the officers on base was cousins with Angelo, and when I got back, that’s what I ended up doing. Smuggling for the family. Guns, drugs, cash.” His brow furrowed. “But never people. Never women, Holly.”

“I know,” I said softly. “But hey, on the bright side, you got me.”

He grinned, and suddenly, I watched that storm cloud blow away from him. He turned, his eyes fierce and hungry, and I giggled as he suddenly pulled me into his lap.

“Damn right I did,” Dane growled. “And I’m not ever letting you go, just so you know.”

“I think that works for me,” I breathed.

“So what’s your story? How the fuck did you end up in the back of my truck?”

I looked down, taking a deep breath before I finally looked back up and told him everything. And when I was done, his face was furious, his mouth tight.

“What a piece of fucking trash,” he growled. His hands tightening on me possessively, sending this thrill of heat through me.

“Any man who does that? Any man who trades his woman like she’s an object is no man at all.”

“Uh, yeah. Seconding that.”

Dane shook his head. “This Tony have a last name?”

My brow perked. “Why, so you can go kick his ass?”

“I was thinking more ‘throw his ass off a fucking building after I cut his balls off with a rusty fork,’ but yeah, sure.”

I grinned, wrapping my arms around Dane’s neck and leaning into him. “Protecting my honor?”

He grunted. “That and the idea of that prick putting his hands on you makes me want to cut his off.”

I laughed, melting into him as our lips brushed together. “Well maybe you could start with putting your hands all over me.”

Dane growled under me. “That I can do.”

I moaned as his mouth pressed to mine, kissing me slow and deep and taking my breath away. I’d never in my life met a man like him, and now that I’d found him, I never wanted this to end.