Rescued by the Ranger (Camp Hardwood 2)

Something pokes my belly and I’m surprised by how close we are. Wait, is he hard? My ass was pressed up against him and I felt something digging into me. Most of my attention was on the bear, but I felt something hard in my backside that wasn’t his thigh. But my mind must be playing tricks on me because no way Moose would be turned on by me. Don’t men get hard-ons from adrenaline rushes? Though he doesn’t seem scared over the bear—Berry, as he called him.

“You lost, little girl?” The use of the word “girl” irritates and does something funny to me. I like it on his lips but I don’t like him thinking of me as a kid. I want Moose to look at me as a woman. A man like him would want a women and I want nothing more than for him to want me. My whole body heats at the idea of being taken by him.

“No,” I lie.

His hard jaw ticks. If I’m lost that makes me look more like a girl, but who am I kidding? I’m not only lost here in the freaking woods, I don’t know where I’m going in general.

“I’m lost.” My shoulders sag along with my head. I’m no longer able to keep staring into his eyes that could so easily hold me captive.

“Are you hurt?” he asks, and his voice is softer this time. I shake my head because physically I’m not. My legs ache and so do other parts of me, but I’m not sure that counts, nor do I want to admit to those aches.

I let out a small scream when a loud pop sounds and the ground shakes below my feet. I jump, unsure of what the hell is happening.

“Fuck,” Moose grumbles, and I’m in his big arms a moment later. “We gotta move.”

I think he means he needs to move because he’s the only one with feet on the ground. He runs at a speed that’s unnatural for his size. No wonder he wasn’t afraid of the bear. He could outrun one, not that he’d need to. I think Moose could have taken the bear on and the animal probably knew that too.

“A storm is moving in quick,” he explains as he runs. I try to look up, but it’s hard to make out the sky through the thick trees. I thought it was getting dark but now I can see it wasn’t just night; dark clouds are rolling in too.

His hand goes to the back of my head as he pushes my face into his neck. “Stay put, the branches can snag your face,” he tells me.

I, like the bear, do as I’m told. I already have a handful of scrapes on my legs and arms from my adventure gone wrong. If campers go missing up here it’s because a bear ate them.

At the moment my adventure isn’t feeling so wrong. The fear I had earlier with the sun setting and the danger of being eaten by a wild animal is long gone. Moose won’t let anything happen to me and somehow deep down I know that.

I breathe him in and nuzzle in closer. His scent is like the forest with a touch of something sweet mixed in. I don’t know what it is but I lick my lips again, letting my tongue peek out to brush against his skin innocently. I try and pretend I wasn’t stealing a taste of him.

“Zara.” His hold on me tightens and I don’t know if he’s telling me to stop or keep going.

Hearing my name rumble from his lips has my whole body buzzing. I jerk in his hold when another loud bang of thunder rolls over the forest. “I’ve got you, little one,” he tells me, his tone switching back to a soft one and I’m not sure which I like more.

Rain pelts us as he runs and soon I’m soaked to the bone. I can feel the water pooling between us and the water rushing down his body. But I don’t care because I’m in Moose’s arms. I hold on tight to him and brush my nose against his neck as he keeps moving. I think I made the right choice in going out into the woods alone. This small moment is going to make it worth it even if I end up in trouble.

All too soon we slow down and he stops moving. I lift my head to look over Moose’s shoulder and see a closed door. The sound of rain on a roof fills my ears as another loud bang rumbles and shakes the cabin.

“Where are we?” I ask, since Moose hasn’t said a word. He’s not even breathing heavy and he ran all that way with me in his arms.

“My place.” I lean back to look at him and his gaze meets mine. I can’t read his expression and I don’t know if he’s pissed or what, so I fidget in his hold.