Pressure built, bigger and wider, until she was lost on a wave of pleasure. The cave didn’t exist anymore, and neither did any of their problems outside of here. The constant threat of his hibernation disappeared because, in this moment, it was just her and Ian—alive and healthy and together. The only thing that mattered was her mate and this overwhelming bond that was building between them. His powerful hips thrust against her over and over, harder until she moaned, hanging right on the edge of release.
Ian held her tighter, his arms flexed hard as he bucked into her, and with his name on her lips, she detonated around him, pulsing, gripping him as pleasure flooded through her in tidal waves. He gritted out her name and buried his face against her shoulder as he slammed into her again and froze. His pulsing release matched hers, filling her with warmth.
“I love you, Elyse. I love you,” he panted.
The raw, thick desperation in his voice shocked her to her core, so she hugged him tighter. “Shhh. I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”
She’d never seen Ian scared, but here, in the dark of his old, charred den, he’d just given her a glimpse of something she’d never realized.
He was just as terrified of losing her as she was of losing him.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Miki was fast asleep in Elyse’s lap when Ian pulled the truck to a stop in front of the cabin.
She was shocked to find Josiah chopping wood near the porch.
“Jo?” she asked, getting out with Miki cradled in her arms.
The pup woke up and wiggled to be set free, so she let him down, and the little hellion went bouncing toward her brother, letting off his big pup bark.
Josiah left the ax in the chopping block and knelt down, offering Miki his hand. Ian pulled the tailgate of his truck down and started unloading while Elyse followed the dog’s path to her brother.
“Is everything okay?”
Her brother looked up at her with those somber gold-green eyes that were so much like hers. “We lost two more cattle last night to wolves.”
“Oh my gosh. Which ones?”
“The bull and one of the mommas.” Josiah sat down in the dirt and pulled Miki into his lap. “They have to be rabid or something. They left the half-grown calf and went after two big ones. And that ain’t all. The wolves didn’t even eat them. They just killed them for sport. Makes no damned sense this close to winter.”
Elyse swallowed hard and looked up at the churning storm clouds above them. The McCalls had done this, led by that asshole, Miller.
“I brought the calf with me, but we need to get back and bring the rest of them in. They’re exposed out there, and every day they spend out in the open now, they’re at risk.”
“Did you see the wolves?”
“Nah, they’re being crafty, only taking the cattle in pitch dark. I can hear them, though. Howling and calling like a fucking celebration every time they take an animal.”
Ian nodded to her once. Even from the truck, he’d heard the devastating news. Cattle were expensive and hard to come by, and that bull would cost them a lot to replace. Fucking Miller. He was hunting them from all sides now, taunting them with how much he could destroy their lives. He might not have the right key for the new padlock on the freezer, but he was still stealing from her.
Ian strode forward and reached down, gave Josiah a mannish handshake, then helped him up. “Thanks for letting us know. I’ll need a couple of hours to cut up the venison we got, and then we can head out.”
“Good hunt?”
“We filled two tags.”
Josiah laughed. “You mean you filled two. I know my sister. She won’t shoot anything bigger than a ptarmigan.”
“You’re wrong,” Elyse said. “We both had a good hunt.”
Josiah’s dark eyebrows arched high. “No shit?”
“No shit, man. She even dressed hers out.”
“Damn,” Josiah murmured, shocked. “I wish Uncle Jim was here to see this.”
The flattery heated her cheeks as Elyse dropped her gaze. That was as close to a compliment as her brother ever got. “Me, too.”
“Okay, well let’s get the table out. I can help and cut the work in half while Elyse saddles up the horses.”
As much as Elyse wanted to take a shower after their two-day hunting trip, it was already mid-morning, and they were burning daylight. She took her and Ian’s rifles and checked that they were unloaded, then put the safety back on both before she climbed the porch stairs and settled them against the railing where they wouldn’t fall over. And when she turned to head for the horses’ shelter, Josiah was watching her with a slight frown.
“You’re different.”
“Thank you,” she clipped out as she strode for the gate where the horses waited.
Ian chuckled from behind her, and she grinned to herself.