Jason (Blue Halo Book 2)

Courtney stepped over another tree root. The tweeting of birds overhead and whistle of wind through the trees pierced her ears as she headed to Logan’s truck. She’d left her phone-charging cord for her portable charger in there, having plugged her phone in on the way to the site.

Grace and Sage walked behind her, their voices hushed as they spoke.

“No one is angry at you,” Sage said gently. “Logan told us why you did what you did, and the position that reporter put you in. You were scared and did what you thought you needed to do to protect yourself from Kieran and your father from jail.”

“Are you sure?” Courtney almost smiled when she heard the relief and emotion in Grace’s voice. “Because I kind of just threw everyone into the deep end then apologized without giving a reason for my actions.”

“You didn’t tell us because you were scared, and you didn’t know who to trust. And you left to apologize to Logan’s team.”

Courtney paused when she heard the women stop. She cast a look over her shoulder in time to see Sage pulling Grace into her arms. This was exactly what Grace needed—confirmation that no one blamed her.

She breathed a sigh of relief for her friend.

When they separated, all three of them continued to Logan’s truck. It was parked about a ten-minute walk from where they’d set up camp. They’d tasked the men to start the fire while they were gone.

Courtney stepped over another tree root. “I swear it didn’t feel this far when we were walking to the campsite.” And on the way, they’d been holding all their camping gear. Actually, to be fair, Logan had carried most of it in his gorilla-sized arms. “Maybe we’re heading in the wrong direction.”

“Is that it?”

Courtney looked to where Grace pointed through the trees. Sure enough, there was a hint of Logan’s white truck ahead.

“Ah, see? Who needs men?”

They stepped out of the clearing, and Grace lifted the key to unlock the doors. Courtney got into the front seat, climbing onto her knees and stretching to tug the cord from the back of the center console where it was connected.

She was just about to climb out when she felt something on her hand. Something crawling on her hand. She looked down.

Was that… a black widow spider?

A screech that could have raised the dead came from her lips. Her entire body jerked so hard that she fell flat on her stomach over the console.

No, no, no. This was not happening.

“Courtney…?”

She didn’t know who that was, she was too busy shaking her arm like a mad woman, almost like she was trying to disconnect the thing from her body.

She had no idea if it was gone yet when she tried pushing up. Her shirt caught on something, tugging her back down. She jerked back, finally released, and all but fell backward, out of the truck and right onto Grace and Sage, throwing them all to the ground.

“Are you okay?” It was Grace who asked, but when Courtney rolled off them and stared at the women, Sage looked equally panicked.

Courtney scanned her hand and arm. No spider. She closed her eyes, lying flat on her back for a moment, then a laugh bubbled to the surface. It was clearly her body’s way of coping with near death. Her breaths were still whooshing in and out of her chest, but at least she wasn’t in the truck, aka the death-mobile.

“I think I just almost died.”

Both women frowned, glancing from her to the vehicle and back.

“I’m not a hundred percent sure, but I think there’s a black widow spider in there.”

Grace gasped while Sage stood and peered into the open door.

“Don’t get too close! Its bite is venomous,” Courtney warned. The other woman was a doctor, she’d probably know that… but then, what the heck was she doing?

Sage turned, shaking her head. “It’s a hobo.”

“A what?” Courtney pushed to her feet, taking very small, tentative steps forward before peeking over Sage’s shoulder.

And there it was again. She almost cringed at the sight of the spider on the passenger seat. The thing wasn’t scared at all, just sitting there calmly for all the world to see. But now that she was giving the spider a proper look, she realized it was a lighter color than she’d originally thought.

“Are hobo spider bites dangerous?” Courtney asked.

Sage shook her head. “Not at all. In fact, quite often you don’t even feel the bite and won’t have any reaction.”

An image of the little creature’s teeth latching onto her skin came to mind.

Yuck.

Sage looked around, grabbing a large leaf before returning to the truck and placing it next to the spider.

Courtney cringed. It may not be dangerous, but it was still a spider.

Sage had just placed the leaf and the spider on the ground when Grace’s unsteady voice sounded. “Um, guys, I think we might have bigger troubles.”

Courtney blew out a long breath. “No, I just overreacted.” Although, if she was honest, she’d probably overreact every time a spider was so close.

“Turn around,” Grace whispered.

Courtney turned. And another scream attempted to crawl up her throat. Trickles of terror slid up her spine.

“A bison,” Sage said quietly.

Grace took a step backward. “A mother and her calf.”

“Which is worse, right?” Courtney said quietly. “Because bison can become aggressive when protecting their babies, can’t they?”

Heck, they could get aggressive when people just got too close. She’d watched a documentary about them once. Risk of maternal aggression. And the bison certainly looked aggressive right now. She was pawing the ground, bobbing her head, and raising her tail.

Suddenly, a loud snort sounded through the trees. Out of instinct, all three women stumbled back three steps.

Courtney realized their mistake immediately, as the bison shifted closer to the car. They could probably still dive inside, but it would be a risk, especially for the last woman.

“I think we should stay very still,” Sage said. “If she sees that we pose no threat, she might leave us alone.”

They remained as they were for long seconds. Those seconds ticked into minutes.

Suddenly, the bison stepped forward. Then she stepped forward again.

Oh God, she looked moments away from charging. This wasn’t working.

Courtney took a step to the side, hearing Grace’s sharp intake of breath.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to walk this way and see if the mother follows. If she does, you both run back to the guys.” She took another step.

“Courtney!” Grace’s whisper was sharp and panicked.

Courtney took a third step. Her limbs shook, eyes glued to the bison. Finally, on her fourth step, the bison switched her attention from Grace and Sage to her. “Walk around the car so she doesn’t think you’re heading toward her calf. I’ll use the trees as protection.”

“Courtney, no.” This time it was Sage. “It’s too dangerous.”

Another step away. Another step from the bison. The calf trailed behind its mother, just like Courtney suspected it would.

“Go. The longer you stay there, the longer it will take the guys to get here.” They could take on a fully grown bison, right? Not hurt it, just… detain it. Remove it from the area.

Courtney took her gaze off the bison for a second, holding Grace’s. “Please go get them.”

Her friend frowned, clearly unhappy with the situation, but when the bison took another step away from them, the other women finally started to move.

Courtney continued to take small, slow steps into the trees, the female bison following. She just prayed it wouldn’t charge.

The crunch of leaves under Jason’s feet was loud in the quiet forest. So too were Logan and Mason’s steps behind him. They moved quickly, jumping over tree roots, negotiating their way around the vegetation.

The women had gone to get something from Logan’s truck, but not only had they been gone for a while, he’d just heard a screech through the forest. He was almost certain it had been Courtney.

They were probably fine, but the guys weren’t taking any chances.

Jason tuned into the forest around him, listening for anything that sounded even remotely like people. That’s when he heard it. Heavy footsteps of people moving toward them. Running. And they were close.

He increased his pace. So did the men behind him. A second later, Sage and Grace came into view.

Unease stalled his breath. Where was Courtney?

Grace stopped short, almost tumbling into Logan’s arms. “Bison! A mother and a calf. They approached us when we were at the truck and the mother looked to be on the verge of becoming aggressive.”

Sage grabbed Mason’s arms and his hands went to her waist. “Courtney led them away so we could come get you.”

“She what?” Jason didn’t even stick around to hear the rest.

He moved through the forest faster than before, trees flashing by as he listened and searched for the woman. Footsteps sounded behind him. He wasn’t sure if it was Logan or Mason, and he didn’t stop to check.

It was another few seconds before he spotted her, slowly walking backwards, the huge bison maybe a dozen yards away, bobbing her head and pawing the ground like she was preparing to attack.

Fuck.

With her next step, Courtney tripped on something, stumbling, and landing on her behind. She quickly scrambled to her knees.

The bison charged.

Jason pushed his body to move faster than ever before, racing forward and swiping Courtney from the ground seconds before the animal reached her.

He didn’t stop. He kept moving, Courtney secure in his arms. He could hear Logan behind him, talking to the bison, trying to soothe the animal. He knew his friend would take care of it. His focus remained on Courtney.

Her side was pressed to his chest as his arm bracketed her back and legs, her limbs trembling against him.

When he’d put enough distance between them and the threat, he slowed his pace to a walk, scanning her body from head to toe. Her eyes were wide, her face a mask of fear.

“Are you okay?” His voice was clipped with barely concealed rage, but dammit, he couldn’t help it. He’d just almost watched her get trampled by a wild animal roughly ten times her weight. It could have easily killed her.

His jaw ticked, frustration filling his gut like acid.

“I’m okay.” But her voice shook. She pressed a hand against his chest and wiggled her hips. “I can walk.”

I don’t think so, darlin’.

“No.”

He continued to move, refusing to slow. He wanted to run again, but the wind was picking up and it would be too chilly if he went too fast.

“Are you angry?” Her voice had evened out now, the fear of a few seconds ago easing from her features.

Angry? Yeah. He could say that. There were also a dozen other words he could use. “You directed an aggressive mother bison’s attention toward you and walked into the forest unprotected. Yeah, I’m angry.”

“What else was I supposed to do? We tried remaining still, and it didn’t help.”

“Did you try jumping into the truck? Crawling under the truck and calling for us?” Surely anything would have been more logical than what she’d done.

“It would have been a risk, especially for Grace who was the furthest from the car.”

When a gust of wind blew, she snuggled tighter into his chest.

“What you did wasn’t smart, Courtney.”

He could almost feel her spine straightening. Her muscles tensing. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I wasn’t trying to be smart. I was trying to save my friends.”

“Like hell it’s not my business.” He muttered the words under his breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.” He saw the set of her jaw moments before she started to wriggle in earnest. “Cut it out, Courtney.”

“Put me down. Now.”

When he didn’t, she fought harder. Cursing under his breath, he lowered her to her feet, not wanting her to fall and hurt herself.

She started walking—or more accurately, marching—ahead. He followed.

“You think I’m wrong?”

She spun around, her slim finger slamming into his chest. “You do not get to tell me whether I’m being smart or dumb, especially when you weren’t there!”

He stalked forward a step and gave her a small smile. “Really?”

She frowned, eyes darting to his feet before she took a step back. “Yes.” Her response was quieter than her last, some of the bravado gone.

Another short step forward. “Why not?” He could hear the soft pitter-patter of her heartbeat speeding up in her chest.

“Because we’re not… anything.”

When she stepped back, her heel hit a rock and she started going down, just like she had when the bison attacked. For the second time that day, he swiped her off her feet seconds before she hit the dirt. Lifting her into his arms, he pivoted, pressing her back against a tree.

A soft gasp flew from her lips, even as her legs wrapped around him.

“Yet.” The heat from her core pressed against his stomach, setting his blood roaring between his ears.

Her little frown was cute. “W-what?”

He inched forward. He could nearly taste her breath. “We’re not anything yet.” But soon…

He’d never wanted a woman like he wanted Courtney. The need tipped his blood from warm to blazing hot. It was something he’d never felt before but wasn’t about to question.

He put his hand on the back of her neck, inching up, slipping into her hair.

“You don’t want to date me,” she said quietly.

He lifted a brow. He was pretty sure he did. In fact, there was little else he was as certain about. But she’d piqued his interest.

“Why not?”

“Because… my cat sleeps on the bed with me and takes up all the room. I’m insecure at the best of times. I’m a grump in the morning and I’ve been known on occasion to respond to text messages in my head, and not actually respond for a good week.”

None of those were deal breakers. Not even a little. “Your cat can sleep on top of me for all I care. I’ll work damn hard to prove you’re the only woman I want. I’ll put a smile on your face in the morning with a single kiss, and if you don’t respond to my texts, I’ll search you out, hunt you down, until I have my response.”

She was silent, mouth dropping open just a fraction.

He lowered his head. “Don’t do anything dangerous or self-sacrificing again. Okay?”

Her breaths were short and shallow. Her voice quiet. “Okay.”

Then he couldn’t help it—he took her lips, firm and unrelenting. The fear of losing her began to subside as he touched her. Tasted her.

He inched closer, and a deep whimper from Courtney sent shards of fire through his limbs.

God, he ached for the woman.

She moaned, pressing her breasts against his chest. Unable to stop himself, he cradled a breast in his hand. Even though there were layers of clothing between his palm and her skin, he could feel her pebbled nipple, hungry for attention. She gasped as he massaged her, and he took advantage, diving into her warm mouth.

Their tongues rubbed together. She arched, her breast pressing into his hand, hips grinding against him. The woman had every part of his body yearning. Craving. Burning.

He swiped and licked, brushing his thumb over her nipple once, twice, until slowly, reluctantly, he lifted his head. Courtney’s next whimper was one of disappointment, and it almost had him chuckling.

He pressed his forehead to hers. “I can’t get enough of you.”

And he had a feeling he never would.

A protective instinct grew in his chest, wrapping around the woman in his arms. Seeing her almost injured today had him wanting to hold her tightly and never let go.