Free Bought for Christmas by Doris O'Connor Page B

that she really wanted him
to lose control of his bear, did she?
    Hunter
got up and threw snow over the fire to douse it, and Emilia squinted into the
sun in disbelief.
    “It
doesn’t look as though it will snow any time soon.”
    Seeing
Hunter lift his nose in the air and sniff the breeze was the oddest thing ever,
especially when he turned to her and grinned.
    “It
will, trust me. I can smell it in the air. We should get home if we get a move
on. Not that I mind the snow, but there’s a veritable storm brewing, and as
you’re so fond of reminding me, you are human, and I don’t want you to freeze.”
    Emilia
stuck her tongue out at him, and Hunter’s smile in return made her whole body
go limp.
    “I
will have to find a better use for that tongue once we get back, minx. Now
behave.”
    “Yes, Sir.” Emilia hastened
to help him gather up their supplies and when everything was loaded back on his
sleigh to Hunter’s satisfaction they started the trek back to the cabin. Sweat
ran down Emilia’s back at the effort it took, and Hunter slowed his pace when
he noticed her falling behind.
    “Sorry,
I just need to catch my breath a minute.” Emilia gasped and rubbed her side
where she’d developed a stitch.
    Hunter
stomped back to her and helped her over a fallen tree trunk.
    “This
wasn’t that difficult before. I think you wore me out.”
    “No,
we took the easier path before. This one is more difficult, but it’s quicker. I
want to get you in the warmth.”
    He
smiled at her, but his gaze swept the horizon and he frowned.
    Emilia
looked back and gasped. Storm clouds were coming over fast, and she whistled
through her teeth.
    “Jeez,
you really can tell the weather. “
    Hunter
laughed, and they set off at a more rapid pace.
    “Only the storms, my sweet. Ah, there is
the cabin now. Let’s get you inside.”
    Hunter
bundled her up the porch, and flung the big sack of supplies inside just as the
first flakes started to fall, and then turned back ‘round again.
    “Aren’t
you coming in, too?” Emilia asked, and he shook his head.
    “Not
just yet. There’s something I need to do first. You go on in and put some more
logs on the fire for me. I stocked up the crate earlier so we should have
plenty.”
    “But
what could you possibly have to do? There’s a storm coming. You said so.”
Emilia was all too aware that her voice had risen to an unnatural high, but the
wind was picking up and the snow was falling heavily now.
    Hunter
stepped back and kissed her. All of her objections flew out of the window as
his hands fisted in her hair and he deepened the kiss when she opened to him on
a sigh. God, the man could kiss. By the time he finally released her they were
both covered in snow, and Emilia giggled when he shook it off him. Flakes still
clung to his stubble and his eyelashes, and he winked at her.
    “Be
a good girl and go inside. I won’t be long and I need to get that done, before
this snow gets too thick and makes it impossible.”
    “Makes what impossible?” Emilia knew she
was pushing it. She ought to just do as she was told, but worry for him drove
her on, and she hung onto his biceps in a desperate attempt to stop him.
    “Trust
me, kitten. Go inside. I won’t be long I promise.”
    ****
    Hunter
didn’t think she would follow his request, and he was running out of time.
While his bear could deal with the storm perfectly well, he needed his hands
for what he had in mind, and he didn’t want to have to venture too far out,
because she would worry, and he didn’t like to think of her on her own. The
cabin had its own generator, and he’d stocked up for several weeks’ worth of
food, but that wasn’t the point.
    After
what seemed like an eternity she finally nodded.
    “Okay,
but I’d feel a damn sight better if you told me what was so important that you
need to head out in this.”
    A
particularly vicious gust of wind whipped up the snow around them, and despite
her layers and the huge hood of