Page 107 of Mountain Men Heroes

Damon flinched against her and his grip slipped a little. He stumbled but quickly righted himself, and she tightened her hold on the tray, giving him a couple of seconds to right himself before the team effort ate major snow.

Ivy bit back a curse when she nearly spilled a shot glass as her fingers grew stiff. On the outside, everything felt frozen but on the inside, a furnace roared. She took another shot and propped one to Damon’s lips as he guided them down the street, hands full of her and the tray once again.

Loud whistles and cheers moved them forward, and the cold dulled as the liquid gave her a false sense of warmth. Or it could have been the furnace tied to her that beat back the cold.

Either way, they had three strides on Ethan, but he and his new wife were booking across the cleared path and would be on their tails and fast.

“Shiiiiittttt... faster, Damon, Pick your feet up!” she yelled around a mouthful of whiskey. Her liver would be a shriveled little pickle after this, but damn it, that blue ribbon would be theirs! The race suddenly became less about a new nursery for her sister and more about winning at all costs. She was too competitive to lose and her sister knew that.

Icy wind cut the corner of a building and forced a harsh gasp from her.

Damon didn’t even flinch.

Iced doom approached fast and she had a split second to react.

Ethan had not lied.

Ice stretched across their half of the road. She threw her one empty hand out and prayed to God she didn’t send them back to the starting line.

As she wobbled left and right, fear skated across Damon’s expression the split second she dared a glance. By a sheer miracle, he held them together long enough for her to find her footing on the other side of the slick black patch. Her stomach insisted on rolling with the punch but went forward when she leaned sideways. Her mouth watered as the shots threatened to return, and she scrambled forward and nearly pitched the contents of the tray into the cheering crowd.

“Whoops.”

“What’s wrong, little biscuit? Can’t beat us?” She ignored the taunt and earned an evil laugh from her sister’s brother-in-law that carried over the noise of the crowd.

Damn him. Ethan took two steps to their one.

“Come on, Damon, move it or lose it!”

His sides rumbled with deep laughter and fed into her body. When she had a second she’d revisit that sound and think about how it stroked along her nerves and senses in a way that shouldn’t feel as good as it did.

Damon’s strong grip tightened on her side and she fed on his strength. “I got this. Let’s go!”

Faces and storefronts rushed by in a blur. The finish line came into view and she pushed harder.

“Finish the booze!”

The burn felt so good now, and she didn’t even mind the snow that sloshed around their feet, and they both ignored the cold wetness slapping them in the face.

“Got it.” Miracle three hundred of the day—she managed Damon’s pace and downed her last two one after the other. Oh, damn she would feel that later.

Thundering beat after thundering beat, her heart pounded against bone and air seemed too hard to come by.

Mouth on fire and eyes full of water, the only thing she could really feel was Damon’s strong arms wrapped around her.

Someone grabbed the now empty tray and replaced it with a warm blanket, and Damon reached between them to loosen the sash around their legs and swung her into his arms in the smoothest move she’d seen since Travolta in Grease.

Warm, possessive lips claimed hers, and a strong taste of whiskey flamed across her tongue as she dipped the tip between his lips. His large hand pressed into the back of her head, the other firmly on her ass as he returned the kiss, delving in for a deeper taste. Instinct had her head tilting to the side and fingers digging into his slightly wet hair.

Warm, masculine and…hers?

She groaned into his mouth

This was a nice place to be. Tucked in his arms, the cold be damned.

As if a switch was flipped, Damon tensed as if realizing he was kissing the new girl he only met a few minutes ago.

He broke the kiss, his lips less than a breath away from hers. Her glasses slipped but she could see the fire in his eyes. The way they lit from within with something more than euphoria over the win.