She hesitated. "Sam, I'm fine."
"Feet. Now."
She wiggled out of the sleeping bag enough to extend her legs, and I unlaced her boots with shaking hands. Her socks were dry, and when I checked her toes, they were cold but healthy.
No frostbite. No signs of hypothermia beyond the expected chill.
She'd really done it. She'd survived.
"You did perfect," I said, my voice shaking with emotion. "You did absolutely fucking perfect, baby."
And then she was crying, tears streaming down her face as she launched herself at me.
"I was so scared," she sobbed against my chest. "I fell and everyone was gone and I couldn't see anything and I thought—I thought—"
"Shh." I held her while she shook, one hand stroking her hair. "You're safe now. I've got you. You're safe."
"I was so scared something happened to you."
"Me? I’m fine. I'm right here."
She pulled back to look at my face, her hands coming up to frame my jaw like she needed to touch me to believe I was real.
"You came for me," she whispered.
"Of course I came for you." I pressed my forehead to hers. "You're mine. Did you really think I'd let anything keep me from you?"
My radio crackled. "Sam? Status?"
I pulled it out with one hand, keeping the other wrapped around Jess. "I found her. She's okay. No injuries, no frostbite. Tent's solid. We're going to reinforce the shelter and wait out the storm here. Too dangerous to try moving in these conditions."
"Copy that." Kevin's relief was audible even through the static.
I clicked off the radio and turned my full attention back to Jess.
She was watching me with an expression that looked like the beginning of what I'd been feeling since I first saw her.
"I need to reinforce this tent," I said, forcing myself to be practical. "Add some gear, build a windbreak. Then we're going to get you properly warm. Okay?"
She nodded, and I forced myself to release her and crawled back outside.
The next thirty minutes were a blur of activity. I added extra guy lines to her tent, piled snow as a windbreak on the windwardside, set up my own tent's rain fly as additional protection over hers. By the time I was done, her tent was as secure as any structure could be in these conditions.
Then I gathered my gear—sleeping bag, pad, emergency supplies—and hauled everything inside. I sealed the vestibule and inner door behind me, and suddenly we were cocooned in our own little world. The storm was muffled now, distant.
"Okay," I said, unrolling my sleeping bag. "First priority is getting your core temperature up. You're colder than I want. We're going to combine sleeping bags for maximum insulation and use body heat to warm you up. That means skin-to-skin contact. You okay with that?"
Her eyes darkened. "Yes."
"This is medical, Jess. Not—" I stopped, because that was a lie. Everything between us was charged now. Had been since the moment we met. "I'm not going to pretend I don't want you. Can't pretend that anymore. Not after almost losing you."
"I don't want you to pretend," she said.
"We'll take it slow," I said. "Get you warm first. Everything else can wait."
Even though I was already hard just from being near her. Even though every instinct I had was screaming to claim her, mark her, make her mine in every way possible. But she deserved better than desperate fumbling in a tent. Deserved to be warm and safe before I took her.
"Help me with these bags," I said, laying out my sleeping pad beside hers.
