These men should be treating him with respect, not warning him off. He’d vowed to keep his distance from Layah for his own reasons, but she was a grown woman. If she wanted him to touch her, that was her business.
Layah emerged from the tent a few minutes later, fully dressed. She appeared steady on her feet and capable of walking a short distance. He didn’t question her, because they needed to get going. It was almost sunset.
They packed up and headed to the edge of the glacier, where ice met land again. A sheer cliff rose up in the distance. Ascending it would be tomorrow’s challenge.
Hud spotted a good place to camp nearby. He was exhausted. He’d done too much today. His shoulder felt like raw hamburger. As soon as they reached flat land, he shrugged out of his pack and sat down.
The women started cooking, while the men set up the tents. They had to melt snow for soup and drinking water. The meal wasn’t as filling as last night’s couscous, but it contained dehydrated meat, which Hud’s body desperately needed. He ate three servings, earning a disapproving glance from Yusef. That guy was a real buzzkill.
Hud set up his own tent and crawled inside, disregarding their earlier conversation. He wasn’t going to change his sleeping arrangements to suit Layah’s cousins. He was too damned tired to dishonor anyone.
Layah crawled through the opening and settled in next to him. It was colder than the previous night. He could see her breath in the chill air. She didn’t protest when he rolled onto his side and put his arm around her.
“Thank you,” she said. “For everything you did.”
He grunted an acknowledgment. “What happened to the safety line?”
“I removed it so the girl could be rescued.”
“You should have waited.”
“I did not realize the danger.”
“Never do that again,” he said. “When in doubt, stay put and wait for help. I could’ve set the anchor where I self-arrested, and rescued both of you.”
She sighed, shifting into a more comfortable position.
“You make me feel like my mother,” he muttered.
“Oh?”
“She was always telling me to be careful, to have patience, to stay safe.”
“Did you listen?”
“No.”
Layah laughed softly. “I say the same things to Ashur, for different reasons. I worry that he will join the fighting.”
Hud had seen boys younger than Ashur in every local militia. “Has he threatened to?”
“Many times.”
“Where are his parents?”
“Dead.”
Hud remembered his promise to give Ashur a gun safety lesson. He hoped the instruction wouldn’t encourage the boy to take up arms. “He’s protective of you.”
“Yes.”
“He told me to stay away from you.”
“He did?”
“He was translating for your cousins, but I think they all agree.”
“They are overstepping. I am not a schoolgirl.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-nine. How old are you?”
“Thirty-two.”
“Do you have children?”
His gut clenched as if she’d punched him. “No.”
“I wanted a child with Khalil. I wish we hadn’t waited.”
“You still have time.”
“But no husband.”
Hud didn’t say anything. He certainly wasn’t going to offer his stud services.
“Tell me about your wife.”
He winced, rubbing his jaw.
“What passed between you?”
“It’s a long story.”
“Did you love her?” Layah asked, undeterred.
“Yes.”
“You could not mend your differences?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“She slept with someone else. It was kind of a deal breaker.”
Layah twisted to face him, her eyes wide with shock. “How did you know?”
He rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling of the tent. “She got pregnant while I was on deployment. I thought the baby was mine for the first couple of months. Then I went with her to an appointment, and the dates didn’t add up. I finally figured it out.”
“Did she confess?”
“Yeah, she did. She begged me to forgive her.”
“Do you wish you had?”
“No,” he said, after a pause. “I’m away a lot, and I couldn’t trust her.”
“That is very sad,” Layah murmured, settling down again. “She must have so much sorrow and regret.”
“I don’t know. She looks pretty happy on Facebook.”
“Really?”
“She’s with the baby’s father.”
“Perhaps that is for the best.”
“Yeah, it worked out great.”
“You are angry.” He couldn’t deny it, though the feeling had faded from a raging wildfire to a mild burn. In time, he might feel nothing. “It’s not easy to talk about.”
“Do you love her still?”
He didn’t, so he shook his head. He might have fallen out of love with her before she cheated. They’d been drifting apart for years. Instead of confronting the problem, he’d ignored it and paid the price. “We were wrong for each other. She wanted someone to come home every night.”
“And you are not that man.”
“No.”
Layah snuggled closer, resting her head on his chest. He put his arm around her again. The discussion wasn’t as painful as he’d expected. He’d neglected Michelle, and she’d betrayed him. There were worse things to get over.
He’d lived through torture, after all.
He closed his eyes and breathed deep, clearing his mind. Layah’s scent filled his nostrils. She smelled like warm woman and silky hair and snowflakes. Like a cozy wool blanket at the end of a perfect winter day.
Something melted inside him, and he slept.
Chapter 8
Layah didn’t wake in Hudson’s arms the next morning.
He wasn’t cuddling her spoon-style with his male parts snuggled against her bottom. She wasn’t all over him, fingers tangled in his hair. He wasn’t breathing in her ear or nuzzling the nape of her neck.
He wasn’t even there.
She sat up and rubbed her eyes, frowning at the empty space beside her. She hadn’t heard him leave the tent. In her dreams, the night had passed in a sexy tangle of shifting positions. His hands on her curves. Her mouth under his.
She squeezed her legs together, swallowing hard. Her skin tingled with
