Chapter 89 Chapter 89
Chapter 89
Nina’s POV
We hit like a truck.
The snow exploded around us in a white blast. Dante’s body slammed into the ground first, taking every bit of the impact so I stayed on top. My teeth rattled. Pain shot through my burns like fire ants biting every inch of my skin. The cold snow stung the raw spots worse than the hot water had. I gasped for air, but it felt like someone had punched me in the chest.
Dante groaned under me. His arms were still locked tight around my back. “You alive, kitten?” he rasped. His voice was rough, right against my ear. I could feel his chest rising and falling fast. His heart hammered like mine.
I tried to nod. My throat felt tight. “I… I think so.” My legs were still wrapped around his waist. Even now, with snow everywhere and bullets cracking in the distance, I felt him. Hard. Thick. Pressed right between my thighs. The fall had shifted the coat wide open. Cold air hit my bare skin, but his heat burned through his pants. My body reacted without asking. Slick. Aching. I hated it and wanted it at the same time.
He shifted a little. His hand slid down to grip my hip. “Don’t move yet,” he muttered. “Let me check if anything’s broken.”
Above us the chopper was fighting to stay up. The rotors screamed. Nikolai leaned out the door, face pale in the red emergency lights. “Dante! Nina! Talk to me!” His voice came crackling over the walkie. “The winch is fucked. We’re coming down hot. Enzo, where are you?”
Enzo’s shout carried from the tree line. “Right here! Keep firing, I’m almost on you!” His boots crunched snow as he ran toward us. I saw his shadow first, then his face — eyes wide, jaw tight, blood on his sleeve from the earlier graze. He looked ready to kill anything that moved.
Bullets zipped past again. One thudded into a tree ten feet away. Snow sprayed up like powder. I flinched hard. Dante rolled us quick, shielding me with his bigger frame. “Stay down,” he growled. “Enzo, cover the left!”
Enzo dropped to one knee beside us. His hand touched my shoulder, careful but firm. “Jesus, look at you. Burns everywhere. You holding up, baby?” His voice cracked a little. He was breathing hard, but he kept his gun up, scanning the dark. “Those bastards are closing in fast. Nikolai, you got eyes on them?”
“Three SUVs, maybe four,” Nikolai answered over the comms. His voice was tight, like he was trying not to panic. “I’m dropping the emergency ladder now. Grab it. We’ll winch you from the skid. Pilot says we got maybe ninety seconds before this bird drops like a stone.”
The ladder came swinging down from the chopper. Black rungs, swaying wild in the wind. Dante grabbed the bottom one with one hand while the other stayed around me. “Wrap tighter,” he told me. “Legs and arms. Like before.”
I did. My thighs squeezed his hips again. The move pressed me right against his cock. He was even harder now. The thick ridge rubbed along my bare pussy with every small shift. A tiny whimper slipped out of me. I bit my lip. God, this was insane. We were about to die and my body was begging for him.
Dante felt it. He cursed low. “I know, kitten. I feel you too. Soon as we’re safe… fuck.” His breath hitched. “Just hold on.”
Enzo fired another burst toward the headlights coming through the trees. “Go! I’ll cover from the ground and meet you at the next clearing!”
The winch started pulling us up slow. The ladder jerked. My stomach flipped. Snow and wind whipped my face. I buried my head in Dante’s neck, breathing in sweat and gunpowder and that safe cedar smell. His free hand cupped the back of my head. “Eyes on me if you can,” he said softly. “We got this. All three of us. You’re ours. We’re getting you out.”
The chopper dipped hard. Alarms blared from inside. Nikolai shouted something I couldn’t catch. The ladder swung wild. Dante’s grip slipped on the rung for half a second. My heart stopped.
“Hold tighter!” he yelled.
I locked everything. Legs. Arms. Even my toes curled. The friction between us was too much. Every sway made him slide against my clit. Pleasure spiked through the pain. I was shaking, not just from cold.
Then the cable snapped with a loud crack.
We dropped again.
This time there was no deep snow to catch us. Just rocks and thick trees rushing up fast. Dante twisted mid-air, trying to protect me. “I’ve got you!” he shouted. “Don’t let go!”
The ground came at us like a fist. We crashed through branches. Leaves and twigs whipped my skin. Pain exploded in my shoulder when we hit a slanted rock. Dante grunted loud, taking most of it on his back. We tumbled once, twice, snow and dirt flying everywhere. Finally we stopped hard against a fallen log.
For a second everything was quiet except my ringing ears.
Then Enzo’s voice cut through. “Nina! Dante! Where the fuck are you?”
Footsteps crunched close. Nikolai’s voice joined in, closer now. He must have jumped from the chopper before it went down. “Over here! I see them!”
Dante coughed. His hand moved over my back, gentle but quick. “Talk to me, kitten. Where does it hurt?”
“Everywhere,” I whispered. My voice shook. Tears stung my eyes. “But I’m… I’m alive.”
Enzo reached us first. He dropped to his knees, gun still in one hand. “Holy shit. You two look like you fought a mountain.” He brushed snow off my face with his thumb. His touch was warm. “You scared the hell out of me.”
Nikolai slid in next. His eyes were wide, scanning me head to toe. “Burns look bad but nothing’s broken on first look. Dante, your shoulder’s bleeding again.” He pulled a small pack from his belt and started pressing gauze to it. “Enzo, keep watch. They’re still coming.”
I tried to sit up. My hands felt numb. I opened my left fist — the one that had held the flash drive the whole time.
It was empty.
My fingers were shaking. My whole body started shaking. I patted the snow around me, frantic. Nothing. I checked the coat folds, my waist beads, even between my thighs where it might have slipped during the fall.
Gone.
The drive was gone.
My hands trembled so bad I could barely see them. My chest tightened. Tears spilled hot down my cold cheeks.
“Oh god,” I whispered. “It’s missing.”