Chapter Twenty-One

Jake

It had been a long time since I’d had a nightmare. Of all nights for it to happen! I couldn’t believe it! My mind raced thinking of all the things that could have happened. It was a miracle she hadn’t been seriously hurt. I would never be able to forgive myself if I’d actually left her with a black eye or bruises.

“Dammit,” I mumbled under my breath.

I’d really been hoping all of that was behind me. The damn nightmares were one of the many reasons I avoided sleepovers or let anyone too close, and if I was having nightmares again, it was definitely time to end this with Calla. I couldn’t sleep with her. I couldn’t let her get too close.

It was just too dangerous. I didn’t want to hurt her, and the only real choice was to keep my distance.

“I need to get some stuff done outside,” I said, abruptly dropping my coffee mug and pulling on my snow gear.

I couldn’t be in the same house as her right now. It would drive me mad. All I wanted was her all over again. I couldn’t though. The more sex we had, the harder it was going to be when she left, and she was leaving. Her life was in the city. We had great sex, but that didn’t make a great relationship.

“I know what you’re going to say, but is there anything I can do to help?” she asked, hopefully.

I shook my head. “No. I got it. I’m going to split some wood and then do what I can to remove some of the fallen trees across my driveway.”

“By yourself?” she asked with shock on her face.

“Yes, by myself. This isn’t my first snowstorm. I’ve got to clear my driveway if I ever want to leave, or if you want the team to get you. They can’t run the snowmobiles over the downed trees,” I said, tersely.

I felt a little guilty for snapping at her.

“Okay. I understand,” she said, softly. “I’ll make another pot of coffee. You’ll need to warm up when you’re done.”

I heaved a heavy sigh. “I’ll be fine. I do this every day.”

“I don’t though, and I need to do something. I’m going a little stir-crazy here.”

Of course I understood how she felt, but for very different reasons. I would’ve been just fine hanging out in my cabin all day, all alone with nothing but my dog, a good book and an even better bottle of whiskey. But there was no way I could stay in my cabin today with her in it—not if I wanted to keep my dick in my pants like I’d promised myself.

Taking one last look at her, I wished things were different. I just wasn’t fit for a woman like her and there was no point trying to pretend otherwise. The sooner I got that road cleared, the sooner the team would be fetching her and ripping her out of my life for good.

“Let’s go, Casper,” I barked at the dog.

Casper stood, stretched and then ran for the door.

The second I pulled open the door, a feeling of dread washed over me.

“Shit,” I groaned.

“What is it? What’s the matter?” Calla asked.

“Nothing. Just a little cold,” I said, understating the truth.

It was freezing. Literally freezing. The sun was shining now, but that made it all the more dangerous. At some point during the night, the second storm had come through, but it didn’t bring snow. It brought freezing rain. Looking out over the landscape, I could see everything glistening. The freezing temperatures meant we were going to be covered in ice for at least a day or two. There was nothing shoveling or plowing could do to get rid of the ice.

“Shit,” I muttered again. “This isn’t good, Casper. We’re going to be stuck with her a lot longer than I thought.”

The dog stared into the trees a few seconds before taking the plunge and bounding down the steps. The crunch as the dog’s heavy weight hit the snow confirmed what I had feared—it was a sheet of ice. The thick crust held the large dog in some areas, but other places he sank into the deep snow.

“Son of a bitch,” I muttered, gingerly taking the first step and discovering it was slick under my feet. Everything was covered in a layer of ice.

This was not the time for sunshine. The sun heated the ice just enough to make it extremely slick. I stared at the path I shoveled and could see the compacted snow glistening. That was a fall waiting to happen. Experience told me that. I took the safest option and walked along the edge, half in the deep snow and half on the icy path.

I turned my face up to the sky. “Seriously? Is this your idea of funny?” I cursed the entity in the sky.

The likelihood of the lodge team getting here this morning was now slim to none. It would be absolutely treacherous on the roads. Nothing motorized would be safe to run over this ice. Once I was in the clearing in front of my cabin, I looked up and around. Sure enough, there were dark clouds to the east. There was another round of wet weather coming in.

“We better get this done before it’s start snowing or raining or whatever Mother Nature has in mind,” I bitched at the dog, who was obviously not going to be helping.

I began the tedious task of splitting one log after another. The bitter cold was biting at my nose and fingers, even though both were covered. I wouldn’t be able to stay outside for long. I guesstimated it was hovering in the single digits.

With a good pile ready to burn, I figured I better at least take a look at my driveway. The ice would have brought down more trees and branches. There was no way the team could use the paths through the trees. It would be far too dangerous.

“Casper!” I hollered, when I realized I hadn’t seen the dog in a while.

I stood in front of the cabin and looked around, waiting for him to emerge from the trees. I yelled his name a few more times.

“He’s in here,” Calla shouted from the open door of the cabin.

“Of course, he is,” I growled. “Okay!” I yelled back.

Damn dog had me worried. I should have known he would puss out and go running to the woman inside to be rescued from the cold. My mood continued to go downhill as I trudged down the driveway, moving branches to the side as much as I could. Some were frozen solid to the crusty layer over the snow.

“Fuck it!” I said, kicking a branch.

If the team wanted to get up here, they could weave in and out around the fallen limbs. I wasn’t going to walk the full driveway, grooming the perfect trail. I was freezing my ass off.

I needed to get the chopped wood to the porch, then I could go inside, I told myself. Just a little longer. I loaded up a pile and gingerly walked across the icy path and dropped the wood in the rack I had built on the porch. I bent over to grab more logs from the pile and felt something hit me in the back.

I dropped the logs I had in my hand and spun around. “What the hell?” I grunted, seeing Calla standing about twenty feet from me. “What the fuck are you doing?” I glared at her.

She had the audacity to smile a split second before she launched another snowball my way, hitting me squarely in the mouth that was thankfully covered by my scarf.

“What the hell!” I shouted again. Had the woman lost her fucking mind?

Her giggle quickly erased my anger and irritation. I reached down and picked up a handful of snow, packed it into a snowball and launched it at her.

“Ow!” she yelled when it hit her in the center of her chest.

I stood, waiting to see if she was truly hurt, but got my answer when she broke into laughter and began to form another snowball.

Springing into action, I began lobbing snowballs at her. She covered her head, blocking my main target. The woman was rapid firing snowballs at me as she walked closer, sliding on the ice as she moved.

“You better be careful,” I warned her. “It’s slippery as hell and you are going to fall on that beautiful ass of yours.”

She giggled again. “I have extra padding. I’ll be okay.”

Snowballs flew between us as we walked towards each other. “Watch out!” I yelled a split second too late.

Her arms flailed, and her feet started sliding every which way. I reached out to catch her and failed. I ended up toppling into her and knocking her into the pile of snow I had shoveled out yesterday.

“Oh shit. Are you okay?” I asked, pulling my scarf away from my face.

I tried to maneuver to get off the woman, but it wasn’t easy with the snow and ice.

She was looking at me and grinning ear to ear. “I’m fine. I had a soft landing.”

Her body was pushed into the snow with my own weight pressing her deeper. I looked at her for several seconds. She wiggled below me. Despite the layers of clothing between us, it was enough contact to cause an erection.

Staring into her eyes, I saw the very second her mood changed from fun and carefree to hot and sultry.

My lips slammed over hers, taking in the coolness of her lips. I knew I was crushing her with my weight, but she didn’t seem to mind. Her body seemed to mold to fit mine as our mouths opened wider, devouring each other as if we had been starving. I couldn’t feel her luscious body through all the layers, making me a little crazy and desperate to get her naked.

After a mind-blowing kiss and a rock-hard erection, I managed to pull my mouth away from hers. The cold air cooling my wet lips.

I opened my eyes to see her staring back at me with those gorgeous green eyes that sucked me into the wildest fantasy imaginable. I wanted her naked and writhing below me. I wanted to taste her, to drink from her pussy. My mind was mush and it had nothing to do with the cold weather.

“Sorry,” I muttered. “I can’t get enough of you. You’re like the most addictive drug in the world. You intoxicate me to the point I can’t see straight. All I can think of is fucking you.”

It wasn’t the most eloquent apology, but it was all true. A quote from John Mayer floated through my mind. Something about napalm. I completely understood what he meant. I wanted Calla more than I wanted the very air I breathed.

“Good. That works for me,” she breathed out, a little cloud of steam forming as she spoke. “Now, I’m freezing!” she shrieked and shoved me off.

The woman managed to wiggle out from under my body and was doing her best to run across the icy pathway towards the cabin.

Scrambling to my feet, I gave chase. The idea of chasing the woman I wanted to fuck until my dick was limp from exhaustion gave me superior strength and agility. I stomped through the heavy snow, avoiding the ice before I launched myself at the bottom step of the porch.

She could run, but I would catch her. And when I did, the woman was going to know how seriously addicted to her I was.