Ciaran
I was cold. I told myself I wasn’t freezing, not yet, but damn if I wasn’t cold. My fingers were numb from trying to dig through the snow. There was more after last night. I’d managed to find a small trowel in the main office when I came out this morning, but it wasn’t as effective as just pulling off great chunks of snow with my hands and arms. But it did keep them from falling off from fucking frostbite.
Not that they still won’t, I thought darkly.
I’d been out here for an hour at least, maybe longer, and the sun was just now beginning to rise between the trees. I knew Elle was probably going to wake soon and would be pissed to see me deliberately ignoring what she’d told me the day before. But I didn’t care. Getting the car uncovered was all that mattered.
If I didn’t get back to the boys soon, bad things were going to happen. I’d already left Shane a free day to tear shit up. I didn’t want to give him any more than that. But if the car didn’t start, I might not have a choice.
Assuming I can even unbury the damn thing.
Despite being out here for so long, little more than the car roof was cleared. I’d started working on the windshield and some of the windows, but I couldn’t reach the other side without clearing the path, so I only had part of the right side cleared. It was just enough to see inside the car and I winced when I did.
There was snow in there, too. It was then that I remembered how Elle’s car had one window that didn’t work and was halfway rolled down. I had no doubt snow had blown and drifted inside, packed in as more and more fell.
Wonderful, I thought angrily. Even if I get the damn thing uncovered, I’ve gotta clear out the inside, too!
I was not happy at the thought. And I didn’t even want to think about the motor. If it was frozen—which it very well might be—then I was in a world of trouble. Bad trouble. I’d have to come up with another solution.
Not that it really mattered. My numb fingers weren’t the only problem I was having just then and it was starting to look like I wouldn’t even get the chance to see the engine, much less get it started.
My vision blurred and I felt woozy. My muscles were becoming lifeless and quickly, pushed to their limits. I’d just made it through a wicked fever and the bruises I’d received after I’d been conked out were making the rest of me sore. My body didn’t appreciate the way I was pushing it so soon after the injuries sustained and I was sure the frigid temperature didn’t exactly tip the scales in my favor.
I was doing my best to power through it, determined to get this car uncovered if it was the last thing I did. That thought was about a minute before I collapsed in the snow, feeling feverish and numb all at once. The last thing I saw was a cloud of my breath in front of my face dissipating to reveal Elle’s spitting mad expression.
After that, I passed out.
…
When I woke up again, the sun was streaming through the gaps in the impromptu window drapes, still gray but definitely stronger. I was lying on the floor, close to the fire, with lots of bedding beneath me and pillows surrounding me. I’d been covered with the blankets we used the night before—and I’d been stripped naked.
For a second, I thought that was curious. What was I doing in a cabin, on the floor, in front of a romantic fireplace, naked?
Not that I was complaining. Whatever happened definitely sounded like a good time. Pity I couldn’t remember. Except then I saw Elle’s curvy, sweater-clad body and I remembered exactly where I was. I remembered the snow outside, the damn car, and of course the fact that Shane had very likely made an attempt on my life when I’d come to talk of peace.
Way to build trust, I thought dryly to myself.
I tried to sit up, but found my body protesting. It was angry with me for my stunt outside—I probably shouldn’t have tried to dig out the car. With relief, I let myself fall back onto the pillows bunched beneath me. I hoped I wasn’t that sick. If I were, I wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
“Oh, you’re awake.”
Elle was looking at me, her hands on her hips and her full, pink lips tugged down in a frown. She reminded me of Ma in an odd sort of way. Not in looks so much as in that annoyed, determined stance. The one that said she seriously disapproved of whatever cockamamie stunt I’d tried to pull. It made me want to laugh because the effect was less intimidating on Elle and more just cute.
Not that I was usually a cute kind of guy, but I’d had dreams of her naked and now that I knew she’d stripped me down…well, cute could be sexy, too, apparently.
“Did you undress me?” I asked, trying not to smirk and not being very successful at it.
Her cheeks flushed a deep red and I knew she had and was embarrassed about it. “You were freezing. I put you by the fire.” She didn’t say anything about the naked.
No longer bothering to try to hide my smirk, I lifted up the covers to check myself. When I put the covers down and looked back over at her. She was blushing furiously now, but I could see I’d made her shift from being just angry with me to being maybe a little hot and bothered.
“Your clothes were wet!” she cried, defending herself.
My smile grew and I folded my arms behind my head, settling further into the pillows. “It’s okay. I don’t mind. You really don’t need an excuse,” I told her cheekily. “If you wanted to see me naked, all you had to do was ask.” I winked at her.
She made a frustrated sound, her cheeks still burning, but her eyes flashing between desire and anger freely. She stomped over to me, wagging her pointer finger at me as she said, “Now you listen here, buddy. I’m not some…some hussy! I didn’t tear off your clothes so we could get it on!”
I raised my eyebrows at her, as though surprised by her words. “No?”
“No,” she confirmed hotly. “I got you undressed because your stupid, macho ass thought it would be a good idea to wander off into the snow and magically sprinkle a little fairy dust to get my car uncovered!” I almost laughed at the fairy dust comment, but held my tongue as she continued her rant. “I find you out there, you’re halfway to dead again, and I have to haul you back in here! For the last couple of hours you’ve been feeling feverish all over again and—”
At this I actually sat up even though it made my body ache and my head swim. “A couple of hours? What time is it? Tell me it’s still the same day.”
Elle looked like she was debating between being a real bitch to me or coming over to coddle me like a toddler. She settled somewhere between them, coming over to sit beside me. She put a gentle hand on my shoulder and urged me back. I resisted until she told me.
With a sigh, she said, “Yes, it’s still the same day. But it’s almost four in the afternoon.”
“Four?” I repeated incredulously. I had left before dawn that morning! Even in winter, the sun didn’t rise that late in the day. Not late enough that I could sleep an hour and it be four. Damnit, I was passed out for way too long. I don’t have time for this shit.
I struggled to push back the covers and get up, but Elle wasn’t having it. “Stop it,” she snapped, and jerked the covers back up to me as she added pressure to my shoulder. Her touch was gentle but firm, and my body was already fighting me, so I let her ease me back down.
“I have to—”
“You have to nothing. Nothing but lie there and rest until your body’s had some Goddamned time to recover!” she interrupted, fussing over my pillows and tucking the blanket around me like I was a little kid or something. It irritated me, but also made something inside soften. She was being sweet even while she was angry with me.
“Elle—”
“Shut up,” she told me in quick, fiery irritation. “I’m not letting you go out there again. I don’t care what it is that you think is so important that you have to try to kill yourself over it, but until this storm clears, we’re not doing anything.”
Which was how we ended up spending one more night in the cabin.
After our conversation—or my scolding, as it were—I ended up drifting off again. I had been planning on pretending to sleep until Elle drifted off herself, but Elle never took the nap I’d been hoping for and my body took the opportunity to enforce my own. It made me a little pissed off that I was sleeping so much, that I was injured, that I was sick. Hell, the whole thing was making me one cranky, angry bastard.
But when I woke up, I grudgingly admitted I felt better.
I pushed back the covers a little and remembered I was naked. I left the covers at my waist and glanced around to see where Elle was. I didn’t see her. The room wasn’t that big and there weren’t any separate pieces of it. I was about to get a little worried about the woman when the door that led to the kitchen opened up. Elle came through it holding two cans of what looked like soup and a couple of bowls and spoons.
Something eased in my chest, though I wasn’t sure it was real worry for the woman. I just happened to be aware that there were some very dangerous people who wouldn’t mind killing me and anyone who happened to be in my immediate vicinity. It was nice to know they at least hadn’t found me yet. If I’m lucky, they’ll think they actually managed to kill me, I thought as I watched Elle open the cans of soup halfway then set them into the fire carefully.
She noticed me watching and offered a half smile. “Sorry,” she said. “No electricity.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Is the stove not gas?”
She shook her head. “Brand new, fancy smancy electric stove with those burners that light up.”
“So definitely not working.”
“Nope,” she confirmed.
For a while, we sat in silence. I saw that my sweats—or my borrowed sweats anyway—were slung over the bar near the fire and looked dry. I could probably have slipped them on and been comfortable since they didn’t look wet, but I found I didn’t want to. I didn’t know if I was really hoping for anything sexual tonight, but when a sexy woman was sitting by the fire heating up some canned soup for me, well, it was hard not to crave a little something.
When the soups were ready she poured them into the bowls. It was beef stew and she’d found some stale crackers to go with them. I was a little surprised that she seemed so okay with just taking what was here. It didn’t bother me any since it was pretty clear this wasn’t a private residence but rather some kind of resort, but then I was okay with a lot of things she probably wouldn’t be.
Another reason to keep your paws to yourself, a voice in my head pointed out.
I ignored it.
“Are you going to slide in here with me tonight?” I asked, feeling cheeky, wondering if I could push her desire a little further.
Her eyes widened a little and her lips parted in shock, like she couldn’t believe I would have the audacity to suggest something like that to her. Which made me smirk. She clearly had no idea who she was dealing with. She seemed to regain herself and was about to say something.
I grinned and added, “For warmth.” There was a long enough pause between those two sentences that it was pretty obvious I wasn’t just talking about warmth. If this offended her, she didn’t immediately look it. In fact, for a second she looked ready to crawl that pretty, hourglass little body over to me and start making some mewling kitten noises.
That second passed quickly and her expression shifted to one of chastisement. Her eyes narrowed and she folded her arms against her chest, pushing up her breasts in a way that I definitely appreciated, even beneath the thick sweater she’d managed to find here. “Now listen to me, buster, I don’t know who you think you are—”
“I know exactly who I am. I’m Ciaran, remember?”
She ignored my quip and continued on. “—but I’m not the kind of girl who just jumps into the sack with someone I barely know—”
“You did last night,” I pointed out, my grin widening.
She shot me a glare, but didn’t even pause. “—and drops her panties—”
“I’d settle for just spreading your legs,” I offered, very gentlemanly.
“Ugh!” she huffed, so frustrated with my little sayings that she was beside herself. But I was enjoying myself. She talked a little too much, I thought, but she was cute when she was mad, adorable when she was sweet, and sexy as hell when she had that flash of desire that she was currently trying to ignore. “I’m not—”
But I got tired of the jabbering and the fussing. I stood suddenly, letting the blanket fall from my lap. She stopped mid-sentence, her eyes dropping to below my waist. I was only about half hard, but that was nothing to scoff at. She definitely seemed appreciative. It took her until I was standing right in front of her before she jerked her gaze back up to my face. By then it was too late. I grabbed her by the upper arms and jerked her against my hard body. I was still covered in bruises and I hadn’t shaved in a while, but she didn’t seem to mind.
I thought she’d try to slap me or something in protest, but instead I saw her eyes flutter closed and felt her hands slide around my waist and hips, even squeezing my backside.
Her lips tasted like beef stew and cherries, and felt like velvet. I pressed my mouth against hers, hoping to bruise them, to make them swollen and rosy. I slid my tongue along the seam of her lips and she parted them easily, almost gasping into my mouth as my tongue ventured into hers.
There was no questioning how into the kiss she was. I could feel myself growing harder between my legs and knew I’d be poking between hers soon. I hoped that meant she’d renege on her earlier iteration that she wasn’t the type to sleep around with the likes of me.
My hands slipped from her arms and went around her waist. Hers moved to my shoulders and biceps, gripping at my muscles like they made her hotter. They probably did. I pulled her closer to me still, her breasts pressing tightly to my bare chest. My hands slipped a little lower to her waist and found her full, perky rear. She caught her breath, but didn’t stop me.
I was fully hard by now and in desperate need of some release. I’d awoken hard, tangled up in her, and now being hard again made me ache. I needed to take care of myself one way or another and, damn, I hoped it was by sliding into her.
My hands squeezed her perky ass again, but this time jerked her against me so she had to feel my hard, thick erection against her crotch.
Her eyes snapped open and she broke the kiss. I was breathing heavily and lust was clouding my vision. All I could see was her. For a second, she just gasped for breath, her hands still clutching at me. I rubbed against her a little more to remind her that I was hard and ready, but that seemed to snap her out of it.
Her eyes widened and the hands that had been gripping my shoulders were suddenly pushing against my bare chest. “Stop, wait,” she said.
I sighed internally. Whether my cock liked it or not, stop meant no, and no meant let her go. Even though I was pretty sure I could push the issue. Even though I was pretty sure that a couple more kisses, a lift into my arms, and her back against the wall would bring her around to my way of thinking. But while there were a lot of things that I was willing to do, more than a few illegal, I wasn’t willing to cross that kind of a line with a woman.
If she didn’t want me, or wasn’t sure she wanted me, then I’d stop. Who wanted to fuck a chick who didn’t want to be fucked? Took all the fun out of it.
So I released her. My hands dropped from her hips to fall at my side. But I didn’t step back. If she wanted to do that, damnit, she could do it her damn self.
She pushed herself away from me, taking several steps back, but seemed to think that was a mistake as her eyes dropped to my cock again. She made a surprised sound, like she wasn’t expecting it to be there, or maybe just wasn’t expecting it to be as long or as hard or as thick as it was. Swiveling her body around, she stood with her back to me. I could hear her rapid breaths.
For a moment, it was silent other than our rapid breathing and the blood pumping through my body.
Finally, she cleared her throat. “I’m sorry. That—”
“Was nice,” I filled in for her.
She started to turn back around, probably to scold me, but then remembered last minute that I was standing there with an erect cock, completely naked. She made a frustrated noise. “Would you put some pants on, please?”
I folded my arms across my chest and managed to smirk. On the one hand, I was so damn frustrated that I was about ready to bring my own release there in the living room. On the other hand, it was clear that she still wanted me, but wasn’t comfortable with how little we knew each other.
Smart girl.
I felt a twinge of guilt for trying to get into her pants. She seemed like a genuinely nice person. Hell, she saved me from the side of the road in the middle of a snowstorm, then did her best to nurse me back to health. That made her as close to a damn saint as I’d ever see. Which meant she wasn’t the woman for me. Nothing long term. Which meant I shouldn’t be fucking with her, literally or figuratively. She deserved much better than the likes of me would give her.
Those thoughts were starting to cool my hot blood. I felt my cock begin to soften. I knew I’d have to take care of it sometime tonight, but for now it looked like I’d be good for a little while. With a sigh, I reached for my sweats. I slipped them on and said, “No need to be so shy, Elle. Not like Daddy’s going to think any less of you for having a little fun.”
She still didn’t turn around, which I didn’t blame her for. She probably didn’t think I’d put my pants on, and that was a good call in most situations. But I wasn’t going to press her for something she wasn’t up to giving.
Which made a thought strike with me. “Shit, you’re not a virgin, are you?”
That question was enough to get her to swivel around to face me. Her eyes dropped down to my sweats and I thought she looked a little disappointed, though maybe that was only wishful thinking on my part. “Don’t be stupid,” she told me, putting her hands on her full hips. “Of course I’m not a virgin. I’m not a prude. I just don’t…you know. Sleep with strangers.”
I raised an eyebrow at her and crossed my arms over my chest. “So, if you knew me better, I could get your pants of?”
Her cheeks reddened, but she held her ground. “Theoretically. If I liked who you turned out to be.”
Which actually means no, she just doesn’t know it, I thought. To her, I said, “Fair enough.”
After that, she made me promise to behave. I did. We settled down for one more night there. I was hoping the blizzard would pass and by morning it would be clear skies, even if the snow were still in place on the ground.
With all our fussing and all of the newfound sexual tension—because it was there, regardless of whether she said maybe and I said no—we still ended up sharing the makeshift bed in front of the fire. But even I acknowledged that this was less about sex or physicality and much more about staying warm. Sharing body heat was a hell of a lot more effective than trying to produce it all yourself.
She wiggled under the covers beside me. She insisted I leave my pants on, which I did, and I insisted she take hers off. I’d been mostly joking, but she surprised me by doing just that. “I hate sleeping in jeans,” was her excuse, but I secretly hoped it was just because she wanted to put a little less distance between us. She kept the sweater on, however, but I was pretty sure she took off her bra. Not that I saw anything, but there was just something about a woman without any padding on the ladies.
Elle put her back to me under the covers, probably trying to keep an appropriate distance between us, which I pointed out defeated the purpose of sleeping in the same bed at all.
“Are you saying I should just sleep on the couch?” she said, and I was surprised to hear the teasing in her voice. Mixed signals much?
“No,” I answered, sliding up closer to her. I put my front to her back. She stiffened momentarily, but quickly relaxed. I wrapped my arms around her. “I’m saying you’d better get cuddly if you want to stay warm.
She didn’t say anything for a minute and I worried I’d pushed where I shouldn’t have. But then she let out a small laugh and said, “Fine. You win. But tomorrow night, I call big spoon.”
I laughed a little myself, but when it died down, I told her what I’d been thinking about. Besides her. “Fair enough. But I don’t think you’ll have to worry about it. We’re not staying another night.”
She twisted in my arms slightly, just enough so she could turn her head and look up at me. “We’re not?” She sounded disappointed, but, again, I wasn’t sure if it was my own imagination.
I shook my head. “No.”
“But the car—”
“Forget the car. I’ll call to have someone tow it once I get a ride back into town.”
Her eyebrows shot up and she didn’t look very happy. “A ride into town?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Tomorrow, I’m going to hike back to the main road and catch a ride. There the roads should be clear enough that they’re open and there’s some traffic. Enough to pick me up.”
She made a face. “I don’t like the idea of you hitchhiking. That’s dangerous.”
A wan smile slid across my face. “Oh really?”
“Really,” she confirmed.
“I see. Dangerous because picking up a stranger in your car could be like picking up a serial killer?”
She sent me a quick glare, then turned her head, seeing where I was going with this. “That’s different. You were unconscious.”
I laughed. “Oh, so as long as they’re unconscious, it’s okay to pick up hitchhikers?”
She made a frustrated noise that felt good against my chest, sending little vibrations through the both of us. I wondered if she felt it like I did. “It sounds ridiculous when you say it like that.”
“That’s because it is,” I told her. “Picking up me was probably the dumbest thing a pretty, smart little girl like you could have done.” I leaned a little closer to her, pulling her in to me at the same time. “And I thank God you did it.”
I felt her shiver. She was silent for a long moment and I almost thought she had somehow managed to fall asleep. Then she spoke again. “I’m not little.” I smiled, thinking she felt little in my arms, but there was no denying she was all woman. One hundred percent. After a bit, she added, “And I’m not letting you hitchhike alone.”
I froze. This isn’t good, I thought to myself. It was important that I get the hell out of here, but it was probably safer for her to hole up here for the next several days until the storm blew over and she could get her car out. Why? No way would anyone connect her to me.
Forcing myself to relax, I said, “Grown overly attached to me?”
She cleared her throat. “No. I just think you’re my responsibility until you’re well enough.”
I felt something like gratitude and affection for her as a result of that, but still didn’t think that was a good idea by any stretch. “Well enough for what?” I asked cheekily. If I kept her cautious as far as my intentions towards her, maybe she would be extra cautious with me as a result. I hoped it was the case, because I wasn’t sure what I would do with her if she did insist on following me. Leave her in the woods to freeze to death? Take her with me and expose her to my dangerous lifestyle?
I didn’t think so.
She tensed for a moment and I could feel her heart pounding away a mile a minute through her back connecting to my chest. I thought she was going to get indignant, but all she said was, “I’m going. That’s final.”