by Penelope Sky
I took the pack and slipped it into the pocket of my jacket before I turned around.
Magnus stood there, his hood up and his face unseen.
I didn’t need to see his face to recognize him. I could feel him, could discern him based on his energy alone. His emotions and thoughts were like visible words in the air, and they were palpable, absorbing directly into my skin.
He knew exactly what I’d placed in my pocket.
And he disapproved.
A wordless conversation passed between us. I stared at where his eyes were located, and his invisible stare drummed into my face. When he didn’t speak, I stepped around him and exited the cabin.
He came after me and joined my stride, but he didn’t address what he’d seen.
I didn’t give her the pills beforehand because I knew she wouldn’t take them. Pills were unreliable unless she wanted to take them. After last night, I knew what she would do. We walked past Alix, and I stopped to look at him.
He immediately stilled and waited for orders.
I pulled the pack out of my pocket and extended it. “Cabin #44.”
Alix took the pack and walked off without questioning me.
Magnus and I continued on our way. “What is it?” I asked the question as we walked side by side.
He was quiet as he headed into the headquarters.
I stopped in my tracks and stared him down.
He looked at me through the darkness of his hood.
“Have something to say to me? I have shit to do today.”
Magnus looked away and continued to walk.
I joined him.
“The Hunters want a bigger shipment since we don’t need their services for the time being.”
Business. All I wanted to talk about was business. “Alright.”
“How much can I distribute?”
“Double.”
“We don’t have enough for double.”
I halted again and looked at him. “I told you to increase the shipments.”
“And you know that’s not easy.”
“Then make it easy, Magnus. When I leave, I will speak with Bartholomew.”
Magnus nodded.
“And when I return, I expect the shipments to have been increased. Do whatever is necessary.” I moved forward.
“We can’t compromise the quality of the product. If we demand—”
“Then don’t compromise.” I stopped again and stared him down more aggressively, because he was wasting my goddamn time with these excuses. “We don’t negotiate, Magnus. Get it done.”
When I headed to her cabin, I went alone.
I didn’t need my men anymore.
I didn’t need them to stand outside and listen to her come.
I unlocked the door and stepped inside.
She was on the floor, leaning against the bed, her legs out and her ankles crossed, reading one of the books I’d had the men drop off for her entertainment. I provided everything she could possibly need to be comfortable.
She looked up from her book, her expression different than it used to be, as if she’d been expecting me, and if I didn’t show up, she would have been disappointed. Her fingers gently pushed the book closed.
My eyes went to her nightstand, seeing the packet that had been dropped off earlier. A pill was missing.
Good.
I moved to the couch and dropped my jacket before I took a seat and loosened my boots.
She sat in the light of the fire, the glow of the flames painting her in a golden hue that made her even more beautiful than she was. Her blue eyes were like sapphires, her slender neck a landing strip for my tongue. Her beauty was timeless and special, once in a lifetime, so hypnotic that a night of passion was barely hors d’oeuvres.
When the boots were gone, I pulled my long-sleeved shirt over my head.
Her change of expression was subtle, but there was a flush of her cheeks, a desire to repeat what we had the night before.
I got to my feet and dropped my pants, letting my cock free. I stopped in front of her, my hard dick pointed directly at her face, waiting for that mouth to open and that tongue to stick out. “Why are you still dressed, chérie?”
It started with me on top, my hips between her soft thighs, my bare cock inside her wet and perfect pussy, her cream building up behind my crown and at the base of my dick. My arms were hooked behind her knees, and I fucked her exactly the way I did last night, like that didn’t even happen, like I didn’t need her in another position because I loved to look at her face.
Her eyes watered every time she came, and the convulsions she made were sporadic and uncontrollable, as if my dick gave her so much ecstasy that her body could barely tolerate it. Her tits shook slightly as I thrust inside. And now she looked at me like I’d successfully claimed her as mine—and I deserved her.
We were skin on skin, and it was so good, as if I hadn’t fucked her for hours the previous night. It felt like the first time I had her, the first time I really got to feel her at this intimate level. My dick memorized her channel like a blueprint, and I knew it like the back of my hand.
I came inside her with a deep grunt, filling that tight little pussy with every drop of my seed, and then I thrust through my own come and kept going, adding another load a short time later…and then another.
We ended up on the floor, my back against the bed, her little body bouncing on my lap, moaning and screaming in pleasure, dropping down on my dick over and over as if she could handle my dick like my favorite whore.
The fire roared in the hearth nearby, providing heat we didn’t need, and that made her beautiful skin shine with sweat, highlighted the sexy curves of her perfect body. My hands gripped her ass and guided her up and down when she got tired, when she ran out of air and had to pause to catch it once again.
One hand moved to her neck, and I held her there as I moved her up and down, my eyes on her, smelling her come, my come, and the slick sweat all over our bodies. Sex was always hot, always sweaty, always a workout for every muscle in my body. But it’d never felt this goddamn good.
She rocked her body the way I showed her, moving up and down but also doing this sexy shimmy with her hips that I liked, and it felt good for her too because she clawed at my chest as she came again, more tears dripping down and then landing on my chest.
I’d pictured this moment the first time I saw her. I’d pictured this heat, this passion, this very moment before I heard her speak. Beautiful women were a dime a dozen in my world. They were everywhere in Paris. But none held a candle to this woman riding my dick now. She became a fantasy I was desperate to turn into a reality. She became a prize I had to earn. She became the one thing I didn’t have, the one thing money couldn’t buy.
Her breaths slowed once she was finished, her nails slicing into my shoulders less. She flipped her hair and kept going, wanting to drive me into giving her another mound of come that would just drip out once more.
“Slow.” I gripped her hips and controlled my thrusts, taking it down to a fraction of what it’d been before, our bodies slowly gliding past each other. My arm circled her lower back, and I pulled her into me, making her arch her back farther, stick out her ass. My other hand covered both of her ass cheeks, gripping them together in a single grasp because she was the size of a twig compared to me.
Her arms hooked around my shoulders, and she brought herself closer, our faces just centimeters apart, her hips giving long and exaggerated rocks to take my dick at this pronounced angle.
I rested the back of my head against the bed as I looked into those soft eyes, saw the moisture glimmer on her eyelids, saw a woman so satisfied but still so desperate. This was how I wanted to come, nice and slow, looking into her gorgeous features as I filled her with a final load. I breathed a little harder, a little deeper, and clenched my jaw as I felt the momentum approach.
She started to moan when she felt it coming, when she felt my dick harden just a little bit more because it released.
She moaned louder, like my come inside her made her want to come too. She loved taking my loads, loved feeling me inside her, loved feeling it drip between her thighs.
“You like that, chérie?” I asked with a grunt.
Her arms circled my neck harder, and she released a quiet moan. “Yes.”
I finished with a moan and continued to stare at her. My dick slowly softened, but I didn’t move her off me. I didn’t wait for her to move because I didn’t want her to leave. I wanted to stay this way…just like this.
She stayed in place, her pussy not wanting to release the best dick she’d ever had.
I was a man of my word—and I proved that a million times over.
She dropped her gaze and ran her hand down my chest. When the heat passed, the glaze over her eyes faded away, and reality slowly came back to her like a slow fog rolling in over the mountains and into the valley. Her eyes watched her hand, watched it press against the solid wall that guarded my heart.
“I leave in two days.”
Her chin lifted again, her eyes looking into mine with a kaleidoscope of emotions. Surprise, fear, disappointment…all of it. Whether she would admit it to herself or not, she was attached to me. A woman didn’t fuck like that unless she was.
“Come with me.” Her answer had always been no. This time, it would be yes. Without me here, her fireplace would still be lit every afternoon. Her dinner would still be the best in the camp. The men still wouldn’t look at her. But she wouldn’t have me. She wouldn’t have this. And this was just the beginning.
Her hand slowly dragged down my chest, and her eyes fell to my chin. A stretch of time passed, a silence that amplified the sound of the fire. Then her beautiful, light voice spoke. “I can’t…” She got off me and reached for her clothes.
I remained on the floor, staring at the place where her face had been just a second before. My jaw clenched in irritation. The muscles of my arms twitched. A silent outburst took place inside my chest, a roar that never left my throat. There was nothing that money and violence couldn’t buy for me.
Except Melanie.
I left the bed and pulled on my clothes without looking at her.
She sat at the edge of the bed, uncertain like she was the first time I’d come to her cabin. Like we hadn’t just spent the night together in a passion that made the fire in the hearth look tame. I stood in front of her, in my boots and jacket, ready to depart. “Chérie.” A strong temptation to force her overcame me, but I beat it back. I thought our passion would be enough to sway her decision, to leave her sister behind and be the woman in my bed every night. If that wasn’t enough, what would be? “There’s nothing you can do for her.”
She turned her gaze to the fire. “It’s not about what I can do for her. I just can’t imagine not seeing her face every day, even if it’s from across the clearing, even if it’s in the snow. If you had a sister or a brother, you would understand.”
My eyes drilled into her face, watching her watch the fire, her cheeks still flushed because of what we’d done for the last few hours. Her blue eyes had this unique brightness whenever she looked at the fire. It was never replicated in the clearing when the sun was shining, when I stared at her from the window of my cabin. For a brief moment, my anger was quieted. But then a horrible memory came to me, a winter night with rain on the streets, the echo of a gunshot from a silenced pistol. Beds turned into graves. Home turned into a homicide scene. There was only one soul I could save—and it nearly cost me my own.
She looked at me again, her entire body tightening like she knew she’d said the wrong thing. Her eyes shifted back and forth quickly as she looked into mine.
I turned to the door.
“Fender?”
I shut the door and locked it.
Her voice came through the door. “Fender, wait…”
I ignored her and left.
Seven
Blizzard's Whispers
Melanie
I’d never met a man who could be so furious without raising his voice.
Without saying a single word.
It was something I’d said. Was it my refusal to leave with him? That was the most obvious explanation, but it seemed like my comment about having siblings triggered him more.
I would never know.
When I worked in the clearing the next morning, I expected Fender to walk by on his departure, but he never did. He was supposed to leave tomorrow, but maybe he would just leave now. It seemed like he’d gone a different route—just to avoid me. My eyes were down on my work, lost in the memories of the two of us together, hot and sweaty, saturating my sheets with the scent of sex.
A part of me felt dirty for what I’d done.
How could I sleep with the man who ran this camp?
But more importantly—how could I like it?
A cloud of guilt rose up inside me. I looked across the clearing at my sister, her voice in my head. Melanie, what the hell are you thinking? How could you sleep with him? What the fuck is wrong with you? I knew exactly how that conversation would go without even having it.
But when he returned, I knew it would happen again.
And again.
Whenever we were together, it was easy to forget the context of the situation. Maybe he was just a phenomenal lover, maybe Frenchmen fucked like they were making love, and made love like they fucked. But it felt like more than that, at least to me. I’d never gotten so lost in a man that I forgot reality. I’d never been so satisfied and desperate for more at the same time. In the breaks in between, I wanted to curl up and sit right inside that expansive chest, like it was the safest place in the world. His strong body looked bulletproof. If someone shot him with a machine gun, the bullets would ricochet right off him.
“One of you has stolen from us.” The executioner’s booming voice echoed in the clearing.
I dropped the bag of coke I was holding. It hit the table and tipped over, powder spilling out.
The executioner looked right at Raven. “If anyone knows anything about this, come forward. You’ll be rewarded.”
My eyes shifted to Raven, seeing the same stoic expression she always wore, her poker face. But I saw what others couldn’t see from a lifetime of experience. Raven…what have you done?
The executioner walked forward. “Every cabin will be searched. When we find what belongs to us, you’ll hang.” He departed the clearing, but no one got back to work right away. The girls all looked at one another, like the accomplice was right beside them.
My eyes stayed on Raven.
Then she looked at me.
That look told me everything I needed to know.
Raven was still at the clearing throughout the day, and the executioner didn’t mention the stolen items.
I had no idea how she managed to pull it off—but she did.
That told me our escape was imminent. Any moment, it could happen.
Fender didn’t come to me again, even if he was still in the camp, and that told me he was truly pissed off by what I had said.
Was it over?
For good?
There was a twinge of pain in my chest, and that made me hate myself more.
The lock clicked, and then the door opened.
Fender stepped inside in his typical attire, and his expression was as hard as ice frozen solid. His jawline was covered in thick facial hair like he’d stopped shaving the last time he saw me. It gave him a wilder look, like he was part grizzly. The clothes didn’t come off, he didn’t take a seat, and he seemed to have no intention of staying. “I’m leaving.”
“But it’s dark outside—”
“Change your mind.” With an unblinking gaze, he stared me down like an enemy rather than a lover.
My heart was split in two because of my conflict. Raven was about to run for it, and let’s be real, I wouldn’t be able to help her odds. If she died, I’d die too. I may as well take Fende
r’s offer. He promised me a beautiful life, but that wasn’t the only reason I wanted to go.
He was the reason I wanted to go.
All I did was give a subtle shake of my head.
His eyes hardened deeper than they ever had.
Even though we’d probably die out there, I’d rather die with her than leave her behind. “How long will you—”
He left. The door locked, and his footsteps faded.
I closed my eyes and hated myself for wishing I could go with him. I hated myself for missing him. I hated myself for the fact that there was even a choice, two things I wanted at the same time.
I looked at the fire and took a breath, unsure what would happen in the next few days or weeks. Whether I’d be alive. Whether I’d be dead. Whether I’d be free—
A knock sounded on the door.
No one ever knocked.
My neck actually ached because I turned my head so quickly. “Raven?”
“Shh.” Raven’s hushed voice was on the other side.
Oh. My. God.
I rushed to the door.
“Come on, don’t be a bastard right now…” She used some kind of tool to pick at the lock. A click sounded, and the lock came free. “Oh, thank god.” She opened it and looked at me, a bow slung over her back with a pack, two flashlights in her hands, her hair pulled back. She was ready to take on the wilds, to leave this camp and run to her freedom…or death.
“Oh my fucking god.” I couldn’t believe my sister had managed to accomplish all this, and while I was terrified in that moment, I was also proud. I was proud that she never gave up. Ever.
Raven kept her voice low even though she was inside the cabin with the door closed. “We’ve got to go. Got to get a head start before the storm hits.”
“I…” I looked around my cabin, feeling the hesitation like chains on my ankles. If I stayed there, I would be warm and comfortable. Fender would come back and take me with him. I wouldn’t be out there in the snow with nearly no chance to survive. And if we got caught, Raven would be killed, and I… I wasn’t sure what would happen to me. There were a million reasons to stay put. But my love for my sister was a stronger reason than all those other ones.