by Christi Snow
Before the crash, he would have loved coming here and spending a week to immerse in writing new music. Now...nothing.
He could watch TV, but he’d watched enough TV in the last nine months to last a lifetime. Maybe he’d take a nap. It felt like months since he’d slept more than an hour at a time, because he could never seem to get comfortable and when he slept, nightmares plagued him. Exhaustion pulsed behind his eyes constantly now.
He made his way across the room to a doorway where he could see a bed. A huge bed. Wow. That was definitely the showpiece for this place—easily a king or maybe even a California king made with a massive rough-hewn wood headboard that took up the entire wall—but then he noticed what lay on the bench at the end, his keyboard and guitar. Brady must have brought them before they’d arrived because he sure as hell hadn’t.
Just the sight of the musical instruments made his throat go dry. Looking at them terrified him. What if his music never came back? He didn’t want to face this possibility.
So, instead of doing anything with them, he unbuttoned his jeans, pulling them off and then went through the tedious process of taking off his prostheses. The lights were still on, but as exhaustion pulled at him, he couldn’t bring himself to care. He ripped off his T-shirt and slid under the covers and closed his eyes, praying for the oblivion of sleep to give him just a few hours peace.
LUKE
Luke frowned as he gazed out the window at the cabin where his client, Austin Dawes, had stopped the car. “This isn’t the house you sent me the floor plans for.”
The powerful CEO had come to Luke needing a last-minute security detail for the holidays and Luke had jumped at the chance to stay busy. The busier he was the better.
It would keep his mind off worrying about Daniel, who according to Brady was having some issues adjusting to his prostheses and new limitations.
But focusing on the job here, he ground his teeth. He couldn’t protect the man who’d hired him if the information Austin had given him had been incorrect and this was not the house he’d been told they’d be staying in.
Austin frowned at the house and shrugged. “This is our Serenity Meadows cabin. Aren’t those the plans I sent you?”
“No. You didn’t.” Luke shook his head emphatically as he studied the unexpectedly small structure. “The plans you sent me were for the Snow Falling cabin. That was a huge four thousand square foot cabin.” He waved a hand at where smoke plumed from the chimney. “And it looks like someone already occupies this one.”
Austin shook his head. “No. No one’s here. Look there are no cars. My caretakers came up to prep the house earlier in the day. They stocked the fridge, started the fireplaces, and even decorated for Christmas.” He nodded at the Christmas lights shimmering through the leaded glass windows. “This is right. Trust me. It’ll be fine and smaller is easier to safeguard, right? Let’s just get unloaded before the snow gets any worse.”
Luke wanted to argue, but the weather was already turning treacherous with blizzard warnings for anyone above the elevation of seven thousand feet. This cabin sat at almost ten thousand and the flakes were falling at an alarming rate and quickly accumulating. As it was, just unloading their luggage would get them soaked.
His new employer was a busy CEO. He probably hadn’t even been the one to handle the information that they had sent Luke. That had probably been done by some assistant who’d been focused more on their Christmas holiday plans than their boss’s.
Luke clenched his jaw in irritation, but after years working as a bodyguard and private security, he’d learned how to shut up and do his job. He could roll with this. The threat against Austin was low-level and with the storm and the fact they were here in the middle of nowhere, his charge should be safe.
Both of them got out of the car and went around to the trunk that Austin had already popped. “You go on in,” Luke told him. “I can handle this.”
Austin shook his head. It was hard to see the motion through the blowing, large snowflakes. “No reason for you to get any wetter than necessary. If we work together now, we can do it in one trip.”
They grabbed their bags out of the trunk and both trudged through the snow on the path that was already getting close to a foot deep. If Luke were a betting man, someone had shoveled this walkway when the caretaker had been here just a few hours before. He had a feeling that Austin wouldn’t be making his corporate meetings in Aspenridge tomorrow. Even with the four-wheel-drive rental, they wouldn’t be getting back out of here again before they plowed the roads.
Luke frowned over at Austin. The guy had seemed nervous all day, but he kept turning and examining the house like he expected a sniper to be lurking around every corner. That was weird especially since Austin had been the one assuring Luke that no one else was here.
“Sir, why don’t you stay here on the edge of the porch and let me check out the house before you enter to just to make sure.” It sure as hell couldn’t hurt, because the fact of the matter was something really felt off here. The niggle tickling on the back of Luke’s neck didn’t feel like danger, but it felt like...something.
Austin nodded, sat his duffle bag down on the covered porch, and then patted his pockets. “Dammit. I left my phone in the car. While you check the house, I’m gonna go grab it.” He handed the key to the house to Luke and turned back to jog back to the car before Luke could say anything.
Luke shrugged. He thought the CEO had been a nice guy when he’d first met him...and gorgeous, but now he just seemed weird and maybe even a bit flakey.
This assignment was only for ten days. He could deal with weird. It wasn’t the first time. He sat the bags he’d been carrying gently down on the porch, released the strap over his gun, and inserted the key into the lock of the door. It slid smoothly open and a blast of warm air swept over Luke sending goose bumps down his arms. Suddenly, he could see the advantage of having a caretaker.
The inside of the cabin was small, but upscale. Like Austin had said, it appeared empty. Luke didn’t see anyone at first glimpse through the main open living area that comprised a living room, a kitchen and a small dining table, all decorated in the same pale wood-sided walls.
He slowly and silently approached the door on the other side of the open room that had to lead to the bedrooms. This is why he needed floor plans beforehand, so he’d know the exact layout and where someone could hide for an ambush.
The door was partially closed. He gently pushed it open, but stumbled to a halt at the sight in front of him.
Daniel, his thick blond hair in complete disarray, sat up naked in the middle of the bed with only a blanket pooling in his lap. His chest was bare.
Daniel frowned at him. “Luke?”
Before Luke could answer, he heard the distinctive sound of a car pulling away from the cabin. It only took a split second for Luke to realize Austin was leaving. No!
He tore off across the living room and flung open the cabin door just in time to see the taillights of Austin’s rental SUV slide around the curve and out of sight.
Fucking hell. Luke slammed the door and stormed back to the bedroom.
Daniel was still on the bed and had slipped into some pants, although they were unbuttoned giving Luke a tantalizing view of black briefs. His prostheses still leaned against the bed on the floor, but Luke couldn’t dwell on those right now.
If Luke had been in a different frame of mind, he would have enjoyed the sight of a half-naked Daniel. As it was, it was hard to ignore how much more muscular Daniel’s torso had grown. He had a full-blown eight pack and his biceps probably rivaled the size of Luke’s now. That was something that Luke wouldn’t have even guessed was possible after knowing the lanky form that Daniel had before.
But all of that was beside the point. Right now he had to focus on his building anger and not the flush of embarrassment high on Daniel’s cheeks that made him look even sexier than normal. Vulnerable Daniel was Luke’s kryptonite, but he couldn’t let that distract him from the m
ain issue here. “Did you do this? Is this your idea of a joke?” Luke bit out the questions, trying not to fly off the handle, but Daniel had made a fool of him once before. Luke had sworn he would never let it happen again.
Daniel’s pale, stricken gaze shot up to Luke’s. “No. What are you talking about? I was here first. Why are you here? How did you get here? Oh, god. You can’t...” He glanced down in a panic at his legs. It was hard to miss that he didn’t have his prostheses on. “Can you give me a few minutes to...” He gestured to his artificial legs that had fallen over beside the bed.
For a moment, Luke debated, but Daniel wouldn’t even look at him, like it embarrassed him to be found in this state.
All at once Luke’s heart collapsed inside his chest as realization dawned. Daniel didn’t want him to see his legs, and that almost seemed to hurt more than anything else that had passed between them before this moment. Luke swallowed against his suddenly thick throat and nodded. “I’ll be in the living room,” his voice cracked, so he cleared his throat. “I need to make some phone calls.”
Daniel didn’t look up, just nodded.
Luke couldn’t place the emotions ricocheting around low in his gut...fury, sure, but seeing Daniel in such a panicked, vulnerable state had toned down the anger. It sure as hell didn’t look like Daniel had planned this. He was so distraught that Luke had walked in on him when he didn’t have his prostheses on.
That left one question...who did plan it? And how did Austin Dawes play into that?
Luke needed some answers right the fuck now. But when he turned on his phone, it said No Service.
He stormed over to the landline phone in the kitchen and lifted the receiver to his ear. Dead silence.
Dread enveloped Luke. He tapped the useless phone to his forehead, not wanting to accept this. “Hey, Daniel,” he called out. “Do you have service on your cell phone?”
For a moment, Luke wasn’t sure Daniel would answer him, but then he heard his slow footsteps.
Daniel stepped into the doorframe and held up his cell with a confused expression on his face. “No, I don’t. It was fine before and we still have power. And even if we didn’t, that shouldn’t affect cell service. What’s going on?”
“Nothing good from what I’m guessing. I think we’ve been set up.”
And as he took in the rumpled form of Daniel having just crawled out of bed, he had the sinking feeling that he wouldn’t be able to escape from this setup with his heart intact.
FIVE MINUTES EARLIER
AUSTIN
Austin’s pulse raced as he inserted the key into the ignition and started the SUV. He expected to see Luke storming out the front door at any second.
He had to get out of here. As he pulled away, his wheels spun on the slick, snow-covered road. “Call Prescott,” he said into his Bluetooth system.
“Mr. Dawes?” Prescott answered formally, not knowing the situation Austin might call from.
“It’s okay, Pres. It’s just me on the line.”
“Thank god, Austin. Are we ready?”
“Yep. Operation: Love Nest is a go. Deploy plan A.”
“Well, aren’t we official and military-sounding?” Prescott snorted even as Austin could hear him typing in the background putting their plan into action. “Okay,” he said slowly. “It’s done. Cell service to the mountain should be cut in less than two minutes. Now, what are your plans before I lose you?”
Austin clutched the steering wheel as the four-wheel drive on the rental SUV slid and fought to gain traction the deepening, slick snow. “I will get to the nearest town and hunker down through the duration of this storm. It’s nasty out here.”
“Sounds go—” Prescott’s voice abruptly cut off and a busy signal sounded over the speakers in the car.
That part of their plan must have worked. Luckily, the cabin owned by Hodges Media was the only property on this part of the mountain, so it hadn’t been an issue to block cell service here since they were the ones who erected this tower. Austin had just called in a few favors. Running the largest media corporation in the world had its perks.
He’d filled Emily in on part of his plan, so she could control the family. This would never work if they panicked when they were out of touch with Daniel for a few days. That had been the only iffy part of his plan. While he had full faith in Emily’s ability to take care of that end of it, he also knew the family had been especially protective of Daniel since the plane crash. They wouldn’t like not being able to reach out and check on him.
The cabin had power and if the power went out with the storm, there was a backup generator and more than enough firewood to keep Luke and Daniel warm throughout the entire winter, not just the week he planned to keep them trapped there together. He hoped they would just need a few days before the obvious feelings between the two of them became undeniable, and then they could spend the rest of the time having a hot, sweaty sex in the bedroom.
Austin hoped that’s the way it worked, even while his gut clenched in jealousy and desire. But more than his lust for Daniel, Austin wanted him to be happy, and from what he’d seen, Luke deserved the same thing. He had the same depth of feelings for Daniel. They were meant to be together. They just hadn’t faced up to that yet. This time in the cabin would give them a chance to connect.
And for some unexplainable reason, Austin needed the relationship between these two men to work out more than he’d ever needed anything before.
He blew out a breath and said a small prayer that this plan worked.
Damn. He squinted out the windshield and flipped on his headlights. It was only around four o’clock in the afternoon, but the storm had darkened the sky so it looked like nighttime. The headlights illuminated the huge snowflakes flying at him and seemed to blind him more. So much snow covered the road, it was almost impossible to distinguish the road from the edge that fell off into a deep ravine.
Austin clutched the steering wheel and let his foot ease off the gas pedal a bit more.
Just then, a huge elk jumped out of nowhere and leapt in front of the SUV. Austin slammed on the brakes and turned the steering wheel to avoid the huge animal. The rear on the SUV slid just as the right front corner of the SUV jolted and clipped the elk, sending its massive body tumbling across the hood.
The windshield exploded in a shower of glass and a huge elk horn came flying at his head. Austin raised his arms to protect himself. A scream of metal exploded as the SUV jerked and slid, flying past trees, missing very few of them.
Austin’s body flung against the seat belt as the car flew down the side of the mountain. The side window shattered as his head slammed into it. Then the car began to tumble, pain exploded, and the world fell into black.
DANIEL
Daniel didn’t understand what had happened. He’d been sleeping soundly for the first time in months and suddenly Luke was here in the cabin with him...and furious.
Was this something Brady had done so he could still keep an eye on him? Daniel had thought his cousin understood his need for privacy right now. And even if Daniel had wanted company, the worst person in the world to stick here with him would be Luke.
Luke hated his guts.
Luke paced, clearly agitated. Daniel stepped over to him and stopped him with a hand to his arm.
That touch set off a firestorm of electricity and sexual awareness that arced up Daniel’s arm and throughout his entire body.
Of course it did.
Daniel wanted to growl at the unfairness of it all. His libido had been dead since the accident. Now—put Luke a few feet away from him and within minutes—instant boner. He reacted to the one guy who wanted absolutely nothing to do with him.
Fuck my life.
Daniel had no choice but to ignore it so he could focus on the more pressing issue. “Wait. Explain to me what the hell’s going on. Why are you here?”
Luke stilled and blew out a harsh breath before turning to Daniel and really examined him. “I’m still trying to figu
re that out. Maybe you should tell me...why are you here? Has something happened? Are you okay? Why aren’t you with the rest of your family at the Compound?”
Daniel couldn’t miss the concern in Luke’s eyes. He wanted so much to read something more into it than just basic humanity, but he couldn’t. Not if he wanted to stay sane. He’d put in too many years hoping Luke might someday develop feelings for him.
“The family has been a little overbearing since the plane crash. I need some space. Staying here, close to them if I need them, was a compromise we both could live with. At least, I thought they could live with it until you showed up here. Who brought you?”
“Austin-fucking-Dawes.”
Daniel flushed hot and then cold at the name that had haunted some of his more erotic dreams. “I don’t understand.” His voice cracked. “How do you know Austin?”
Please don’t say you’re sleeping with him.
That might just kill Daniel on the spot. Luke couldn’t be sleeping with the one other person who Daniel had connected with, even if he had royally fucked it up. Karma couldn’t be that cruel, could she?
Luke’s gaze shot up. “You know him?”
Daniel felt pinned by Luke’s brilliant, sharp green eyes that saw way too much all the fucking time.
“Yeah. I’ve met him,” Daniel choked out, not willing to share anymore. Sure as hell not willing to tell Luke that next to sex with him, his encounter with Austin had been the single most explosive night in his entire life.
Luke’s eyes narrowed. “Explain.”