by Christi Snow
Daniel shrugged like it was no big deal. “There’s nothing to explain. I met him at a concert. We...connected.”
They’d done way more than connect, but Daniel didn’t plan to explain his one-night hookup with Luke, so that would have to be enough information.
Judging from Luke’s narrowed gaze, he disagreed.
Daniel shook his head at Luke. “Whatever you’re thinking, it’s wrong. I don’t know why he brought you here, but it couldn’t have anything to do with me. I knew him for a single night.”
Luke’s jaw clenched, and he shook his head. “You don’t understand the impact you leave on people, do you?”
Daniel barked out a brittle laugh. “Yeah. No!” He shook his head so hard that he was lucky his brains weren’t spilling out his ears. “I don’t think so. Besides that was almost a year ago. Seriously, old news. So, again, I’m asking. How did you end up here?”
“Sit,” Luke said. “Before you fall down.”
Daniel hated that Luke could see him, every weakness and fault. He wanted to argue, but his stumps still ached from the prolonged travel today and he hadn’t taken care reattaching them he should have, so he sank onto the brown leather sofa. “Now, talk.”
Luke began to pace again as he told Daniel about Austin hiring him as private security last minute for the holidays and then dumping him here. Luke ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “I don’t know. I don’t understand how a powerful CEO like that would come into play into something like this. Why you and me? No one knows about the two of us.” Luke’s intense gaze pinned Daniel to the couch. “Do they?”
Daniel barked out a bitter chuckle. “Do you honestly think I’d tell anyone about that? Don’t worry. I’m not into humiliation...mine or yours.”
Although...he had said Luke’s name during his night with Austin. Daniel shook his head. Hell. How many Luke’s could there be in New York City alone? There was no way Austin could have figured out their link by a single name. It was just too improbable.
Somehow this situation had to go back to his family and their need to protect him. Daniel snapped his fingers as he considered Austin’s job. He found out later that Austin ran Hodges Media. Somehow that made sense. “Hodges Media...Emily Hodges. Brady’s girl had to have something to do with this.”
“I’m gonna kill them,” Luke muttered as he powered on his cell again and then cursed under his breath.
There still must not be any service.
“So, neither cell nor landlines work,” Daniel said. “We still have power, but the storm knocking both the phone systems offline at the same time?” He shook his head. “That’s too coincidental.”
Daniel tried to puzzle this through and shook his head. On the surface, Brady seemed the likely culprit, but Brady also knew how frantic Daniel’s mom would be when she couldn’t reach him. And surely if that had been the plan, they could have come up with someone whose time wasn’t as valuable as one of the most powerful CEO’s in the country.
Austin. What was his part in this?
Daniel was hyper sensitive right now. His skin almost itched with need, but it wasn’t just Luke’s presence here doing that.
Austin had been here, too, just outside the door. He’d been nearby and Daniel hadn’t realized, not that Daniel’s broken body would entice Austin any more. But just the thought of Austin so close sent a shiver of awareness straight to the base of Daniel’s cock. He hadn’t seen him since that night.
“What’s that look about?” Luke’s question broke him out of his reverie.
Daniel shook his head. “Nothing. I was just thinking, we may not have any way to get hold of anyone on the phones, but at least we have power.”
Like karma truly hated him, the lights flickered and then went black completely.
“Well, damn,” Luke said on a groan, his deep voice echoing in the room's dark. “You were just tempting fate with that one, weren’t you?”
Daniel blew out a breath. He really hadn’t meant to. Fate had screwed him enough for several lifetimes already. Yeah, he should know better by now.
Chapter Ten
AUSTIN
Austin awoke to a mind-numbing burst of pain and his whole body shivering. He groaned, focused on the agony centralized in his head, but ricocheting down and throughout his torso and lower. What had happened and why was he so cold when it felt like a fur covered him? His head and chest throbbed. His fingers moved against the coarse short fur as he tried to open his eyes. Why wasn’t this blanket warmer?
He reached up and swiped sticky liquid from his eyes. They felt glued together. The scent of pennies and something rank and outdoorsy filled his nose, confusing him further.
The shivering continued, shaking his already painful head.
So cold.
His eyes finally pried open to something out of a horror movie.
Blood everywhere, blank eyes staring at him. He jerked back and fumbled for his door handle. He tried to get out of the car when it opened, only to be held in place by his seatbelt and a yelp of pain where it dug into his chest.
He fumbled for the belt button, trying not to focus on the sticky liquid that covered everything.
Finally, the belt gave, and he fell out the door into deep snow. He scrambled backward from the car, keeping his gaze riveted to the dead animal that had been sharing the front seat with him, half in the SUV, half draped over the hood in a macabre vignette straight out of a horror movie.
An elk.
A huge one.
Suddenly, he remembered the wreck.
He examined the SUV that rested against the trunk of a huge evergreen tree. The headlights were still on which was the only reason he could see anything. Looking away from the totaled vehicle only yielded pitch-black forest and dead quiet. Nothing was around here. Only the hush of the falling snow.
That’s why he’d set up this plan here...the total seclusion of this property.
His teeth chattered with the bitter cold and Austin tried to take stock. He was in the middle of nowhere, his SUV wrapped around a tree with a dead elk in the front seat. His head and chest hurt, but that seemed to be the extent of his injuries. He’d only gone a couple of miles from the cabin. The closest town was another fifteen miles down the mountain. Austin would never make it that far before freezing to death.
He had a coat on, but blood soaked it.
He would be lucky to make it back up to the cabin.
Struggling to stand up, Austin fought against the snow, sucking him into the ground. His head swam as he slowly rose trying to be gentle with his hurting body. Bile rose up his throat. He sank back to his hands and knees and threw up everything in his stomach.
His breath panted in and out and he closed his eyes against the pain reverberating through his brain. It would be so much easier to just lie here and go to sleep. But he knew that would be the last decision he ever made. If he didn’t make it back to the cabin as soon as possible, he wouldn’t be waking up again.
He had to move.
Now.
Or else he would die here.
Rising for the second time, he moved slower this time, breathing carefully through his mouth as his stomach rolled and bucked before finally settling a bit. Then slowly he lifted one foot in front of the other and began the deliberate ascent up the hill following the deep swath of cleared snow where his SUV had tumbled down clearing everything in its wake.
Everything hurt so much, Austin had no idea how he would ever make it all the way back to the cabin, but he refused to give up. Not until this mountain forced him to.
LUKE
After finding candles to illuminate the cabin, Luke couldn’t miss the fact that Daniel was staying a very careful distance away from him and avoiding his gaze. Right now he sat on the end of the couch, fidgeting nervously, while Luke paced the room, trying to burn off his frustration.
Being this close to Daniel without a buffer was making him way too aware of the man he’d always been inexorably drawn to for year
s. The storm wailed outside and had turned into a full on blizzard. They would be here a while and this awkward silence between them was making it miserable. It had only been a couple of hours.
Without power they didn’t even have television to fill the void.
Ever since that scene in the club, they’d both been so careful to avoid one another or if they had to be in close quarters, there were always other people to act as a buffer.
The tension continued to ratchet up and from Daniel’s fidgeting, he could feel it, too.
“I’m sorry...” Daniel said. His voice sounded choked on the words. “I never meant to hurt you that night at Mélange. I get that what I did was unforgivable, but I realized it too late. I was stupid and acted without thinking it through.” His eyes filled with tears and there was no missing the true pain and remorse in his expression. “I’m so sorry, Luke. I know you can never forgive me. Believe me, I hate myself enough for the both of us, but you need to know this...I regret hurting you more than anything else in this world. If I could take it back, I would. I only ever wanted to love you.” Daniel’s voice choked on those last two words.
Luke’s throat tightened. He wanted to do nothing more than pull Daniel into his arms and hold him, but Daniel was still wound way too tight for that. They needed to talk this through so they both could move past it.
He shook his head at the pale man. “D, things have been crazy since then.” This man who he’d both loved and hated had almost died. Luke could never forget the devastation the very idea of that happening. “But one fact remains. In the face of life or death, the importance of things shift. That night, what happened...it’s passed. I’m past it. No forgiveness needed.”
Truly, he’d hated Daniel for months after that night, but in a series of three devastating days when he thought Daniel would die, he’d only wished he’d let it go months earlier.
But maybe now, they could heal that wound...between both of them.
“How are you doing?” Luke asked. “Really.”
Daniel blanched and looked away as he shrugged. “I’m fine.”
So many times since the plane crash, Luke had fought himself about reaching out to check on Daniel. But then the guilt got to him that he’d left the wall between them for so long, and he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Luke would like to accept Daniel’s words at face value, but the dark circles under Daniel’s eyes and the lines of stress that marred his face told a different story. “You aren’t sleeping.”
Daniel’s gaze jerked up. “I was asleep when you got here, so obviously that’s not true.”
“Maybe, but...” Luke sat down on the couch beside Daniel and brushed the pad of his thumb over the dark smudge under his eye.
Daniel hissed in a breath and closed his eyes at the touch, but he didn’t pull away.
“These tell a different story,” Luke whispered, watching Daniel closely, even as his cock throbbed in his pants.
How could this man get more and more gorgeous the older he got? Since the accident, he’d let his dark blond beard grow in again. He looked even older now. Was his beard soft or scratchy? How would it feel against Luke’s lips?
Suddenly, Luke couldn’t lie to himself any longer. Daniel wasn’t a kid anymore. And no matter what had happened between them in the past, Luke wanted Daniel...desperately.
Gently, Luke lowered his head and brushed his lips across Daniel’s.
Daniel gasped, his mouth and eyes opening in shock.
Luke couldn’t resist the opening and licked his tongue between those plush lips, tasting Daniel for the first time in way too long.
For a moment, Daniel didn’t move, didn’t respond, but then he melted into Luke’s arms on a moan. Luke grabbed hold of the hair at the nape of Daniel’s neck, tugging him closer, deeper. He’d waited so long for this. His cock throbbed in his jeans and he leaned over Daniel to get even closer, bumping his prosthesis.
That startled Daniel. He jerked out of Luke’s arms and shot off the couch, stumbling, off-balance from the sudden move.
Luke jumped up to help.
Daniel shook off Luke’s hand and snarled at him. “Don’t. Don’t touch me.” He swallowed hard enough that Luke could hear it. “I’m not your charity case.”
Luke lifted his hands. “Whoa. What? What the fuck does that mean?”
“Nothing.” Daniel turned his back to Luke. “I’m not going to do this with you. Not now. Never again.”
It was too late.
Daniel didn’t want him anymore.
But then what Daniel said sunk in.
A lead ball settled into the pit of Luke’s stomach as he watched Daniel’s tight shoulders jerk with his heaving breath. Luke reached out to him, but didn’t touch. Daniel was wound so tight, Luke thought he might break at the slightest nudge. “Hey, I’m sorry, but I think you need to explain what you meant by charity case.” Surely, Daniel had to realize that no matter what happened to his legs, he was still a sexy man.
Daniel turned and bared his teeth at Luke. “I’m not stupid. You never wanted me before. Why would you want me now?” He swept his arm to gesture down to his legs. “Charity. Pity fuck. Whatever you want to call it, I won’t be that for you. The only thing I owe you now is an apology for what happened at Mélange. That was wrong of me, but now that I’ve said that, I think you and I should just maintain the status quo. I don’t talk to you. You avoid me. It’s worked for us so far. There’s no reason that can’t continue.”
Luke couldn’t believe the words spewing from Daniel’s mouth. “I can think of two very good reasons. One...we’re trapped here with just the two of us. No avoiding that. We have to deal with one another. Two...”
He grabbed hold of Daniel’s hand and pressed it against his hard, throbbing dick. Even though he was forcing that touch, he wanted nothing more than to press into it. His balls tingled with need and want, but Daniel was spooked. He didn’t want to do anything to make that any worse.
So, instead he took a deep breath and focused on what was important here. “That erection has absolutely nothing to do with pity or charity. That’s entirely in response to the man that has driven me insane with need and lust and want since he was eighteen fucking years old and way too young for me. Fortunately for me, you’re not eighteen anymore. So, the question is...are you going to wimp out and use your legs as an excuse or are you going to explore this with me? Because I am tired of waiting and denying myself. I want you.”
Daniel’s eyes widened, but before he could speak a loud thump echoed from the front porch.
They both froze.
“What the hell?” It was probably just an animal looking for shelter from the storm, but that hadn’t been a small sound, which meant it probably wasn’t a small animal. Luke stood and rushed over to the kitchen drawer where he’d stashed his gun. “Stay there,” he instructed Daniel who looked ready to go to the front door.
“Yeah, right,” Daniel muttered.
But luckily Luke could move faster than Daniel so he bypassed him to get to the door first, just as there was another loud thump.
Luke released the safety on the gun and looked through the peephole on the door. Without the electricity, the porch appeared dark. He couldn’t see a thing.
With a deep breath and placing his body in front of Daniel’s, he flung the door open.
The candlelight from inside dimly illuminated the front porch. Luke squinted trying to see.
A dark, snow-covered lump lay draped over the porch stairs. With all the snow crusted on the shape, it was hard to tell, but that looked like a person.
“Oh, shit.” Luke slid the safety of his gun back on and slid it into the back of his waistband as he rushed over to help the stranger. Where could he have come from? Was he even still alive?
Luke leaned over and rolled the man so he could see his face. “Austin?”
“S...s...so...cold.” Austin’s mouth chattered below that lip that was nothing short of blue.
Oh, fuck!
“What?” Daniel’s voice sounded panicked. “That’s Austin?”
But Luke couldn’t worry about Daniel’s panic right now. He shoved an arm under Austin’s armpit and lifted him out of the cold, wet snow. Daniel tried to help, but Luke shook his head. “I’ve got him. Just clear the way for me. We’ll take him to the bedroom.”
Luckily, when the power went out, they’d had the forethought to start the fireplace in there, too, so the room should be good and warm.
Even though he was clearly frozen, Austin was at least partially conscious. He struggled to help Luke propel him forward, although his limbs seemed to be barely functioning.
How long had he been out here in this storm? He’d left at least two hours ago.
As they entered the bedroom, Luke faltered. Austin’s clothes were covered with quickly melting snow. They had to get him out of those first and foremost, so instead of leading him to the bed where Austin clothes would get the linens wet, he led him over to the leather chair in front of the fireplace.
“I’m going to set you down so we can get you out of your wet clothes. We have to get you warm.” He gently lowered Austin into the chair, but before Austin’s ass was even in the seat, Daniel gasped and rushed over to Austin’s side.
“Oh, shit. You’re hurt.”
Luke had been so focused on the fact that Austin was frozen, he’d completely missed the obvious...underneath all that frozen snow, blood covered Austin’s head, chest, and arms.
Now that the snow was melting, he looked like someone who’d barely survived a war. For a split second, Luke froze, flashing back to his moments when he’d been a soldier in the middle of a battle and his friends had looked exactly like this, only to die moments later.
“Austin, what’s hurt? Where’s all the blood coming from?” Daniel asked.
Luke shook his head, thankful that Daniel was there to keep him on track. Regardless of Austin’s injuries, they had to get him out of these clothes before Austin succumbed to hypothermia.
“Let’s get him undressed, and then we’ll be able to evaluate his condition better.” Luke dropped to the floor to get Austin’s soaked boots off his feet.