Owning Beauty (Taking Beauty Trilogy Book 3)

by Nikki Wild

  “Go find a large pot and fill it with water,” I instructed, I’d never had to clean linens by hand before, but it wasn’t all that complicated.

  Once he’d done as instructed, I pointed over to the fire for him to set it down. I waited a bit for the water to heat up, since I wasn’t too keen on sticking my hands in a nearly frozen pot of water. After a few minutes I walked over and stuck a finger in it.

  Deciding it was warm enough, I rolled up my sleeves and plopped down in front of it. Sitting right in front of the fire was much better than standing near the window, that was for sure!

  A few minutes later, the water was a murky brown and the linens were laid out in front of the fire to dry. If we were stuck here for the night, at least we’d have somewhere clean to sleep. I glanced over at the blanket, debating cleaning it, then decided against it. It was a bit too large to try and dry before night fell.

  And there was no way I was sleeping with a wet blanket in this weather! I’d be lucky if I wasn’t frozen to it when I woke up!

  “Go dump that out,” I said, nodding to the pot.

  Just like before, Nathan did as told without even a comment.

  I liked this version of him. It was nice having a bit of muscle around to do all the heavy lifting. And as Nathan lifted the pot to dump it down the sink, I couldn’t help but see his muscles flex beneath his tight sweatshirt.

  Instinctively, I licked my lips. Then I shook my head and chastised myself. Nathan was my stepbrother, for crying out loud. No matter how fit he was, it wasn’t right for me to be checking him out like he was some model on display in a magazine.

  Deciding I needed to get my mind off things, I grabbed my bag and pulled out a book, then plopped down in front of the fire. The fact that I’d only packed a few trashy drug-store romances didn’t help much, but it was better than staring at Nathan the entire time.

  Nathan

  As I cleaned the pot out, I watched Sarah. She seemed to be lost in her book, and for a moment, it looked like she’d even forgotten we were stranded in an abandoned cabin. This definitely wasn’t how I wanted her to celebrate turning twenty-one.

  I’d thrown a huge party when I turned twenty-one and had a blast. On her birthday, we just had family over and a couple of her close friends. I’d tried to talk her into having some fun and throwing a party of her own, but she’d been completely against it.

  She wasn’t really the party type, so I’d dropped it until I had the idea to bring her up to the ski resort for a week. It wasn’t really her thing either, but this at least I knew she would enjoy once she got up there.

  Part of me was regretting that now. Sitting in this godforsaken cabin wasn’t exactly a great way for her to celebrate. Then again, Sarah always was a bit of a loner, so I wondered if it really wasn’t all that bad for her. She spent most of her time holed up in her room, so it wasn’t like much had changed, except for the lack of electricity.

  After the pot was clean, I wondered back over to the window. The snow was really coming down now, which just made me frown even more. At this rate, no one would be crazy enough to take a side road up the mountain. Hell, most people probably wouldn’t even risk coming up the mountain, even on the main path.

  I had a feeling we were going to be stuck here for a while. A day or two at the very least.

  As I watched the snow continue to fall, I decided to go cut some more firewood. With the way it was coming down, we could’ve ended up snowed in here, and the last thing I needed was for us to run out of wood while we were snowed in.

  “I’m gonna go cut some more wood,” I said as I put my snow gear back on.

  Sarah nodded and muttered and “uh huh” without even bothering to look up from her book.

  I never understood what was with her and her books. She could spend hours in the same place, just staring at the words on the page. Not me, though. If I sat still too long, I was liable to go stir crazy. Which was one of the reasons I was heading out to cut wood.

  At least that would keep me moving, keep me doing something. It was already my fault we were stuck out here, and I hated just standing around not being able to help the situation. I wished I could get some cell service to call for help.

  The back door was stuck and took a bit of yanking to pull it open. I frowned at it before heading outside. It would’ve been easy to fix, if I’d had some tools. But, once again, I was helpless to fix even a simple problem.

  Sarah may have thought I was just some rich boy who paid people to do everything, but that wasn’t the case. At least, not completely. Sure, we had hired help that took care of most of the things around the house, but that didn’t mean I was completely useless.

  I’d learned to work on cars when I was a young teen. Whenever we’d had to call out our mechanic, I’d been right there with him, watching how he did everything. He’d taken me under his wing, teaching me how to fix all but the most serious problems with a car. But that had all been before Sarah had moved it.

  Hell, I doubted she knew I’d completely resorted the vintage Corvette sitting in our garage. She probably just assumed I pulled out Dad’s credit card and bought it from some old collector.

  While most of my friends had gotten new BMWs and shit when they got their license, I’d gotten a nearly destroyed 1966 Corvette. Dad had offered me a new car, but I turned him down. The ‘Vette was all I needed. It’d taken nearly two years to restore it, but in the end, I had a car I could be proud of.

  Unlike the Jeep, I thought bitterly. The damn thing wasn’t even that old and had chosen this week, out of all weeks, to break down.

  By the time I’d chopped another load of wood, I was in a worse mood than when I’d started.

  I’d tried so damn hard to make Sarah’s twenty-first birthday memorable. Oh, it’d be memorable all right, but now all she’d remember is me getting her stuck in the middle of fucking nowhere. So much for trying to do something nice for her.

  It took a bit of maneuvering, but I managed to get the cabin door open and shut, without dropping the wood or killing myself in the process. When I stood just passed the doorway, taking deep breaths to warm my insides, I saw Sarah was right where I’d left her, still absorbed in her book.

  I smirked. At least it didn’t seem like she was panicking or anything. Hell, it didn’t even look like she realized she wasn’t in her bedroom or the study back home anymore. Knowing her, she was probably in some far away land as she read about a prince saving his princess.

  If only I could save her from this.

  I let out a sigh, then put the wood with the rest of it. That would be enough to keep a fire going for at least three days, I thought. Even if we needed to use some for the stove, we still wouldn’t have to worry.

  Well, that was one problem solved at least.

  I crossed back over to the window. My little sign was still hanging from the tree, though I had doubts whether anyone would be able to read it with the constant fall of snow. Even from here, I could just barely make out the brown rectangle amongst the sea of white.

  Then again, anyone foolish enough to drive in this would probably be going at a snail’s pace. If we were lucky, someone else was on their way up the mountain right now and would find us before nightfall. Then again, I doubted we were that lucky.

  And, sure enough, soon the sun was beginning to set, the temperature going down along with it. I hadn’t though it could get much colder, but I was proved wrong once again. I went over to the fire and tossed a few more logs onto it, which seemed to get Sarah’s attention.

  She blinked up at me, then marked her page before setting the book aside and stretching. “What time is it?”

  I pulled out my phone. “A little after five. Good book, is it?” I asked nodding toward the discarded paperback.

  “Eh, not really,” she said with a shrug. “But it could be worse. I guess we should make some food, huh?”

  “I guess.” It didn’t seem like we were liable to get rescued any time soon. And once the sun was down, I k
new no one would be coming through. Nobody was suicidal enough to drive through a snowstorm in the dark.

  Together, Sarah and I headed over to the tiny kitchen and started going over the cans of food that had been stock piled. Apparently whoever used this cabin wasn’t a huge fan of balanced meals, since there wasn’t a wide selection.

  Sarah frowned at a can of chili, then sighed. “At least it’ll keep us warm,” she said as she searched the drawers for a can opener. “Why don’t you get the stove started?”

  I nodded and stared at the thing. The massive wood burning stove looked like it was older than I was! Hell, the damn thing could’ve very well been older than my father.

  It took a bit of poking and prodding, but eventually I had it figured out. Soon, the fire beneath it was roaring, and Sarah had a pot of “fresh” chili on the stove for us. It wouldn’t be the most filling meal, but at least it would keep us from starving.

  Once it was hot, Sarah split it into two bowls, then handed me one with a spoon. “Bon appetit,” she said with a grin.

  I shook my head, returning her smile. Then I took a bite and managed to avoid wincing. “Well, it could be worse,” I said after swallowing some.

  Sarah took a bite herself, but she didn’t stop herself from wincing. “Not but much.” She wrinkled her nose, then headed to sit back in front of the fire.

  Dinner was a quiet affair, with us mostly just trying to stomach the less than appetizing meal. I kept telling myself it could’ve been worse, but it really couldn’t have gotten much worse. Fresh, homemade chili was to die for. Crap out of a can? Not so much.

  Finally, after eating maybe a third of her bowl, Sarah set it aside. “I’m done.”

  I nodded my agreement and set mine next to hers. “I don’t blame you.”

  “So, Mr. Boy Scout. Why don’t you go catch us something tastier to eat then?”

  “Have you looked out the windows? You’d be lucky to find a bug in this weather, much less anything edible. All the smart animals are huddled up somewhere warm, waiting out the storm.”

  “Yeah, I figured.” Sarah signed and leaned back on her elbows. “I guess we’ll be stuck here for the night, huh?”

  “Looks like it. Doubt anyone is going to be driving in the dark in this weather.”

  I hated that we were going to be stuck here for the night, but there wasn’t much I could do, which seemed like the theme of this trip. Walking up to the lodge definitely wasn’t an option now. Walking it during the day would’ve been dangerous. Walking it at night was just suicidal.

  “I’m… I’m sorry, Sarah.” I looked into the fire, focusing on the flickering light.

  “For what?”

  “For this.” I waved my arm around the empty cabin. “For getting us stuck out here.”

  Sarah turned to look at me. I could just barely make out her frown from the corner of my eye. I bit my lip and waited for the overdue chastising, but it never came.

  “It’s not your fault. It’s not like you knew your car would break down.” She scooted over until she was right next to me. Then, she put her arm around my shoulders and leaned against me. “I appreciate you trying to make my birthday memorable. Not many guys would go out of their way for me like that.”

  The scent of strawberries and mango washed over me. I turned and took a deep breath, relishing in the scent of Sarah’s shampoo. I’d never noticed it before, and I briefly wondered why I was now.

  “They would, if you’d let them.” I smiled at her, then put my arm around her and hugged her close. “You’re a great girl, Sarah, even if you do drive me bonkers sometimes. If you got out more instead of huddling up in your room, you’d have guys all over you.”

  Sarah snorted and shook her head. “Yeah, ‘cause that’s what I want, a bunch of drunk guys who can’t keep their hands off me. I had enough of that at your birthday party, thank you very much.”

  My party? What had happened at my party? I knew Sarah had been there, since I’d dragged her out of her bedroom myself, but I really hadn’t seen much of her that night. I’d told her to invite Kelly, so it wouldn’t just be my friends, and I’d assumed they’d spent the night together, dancing among the crowd.

  But now that I thought about it, I remembered seeing Kelly on the dance floor a few times, but I couldn’t recall ever seeing Sarah out there. Then again, I’d been so drunk she could’ve been right in front of my face and I probably wouldn’t have noticed her.

  “What happened at my party?

  Sarah shook her head. “Nothing, not really. Just a bunch of drunk guys trying to get laid.” She rolled her eyes. “At least you’re not like that. You were as plastered as the rest of the guys, but at least you weren’t humping everything with tits.”

  Well, not publically, I thought to myself. But I wasn’t going to mention what had happened after the party. That didn’t seem like an appropriate discussion to have with my step-sister.

  “You sure nothing happened?” If one of the guys made a move on her, I might just hit them upside the head. Yeah, she was an adult and could hook up with whoever she wanted, but only if that was what she wanted, not what they wanted,

  But Sarah nodded and smiled up at me. “Yeah. I’m… I’m just not a party girl, you know? That’s more Kelly’s scene. She had a blast that night. I’m sure so did some of your friends, judging by the way she was dancing with them.”

  Sarah laughed, and I found myself laughing with her. She didn’t show any sign of moving off me anytime soon, but for some reason, I didn’t mind. It was nice having her laying her head against me like this. It was relaxing, and if I focused on the fire, I could almost forget we were stuck in the middle of a blizzard.

  “I guess that’s why you didn’t want to throw a party for your birthday.”

  She nodded. “I know you were hoping I would, I just wasn’t feeling it. Relaxing at the house with everyone was more than enough for me.”

  “I’m sorry for pushing you to come on this trip.”

  Again, she shrugged. “It’s no big deal. I know you were just trying to make sure I had fun. And I appreciate it, really.” She smiled at me again. “Besides, I figured this trip couldn’t be too bad. I could always find a nice fire to sit in front of with one of my books, if I got tired of everything.”

  I laughed. That’d been exactly what she’d done today. It was kind of cute how she could retreat into her head like that and zone out everything going on around her. I was the exact opposite. Whether it was books, movies, or even video games, nothing kept my attention for very long.

  Looking over at her bag, I grinned. “So exactly how many books did you bring?

  “Just a few….” She said, her face flushing read.

  “Yeah, a few dozen, probably!”

  She smacked my leg, then laughed. “I’m not that bad!”

  “I know.”

  I looked down at her and all of a sudden had the urge to kiss her. With her eyes closed, she looked so peaceful, those puffy red lips just begging to be kissed. But I pushed the thought away, immediately. This was my sister, even if we were only related through marriage! I wasn’t supposed to be thinking about kissing her, no matter how cute or sweet she seemed.

  Shaking the thoughts from my head, I stretched. “I guess we better clean up the stuff from dinner.”

  Sarah nodded, then yawned before sitting up and stretching. She picked up the bowls and the two of us headed into the kitchen to clean everything up, since it was pretty clear neither of us were eating any more of that crap. It may have been edible, but it was far from enjoyable.

  “We should probably get some sleep,” Sarah said as she did her best to clean the bowls without any soap. “Maybe someone will come by early in the morning and we can get out of here.”

  “Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

  I had my doubts, but Sarah was right. I’d rather be up and ready to go if someone did show up, rather than be sound asleep and miss them completely. The last thing I wanted was for us to be stuck up here
for another day!

  Once the dishes were clean, Sarah and I retrieved the now dry, and much cleaner, bed linens. It only took a few moments for us to remake the bed, and I looked forlornly at the discarded comforter. I walked over and picked it up, dragging it in front of the fire place.

  “What’re you doing?” Sarah watched me, hands on her hips, her blue eyes sparkling in the firelight.

  “I’ll sleep with this. You can have the bed.”

  “Oh please.” She rolled her eyes. “You’ll suffocate from all that dust. We can share the bed, you know. We’re both adults.”

  “Are… are you sure?”

  Sarah nodded, then sat on the bed and began removing her boots. “Yeah. It won’t kill us. And I doubt you’re going to try and molest me in my sleep.”

  “Never!” I said instantly. Not in a million years would I have even dreamed of doing something to Sarah while she slept.

  “Then we can sleep together.” She stood up and undid her jeans, sliding them off without even a second thought. Then she stood up and grinned sheepishly at me. “Sorry, I hope you don’t mind. But these things are not comfortable to sleep in, trust me.”

  I snorted. Her jeans were practically skin tight, so I really didn’t blame her. Even my jeans, which were much baggier, weren’t the greatest to sleep in. Whoever invented the damn things apparently hadn’t wanted anyone sleeping in them.

  She nodded at my jeans. “You can take yours off too, if you want.” Her flush deepened. “Not that you have to, or anything, I mean. I just thought you might be more comfortable without them, that’s all.”

  I laughed and shook my head at her rambling. I walked over to the bed and sat down, taking off my boots and tossing them over with hers. Then I stood up, grinned at her, and removed my own jeans. I wasn’t much one to say no to a challenge, even if it was just an implied one.