by Sophia Gray
“A gig?” I repeated questioningly.
She nodded her head. “Yeah. I, uh, well, I’m a singer.” She blushed.
My mind flashed back to that soft humming sound. Had I heard her? Was that soft, angelic voice hers? It must have been. “Really. Wow, that’s a big deal. How long have you been in the music business?”
She winced at that. “Well, technically, I’m not really in the music business. I’m…I’m kind of a struggling artist, if you know what I mean. It’s really hard to get anyone to notice my music.”
I considered her for a moment, then I said, “That’s strange. Because I really enjoyed your singing last night.”
Her face turned beat red, her eyes going wide. “You heard that?”
I grinned and nodded. “I did. You’ve got a hell of a voice there. I can’t believe that no one’s picked you up yet.”
She smiled and we fell into companionable silence. She really did seem like a sweet little thing, and that made me feel bad for having unwittingly dragged her into my problems. I hoped I could still keep her out of them, though. All I had to do was play this smart.
…
Elle went to check the office and found about what I expected: no working phone. She said the electricity was out there, too, and while there was a generator it looked like it was out of gas. If we were going to find a phone, it wasn’t going to be around here. She suggested we wait out the storm and that they would probably clear the roads and fix the electricity by that time. Unfortunately, that was going to be a couple of days longer in the least, which didn’t sit well with me.
I didn’t have that kind of time.
But I didn’t argue with her. In fact, I agreed it was a good idea and that we should find some food and more blankets. She informed me she’d already found both and we settled down for food that consisted of canned stew. The best of a bad bunch, she assured me.
She said the water was running in the cabin, which was good, but there wasn’t any hot water. We could boil some if we had to, but that was it. I agreed and ended up actually doing that so I could clean myself up in the bathroom. I wasn’t looking too bad, but I hadn’t showered since yesterday morning and doubted that being feverish did me any favors.
When I was done with that, I ended up napping again. I hadn’t meant to, but my body was still recovering from being sick. Elle kept the fire going and around dinner time we had another canned meal.
Under normal circumstances—not that these were exactly normal—I would have found this to be…fun. Or if not fun, sort of enjoyable. Food, water, a hot fire and fresh clothes. Top it all off with a sexy woman that I couldn’t stop picturing naked and it could have been a lot worse.
All things considered, I was having a damn fine time.
Unfortunately, I knew it had to end soon before things blew up back home. I had to get back to the Lucky Skulls before things ended up badly. But I wasn’t going to get anything done tonight.
We ended up falling asleep that night close to the fire, several blankets pulled over us and additional pillows taken from the back bedroom. Anything to give us a little extra padding and warmth. We shared a blanket out of necessity, but the following morning I woke up with my arms wrapped around her, her legs entwined with mine, and her breasts pressing into my chest. That, I highly doubted, was out of necessity.
I woke up with morning wood and desperately wanted to take care of it. She was sexy as hell, sleeping there in my arms, still wearing only that sweater so her jeans could finish drying. I knew I could probably seduce her. The desire in her eyes the day before told me as much, but I didn’t see the point. Once I got that car out of the snow, I was just going to leave her behind anyway. Fucking her first probably wasn’t going to do me any favors.
Or maybe it’ll get her out of my system, a little voice in my head countered.
I stared down at her wrapped up in my arms, her hair tangled across the pillows spread beneath us, and her lips slightly parted. Oh yes, I definitely wanted to fuck her. I wanted to slide my cock into her pretty little mouth as I’d done in my dream, but I wanted more than that, too. I wanted to be between her legs until she called out my name in ecstasy.
The urge to wake her and seduce her was strong, but the knowledge that it wasn’t fair to her—and damn it, I owed her for saving my life—stayed my desire.
It wasn’t right. So instead, I pulled myself out of her arms carefully, leaving her sleeping beneath the covers. I stoked the fire and made sure it was going strong, then I dressed in yesterday’s clothes and headed outside. I needed to get that damn car uncovered before things got ugly.
Chapter 7
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, pu
shing 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—”