The heat from his toned arm was burning through the material of her thin jacket, but she couldn’t escape it as trapped as she was between him and Nick. Nick had been born under a shadow. He was tanner than his brothers who all had bronze dusted skin, no doubt from laboring outdoors, and had commercial-ready raven locks, tousled too perfectly to be a natural “messy” look. He must spend more time getting ready in the morning than I do. His cheek bones were high and defined, and with his moderately muscled physique, he looked more like a Mediterranean God than a Forest Service Ranger.
The two eldest sit in the front. Charles is the eldest of the four, the tallest, and also the driver of the group. He seeped a calming aura and the little he had spoken to her was in cool, polite tones. His brunet hair was cropped cleanly and when they came to her rescue, he watched over the proceedings with the kind of quiet authority that told her immediately that he was the one in charge.
Nathan sat in the passenger seat up front, it’s his grey jacket that Kira has draped over her lap. With his wiry frame, he had looked like a timber wolf stepping into the snow when she first noticed him. His hair was a mess of shiny, brunet curls that helped fill out his long, thin face. His yellow eyes watched her with cold, calculated interest like those of a viper deliberating a strike. Although he lent her his jacket to warm her numb legs, he made it clear that his wife would never let him hear the end of it if he were impolite. Maybe he had seen her desperate shock when the four handsome men came to her aid and wanted to make his unavailability known.
Benji kept up a steady stream of easy conversation on the way back to the ranger’s station and didn’t seem to mind when she wasn’t able to match his enthusiasm. Her stomach was fluttering, her heart racing away in her chest. Just this morning, she had awoken in her childhood bed, in the house that she shared with her mother and Harvey. Now, she was in a car surrounded by strangers, going slowly up a snow packed mountain road in the direction of her new home.
A hand, tanned a dark caramel by the sun, landed on her knee, jolting out her out of her own head. Startled, she jerked her head up to meet Nick’s penetrating gaze. “Are you doing all right?” He asked, voice low and soft. One her other side, Benji was still rattling off about the cabin and how the girls set up her room.
She almost started crying as soon as he asked the question because he was the only one that had thought to ask.
“I think so.” She answered just as quietly after a moment where she convinced herself not to burst into sobs in the back of a stranger’s car.
He studied her face, looking as if he didn’t believe her. “But change is always difficult, isn’t it?” She continued. Just because she was on the verge of breaking down didn’t mean that she wanted him to know that.
A smirk played at the corner of his mouth. “I guess I would know.”
“What do you mean?” She answered, muted and puzzled.
“Nothing, nothing.” He said and allowed his hand to fall off her knee so he could continue staring out the window at the stormy void beyond.
She missed the heat of his palm.
She refocused her attention on Benji and forced a smile despite the nervous flutters in her stomach. “What color did you say the room was?”
***
When they finally made it up to the ranger’s station, Kira was shuffled behind the front desk and had a phone receiver shoved against her ear. She was immediately greeted by Chloe’s relieved voice.
“What the hell happened to you?” She demanded.
“Hi Chloe, I’m doing good. How are you?” She answered sarcastically.
“Whatever, just tell me what happened to you, you were supposed to be there hours ago.” She urged, so Kira shared the events of the last few hours.
“Shit, babe, I can’t believe that his car broke down. What a piece of shit, letting you down and he’s not even around anymore.” She sympathized.
“Never mind all that. I don’t want to talk about Harvey.” She said and the line went quiet for a few minutes. “What’s going on back there?” She finally asked.
“I thought you didn’t want to talk about Harvey?” Chloe teased.
“Shut up, I want to know. I need to know if-” She trailed off, unable to vocalize the fear that she felt wrapping around her heart and squeezing.
“You are a wanted girl Miss Volkova. I already had a pair of the fattest cops you’ve seen show up at my door asking if I’d seen you. Apparently you pushed your step-father down the stairs and stole his car. Obviously, I was shocked.” Chloe said in over exaggerated innocence.
The fear loosened it’s iron vice and Kira could suddenly breath a little easier. This is why she and Chloe were best friends, she always knew what to say.
“Kee? Did I lose you?” She asked.
Kira shook her head, feeling silly when she realized that Chloe wouldn’t actually be able to see her and cleared her throat. “Yeah, I’m still here. Thanks, Chlo, for everything.” She said sincerely and glanced around to make sure that Chloe’s brothers were all out of earshot. “But I’m also pissed. You could have warned me.”
“Warned you about what?” She asked, sounding honestly puzzled.
“Your brothers!” She hissed into the phone. “You didn’t tell me they were hot.”
Chloe gagged across the line. “Gross! I never told you because they aren’t.”
“Oh come on, Chlo, even objectively you have to admit that-” She tried to reason but Chloe cut her off.
“No, no, no! I’m not going to listen to this, babe, I’m sorry, but I’m not.” She said quickly and they both burst into a wave of laughter. “Seriously though, I’m glad you’re okay. You’ll love the cabin and I’ll come up to visit in a few weeks after the police have lost interest. And no moping! Just because I can’t see your face doesn’t mean that I don’t know exactly what it looks like. They will lose interest. There’s going to be an armed robbery or a shooting or a grand theft auto and you’re just going to end up another dead case file taking up space in the archives.”
“You’re right, I know, I’m just freaking out over nothing.” Kira reassured her.
Chloe sighed. “Not exactly nothing, you’ve had a rough day, babe, but it’ll pass. I’m going to let you go, with the weather you’re having it’ll probably take another couple hours to get up to the cabin. But call me tomorrow after you’ve gotten a chance to settle in.”
“I will.” Kira promised, not knowing if she was dreading being packed back into the jeep with Nick and Benji or looking forward to it.
“Oh, and Kira, don’t go walking in the woods by yourself.” Chloe added. “It’s dangerous.”
“I won’t.” Kira promised and tried to remain in the bubble of calm safety that talking to her friend had made. Charles was coming out of the back office almost as soon as she set down the phone, a steaming paper cup in his hand. Her arms broke into gooseflesh. Was he listening in on my call?
That polite smile was pasted back on his face as he offered her the cup. “I thought you could use some coffee.”
“Thank you.” She said and gratefully took the cup to warm her hands. She was never much of a coffee drinker, not unless it had too much sugar than what was probably good for her. She curled her fingers around the hot paper cup and stared down at the steaming liquid inside. It was thick and black. She looked back up at Charles, uncertain, and he gave her an apologetic smile.
“Nick made it. He likes his strong.” He explained.
“Apparently.” She agreed and smiled awkwardly. Unsure what to do when it became clear that Charles wasn’t simply going to hand her the cup and walk off. He stayed in front of her, still smiling in that weird, small way.
“So, uh, are we going to be getting back soon?” She asked, desperate to dispel the stiff silence that hung around them in a shroud.
“Getting back where?” He asked.
“On the road.” Kira explained quickly. “Chloe said with the bad weather it might take a few hours to get up there.”
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“We’re going to spend the night here at the station.” He told her slowly, as if this were something that she should have already known. “It’s too late to head back now, we wouldn’t be back until sometime in the early morning, and then Nathan and I would just have to turn around and do the drive all over again.” He said and added, “we work in the morning, early. It’ll be easier to spend the night here and then Nick and Benji can take you up in the morning.
“Oh.” She said quietly. She didn’t know what else to say to that.
“We’ll all sleep in my office, that’s where the furnace is. Benji is laying out the sleeping bags now and Nathan is setting up the loveseat for you.” He explained.
“Someone else can have it, I can sleep on the floor.” She insisted, feeling all at once very rude for making them come out to rescue her in the middle of the night and taking up a room in their home when they didn’t even know her.
“You’re our guest.” Charles rebuffed. “We’d be terrible hosts if we made you sleep on the floor the first night you were with us. You’ll take the loveseat.” He insisted and tilted his head towards the door behind the desk. “There’s a bathroom in there you can change in.”
“Thank you.” She said and quickly ducked into the bathroom, wanting nothing more than to be rid of her wet clothes.
Nothing was as satisfying as pulling your feet free from soppy, squidgy socks and slipping into a soft, dry new pair. She changed quickly into her loose, blue nightshirt and suddenly realized that she hadn’t packed any sleeping pants. The shirt fell almost to her knees, just leaving the tops of her thighs uncovered. It was hardly anything scandalous or indecent, but because of her conservative upbringing, she always felt a little uncomfortable showing a lot of skin around people she didn’t know well. It was something Chloe was trying to rid her of. Oh well…There’s no point in worrying about something I can’t change.
She hung her wet clothes up as she brushed her teeth, hoping they’d be dry enough to pack back into her bag in the morning, took the time to run a brush through her hair, (it was getting long, she’d have to cut it soon), and slipped out of the bathroom. Her hands gripped the bottom sides of her nightshirt as she walked in an attempt to keep it from riding up and showing even more of her flesh.
Before she even opened the door to his office, she could hear the brothers talking. She couldn’t make out any of the words, just the low rumble of their voices rising and falling together. Does she knock? Walk right in? It was moments like these when she was reminded how painfully awkward she could be. She jerked the door open and stepped through before she could change her mind and the talking was abruptly extinguished. So they were talking about me then.
Benji was the first to greet her, jumping from the rumpled nest of sleeping bags on the floor to bound over. An easy grin spread impossibly wider as he reached out with his big, tan hand and curled his fingers around her arm. He was shockingly warm, the warmth spread from his fingers and across her arm, sinking heat all the way to the bone. The sensation rose chills up her back and neck and she allowed him to pull her across the little room and over to the loveseat. It didn’t look particularly comfortable, it was older and lumpy, a red that had darkened over the years to a dirty wine, but Benji had made it up into a bed. Two fresh pillows were stacked at one end, a flannel spread out underneath with a sleeping bag unzipped and ready to be pulled over her like a blanket.
“I tried to make it up as best as I could.” Benji said shyly, completely contrasting his usual exuberant personality she had been exposed so far.
She smiled and took his hand, squeezing it gently. “Thank you, you’ve been so kind to me, you all have.” She added, looking around the room to meet their eyes, trying to express her sincerity. She lowered herself into the loveseat, she had to curl her legs to fit comfortably, and before she had the chance, Benji was grabbing the sleeping bag and pulling it over her.
“If you get cold just wake up one of us, we won’t mind. You can have one of our sleeping bags.” He grinned cheekily. “We’re hot-blooded.”
A flush rose on her cheeks and neck at his words, but she couldn’t explain why. “Thanks.” She quietly and nuzzled into her pillows. “Goodnight.” She added.
A chorus of goodnights came from the others and she clenched her eyes tightly shut if only to spare herself anymore embarrassment. The light was flicked off and there sounded like there was a muffled tousle before she heard one of them settle down next to the loveseat. I wonder which one is laying next to me. She willed herself to fall asleep but curiosity got the better of her and she opened her eyes, squinting into the darkened room as she waited for her eyes to adjust.
Benji was somehow already asleep, soft grumbling sounds slipping from his parted lips from where he lay between Nathan and Charles. Charles was laying straight out like a board, sleeping the same way he presented himself in life: stiffly. Nathan was on his side, back to the rest of the room. Looking down towards the floor by the loveseat, she met Nick’s open, golden eyes. His pupils were blown wide to see in the low light, there was very little of his normally bright yellow iris, staring into his eyes was like looking into the void of a starless night. With his dark hair and skin bathed in shadow, he could have been carved from the night sky.
She quickly shut her eyes and feigned sleep, but she lay awake for what felt like hours. She tried to think of anything else, anything at all, but in her minds eye all she could see was Nick, watching her in the dark. She begged her tired brain to give up and fall asleep. She’d need her rest if she was going to face tomorrow. It was the first day in the new chapter of her life, after all.
Chapter 4
Kira climbed up the stone steps and onto the front porch of the cabin, or mansion. She wasn’t really sure how to reconcile the two in her head. It was clearly a cabin, the logs that made it were stained a dark, reddish brown that made it stand out from the trees that surrounded its perimeter. The problem was, it was bigger than any cabin she had ever seen. It had two floors and was long enough to fit two of her old houses.
When she reached the top step of the porch and gazed at the lovely stained glass paneled in the door, her stomach sank even lower. What am I doing? I don’t know any of these people. Am I really going to live here? An arm reached around her and pushed open the door, startling her from her thoughts. She felt Benji grab her hand and begin to drag her inside.
“I’ll show you around the house.” He said. His eyes were bright, his hold on her arm insistent as he dragged her through the door. Inside was the most luxurious yet homey decorated home Kira had ever seen in her life. It was simultaneously rustic yet modern, expensive yet practical, things that Kira previously thought as being unable to go together, but it somehow worked.
Large, beautiful paintings of the mountain and other landscapes in charcoal frames hung on either side of a television screen so massive it looked like it belonged in a theater rather than someone’s living room. A deep suede sofa and matching armchairs with plump flannel pillows lay on top of a plush, ebony rug. It looked much more comfortable than the loveseat that she slept on the night before.
Tall, wide bookshelves lined the far wall, stuffed with ancient tomes and books with shining leather bindings, all the way to modern masterpieces such as Twilight. Her nerves were replaced by mirth at the thought of the four brothers huddled around the fireplace reading about vampires and romance, but more likely the books probably belonged to Nathan’s wife.
A multi-colored, crystal chandelier hung from the middle of the room, casting specks of blue and amber light across the honey colored hard-wood floor. But upon a closer inspection, it wasn’t crystal at all, the chandelier was made from old blue and amber bottles. Bottles with thick glass that probably contained medicines or tonics back in the early 1900s. Peppered around the cabin’s main floor were large floor to ceiling windows that flooded the rooms with natural light and allowed you to see the magnificent forest that was waiting just beyond the doorstep.
; From where she was standing, she could see into the dining room and the long oak table that was already set for breakfast. Each plate was lined with gleaming, silver cutlery and there were two wicker baskets set just within reaching distance filled with fresh fruits. Movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention and she noticed a young woman with dark hair that fell in waves down to the middle of her back, pouring steaming coffee in the mugs laid out next to the breakfast plates. She wore a simple yellow sun dress that fell to her knees, it seemed out of place with the snow that was piling up outside, but she looked beautiful as it hugged her slim figure. That must be Nathan’s wife.
It did comfort her to know she wasn’t going to be the only woman living here and she hoped desperately that they would become friends. She had never really had any friends until she met Chloe, and even then, it was Chloe that had sought her out and instigated the friendship. As if knowing that she was being thought about, the young woman turned, and Kira could immediately see the small swell to her stomach that gave away her pregnancy. The woman smiled softly, amusement glinting in her eyes as she brought her hands to her hips.
“Benji,” she scolded gently. “Quit dragging the poor girl around and come eat your breakfast while it’s hot.”
“Yes, Emmie.” He said, sounding chided and helped Kira set her backpack beside the sofa. He slunk into the dining room at sat at a plate that had been set up at the end of the table and began to shovel scrambled eggs into his mouth.
Emmie shook her head fondly and turned to Kira. “Don’t be shy, I have a plate for you too.” She squeezed her shoulders as soon as Kira got close enough to be grabbed. “Chloe told me all about you. I’m so glad you’re out of that awful situation.” She said earnestly.
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