by Vivian Wood
I need to get him out of these wet clothes, or he won't warm up fast enough, Shelby thought calmly, drawing on memories from survival stories she’d heard in the past.
With a clinical detachment, Shelby began the somewhat difficult process of undressing the unconscious man.
She pulled off his damp wool cap first, exposing a shock of dark hair that was plastered flat against his head, followed by his gloves so that she could hastily rub some warmth back into his hands between her own cold ones.
It’s not enough, Shelby silently reprimanded herself as the man still remained lifeless in sleep.
Taking a breath to steady her climbing anxiety that the man would come this far only to die on the cabin floor in front of her, Shelby reached out to unzip his coat. She rolled him onto one side, and then the other so that she could release each of his arms in turn, chucking the coat off to the side so that she could repeat the process with the sweater that he wore underneath.
Holy hell and gods above…
Shelby went momentarily brain dead as she peeled off the man’s saturated sweater to reveal a plane of hard, chiseled muscle beneath that would be perfectly at home on the cover of any of her romance novels.
The man was hot.
Not just hot, but four-alarm fire, third-degree burns, melt your panties hot.
Shelby’s eyes greedily devoured the corded muscles of his shoulders and arms, and down further still. The ridges of his abs were so deep and defined that Shelby had no trouble imagining getting lost inside them like they were her own personal maze of pleasure. His pecs were wide and flat, begging her hands to mold against them as she straddled him, holding on for dear life…
Shelby shook her head roughly to dislodge her dirty thoughts as her face heated with instant shame. What the hell was she thinking, ogling the poor man like a sex-starved teenager while his very life might hang in the balance?
Still blushing, Shelby averted her eyes from his tantalizing torso as she shifted her attentions to removing his sodden boots and socks. She forced her mind to go blank as she unbuttoned the fly of his jeans and tugged them off so that he was now clad in only a snug pair of dark blue boxer briefs.
Very snug boxer briefs.
Batting away her unhelpfully carnal thoughts, Shelby stood and grabbed an ultra-plush throw blanket from one of the armchairs by the fireplace. She unfurled it beside her oblivious guest and rolled him on top of it so that he was no longer splayed out on the now-damp rug of the living room floor. She piled two more thick blankets on top of him, bundling him up like a human burrito, before going about gathering up his discarded clothing.
Shelby placed his coat and boots near the fire so that they could dry, before taking the rest of his clothes to the laundry room that was set off from the kitchen so that she could put them in the dryer. After a short moment of internal debate, Shelby peeled off her own wet clothes and stuffed them in after his before starting up the cycle.
Arms crossed over her chest in an unnecessary display of modesty, seeing as how the attractive stranger was still unconscious on the floor, Shelby streaked through the living room and back down the hall to the bedroom.
She scrambled to re-dress herself, randomly donning a t-shirt and some cotton shorts that were the first things she’d found when she opened the dresser. She grabbed two of the pillows from the bed and turned to leave, before thinking better of it and going back to yank the entire comforter free. Satisfied, Shelby padded back to the living room to check on the man who had somehow become her charge in the last twenty minutes.
Shelby dropped her burden on the floor as she crouched down beside the man once more.
She was pleased to note that some of the color had returned to his face in the short time she’d been away. But when she slipped a hand beneath the blanket, Shelby was concerned by the persistent frigidness that clung to his skin. He was still too cold. She sat back on her heels with a sigh, contemplating her limited options.
Mouth tight in resolution, Shelby prepared herself to do what was necessary to get his body’s temperature back to normal.
Positioning one of the pillows under his head, Shelby pulled back the blankets far enough so that she could slide in beside him. Her skin erupted with an instant protest of gooseflesh as it came into contact with his, but she ignored it as she scooted closer, cocooning them both beneath the massive comforter as she nestled her head on her own pillow.
Shelby tried to relax as she pressed her body alongside his, but her mind kept revisiting images of his sculpted physique, making her squirm.
The mental reminders were wholly redundant, seeing as how she could feel said muscles from where she lay flush against his side, but the combined affect was staggeringly potent.
Well, you did say you wanted some action, her mind goaded, making Shelby scowl. She glared at the happy flames of the fire over the man’s prone form, feeling like they were the ones mocking her instead of her own lonely thoughts.
Yeah; somehow, shacking up with a hypothermic stranger wasn’t really what I had in mind.
Closing her eyes and forcing her errant musings into silence, Shelby slowly drifted to sleep, comforted by the steady beat of the man’s heart from where her hand rested against his chest.
3
Wolfe Carmichael reluctantly woke from the most bizarre, vivid dream he’d ever had, only to discover that it had all been real.
Sunlight was streaming in through the large windows behind him, made all the brighter by the flawless expanse of snow that reflected it, seeming to illuminate the entire room, as well as the outside world beyond.
But the morning light wasn’t what had stirred him from sleep.
No, Wolfe was burning—absolutely sweltering—beneath a pile of blankets that seemed more intent on roasting him alive than keeping away the winter chill.
Groggily, he struggled to sit up and extract himself from his blanket prison, completely oblivious to the fact that he was mostly naked and sleeping on the floor in an unfamiliar room.
Until he looked over and saw the woman who was still fast asleep beside him.
Wolfe froze, his eyes taking in the vaguely familiar lines of the woman’s face as his brain sluggishly recalled the events of the night before.
He’d been on his way up to his buddy Clay’s hunting lodge, arrogantly disregarding the meteorologist’s warnings on the radio to get off the roads in the face of the incoming snowstorm, when his truck had died.
Wolfe had cursed himself vehemently for not replacing the battery sooner, before getting out of his truck and walking up the road for help. There was no way a tow truck would come to his aid this far in the mountains with a storm fast approaching, and Wolfe knew from prior visits that there were numerous vacation cabins tucked away in this area. He’d intended on breaking in to one, hoping to ride out the worst of the storm until he could go back to his truck.
But then the snow had started falling.
Wolfe shuddered as he recalled staggering around in the dark while the seemingly harmless clumps of white began to accumulate quickly before him. Before he knew it, he was wading knee-deep through snow, his entire body having gone numb with cold within his first hour of walking.
He remembered the horror he felt when he’d realized that he wasn’t going to make it…
Wolfe closed his eyes, taking a deep, life-affirming breath as he ran both hands through his hair.
He’d been such an overconfident idiot, thinking that he could best the storm. By the time he’d finally realized that he’d gotten turned around at some point in his search for shelter, it was too late.
He was lost.
Wolfe grimaced, eyes still closed.
He’d been a Navy SEAL. He took extreme pride in his ability to adapt to and survive in any situation that was thrown his way. It was completely against everything he stood for to give up.
But he hadn’t banked on his traitorous body giving up on him.
Every step he took had escalated from a mere strug
gle to an outright battle that his mind waged over his body to keep moving forward. Each step was the difference between winning and losing, life and death.
For, as long as he could still move, that meant he was still alive.
Wolfe wasn’t sure how much time had passed after that. An eternity, maybe.
But he did remember the moment when he looked up and saw the lone light in the darkness ahead that would be his salvation.
His memories were even hazier after that.
He remembered pushing his body to its absolute brink as he picked up his pace, all too aware that his time was running out.
He remembered the door to the cabin being locked. So Wolfe had gathered the last reserves of his strength as he attempted to ram the door open by force, or die trying.
He remembered being buried alive when the force of one of his blows had caused the snow on the cabin’s roof to shift, sending a miniature avalanche down on top of him…
And the angel that had dug him out.
Wolfe finally opened his eyes again and looked down at the woman who had been his savior.
Wolfe had never been an overly religious man, but he could see why his exhausted brain had assumed she was an angel when he’d first laid eyes on her. Even now he was having trouble believing she wasn’t some figment of his imagination.
The woman was gorgeous. Her blonde hair was sexily tousled around her pillow and her full lips were parted softly as she slept. Wolfe’s eyes wandered south as he admired the full breasts that strained against the thin fabric of her t-shirt and the long legs that he had no trouble envisioning being wrapped around his hips…
Wolfe gave his head a rough shake.
What the hell was he doing? The woman had clearly saved his life last night, and he would repay her kindness by, what? Fantasizing about what it would sound like to hear her moan his name in pleasure as she rode him?
Jesus, Wolfe. Get your shit together, man.
Not to mention that the growing tightness he felt in his groin would be pretty hard to hide right now if she suddenly woke up, seeing as how he was only wearing his underwear.
Speaking of which, where the hell are my clothes?
Wolfe craned his neck as he took the opportunity to really look around the cabin for the first time since waking up.
The place was small, but lavish, with its large stone fireplace and high-end furnishings. The view from the windows wasn’t anything to scoff at either.
All in all, it was a pretty cozy setup for a winter retreat.
The only real question that plagued him was why a beautiful girl like her would be up here all alone this close to Christmas?
Wolfe looked back down at the woman, and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw that her eyes were open, watching him.
“You’re awake,” he said dumbly, his voice hoarse. He cleared his throat as she sat up, the mass of blankets pooling around her waist.
“I should be the one saying that to you,” she said, her eyes scanning him as if looking for visible injuries. “Do you feel okay?”
Wolfe nodded, unable to take his eyes from her face as she looked him over.
“Yeah, I—” Wolfe started, but then cleared his throat once more as her clear blue eyes met his.
“Thank you,” he said at last, wishing he had more to offer her than just his gratitude. “You saved my life.”
The girl blushed and looked away, her fingers plucking at a loose thread on one of the blankets.
“It was nothing,” she said softly, before looking back up at him with a rueful smile. “Though you did scare me half to death, banging on the door like that in the middle of the night.”
Wolfe couldn’t help smiling as well.
“My apologies, ma’am,” he said, a bit cheekily, putting his southern drawl on full display.
Wolfe was entirely too pleased with himself when her small smile morphed into a full-blown grin.
Good lord, this woman is beautiful.
Wolfe looked down at himself, remembering—once again—that he was practically naked. He wasn’t shy about his body by any means, but it was a bit weird to be having a conversation with a stranger without any clothes on.
“Umm, do you know where my clothes are?”
The woman blushed again, as if she too were just now noticing his state of undress.
“Oh, sorry!” she said, obviously embarrassed as she hopped to her feet. “They were soaking wet when I found you. I had to take them off so that your body could heat up faster.”
Wolfe nodded, fairly certain that the mental images he conjured of her undressing him were sexier than what had actually went down. He was sure it had all been completely innocent.
His dick wasn’t getting the memo, however.
“I see,” was all he could think to say.
The woman’s cheeks were as red as twin cherries at this point, her eyes pointedly avoiding his.
“Uh…I’ll just go get them out of the dryer real quick,” she said, turning to flee from the room.
Wolfe watched her go, trying—and failing—not to eye her ass as she went.
Calm down, boy. You’re well on your way to making a monumental jackass of yourself.
Wolfe got to his feet as the woman reentered the room, still blushing as she handed him the armful of clothing she was holding.
“Thanks,” he said as he took them from her. “My name’s Wolfe, by the way; Wolfe Carmichael.”
“Oh, yeah! Jeeze, I’m sorry,” she said, palming her forehead as if she couldn’t believe she’d forgotten to introduce herself. “I’m Shelby River.”
“It’s nice to meet you—officially—Shelby,” Wolfe said, giving her his most winning smile.
Shelby blinked at him.
“Uh, yeah. You, too,” she said slowly, before shaking her head. “Right, okay. Uh, I’ll just leave you alone for a moment so that you can get dressed then…” She trailed off, gnawing at her bottom lip as if unsure.
“Okay, sounds good.”
Unless you’d like to stay and undress me all the way…
Shelby hustled away down the hall, giving Wolfe the privacy he wasn’t even sure he wanted as he went about putting his clothes back on.
4
Shelby shimmied herself into a pair of jeans, trying not to think about Wolfe doing the same thing in the other room.
Jesus, that man is hotter than the seventh circle of hell, she thought as she pulled on a soft green sweater that she knew flattered her figure, before turning to look at herself in the mirror mounted on the wall above the dresser.
She scowled at her reflection.
Her hair fell in loose blonde waves to just past her shoulders, and her skin was clear and unblemished, if a little paler than its usual golden tanned glow.
But that hadn’t been the cause of her sudden annoyance.
No, it was her eyes. Her blue eyes were brighter than Shelby had seen them in a while, and she knew the reason why.
“No need to look so damn eager,” she grumbled to herself. “You know next to nothing about the man.”
He could be an ax murderer, for all she knew.
Or…married.
Shelby’s nose wrinkled at that thought and she shook her head, exasperated with herself.
Come on, lover girl. Let’s go see what the man is up to.
Shelby wandered back into the living room, finding a fully dressed Wolfe leaning over some papers he had spread out on the breakfast bar. He looked up when he heard her approach, his eyes giving her a quick once-over as he smiled at her.
Hmm, Shelby thought slyly as she returned his smile, joining him at the counter. Looks like the attraction might be mutual.
Still doesn’t mean he’s not married…
Shelby impatiently shooed away the unhelpful reminder as she perched herself on one of the barstools, curious to see what he was looking at.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Wolfe said as he turned back to his papers, or maps, rather. “But I found these on t
he bookshelf in the living room. I thought I could use them to figure out how to get back to my truck from here.”
“Oh, okay,” Shelby said, feeling her heart sink a little at his words.
Well, what did you expect? That the man would just stay here?
“My truck is somewhere along this area,” Wolfe said, oblivious to her internal disappointment as he pointed to a spot on the map. “I was headed to my friend’s hunting lodge up here,” he added, his finger tracing a short distance on the map. He tilted his head to look at her, his dark eyes questioning. “Do you know where your cabin is located on here?”
Shelby’s mouth screwed off to the side as she leaned over to consider the map.
“The cabin should be right here,” she said after a moment, indicating a spot that was about a mile or so away from where he said his truck was.
Wolfe leaned back, nodding slightly to himself as if he’d suspected as much.
“Alright, good. I should be able to get back there within an hour then,” he said, gathering up the maps and returning them back to their spot on the small bookshelf.
Shelby swiveled in her seat, contemplating her options as she watched him go about putting on his boots.
“How are you going to be able to drive with all the snow?” Shelby asked, genuinely curious. “I’d offer to drive you there myself, but I know my little car won’t make it three feet out of the driveway.”
Wolfe finished lacing up his boots and looked up at her, his face twisted in a slightly embarrassed grimace.
“Well, I wasn’t planning on actually driving anywhere. My truck’s battery died last night while I was on the road, so I was just going to go back to the truck, grab my bag, and walk the rest of the way to the lodge. I figured I could stay there until the snow melted enough for a tow truck to come up and jump my truck.”
“Oh, I see,” Shelby said as he turned back away to unhook his coat from where it was hanging near the fireplace. “Well, you can borrow my cell phone so that you can call your friends if you want? Let them know that you’re okay? I didn’t have any reception last night, but it couldn’t hurt to try now.”
