by Lissa Kasey
We had filled both tanks from fuel cans when we got to the cabins to be sure they wouldn’t freeze overnight. In fact, we had two full gas cans that we could strap to one of the sleds if needed. Not safe, but a way to keep from running out. The one Gabe drove back with Sei would have been running low. He’d also parked it in the garage when he returned, so it had been easy prey for whoever was doing the sabotage.
If I got the sled left at the cabin and got to one of the ranger stations I could get help. Rescue helicopter or whatever. Maybe then everyone would stop looking at me like they were expecting me to be a villain too.
The more I thought about it, the more I needed to get to the sled at the cabin.
It was probably close to five in the morning before I got up, tired of trying to sleep, and dressed. I watched Jamie’s sleeping form for any sign that he was awake, but his deep, even breaths reassured me that he slept on. After snapping into my snowsuit, I checked the charge on my cell and made my way downstairs. If Gabe was still haunting the kitchen, it’d be a bust, since I’d need food.
When I found the kitchen empty, I felt like I hit the home run in overtime. I stuffed a bag full of non-perishables, strapped it on my back, and took a pair of snowshoes from the rack beside the door.
My cell had a reasonable GPS, even if the signal barely worked, and I knew where to go. The cabins were about four miles to the southwest of the lodge. Easy to reach by ATV in the summer or sled in the winter. Not so much on foot. The whipping wind made me hesitate. But I pulled my goggles down, scarf up, and grabbed an extra pair of gloves. It was going to be a long, cold walk.
I started strong. Getting far enough away from the lodge to not even see the lights in the distance felt like an accomplishment. Though the further I got, the colder I felt. Snow pressed at me, shouting in my head that it wanted to be free from the restless wind. And though I didn’t want to expend the extra energy, just to keep moving I had to use a trick my mom had taught me as a kid while swimming: I created a field of calm energy that surrounded me in a sort of bubble. Snow that entered the bubble fell to the ground, free from the wind until I moved away.
It kept the wind from beating at me. But unlike Seiran, I couldn’t pull energy from the ground. Without running water I was pretty much drawing on a battery that would eventually run dry. Still, I kept moving, pressed strength into the barrier, and fought my way through the heavy snow.
The sun was high in the sky by the time I reached the cabins. Knowing they’d only been a few miles away from the lodge had kept me walking, even when I was so tired it was hard to stand. The tops of the cabins were hardly distinguishable from the rest of the landscape. Only the chimneys stood out.
I examined the chimney of Sei and Gabe’s cabin, found it full of snow, and checked the one I’d shared with Jamie. It was fairly clear. I barely recalled closing the flue before leaving. I dug to find the door, needing warmth, food, water, and sleep. A few hours wouldn’t hurt anything.
After finding my way inside, I dragged the frozen logs out of the fireplace and put fresh ones in before lighting a fire. Once I had it raging, I pumped up some fresh water, thrilled that the lodge had seen fit to bury the pumps far enough down that they didn’t freeze. I ate a cold turkey sandwich and left my snow things by the fire to dry.
The heat from the jumping flames was almost hypnotizing. When I got up I’d find the snowmobile and try to figure a way to get back to the lodge with it. Maybe I’d just make my way to the ranger station fifteen miles south and get help. Either way, it could wait until I got some rest. I curled up on the heavy woven rug beside the fire, blankets wrapped around me, and fell asleep.
Chapter Twelve
Jamie
GABE’S knock brought me out of sleep just before dawn. I
expected to wake and find Kelly snug beside me again, but he was gone. The room looked oddly bare as I got up and let Gabe in. I felt awful for the things I’d said to Kelly. Had I really lost so much of my faith in the world that I suspected everyone? What the hell was wrong with me?
“I was going to tell you to keep an eye on him, but it looks like he’s already gone,” Gabe said. And the emptiness of the room suddenly made sense. All Kelly’s snow gear was gone, and his backpack no longer sat by the door. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Where the hell is he going?”
Gabe’s look meant he knew more than he was saying. “He told me that your sled is still out by the cabin, buried, but likely not damaged like the others.”
“You know Andrew Roman or some other asshole is involved.”
He still said nothing.
I knocked the stack of magazines off the nightstand. First I fuck up, and then Gabe lets Kelly go off on his own. So the kid could go out in a blizzard to get a single sled? And what would we do with it then? Send someone for help and pray they didn’t run into Andrew Roman or whichever madman had decided to play God? If he survived the trek at all. Damn it.
I began to pull on all my gear.
“You going after him?”
Like I had a choice. I had to apologize. Hopefully he
wouldn’t die before I found him. If my heart beat any harder I’d think I was having palpitations just from the thought of him being out there alone.
Gabe put his hand on my arm. “You can’t keep running from your feelings for him, Jamie.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You can’t protect Kelly from himself. The more you try to protect him, the more he’ll turn away from you. If you learn anything from me, look beyond what you want to what he needs. Sei loves you, but he doesn’t need you anymore. He has me. Maybe that’s why you’re so set on not opening up to anyone else. Kelly, however, deserves the whole deal.” He left with that, closing the door behind him in that quiet, ghost-like way that reminded me he was a vampire. He didn’t understand. I had to take care of Kelly, just like he had to take care of Sei, and Sei did still need me.
Kelly THE banging on the door sometime later woke me out of a deep sleep. I’d been dreaming of shadow figures moving inside a tower near a river.
The banging came again. Rolling over, I glared at the heavy wooden lock on the door before finally giving up my warm cocoon and making my way to see who the crazy person on the other side would be. For a moment, I worried that it might be whoever was making the storm so bad. But since they hadn’t approached any of us so far, I figured it was unlikely they wanted a face-to-face confrontation.
I swung the door open and was surprised to find Jamie standing there, head to toe in snow gear. Stepping back, I let him inside, then watched him snap off his snowshoes and close the door.
The snow felt calmer now. Maybe some of the worst of the storm had let up.
Jamie’s hair was wet with what looked like sweat. I checked the clock on my phone. He must have made good time because I’d only slept two hours.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked him.
“Saving your sorry ass from freezing to death. Are you crazy? Didn’t you notice the blizzard going on out there?” He sounded so angry; it made me almost giddy with relief. He had to care somewhat if he was this angry. And he would never have talked to his brother that way. Maybe the hibernating bear was finally waking up.
“In case you didn’t notice, I’m fine.” I threw another log on the fire and got more water, which felt icy smooth when it went down. The feeling of the well below ground when I pushed the pump to work made me warmer as the energy surrounded me. Filling up a bucket, I basked in the feel of it, realizing I must have used up too much energy on the way here.
“Why did you come here? It’s not safe. We need to go back to the lodge.”
“I’m fine here for a day or so. I’m going to unbury the sled we left the other day and get to the ranger station to call for help.”
Jamie swore like a sailor. I think my jaw dropped from the shock. Cool, calm, easy-going Jamie Browan was having a hissy fit. He threw his snowsuit aside and stripped out of his sweaty shirt and
pants, tossing things around the room like a child in the midst of a temper tantrum. He stopped at his boxers, leaving me more than a little disappointed. He must have pushed really hard to get here fast since he was covered in sweat.
“Why are you freaking out? You didn’t have to follow me. I know you think I’m the bad guy, but I’m not, and I’m going to prove it to you all by getting help.”
“Gabe said he thought you were going to do something rash. And when I got up and you were gone, I just never thought you’d do something so stupid….”
“I know what I’m doing. I’ve been doing the outdoor thing for years. I camped out in snow forts as a kid and took survival classes. I got here in one piece, all my fingers and toes intact.” I began to pull my snow things back on, intending to go find the Ski-Doo. Digging in the snow had to be better than all the unspoken accusations.
“Where are you going?”
“To find the snowmobile.”
“It’s dark out. We’ll look for it tomorrow.” He turned
away from me, his back looking like a sculpted masterpiece of man art. It would clear my head to keep moving. I finished pulling on my snow things.
“I won’t be out there long. I promise.”
He sighed and sat down heavily on the bed. “If you’re not back in ten minutes I’m coming out to get you. And I’m really not looking forward to putting the suit back on.”
His words made me smile and think of inappropriate things. But I shoved the goggles down and headed out into the snow, flashlight in hand. The wind barely blew, and the snow felt calm around me. I wouldn’t have had the energy to stop it from smacking me around anyway.
The other cabin sat still and dark, buried beneath the mounds of snow. I tried to recall where we’d pulled the sled to a couple of days ago when we’d arrived. It had been opposite my cabin, so the far side. I wandered around, clomping through white hills until I got to the spot I thought it would be, and began to dig.
I knew I’d passed the ten-minute mark when Jamie came out, dressed again, but only wearing his coat, hat, and gloves instead of the snowsuit. He watched me for a while, even pushed me aside to dig a bit.
On my third turn throwing snow up out of the hole, like a dog burying a bone, I hit pay dirt. The dark mass of the sled’s handle was the first thing I found. My shout of joy brought Jamie back to the edge of our treasure spot. He began carving a ramp from the white heap. I kept peeling the snow away as much as I could until I cleared enough of it to check the fuel line.
“It’s not frozen!” I cried.
“Try to start it,” Jamie said.
Clutching the keys with trembling fingers, I turned them and nearly flew off the seat when the machine roared to life. It felt strong and ready to go. I just wanted to get on the road to the ranger’s station.
“Shut it down. We’ll head out tomorrow.”
I began to protest, but he held up a hand.
“It’s too dangerous to drive in the dark. We’d have to go really slow.” He peered at me, hands twitching like he was trying to keep from yanking me out of the hole.
“Shouldn’t we pull the sled up? We may get more snow overnight.”
“It’s better if no one sees it.”
I sighed and climbed out of the hole, kicking some snow back down just to cover it in case anyone was near and nosey.
Jamie was already back at the cabin door. He disappeared inside while I made my way across the heavy snow pack. Inside the cabin, the heat hit me. I stripped out of my snow things, leaving them to dry by the door. Jamie stood in his boxers again, sweating like some golden god of debauchery.
I took a long gulp of the water and let myself commune with the broken ripples in the bucket for a minute. My magic energy was still low. Though I supposed if I lived near the ocean, I’d be always “plugged in” like Sei was.
“It’s like a sauna in here. I saw the smoke from a mile or so away. I hope no one else notices it.” Jamie took the bucket of water from me and dumped it over his head. The water splashed around him in a puddle but didn’t get anything other than the grungy floor wet.
I blinked at him, feeling somewhat shocked. The water slid over those strong shoulders, leading to a stream that wove down his chiseled chest and washboard abs, dripping from his bulging arms and running over his bellybutton to soak into those already too-thin boxers.
Until that moment, I hadn’t realized how connected I was to the water. But I was rooted in that spot, watching him. It felt like I was running my hands over all that beautiful flesh.
The hint of hair regrowing around his nipples caught the water and beaded lightly. I wondered how often he waxed and if I could get him to stop. His pecs glistened with water droplets in the firelight. My mouth went dry at the thought of tasting all that golden man meat. Would his cock be that beautiful bronze as well? How much of it would I be able to take?
He caught me staring and put the bucket down. “Were you going for tropical?”
“Tropical, yeah.” Like pool boys in skimpy Speedos or margaritas on a nude beach.
His hair dripped, sending wet trails down the rough planes, outlining muscles that I longed to touch. The boxers sagged from the weight of the water soaking them, and vaguely, I hoped he hadn’t brought a spare. “Gabe is still trying to reach the ranger station by radio. We’ll head back to the lodge and wait.”
That knocked me out of my stupor. “No.”
“What do you mean, no?”
“I’m not waiting for someone to save me. I’m going to get help.”
“That’s a suicide mission.”
“And waiting isn’t? How long before the generators go out? Or the snow is too high to dig out the wood? Or food runs out? Do we wait until whoever killed Ron comes and gets us?” I shook my head. “I don’t need a hero. My back is strong enough to lift my own goddamned burden.”
“You don’t even know that this isn’t just a bad storm.”
“I feel it.” He opened his mouth to interrupt me, and I held up a hand. “You can feel when the earth does something unusual, right?”
“Sometimes,” he admitted.
“Well, I know that water is being made to do something unnatural. Like the levels exam when the river nearly flooded and killed us all.” I looked him in the eye and dared him to protest again.
He sank down onto the bed and put his head in his hands, pulling at his hair. “I’m sorry for what I said last night. I was tired and confused and afraid. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
The admission made my heart swell. About time the bastard admitted I was more than just his little brother’s friend. “I don’t want to get hurt either. But I’d rather be hurt than let Seiran, Gabe, or you get hurt. I have to protect my family.”
Jamie peered up through his fingers, staring at me with a face full of naked emotion. It hit me like a dump truck hauling concrete. He looked scared, terrified almost, and I didn’t know how to react. I crossed the room to sit beside him on the bed and wrapped my arms around him. He sighed, some of the tension leaving his face before resting his head on my shoulder.
“I’d rather we just go back to the lodge tomorrow. Gabe can leave at dark to try to find help.” His breath felt hot against my shoulder, and my cock filled, arching up as if saying “Me next!”
“And if something happens to Gabe, think of what will happen to Sei.” I pulled away from Jamie before he could feel the stiffy that wanted to press against all that bronzed skin. Resting my head against the wall beside the door, I tried to suck in a deep breath and calm my body. Jamie needed a friend as much as Seiran did. I could be the friend he needed. Maybe.
Jamie’s arms came up and wrapped around me from behind. Not restraining, just a light hug, fingers moving in soft caresses. “Can we talk about it in the morning when we’ve both gotten some sleep?”
“Jamie—”
He rubbed my chest through the thin material of the Tshirt, lingering on my nipples until they hardened to tight little buds. Damn
. But when his hand wandered further south, I caught his wrist.
“No.”
“You want me. You’ve never made a secret of that.”
“You’re only trying to distract me.”
“You’re right. But it’s late. You’re exhausted and depleted of the magic energy you need to help anyone, and the storm is building again outside. What else are we going to do for the next fourteen hours? I’m tired too, but I want you.” His voice was soft in my ear. Wetness dampened my boxers, and I knew I was leaking precum already.
“You’re straight.” All good Dominion boys were straight. They married Dominion girls and had Dominion babies. That’s why Sei and I got so much crap, because we weren’t good Dominion boys.
“Says who?”
My heart pounded. Did I really have a chance? Sure, I’d never seen him date, but that didn’t mean he never had sex with anyone. When he flipped me around, shoved me against the door, and dropped to his knees before me, I had a few seconds to say no, push him away, or cry foul, but I didn’t. He unbuttoned my pants, pulled them down, and pressed his face to the erection that he’d freed.
His hand felt hotter than the fire raging beside us. Almost painful, but so impossibly sweet. The warmth of him combined with the light scratch of stubble on his jaw rubbing me made my head spin. That hard grip of his moved in a slow, circular motion, thumb teasing the long vein that ran down the center of my cock before flicking the head and coming back down.
I fell against the wall, letting the sensation take some of the pressure off my mind and build it in the growing tingle within my balls. I would have been happy with just a hand job. But when his tongue flicked out to deliver a round lick to the mushroom-shaped head of my cock, I thought I’d explode right then and there.
A second later his hot mouth engulfed the tip of me, teasing, sucking, nibbling, like it was some sort of delicate pastry. I couldn’t keep myself from grabbing that pretty blond head of his, winding my hands in his wet hair, and thrusting my hips forward.
He met my thrust. Let my cock slide into his mouth and even bump the back of his throat. One hand gripped at the base of me, strong and smooth strokes following each shove into that pretty face. He sucked me, cheeks hollow, looking so much like a porn movie dream I felt my balls draw up. I freed one hand from his hair and gave them a quick, painful squeeze to keep from embarrassing myself like some teenage horn-dog coming too quickly.
