Frozen

by L. A. Casey

  They were both big on me, but they felt nice, so I continued and put on Darcy’s trousers and t-shirt. I had to tie the track suit bottoms tight with the string so they wouldn’t fall down, and I also had to roll them up a few times because they were pretty long. The T-shirt was my favourite item of clothing. It was like a tent on me, but a warm, cuddly tent that smelled fucking amazing.

  I inhaled deeply and groaned out loud.

  Darcy. Smelled. Awesome.

  I looked down at his T-shirt, and when I realised how creepy I was being I put my hands on my face and mentally chided myself.

  I was turning into some sort of Darcy fangirl, and the worst part was . . . I liked it.

  I possibly liked . . . Darcy . . . a tiny bit.

  I think.

  I had one thing to say to that tiny thought: WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK?

  “I’m so screwed,” I muttered to myself.

  I walked mutely out of Darcy’s bedroom and headed down to the kitchen.

  Darcy was over at Einstein’s cage finishing eating a tin of beans. I glanced at him, but when he turned in my direction I focused on washing my hands in the sink and not anything, or anyone, else.

  “You look good in . . . clothes,” Darcy commented as he put the now-empty tin in the bin.

  I raised my eyebrow and looked at him. “I was in clothes before these . . . They were just wet.”

  Darcy gave me a ‘get real’ look. “That dress and blazer didn’t cover much; what you’re wearing now are proper clothes.”

  I inwardly smiled.

  “Yeah, well . . . whatever.”

  Darcy chuckled. “Is it killing you to wear clothes that belong to me?”

  No, and that’s why I was annoyed.

  “They’ll do,” was all I said.

  I didn’t want to lie, because I was tired of lying, so not directly answering his question was my only option.

  “What time is it?” I asked.

  Darcy looked to the wall behind Einstein and said, “Half eleven.”

  I widened my eyes. “At night?”

  Darcy nodded. “It’s Christmas Eve tomorrow.”

  I frowned. “I don’t want to miss Christmas.”

  Darcy tilted his head as he looked at me. “We won’t; our mothers will come up here and dig us out with their bare hands before they’d let us miss a Christmas.”

  I laughed and shook my head.

  I wouldn’t put it past either of our mothers to do something so drastic.

  “So . . .” Darcy said.

  I wanted to smile, because he was rocking back and forth on his heels as he looked at me.

  “So what?” I asked.

  Darcy shrugged. “So . . . it’s late. Bedtime.”

  “You’re putting me to bed?” I asked, teasing.

  He shrugged. “Depends. If you walk into my bedroom freely then no, but if you run from me then yes.”

  My stomach flipped, my heart pounded against my chest, and I could feel a pulse between my thighs. The pulse frightened me most, because I’d never gotten that sensation for Darcy . . . until now.

  “I’m, uh, good with the storage room,” I said, and tried to walk by him.

  Darcy clucked his tongue at me and caught me around the waist with his arms when I tried to pass him by. He pulled me back to him until my back was flush against his front. I could feel the heat of his body on mine.

  Christ.

  Why was I reacting to him like this?

  This was Darcy.

  The same Darcy who drove me absolutely mad.

  The same Darcy who was my enemy, and had been for fifteen years.

  The same Darcy who had chosen another girl over me – his ex–best friend.

  The same Darcy who hated me as much as I hated him.

  My body, and now my mind, seemed to not care about any of that, because I liked his closeness, and his touch.

  I fucking liked Darcy holding me this close to him.

  What the hell do I do now? Admit myself to an asylum?

  “No more sleeping in the storage room, little woman. You’re sleeping next to me in my bed tonight. You don’t have to be scared; I’ll even let you build a pillow fort between us so you don’t have to look at me.”

  I giggled.

  Yeah, I bloody giggled.

  “Was that a giggle I heard?” Darcy teased.

  I tried to smother my laughter as I said, “No.”

  Darcy brought his mouth down to my ear and said, “Are you coming willingly or not?”

  Because I wanted to see what he would do, I said, “Not.”

  “I didn’t want to have to do this, but you’ve left me no choice,” Darcy said then, his voice raspy.

  What was he— “Omigod!” I screeched as Darcy turned me to face him, then proceeded to bend, grip me behind the knees with his hands, and pull. I was flipped over Darcy’s shoulder and hung there as he straightened himself up.

  “Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to bed we go,” Darcy sang as he marched out of the kitchen.

  He turned slightly as he left the room and my head hit the kitchen door.

  “Ow!”

  Darcy winced. “My bad.”

  I cracked up as I hung over his shoulder. I smacked his arse a few times just to show some sign of protest, even though I was loving every second of his caveman act.

  I yelped when I was suddenly flung back over Darcy’s shoulders. But instead of hitting a hard surface I fell onto a soft mattress. I was still laughing as Darcy jumped onto the bed beside me. I sat up and shoved him. He looked at me and chuckled. I was smiling as I found myself looking into his eyes, then to his mouth.

  I caught the moment Darcy saw what I was doing, and I noticed his sharp intake of breath. I swallowed nervously and cleared my throat.

  “Thanks . . . I don’t agree with your method, but I appreciate your wanting me to have somewhere comfortable to sleep,” I said, then turned and crawled up the bed and got under the covers, facing away from Darcy.

  “No problem,” Darcy said, then lingered for a moment before he moved and got under the covers also.

  There was silence until he said, “Goodnight, Neala Girl.”

  My heart thudded in my chest and my stomach burst into butterflies.

  “Goodnight, Darcy.”

  I closed my eyes and prayed sleep would come easily – even though my mind was screaming that something had definitely changed between Darcy and me, and I wanted to think about it. Surprisingly, I fell into a deep and relaxed slumber.

  Which was utterly destroyed the next morning.

  I woke up before I opened my eyes.

  I didn’t want to, because I was warm, comfortable, and completely content with the pillow I was hugging so tightly to my body. I snuggled into it and had just started to doze off again when movement under me interrupted my snooze.

  What was that?

  I groaned out loud and it caused whatever was under me to tense.

  Since when can pillows tense? Since when can they do anything?

  I became aware of everything in that moment as my mind fully awoke.

  Oh, no.

  “Oh, my God,” I whispered as I opened my eyes and came face to face with a light pink nipple.

  It was practically pressed into my eye socket.

  I slowly reached up and pressed my hands against the chest around the nipple, carefully peeling my face away. I swallowed as I looked down and found my leg cocked over Darcy’s body. I was so far into Darcy’s space that I was practically straddling him.

  I widened my eyes as a sharp pulse between my thighs caught me by surprise.

  I was getting turned on?

  By almost lying on Darcy’s hard body?

  I was fucking losing it.

  I tried to retract my leg as slowly as I could, but when a slight moan rumbled up Darcy’s throat, I froze. I didn’t know what to do, so I stayed perfectly still until I was sure he hadn’t woken up. I looked back down and slowly began to pull my leg away once again, but
the moment it moved over his pelvis and slid over what can only be described as a speed bump, I felt tingles burst free all over my body.

  Darcy had an erection . . . and my leg was currently resting on top of it.

  Oh. My. God.

  I wanted to clench my thighs together when the pulse between said thighs got a little too intense for me to deal with calmly, but I couldn’t. I was mortified that I was having this sort of reaction to Darcy and he was doing nothing but sleeping.

  I felt like a major pervert.

  I quickly moved my leg away from Darcy’s groin area, but the movement made my leg grind over the erection, and Darcy must have felt it, because he moved. My heart jumped as I took a peek up at him.

  His eyes were closed, but he had a small grin on his face.

  Oh, Jesus.

  I gasped. “You’re awake!”

  Darcy opened his eyes and laughed. “I’m sorry; you trying to get off on me undetected was too entertaining to interrupt.”

  I was so embarrassed.

  “I was trying to get off you, not get off on you.”

  He smirked. “My mistake.”

  The dirty bastard.

  I scoffed and shoved his chest with my hands as I pushed away from him. I rolled off him and huddled into the covers on my temporary side of the bed because the entire section of the mattress was freezing.

  I winced.

  I must have being sleeping on Darcy for a long time.

  Damn it.

  “Neala.” Darcy laughed. “Don’t hide over there. I don’t mind if you want to spoon me . . . or lie on me. If you’re cold, don’t be afraid to use my body to warm you up.”

  Bloody hell.

  “Stop it. Stop talking to me; just go back to sleep,” I pleaded, and buried my face into the pillow my head rested on.

  “But I can be your heater, baby,” he sang.

  I couldn’t even smile. “You just butchered a great song.”

  I was absolutely mortified. I didn’t want Darcy to notice, because he would just tease me some more, so I tried to play it cool, and that meant I had to be a bitch.

  “Are you embarrassed?” Darcy asked, chuckling.

  Cool, play it cool.

  “Why would I be embarrassed?” I said, and then cleared my throat. “I can’t help what I do in my sleep. It’s out of my control if my body moves when eighty percent of my brain is dormant.”

  Darcy cackled. “Same here, so my hard-on shouldn’t freak you out so much. Men get morning wood all the time and it’s out of our control.”

  I hadn’t even mentioned his erection!

  “Stop. Talking,” I growled.

  Darcy sighed. “You’re freaked that you cuddled with me, but you’re more freaked that you touched my cock . . . I mean penis.”

  I could hear the grin in his voice, the fucker.

  “It doesn’t freak me out. I’d just rather not touch any part of you. Especially your coc— penis.”

  Damn it.

  Darcy snorted. “A little feisty, aren’t you?”

  I was never going to be able to calm myself down if he kept talking.

  “Keep it up, and I’m heading out to the sitting room,” I threatened.

  Darcy chuckled. “Okay, Okay. I’ll quit teasing you.”

  Thank God.

  Darcy stopped talking, and after a few minutes his breathing slowed and I knew the fucker had fallen back asleep, which wasn’t fair. My body was on high alert and I was still mortified.

  I couldn’t stay in his bed any longer, so I quietly got out and snuck into the sitting room. Some areas were still damp, so I went into the kitchen and got tea towels to dry everything up. It gave me something to do and focus on . . . for a few minutes.

  My mind kept going back to touching Darcy’s boner, and then him laughing because he knew I’d felt it.

  I was so embarrassed.

  I didn’t want to look at him, or talk to him, ever again. I wanted to bury my face in the mountains of snow outside and cease my existence.

  With Darcy, though, things were never that simple.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  It was Christmas Eve, and I was still stuck in Darcy’s house.

  We had been trapped inside this hell-hole of evil for three and a half days already.

  Three and a half days! (I was counting Friday night as half a day because it felt that long.)

  It got worse too, because it seemed that there was no end in sight for this . . . ordeal.

  I looked to the doorway of the sitting room when a noise got my attention. When I saw it was Darcy leaning against the doorway I flushed with embarrassment and looked away. I was grateful for the dimly lit room, because I could not take Darcy teasing me right now, especially not after what had happened this morning.

  I’d avoided him for most of the day, staying in the sitting room while he stayed in his bedroom for the most part. I forced myself to endure a freezing cold bath for a while to clean myself up. I missed warm water terribly, but I needed to give myself a good scrub. It was a perfect excuse to stay away from Darcy for an extra couple of minutes.

  I’d interacted with him only when I needed fresh clothes; he’d silently handed me another set, just like the ones I had before. I’d thought I would get away with not speaking to him at all, but now it was late in the evening and he was making me face him.

  It was horrible.

  I’d woken up this morning spooning Darcy, and I’d touched his . . . boner. That wasn’t even the worst part. The worst part was that I kind of, sort of, liked it.

  It was soul crushing.

  I was so confused about my sudden feelings for Darcy. I didn’t know what to do with them or myself. I was freaked by how intense they were for something so new. I didn’t know how to process it.

  “Go away, Darcy,” I grumbled, and drew my knees up to my chest.

  “I come bearing gifts, though.”

  I peeked at him and saw he had a bottle of wine.

  A large bottle of wine, which was exactly what I needed.

  I held my hand out and he handed me the opened bottle. I took at least five deep gulps and handed it back to him. He took a few sips as well and then put it on the floor next to the couch and walked right over to me, but I still refused to look up at him. I shook my head as the heat flowed through my body, and after a moment I pressed my face back against my knees as Darcy chuckled.

  “Why are you being like this?”

  I remained still.

  “Being like what?” I mumbled.

  I tensed when I felt him lean towards me.

  “Like this. You’re acting like a little girl who just saw her first coc—”

  “Don’t say that word,” I growled, cutting Darcy off before he could finish his sentence.

  He laughed as he fell onto the couch next to me. “You don’t like that word?”

  I didn’t mind it, but when Darcy said it, it sounded dirty . . . dirty in a good way.

  “No, I don’t.”

  Darcy chuckled lightly. “Okay, you’re acting like a little girl who has never seen a penis before.”

  I elbowed him in the stomach and he coughed and then laughed, hard.

  “You’re such a dickhead, Darcy Hart,” I grumbled.

  I tried to get up from the couch, but his arms closed around me, making that impossible.

  “I’m sorry. I won’t laugh anymore.”

  Yeah, like I’d believe that.

  I sighed in defeat. “I don’t care; laugh it up.”

  Darcy released me from his hold, but left one arm draped around my shoulder. I was very aware of it. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

  “I’m only playing with you, Neala Girl. You know that, right?”

  I did, but it was still embarrassing.

  “Did you come in here to talk about this morning? Because if you did, you can feck off.”

  Darcy shook with silent laughter.

  “I wanted to make sure you were okay. You’ve barely looked at
me since this morning, and that is odd, even for you.”

  I leaned my head back on Darcy’s arm and looked up to the dark ceiling.

  “I know you couldn’t help it; it was just your body and not you. I know all that, but still . . . it touched me, Darcy.”

  Darcy lost it and burst out laughing, and then quickly wrapped both his arms around my body as I tried to get up from the couch once more. He howled with laughter and yelped and screeched when I pinched his arm in an attempt to make him let me go, but he didn’t. He held on to me tightly, and I hated that I loved every second of it.

  “I’m sorry.” He wheezed with laughter. “I’ll stop . . . Just give me a second.”

  He was such a moron – he laughed at everything.

  I muttered obscenities to myself until Darcy calmed himself down, which wasn’t for at least three minutes.

  “Okay, I’m okay,” he said.

  I tilted my head back and looked to my right at him. “Are you sure?”

  He smiled wide. “Just don’t say me hard-on touched you again in that horrified tone and I’ll be perfectly fine.”

  I rolled my eyes and looked back to the ceiling. “You’re an eejit. You know that, right?”

  “Yes.”

  I couldn’t help it; I laughed.

  Darcy nudged me lightly until I looked back at him.

  “You know what this reminds me of?”

  I was intrigued.

  “What?” I asked.

  “When we were little, before the drama started between us, you would lie against me like you are now and you’d happily stay that way for hours. It was as if you felt safe in my arms, like you knew I would protect you from anything.”

  I melted. “You would protect me from anything back then, Darcy. I knew you would.”

  He nudged me. “I still would.”

  I swallowed and looked forward.

  What the hell was I supposed to say to that?

  “I’m not sweet-talking you. I’ve just never told you that even though we have hate for one another, I still have a lot of love for you. Even though we are at each other’s throats all the time, you’re a huge part of me life. Now that I really think about it, you take up half of it, to be honest.”

  I was half of Darcy’s life?

  “Wow,” I whispered.