Scalding Hot Chocolate

by Jaliza A. Burwell

  Bryce’s hand went to cover his heart, and he acted like he’d been shot. “You wound me, Maddie.”

  The rest of the walk was quick, and we came to the barn section. There was a huge pumpkin farm that the kiddies were excited to explore. A tractor with hay seats in a wagon hitched to the back sat off to the side.

  “Oh! Hayrides?” I asked.

  “Yup,” Bryce said. “Want to claim the first ride?”

  “Oh, yes!” I nodded furiously. I loved hayrides.

  He looped his arm with mine and led the way. Dayton had us wait just long enough to break the group of children into mini ones, and handed two of them over to us to go on a ride.

  The twins ended up in a different group, more interested in the pumpkins. We had to help the kids up and get them seated. They were very determined to lean over the sides or pull apart the hay bales. I tasked Bryce with the trouble of keeping their bums in their seats and body parts tucked away safely.

  “Look.” Bryce pointed off to the side. Koen was being pulled along by a gaggle of girls as they headed toward the section full of photo stands.

  “Oh,” I said, excitement thrumming through me. “We need to do that and get all the pictures. And I need those pictures of Koen. That’s blackmail for a year.”

  Bryce snickered. “You’re going to blackmail a lawyer.”

  “Uh… Yes?”

  Laughing, he pulled me into his side and sat us both down. Every place we touched became hot and tingly. My awareness of his body grew tenfold. I couldn’t. I just couldn’t hold it in. It was too good, too funny. I’d never had an opportunity like this to pretend we were in a paranormal romance novel.

  “Bryce.”

  He turned his head, raising an eyebrow as he waited for me to say something.

  With as serious an expression as I could, I tried adding in a deep growling voice to imitate an alpha shifter as I said, “Mate.”

  Bryce stared at me in surprise, his mouth slightly parted, eyebrows furrowed.

  “What?”

  I did it again. “Mate. Mine.” This time I leaned into him, looping my arm with his so we were pressed even more tightly together.

  “Uh…I think this is the moment I just smile and nod, right?” He sounded so adorably confused.

  Unable to hold it in, I broke out laughing, practically falling all over Bryce as I tried to pull myself together. It was too perfect of an opportunity to miss.

  “I don’t get what’s going on, but okay then. Weirdo.”

  That sent me into a laughing fit again as the ride began and all the kids were too distracted staring at the crazy lady to realize it.

  The ride ended up being pretty relaxing. I cuddled up to Bryce, and he let me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders to pull me closer into him.

  I may have dozed off, lulled by the sound of the tractor and the sway of the wagon. A male voice spoke, filling us in on the spooky tales of their land, the ghost stories they had that went back to when their family first settled there centuries ago.

  “Maddie.”

  I hummed, keeping my eyes closed, not wanting to move. I was comfortable against the hard body.

  “Maddie, the ride’s over and we need to get off.”

  I tried to respond, but my head was too clouded with sleep. I snuggled into him instead.

  A cool hand pressed against my forehead, and I moaned. It felt so good against my hot skin. It was late October. Why did it feel so hot when the temperatures were in the fifties?

  “Shit.” Bryce squeezed me to him. “Can someone get Koen and Dayton?”

  “I will,” a female voice replied. I could hear the grass crunching as she moved away from me.

  “Maddie, sweetie, you’re burning up.”

  “No, I’m not,” I finally mumbled.

  “Yes, you are. You have a high fever.”

  “Nuh uh.”

  “Uh huh.”

  I tried to lift my head to glare at him, but my muscles didn’t want to work right. I knew I was a weakling and didn’t have much in terms of strength, but even to my standards this was bad.

  “Oh. Okay. Maybe I do.”

  Bryce laughed, though it sounded humorless.

  “What’s going on?”

  I groaned. Not Koen. He was a bossy pants.

  “Yes, it’s bossy pants,” Mr. Bossy Pants said.

  “Stay out of my head.”

  “I’m never in your head.”

  “Stop reading my thoughts.”

  “Madison.” Koen sighed. And used my full name. That meant big business.

  The chest I leaned on shook.

  “Yes, Madison, I mean business. You’re sick and we need to get you home to rest.”

  “But… but… the trip. And the hayride.” I finally forced my eyes open. “Oh, that was a bad idea.” I closed my eyes again. Everything had been spinning around and around. And it was bright. Why was the sun so bright? It needed a dimmer.

  Again the chest I leaned against shook as Bryce laughed.

  I patted his chest. “You aren’t making a very good pillow right now.”

  “I’m not trying to be a pillow. I’m trying to figure out how to get you into Koen’s car so we can bring you home.”

  “I can’t go home. The kiddies need watching.”

  “You’re too sick to stay here,” Koen said. “I can easily bring you to the hospital if you really don’t want to go back home.”

  I grunted as I sat up straight. I blinked and opened my eyes to glare at Koen. Okay, maybe it was more like a squint. That darn sun was really bright.

  “I’ll go home. But you guys can’t come. The kids will need watching.”

  “What’s going on?” Dayton asked, joining us.

  “Maddie is sick. She has a high fever, and she’s sweating,” Bryce said.

  Koen just had to put his two cents in and said, “She has been tired. No doubt the stress with her job, the child custody case, and the twins is catching up to her.”

  “Do not bring the twins into this,” I said in a cold voice. “They are sunshine incarnate. They are never an issue.”

  “Of course they aren’t,” Dayton said, giving me a wary glance. “But the custody case with your stepmother definitely isn’t helping.”

  “It’s all stress, Maddie. There’s nothing wrong with that. You have a lot going on right now and you haven’t been working at your best. It’s put you into a vulnerable position, and now it seems to have all caught up with you.”

  “I’m not sick,” I snapped.

  “Maddie!” Dayton snapped back. I flinched and stared at him with wide eyes. He looked furious. This was the first time I was seeing him so mad. “This isn’t a game. You’re sick and you’re putting everyone around you in danger. Did you forget we’re at a field trip full of little kids who can easily catch what you have? Do you want them getting sick too because you’re being too stubborn?”

  I licked my lips and looked down. “Of course not.”

  “Then go home. I can spare Bryce and Koen. We have enough parents and teachers here.”

  “Fine.”

  Dayton was right. If I stuck around, I was going to spread my gross germs and get the other kids sick. Who knew what damage I had already done.

  “Come on,” Bryce said and helped me stand. My head did not like that, but I sucked it up. We got to the edge of the wagon and Koen helped me down, putting his hands on my waist and then lifting me.

  Before I knew it, I was tucked into Koen’s chest as he carried me back to the parking lot. Luckily, it wasn’t far off. Our little walk had looped us around the pumpkin patch, but the parking lot itself was right by it, tucked away behind a line of trees.

  “Why did you let yourself get this bad?” Koen said.

  “Relax,” Bryce said. “She didn’t purposely make herself like this.”

  “Yeah,” I said, nodding in agreement.

  “No, but it could have been preventable.” Koen sighed. “I can see it, Maddie, the bruising under your
eyes. You aren’t sleeping enough. Why?”

  “No comment,” I said.

  Koen’s body stiffened, and I felt him fight with himself. He wanted to push me. Knowing him, he’d want to drag every little detail out of me, and if he had to drag me across hot coals to get it, I was pretty sure he’d do it. Maybe toss in some waterboarding. Koen looked very adept at getting his answers.

  If he tried hard enough—or, well, not that hard at all—I would be singing like a canary in a coal mine. All he had to do was give me that look, that one that said he wasn’t impressed with my antics and if I didn’t straighten up, he’d train me to do so.

  Even if Koen wouldn’t admit to it, he was such a Dom, with a capital D.

  Bryce laughed hard, the sound echoing around the field.

  “What’s so funny?” I asked, lifting my head up from Koen.

  “You realize you said that out loud, right?” he asked.

  “What?” I blinked a few times until the answer dawned on me.

  Son. Of. A. Ferret.

  I shook my head furiously. “No, I didn’t. I did no such thing.”

  “You did,” Koen said. His grip on me tightened. “And if I were a Dom with a capital D as you put it, then you’d never be this sick. I’d never allow it. And once you got better, I would also punish you for not taking care of yourself.” He leaned closer to me, his breath brushing against my already heated skin. “And you’d take my punishment while screaming for me to keep going.”

  “Koen,” Bryce said, something dark in his voice. “Cut it out.”

  “I didn’t do anything,” Koen said, managing to sound innocent even as my head felt ready to explode from embarrassment. And maybe anticipation. Just a little bit of anticipation.

  It took everything I had not to squirm as he carried me. So I did what I could and tucked my head into his neck, trying to hide from him.

  Bryce didn’t reply, but I felt a new tension in the air as a door clicked open and Koen leaned forward. He carefully put me down in the passenger seat and buckled me in. Bryce climbed into the back.

  The drive back was a little confusing. I kept dozing in and out of sleep and then I remembered being lifted up and put into something soft and warm. I moaned, trying to curl into myself.

  “Not yet, sweetheart,” Koen said. “We need to get you comfortable. Can you change on your own?”

  “No,” I whined. I was so hot. “Take it off.”

  “We’ll get you comfortable, but we want to change your clothes first. Can you at least do that?” he asked.

  “No.”

  “Maddie.”

  “Hmm.”

  “If you can’t, you do understand that I will then,” Koen said in a soft voice.

  It took me a moment to process his words, slow on the uptake. He was saying he’d see me naked.

  I was totally okay with that. I only wanted to not be so darn hot.

  “So? Do what you gotta do. And hurry. It’s so hot in here.”

  “Why do you get to change her?” Bryce asked.

  “Seriously, man? Now is not the time for this.”

  Bryce grumbled something else, but I couldn’t hear what he said as he left the room.

  I opened my eyes, realizing the lights were dim. I was not in my room. I didn’t recognize this place. “Where am I?” I asked.

  “You’re at our place. It was easier to get here. Once the field trip is over, Dayton will bring the twins back here with him. They’ll be taken care of while you rest up.” The softness in his voice would have warmed me to the core if I wasn’t already a burning inferno instead. I settled for my heart pounding an extra beat.

  “I’m sorry,” I mumbled. “You shouldn’t have to take care of me.”

  “Maddie, it’s fine.” He helped me sit up. “This is what friends do. Being friends isn’t always all glamour and fun. We stick by for the hard parts too. That means when you’re sick, whether it’s the flu or the stomach bug.”

  My nose wrinkled in disgust. “Good thing my stomach feels okay.”

  “Even if you needed to live by the toilet for a couple of days, I’d be there to hold your hair back or make sure you don’t run out of toilet paper.”

  I moaned. “Koen. That is gross. I don’t want to hear that. You’re supposed to pretend that girls don’t do those things. That is not ladylike.”

  He chuckled. “Too late. You forget I live with two other men and I’m a grown man. I’ve been disillusioned about women since I was seventeen. Now, arms up. I’m taking off your outfit.”

  I snickered.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Good luck.”

  I had gone with a one piece. The bottom was still fluffy like a tulle skirt, but it was attached to a corset top. I had thrown a sweater over that.

  He leaned forward until I could see the gold honey part of his eyes nearly lost in the sea of brown. “I’m very good. Trust me, this won’t be an issue.”

  “If you say so,” I mumbled in a low voice, almost too lost in his eyes to respond.

  “Arms up.”

  I did as he said. He quickly pulled off my sweater. I stared at him and held in a smirk as his eyes took in the rest of my outfit. The sweater was on the bulkier side so it hid the way the corset pushed up my boobs. I didn’t have much in that department, but my corset knew how to work those assets.

  His sharp intake of breath told me he enjoyed what he saw. There was a storm in his expression as he fought with himself. Taking the high road, he moved to my back.

  “No wonder you got worse,” he growled out. “I’ll never understand how women can move around in these.”

  I giggled. “A good corset only enhances our figures. They aren’t that uncomfortable if done right.”

  “Don’t need to warp your body.” He grumbled as he undid the ties.

  The corset loosened. Despite what I’d just said, it did feel nice to have the corset not so tight. With the fever, I had felt constricted in it. Cool air hit my heated skin, and I moaned in pleasure. This felt so much better than taking off a bra a size too small after a long day. Koen froze behind me for a moment before he finished taking the dress off. He let it fall forward, freeing my breasts to breathe. I didn’t wait and shifted around until I could push the dress off my legs and away from me. That left me in nearly complete freedom, in only my underwear.

  It felt so good, having the cool air against my body.

  There was rustling before a shirt was tugged over my head.

  “Hey!” I said.

  “Relax. It’s just a shirt.”

  “But I don’t want it. I want to be free,” I whined.

  Again he froze.

  “You’re killing me,” he grumbled. I wasn’t sure he meant for me to hear it.

  I tried to turn to fight him, but he would have none of it as he tried to get the darn shirt on me. I yanked away from his touch, getting my arm free only for him to grab it again to put through the shirt’s arm holes.

  “Stop manhandling me!” I screeched and yanked away from him.

  “Jesus Christ, Maddie,” he yelled back. “Just put the damn shirt on.”

  “No! It feels so nice. I don’t want anything against my skin.”

  “What the hell is going on?” Bryce came into the room, the door banging against the wall. He froze in the doorway, eyes widening as he took in the scene of Koen trying to put a shirt on me while I screamed for him to stop.

  “What the fuck are you doing to her?” Bryce’s expression was thunderous, and he charged after Koen. “Get away from her, Koen. What the hell?”

  “Tell him I said no,” I cried.

  Bryce yanked Koen away from me, and I moved away, wanting to be out of reach. He couldn’t dress me if he couldn’t reach me. While they were on one side of the bed, I rolled until I fell off the other side.

  “Ugh.” The floor really hated me. I heard something thud hard against something else, and it oddly sounded like a punch against flesh. I watched enough movies to know what that
sounded like.

  I didn’t care. I tore the shirt over my head and popped up on the other side. The two of them were wrestling. Bryce still looked furious while Koen was absolutely confused.

  I was too.

  Then realization dawned on me.

  Me on the bed.

  Koen trying to force a shirt on me, though it could be misconstrued as him trying to force it off me.

  Me yelling no, practically crying.

  Fudge nuggets.

  “Wait! No,” I said. “Stop. Stop.”

  I ran to them, but neither cared. Bryce was too busy trying to strangle Koen, and Koen was too busy trying to save his gentleman card.

  Needing to do something, and with only one option, I did the only thing I could do. I threw the shirt at them.

  It hit Bryce in the face, getting his attention.

  “What the hell…” He turned to me and froze. Koen broke away from him right away, but he froze too.

  “That wasn’t what was going on,” I said. “He wasn’t trying to hurt me.”

  “Dammit, Maddie.” Koen swore some more. He came at me with the shirt.

  Realizing I was standing in front of both of them, naked, with a full-frontal view of my breasts, I let out a screeching noise and curled into myself on the floor, bringing my knees to my chest and tucking my head down.

  “Dammit, this is why I wanted you to put the shirt on.”

  “But I’m too hot,” I said into my knees.

  “That may be so, but now we all saw,” Koen said softly. I felt the shirt land on top of me. “Put it on and then we can get you to take some medicine to make you feel better.”

  I moaned but listened, carefully putting the shirt on. I practically swam in it as it dropped down to my thighs.

  “If you’d listened like a good girl the first time, this wouldn’t have happened,” Koen said.

  “I’m sorry,” I mumbled.

  He sighed. “Come on, Bryce. Let’s give her some privacy to finish changing.”

  Bryce let Koen push him out of the room. He still hadn’t said anything, but his eyes never left me, even as he walked out. Koen had to push him out as he walked backward.

  My face remained red and hot as I finished getting dressed. Koen left me with a pair of boxers and sweats to put over that. I left the sweats off since the shirt was so long and the thought of wearing them made me feel hotter.