Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 119597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
None of us complain openly, but oftentimes, I’ll find Leo or Kody in the pantry, holding a pouch of grains or a can of soup, staring at the promise of it, fantasizing about devouring it when no one is looking.
It’s easy to let our fixation on food spread its roots and consume our minds like a parasite. That’s why I convinced them to increase our rations.
It was the right call. After two days of extra calories, we already feel stronger, physically and mentally. Still hungry but we can’t completely forgo our rationing.
Adding to our improved spirits is Leo’s victory with the water tank. He successfully converted it to a wood-heated system, and though it only works for the primary bathroom, it makes cooking and bathing an absolute luxury.
“You’re a miracle worker.” I stand under the warm spray, my cheeks overflowing with my smile.
To conserve hot water, we still bathe together. With a gorgeous man before me and another behind, it’s a slice of paradise in the unforgiving Arctic. Here, in their embrace, I have the entire world wrapped around me. Because my entire world is them.
I’m bound by heartstrings to two souls, brothers in name, family in blood, rivals in love, united in their resolve to protect one thing.
Me.
I may not be strong enough to protect them the same way, but I’ll do whatever it takes to keep them healthy and return the light to their eyes.
As the water paints trails of happiness upon my skin, I sigh, sinking into Leo’s strong arms.
“We need a good night’s sleep.” He palms my butt, giving it a squeeze. “I’ll double-check our packs and join you in bed.”
The weather has abated. No blizzards or snowfall in days, leaving an ominous calm in its wake. We need to take advantage of it and retrieve the snow machine.
Leo and I will leave before dawn.
As he exits the bathroom, I turn to Kody, his gaze as dark as the storm-ridden skies. Always hovering. Always watching.
I touch his face, take him into both hands, and run my thumbs across his bristly jaw.
He wants to go with us, and I don’t want to leave him behind, but the snow machine can only carry two. Besides, someone should be here if the plane returns.
No need to voice our wishes. They entwine like the steam that rises around us, mingling with our breaths.
Even here, beneath the heavy aroma of iron-rich groundwater, his scent overpowers. That allure he has, the essence that makes him so impossibly attractive and irresistible, drapes his tall, shadowed frame like magic.
“Keep looking at me like that,” he rasps, “and I’ll sink my teeth into you.”
“Promise?”
In the next breath, his hungry mouth crashes over mine. I open for him, licking his tongue and threading my fingers through his hair. His lips, soft and dewy, taste like the sweet mint of toothpaste, as he plasters me against the shower wall with his long, hard body.
Hard and dark and wild, he’s a tempest of arousal. The hardest part of him, usually kept contained, now glides against my stomach, pulsing, rubbing, leaking from the tip, and wanting in.
The want is staggering.
This is a different kind of starving, an ache so deep and vast it stretches beyond our bellies and burns through our veins. The press of his teeth against my jugular consumes me, drawing me closer, a seduction that calls to the very core of my being.
His touch, his kiss, his bite—all of it is a promise of safety.
“Leo’s right.” That hot mouth travels down my neck, traces my collarbone, and laps at my nipple. “You need to sleep and conserve your energy.” He steps back, robbing me of those sinful lips. “Tomorrow will be a long day.”
I groan. “I don’t care.”
Not with his hand clenched around the thick steel of his cock, denying me, denying us both profound pleasure. Our connection, wet and waiting, thrives here, creating its own steam.
“I’ll be waiting.” He traces a finger along the seam of my lips. “Waiting for you. Keeping our fire alive.”
The next morning, he pulls me into a rib-cracking hug and whispers the same promise. It fuels my determination to return, not just for survival, but for love.
He and Leo exchange a similar embrace, their breaths fogging in the cold air.
Stepping off the porch, I look skyward. We all do. The horizon appears brighter this morning, more glowy in its pastel hues. But there’s no plane. No distant rumble of an engine.
As the wind shrieks its mournful dirge, the reality of our predicament scrapes at my insides.
If we don’t return, Kody will survive on the remaining food until the thaw. But he’ll be alone. Alone with a plane he can’t fly. Alone with a grief he may never overcome.
I glance over my shoulder and find his stony gaze locked on mine. “We’re coming back.”