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LENA
I stepout of the car, and the cold air hits me like a slap in the face. My breath fogs in front of me, and my nipples instantly harden, pressing against the thin fabric of my bra. Damn, I should’ve worn something warmer, but all I can think about is how empty and cold I feel out here, not just on the outside, but deep inside too.
This cabin, this wilderness, it’s all so far from what I know. I wanted to get away, to escape the city and all the noise, but now all I can think about is how lonely it is out here.
How lonely I am.
I wrap my arms around myself, rubbing my hands up and down my coat sleeves, but it does nothing to ease the chill seeping into my bones. What I need is to start a fire.
Or maybe, what I really need is a man—a strong, warm body to wrap around me, to pull me close and heat me up from the inside out. I have waited all my life for a man to hold me, and twenty-two years is long enough.
“Fresh air will do you good,” I mutter, repeating the advice my friend Julie gave me before I left. She has never left the cityand has no idea what it’s really like to be in the wilderness alone. “Get some peace and quiet, Lena. You’re burning out.” She had good intentions, but I am already doubting my plan.
I stare at the cabin, dark and looming, like something out of a bad dream. But I can’t turn back now. I’m here, and I need to make this work. Afterall, when I first heard about this place, how it was my unexpected inheritance from an uncle I never knew, it felt like fate – like a chance to get away and think about the life I truly wanted. I have been so unhappy working from home and feeling alone … but now that I am staring at this rickety old cabin I wonder how those feelings would change out here. I am even more alone.
I grab my suitcase and head up the creaky steps, my body shivering with every gust of wind that sneaks under my coat. God, what I wouldn’t give for a big, strong man to wrap his thick arms around me right now. But all I’ve got is myself and whatever scraps of heat I can manage to create in this drafty old cabin.
I step inside, and the cold follows me, settling into the corners like it’s here to stay. The fireplace catches my eye, the only thing that promises warmth in this entire place. I need to get a fire going, fast. My nipples are still hard, and the rest of me is starting to feel like ice. I’ve never been so aware of how sensitive I am, how much I long for heat, for a touch that would melt all this cold away. But that’s not going to happen—not tonight, not here.
I fumble with the logs, trying to arrange them the way I’ve seen on TV. “This is gonna be easy,” I murmur, trying to convince myself I’ve got this under control. “I’ve seen people do it a thousand times.”
But no matter how hard I try, the fire refuses to light. My frustration builds with every failed attempt. “Come on, you know you wanna! Just light!” I strike another match, but itfizzles out as quickly as the last one. My teeth chatter as the wind howls outside, making the cabin creak ominously.
“Guess it’s gonna be a long, cold night,” I sigh, pulling my coat tighter around myself as I flop onto the couch. What I wouldn’t give to have someone here, someone warm and strong to press up against me, to chase away the chill that’s settled deep in my bones.
I close my eyes, trying to ignore the ache in my chest, the loneliness that’s only amplified by the cold, empty cabin around me.
But I can’t shake the feeling that I’m not as alone as I thought.
CADE
I’ve been watching her from the moment she drove up, her little city car kicking up dust on the gravel road. She doesn’t belong here, that much is obvious. And damn if that doesn’t do something to me, seeing her all out of place, soft and delicate in this rough, wild land. My cock hardens almost instantly, pressing against the front of my jeans as I take in the sight of her.
She’s got curves that could bring a man to his knees—hips that sway just right, a chest that strains against that too-thin coat, and those legs... fuck, those legs could wrap around me anytime. The cold air has her nipples hard, even through the layers she’s wearing, and I can’t help but imagine what it’d be like to warm her up, to take her in my arms and press her body against mine until she’s soft and pliant.
Until she’s begging me to do more than just keep her warm.
I lean against the tree, arms crossed over my chest, watching as she struggles with the wood. She’s got no idea what she’s doing, and it’s almost amusing to watch. Almost. But there’ssomething about her, something that makes me want to step in, to take over and do it right. Hell, if she were mine, she wouldn’t be out here freezing her sweet little ass off. I’d have her wrapped up in my bed, those legs tangled with mine, those full lips gasping for breath as I showed her exactly how a real man takes care of a woman.
I shake my head, pushing off the tree. I’ve got no business thinking about her like this. She’ll either figure it out or go back to the city where I’m guessing she came from. But the thought of her shivering in that drafty cabin, all alone with no one to keep her warm, twists something deep inside me. I can’t just leave her like that, no matter how much I tell myself I should. There should be smoke coming from the chimney by now, but there isn’t a hint of it. Looking up at the sky, I see gray, ominous clouds sweeping in. I frown, remembering the weather report I heard on the radio earlier today. A big rain and thunderstorm is predicated to come in tomorrow, and it is always worse up here in the mountain.
I knock on the door, the sound echoing in the stillness. My cock is still hard, and I take a deep breath, trying to get my shit together before she opens the door. When she does, her eyes go wide, and fuck, that look... it’s enough to make me want to push her up against the wall and take her right then and there.
“Looks like you could use some help,” I say, my voice rougher than I intend, but I don’t give her a chance to respond as I step inside.
She’s staring at me, a mix of relief and something else in her eyes—something that only makes me harder. “I was doing just fine,” she says, but there’s a shiver in her voice, and damn, her breasts pressing against the thin fabric of her bra. I can’t stop staring at them, imagining what they’d feel like under my hands, under my tongue.
“Sure you were,” I reply, moving past her to the fireplace. I kneel down, and she’s right behind me, close enough that I can smell her—something sweet, something that makes me want to bury my face in her neck and breathe her in until I’m dizzy. But I keep it together, focusing on the fire instead of the way her body is making mine react.
The flames catch immediately, and the warmth fills the room almost instantly. She lets out a breath, and I can see her relax, her shoulders dropping as the tension melts away.
“Thank you,” she says, her voice softer now, and damn if that doesn’t do something to me, hearing her sound like that, like she’s letting her guard down just for me. “I’m Lena, by the way.”
“You here alone?”
She nods. “Yeah, I just came in today, from the city.”
