Page 45

A whole week since I stumbled out of the snow and into the arms of three strange men, and somewhere along the line, waking up like this stopped feeling strange. Now it just feels right. Like this is exactly where I'm supposed to be.

Which is a problem. Because sooner or later, I'm going to have to leave. I push the thought away and burrow deeper into the blankets.

They've taken care of me. All of me. Including the parts I never imagined anyone taking care of.

My heat hasn't let up. Not really. It comes in waves, and some nights the waves are so bad I can't lie still. And every night, one of them has helped me. Sometimes two of them. Once, memorably, all three, and I didn't walk straight the next morning.

The first few times, I was mortified. I kept apologizing for being so needy.

Not once did they let me feel ashamed. Rhydian told me that helping me was the single greatest honor of his life and that he'd like it put on his tombstone. Kaelen just pulled me against his chest and growled that I had nothing to be sorry for. And Zarek kissed my forehead and told me that needing something isn't a weakness.

Now there's kissing. Holding. I curl up in their laps like it's the most natural thing in the world.

But they've never asked for more. Every night, they make sure I'm satisfied, and then one or more of them disappears out into the snow for a while.

I've stopped warning them about their boots.

The arm around my waist tightens. "Don't even think about it," Rhydian mumbles into my hair.

"Think about what?"

"Getting up. I can feel you thinking about it." He drags me closer until my back is flush against his chest. "Stay. It's solstice. Nobody should have to get up on solstice."

"We have a feast to cook," Zarek says from my other side. His eyes are still closed, but his voice is perfectly awake. Of course it is. I don't think he's ever been groggy a day in his life. "And a great deal to do before dinner."

"The feast can cook itself."

"It can't," Kaelen grumbles from the far side of the bed. He sits up, scrubbing a hand over his face. His long hair is a wild mess. "Do you know how much work it is to feed four people when one of them eats like Rhydian?"

"I'm a growing man."

"You're a bottomless pit."

I laugh, and Rhydian buries his face in my neck and groans like I've betrayed him.

Wriggling free, I turn around and kiss him, soft and slow, until he stops groaning. I climb over Zarek and kiss him, too, and he finally opens his eyes and smiles at me, that small, private smile I've learned he saves for me. Then I crawl across the bed to Kaelen and kiss his scruffy cheek, and he makes a low rumbling sound that's almost a purr.

Then I hop out of bed before any of them can grab me.

We take turns in the bathroom. It's chaos. Rhydian takes too long, Kaelen pounds on the door, and Zarek stands outside it announcing how long Rhydian has been in there. I sit on the bed brushing my hair and laughing until my sides ache.

By the time we're all washed and dressed, I'm so happy I could float.

And then I glance out the window. The snow has slowed. It's still falling, but gently now. Soft, lazy flakes drifting down instead of the howling white wall that's been there for days. Above the trees, I can see patches of pale sky.

The storm's ending.

Which means the pass will be open soon. Which means I'll be able to leave. Go to my friend's house. Or back to my cottage, eventually. My empty, quiet little cottage, with its single chair by the fire and nobody to argue with about the garlands.

My heart squeezes so hard it hurts.

I turn away from the window. Not today. I'm not thinking about that today. Today is solstice, and I'm spending it with them, and I'm going to enjoy every single minute.

"Right," Kaelen says, rolling up his sleeves. "Pantry."

I follow him in. And stop.

It still astonishes me. Shelves and shelves of food. Spices in little jars from places I've never heard of. Wheels of cheese. Smoked meats. Wine bottles with fancy seals. And it's cold as a cellar in here, though I can't see anything that would make it that way.