She shook her head back and forth, let go of my hand and pressed a glove to her face, her eyes doing a dance of confusion. “My nose hairs are frozen. Is that even a thing? How?—”
She was the one that was cute. My cabin was average. Before I could even tell her so, April slipped, her body vanishing beneath a thick white blanket of fluffy wet and cold snowflakes. My whole body went heavy and still like rocks as I watched April slip beneath the snow. Bear dove in, snuffling all around, clearing the area all surrounding her. He barked at me like he was saying, “hurry up and save her, dummy.”
I stumbled towards her, my hands trembling as I scooped through the snow. She reached up for me, and I pulled her up and straight into my arms, picking her up like a rescued princess. The fear intertwined with a strange sense of familiarity as I held her against my chest, as if I had done it a thousand times before.
She squealed and wrapped her arms around my neck. As if I’d ever drop her.
I took long strides, carrying her like some kind of Victorian romance heroine who needed rescuing. I was no Mr. Willoughby, but I was a linebacker and I rushed up the stairs and through the door of the cabin like I was scoring a touchdown.
Bear followed us in, and I kicked the door shut, taking a deep breath and soaking up the heat. He went straight into the kitchen and curled up in his plush bed next to the water heater. He’d never be the curl up in front of the fireplace dog. Not since the forest fire he’d been rescued from as a pup.
April’s teeth clattered and I set her back on her feet in front of the fire, but still holding her in my arms, not wanting to let go just yet. Some stray strands of hair begged my fingers to brush them away from her forehead, and I couldn’t resist one more soft touch before I set to getting her warm. The protective instincts I didn’t even realize I had for her had not just kicked in, they were kicking my ass.
April was mine. She belonged with me, and I wanted nothing more than to be hers.
But this was too fast. No one fell in love after one meeting and a hike down a mountain in a snowstorm. Not in real life anyway.
She looked up at me like I was her hero. I wanted to be.
“Good thing you’re the biggest man I’ve ever met in my life.” Her voice came out soft and breathy. “I’m not sure I’d trust anyone else to pick me up and carry me like that.”
Her arms were still wrapped around my shoulders, and I wasn’t moving an inch. “You should be carried everywhere.”
That sounded like I was chastising her, and I cursed my tongue for being such a grump. I’d been cranky with everyone around me for so long, I wasn’t sure I knew how to talk any other way.
I’d do it again right now and carry her to my bed if she’d let me. I swallowed hard and cleared my throat. “We should get you warmed up.”
“Yes, we should.” She pulled off the gloves I’d put on her and reached for the zipper of my jacket. “With body heat. Lots and lots of shared body heat.”
April’s naughty little grin melted my icy fucking heart in more ways than one. For the first time in what felt like a thousand years, the corners of my mouth turned up in a genuine smile. Not because I was about to get laid—not that I was sad about that. But because I’d found someone who made me want to be happy.
That smile on my face grew as I reached for her jacket too. “Yep. Everyone knows that’s the best way to get warm. I’m practically hot already.”
April giggled, and it went first to my soul, and then straight to my cock. “Ooh, I wanna be hot.”
“You are so fucking hot.” That just slipped out and I wasn’t sorry.
April blushed and I couldn’t wait to do that to every inch of her skin from head to toe and everywhere in between.
THE HOTTEST SNOWPOCALYPSE
APRIL
Igazed up into Bridger’s eyes, and anticipation bubbled up inside me. Our bodies were so close that his hot breath washed over my skin. That smile of his did something fun and naughty to my lower belly. And so did his dark eyes, glimmering with desire, hidden cleverly beneath thick lashes. Delicious.
I didn’t always trust men with my body. Especially in New York and L.A. where it felt like the only way to exist was heroin chic. I wanted to prove that curves and thick thighs and soft bodies were beautiful and worthy of being worshipped too.
My failed talent agency had made me doubt that.
Bridger’s absolute lust for me both in this moment and when we’d kissed up at my cabin, helped me remember. I could read the truth in him. He wasn’t faking any bit of this heat radiating between us just to get his dick wet. He was hot for me, and that right there made me trust him so much more than I had anyone else in my love life.
Jumping into bed with someone I’d met just a few hours ago wasn’t something I’d ever done before, and I likely wouldn’t ever do again.
Aside from the wholewe didn’t die in a snowpocalypse so let’s prove to the universe just how alive we arething, there was something about him that was just... right. Right for me. I felt that at a gut level, and I couldn’t wait to get to know him better to see what truth there was to that instinct. After we fucked each other’s brains out.
This was going to be lots of fun. I grabbed hold of his shirt and tugged it open so the buttons went flying. With a quick yank of his collar, I pulled him tight against me, our lips mere centimeters apart.
A claim I’d longed to say to the right man, came easily with Bridger. I mouthed the words against his lips. “You belong to me, big boy.”
