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Cian looked at me with a raised eyebrow, and I nodded. If they wanted to spend their time down there, then by all means, go for it.
Juliet, Harvey and I sat around and had a nightcap and then I made my way up to the master suite. When Cian came back almost an hour later, I was sprawled out on my bed with one of Juliet’s romance books she had lent me.
“Mmm.” Cian leaned against the doorframe, his eyes twinkling. “My, my, Miss La Roux, are you reading pornography?”
“Absolutely I am.” I grinned and tossed the book to the side. “You were gone a while?”
“Yeah, Valik got a little carried away looking at all the hunting gear. He thinks he can shoot a bow and arrow, even though he’s never tried.” Cian shook his head and sauntered over to me. “So, tell me what you’re reading about in your book?”
“How ’bout I show you instead?” I bit my bottom lip and pulled out the furry handcuffs, dangling them in front of me. I shrieked with laughter as he jumped on me, growling like a man possessed.
*****
The next morning was slightly chaotic as people started to show up. Thora and Felix came first, then Sophie and Eros. Sophie couldn’t believe she had gotten to fly on a private jet, and that she was getting her own cabin to stay in. We took them down to the smaller cabins, Eros deciding to stay between Sophie and Jules, with Valik staying across the lake.
All the girls wanted to go into town, and as expected, the guys wanted to do crazy stuff like ski or go out on the snowmobiles. I drove us into town, proud of myself that I could handle the big-ass truck in the snow. It wasn’t as bad as I had thought, and forty-five minutes later we were walking down Main Street. The town reminded me of an old western movie; they even had a saloon that had those swinging doors you saw on television.
We browsed through the stores, stopping at an art gallery after lunch, which Thora loved. I picked up some matching flannel shirts for me and Cian and then decided to get all the guys matching ones as well. Sophie scrunched up her nose when someone tried to give her elk jerky at the grocery store, but was more than happy to munch on the giant-sized spicy pickles—a local specialty apparently. Miss Longfellow had placed an order at the local grocery market, and we filled up the truck with all the goodies she had ordered.
When we got back to the cabin, Cian, Eros and Harvey were still out on the snowmobiles, and Valik was inside on the couch with Milliani.
“Hi!” She placed her wineglass on the table and came over to give each of us a hug. “I’m sorry I’m late. There was something I had to take care of.”
“That’s OK. I’m glad you could make it.” I tugged off my coat and hung it up. “Did you find your cabin OK? We weren’t sure if you were staying with Valik, so we made sure the one next to him was clear for you.”
“Sounds lovely.” She patted Sophie on the head. Sophie gave me an odd look when Milliani turned back to Valik and took a sip of her wine.
OK, that was weird. Maybe she was already drunk. Hell, I couldn’t blame her. This was a vacation. We should all be drunk at this point.
“There’s no cell service out here?” Milliani wiggled her phone.
“Not really, but if you go past the gates, you can catch a signal if you’re lucky.”
She nodded and placed her phone on the table, returning to her conversation with Valik.
Cian and the other guys came back soon after, and I shrieked when he tried to hug me in his snow-covered snowsuit.
“Hey, where’s Orin?” I looked at Cian and then at Eros.
“He’s coming.” Eros shook his head, snow flying everywhere. “He drove, but he’ll be here tonight, he said.”
We all lounged around for a few hours, jumping in and out of the hot tub as we had a few drinks. It was relaxing sitting in the hot water with a glass of whiskey, as snow fell and melted instantly as it landed on us. Valik strummed a guitar around the firepit, while Eros sang off-key through several rounds of songs. Milliani ended up staying in her room with a headache, and Valik went inside to check on her a few times.
Lights flashed on the side of the cabin and then came the sound of a woman yelling. We all looked around the hot tub at each other, the same expression on each of our faces. Who the fuck was that?
We jumped out, and Cian wrapped a robe around me before grabbing my hand and tugging me into the house. A woman was saying every cuss word in the book as we rounded the corner into the foyer, my mouth falling open at the sight in front of me.
“Put me down, you fucking asshole.” A woman was thrown over Orin’s shoulder, blood trickling across his brow as he set her on her feet.
“I was trying to save your feet from the snow,” he grumbled and accepted the towel Eros gave him.
The woman was young, maybe early twenties, with fiery red hair and a tattoo sleeve with skulls and some words I couldn’t make out going up her right arm. She was wearing ripped-up jeans and was barefoot, her hands shackled together in handcuffs.
“Orin, what the fuck is going on?” Cian growled. I gripped his hand, and he wrapped his arm around me, tugging me tight against him.
“Oh, Boy Wonder over here took my shoes so I wouldn’t run off again. Like where the fuck am I going to run to? We’re in bear country, you big idiot.” Her eyes glowed with anger as she stared daggers at Orin.
He rubbed his brow and sighed. “Everyone, this is Elsie. The bounty I’ve been chasing.”
