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He chuckled. “Of course. A lot of creatures from my old world live here. It’s a big mountain, after all.”
I digested this, trudging behind him as the cats yowled and moaned, making my head pound. “Do they eat humans?” I asked finally, my voice tight.
“I imagine they do.” Jack sounded so calm and matter-of-fact, I had a sudden urge to swat his ass with my walking stick.
I didn’t, though. For one, he was my husband, and I wasn’t going to beat him unless he wanted it—which in itself sounded ridiculous. Also, I was pretty sure I’d fall on my face if I swung the stick.
“You knew this?” I asked tightly. “Before we set out? Something up here can… can eat me?”
“No one will eat you, snowdrop,” he said with a huff. “Well, no one but me.”
My heart hammered painfully before I realized what he meant. But for a very short, cutting moment, the fear I felt at the thought of monsters combined with the eerie atmosphere of the mountain forest shrouded in white.
And at that moment, I thought briefly of Jack actually eating me. He was a monster, after all. Only, I’d forgotten.
“Stop,” I said, breathing hard. “Jack. What’s a striga? And mountain trolls? Will they attack us? What…” I broke off when he turned to me, his grin so wide, it showed off all his sharp, white teeth as he laughed, his orange eyes scrunched up.
“Snowdrop, there are no monsters here. I was pulling your leg. Ole Frost, if you could see your face!”
His laughter boomed so loud, even the cats fell silent for a moment, watching him curiously. My face grew hot, not from effort but from fury, and I swatted at Jack’s tail with my stick. He avoided it nimbly, laughing harder when I tried again to no avail.
“Come on, Scarlett. We don’t have time to play catch-the-tail. And if you just stand around there, a striga might get you.”
He laughed again, and I hissed with fury, hurrying after him. Soon, Jack ran away, swiftly climbing up the trail, while I chased him. The cats milled behind us, following at a lazy pace.
“Fucking wait for me, furball!” I growled, but Jack shot me a toothy grin and kept walking, his ass swaying with every insolent step. My hands were itching for the paddle, and as I tried to keep up, my body practically steaming under the clothes, I thought grimly about how I would punish him for this later.
I was pretty sure he goaded me on purpose. The depraved furball wanted to rile me up so I’d tie him up and… and make him drink his cum.
When he finally let me level with him, I was too winded to say or do anything. Jack shot me a worried look, but when I glared at him, he grinned again. The cats slowly caught up, and when my breath calmed enough to speak, Jack gave me his thermos to drink.
“This is where the trail gets more risky. I wanted to do the easy part fast, snowdrop, because we don’t have much time.”
“You could have just said so!” I burst out, giving him the tea back. “You didn’t have to play stupid pranks!”
“To be fair, I played the prank because it was funny,” he said, looking completely unrepentant. “And then I kept running because it was faster. You look adorable when you’re angry, snowdrop. So hot. I can’t wait until we’re alone and you make me pay for this.”
I was right, then. He did it on purpose. The vision of punishing him later sweetened my anger, turning it into a low thrum of lust in my belly.
“You’re so dead,” I said, giving him a long, hard look. Jack’s throat bobbed nervously, but then he grinned again.
“Can’t wait. Come on, my pretty executioner. We need to keep a good pace but more carefully now.”
Chapter 25
Jack
It was afternoon by the time we reached the old hunting cabin I had told Scarlett about. It was a small, one-room shack without windows, just a hearth, a stack of dry wood, and a big bed piled high with furs.
“I used to sleep here with my brothers when we were younger,” I told her while we ate our lunch outside. The shack was cold and dark, and lighting a fire would be wasteful if we didn’t stay for longer. “We could spend weeks in these forests, tracking animals, playing games, dipping in the stream.”
“Sounds nice,” she said, though her eyes looked bleak when she took in the white, frozen landscape and the pack of cats milling around. It was probably difficult to imagine this wintery place as the backdrop to carefree youth shenanigans.
“I’ll bring you here next summer,” I said, nudging her with my hip. “No one lives up here. You can make me scream properly if you want.”
She scoffed, shooting me a dark look. “I’ll make you scream tonight when we get back, and I don’t care if all your family and neighbors will hear.”
I swallowed with difficulty, excitement curling in my belly. To distract myself, I looked up at the sky. The sun was low, making my nape tingle with worry. “About that. We might have to stop here for the night, go up to the lake tomorrow. It will get dark in two hours.”
