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I can’t believe how much snow there is on the ground the next day. It has to be at least a foot and a half. It’s so deep that the idea of trying to walk through it would be absurd.
Good thing I used Alessandro’s credit card to buy snowshoes. I’m excited as I strap them over my boots, making sure they’re nice and tight. I don’t have a lot of experience with snow. This should be fun.
When I’m all bundled up in my warm jacket, hat, scarf, and gloves, I step outside. My foot sinks into the snow, just slightly,but I’m able to walk. I trudge out to my truck, which is completely covered.
Damn. I amverysnowed in.
Oh well. It’s more of an adventure than a setback. I chose Alaska to enjoy a cozy cabin, right? Well, I sure got it. Time to explore the area, then come back inside and warm up by the fire.
Following what I can see of the road, I go in the other direction from the city. There are trees all around me, draped in white. I think the landscape is even more beautiful like this. There’s such a charm to seeing everything completely blanketed, immaculate.
In the distance, I hear the sound of an engine revving. For a brief moment, adrenaline strikes through me: it brings me right back to being on the island, with Alessandro on the quad bike. But that isn’t possible, I remind myself. Not in all this snow.
But what could it be? It’s getting louder. I didn’t think anybody would be able to drive in this weather. Is it a snowplow?
And then asnowmobileappears over the next hill, a man in black winter gear with a matching dark helmet driving. My eyes search for nearby cover, but there’s none to be found in the sea of white. I can’t move quickly enough to reach the trees.
The driver turns his head and looks at me. The snowmobile slows, then changes directions.
Coming right in my direction.
I sprint as fast as I can in my snowshoes, heading into the woods that line the road. Behind me, I hear the snowmobile stop, and the driver’s feet crunch into the snow. I’m not able to move very quickly, but my desperate hope is that he moves even slower without any snowshoes on his feet.
My foot sinks as a shelf of snow collapses underneath it. I work frantically to pull it out, the crunching behind me getting louder. Finally, I work it free, just as a pair of arms wrap around my waist, clutching me firmly.
“Mine,” growls my husband, helmet muffling his voice.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Ava
I know it’s pointless to fight against him, but I do it anyway. I want Alessandro to have to overpower me. He pins my arms to my sides, picks me up, and starts trudging in the direction of the cabin, my feet dragging in the snow. It’s slow going, and I don’t make it easy for him, but he gets me there.
The front door is unlocked. He opens it and forces me inside, immediately pulling a collar from his belt and wrapping it around my neck. He keeps the helmet on while he locks the leash onto me, saying nothing.
Now I can’t run. Not with the leash attached. He holds it casually as he takes off his boots, jacket, and finally, his helmet. I watchhim, trying to read his intentions. Is he here to get his wife back? Or his prisoner?
“Hello, dear,” Alessandro smirks. “I missed you, you know. I missed you a lot.”
I’m still a little shocked at how easily he caught me. “Um… hi,” I say lamely. “Surprise, I’m in Alaska.”
He smiles, a surprisingly genuine reaction, and then smushes me into a deep kiss. I don’t mean to give in, to surrender this to him, but I do. It’s so instinctive.
It feels so right.
Even though it’s wrong.
“I missed you,” he says again when the kiss breaks. “I really, really did. I’m going to put another log on the fire, and then we’re going to get all this heavy gear off you.”
I don’t dare try to detach the leash. He keeps holding it as he walks over to the wood stove in the corner, stokes the coals, and adds a large log. Then he comes back over, removes my snowshoes, and unlaces my boots.
I’m apprehensive as he unzips my jacket. Unsure how to respond. The snow pants come next, and all I’m wearing underneath is a black thermal layer that hugs my body. He eyes me hungrily, then removes his own snow pants. We’re dressed about the same now, in skintight black.
The only difference is, I’m wearing the collar and the leash.
“Mine,”Alessandro growls, pulling me into him by the waist. He kisses me hungrily, forcefully, invading my mouth with his tongue as his hands slip down to cup my ass.
My instincts betraying me, I kiss him back, craving his warmth, his touch. The fire in the corner flickers as the logs catch light and he presses me into the wall, holding me now by the collar.
