Chapter Fourteen
“I never want to see snow again,” Sebastian groaned, propping his feet on the coffee table.
Devlin walked back into the living room carrying three bottles of beer for the men who had just come in from outside. She and Prudence had tried to clear off the patio while the guys were working on the driveway. They’d spent a fraction of the time outside and were sore, so she could only imagine what they felt like.
“Tell me again why you don’t think we’ll be out of here for a few more days,” she asked, handing out the bottles before sitting next to Gabe on the couch. She was close enough that she could low-key lean into him, but not so close as to cause any suspicion.
Gabe laid his head against the back of the sofa and took a long sip of beer. “We got as far as the main road, but that hadn’t been plowed yet. In my experience, if the main road isn’t done by now it means, it’ll still be a few more days before they get to us. Monday afternoon or night at the earliest, but more likely sometime on Tuesday. Even if they get to it by tomorrow evening, I wouldn’t drive on the mountain roads at night.”
“That is if we don’t get any more snow, and we won’t know that unless it happens, since we have no way to get a forecast,” Prudence pointed out. “I know we talked about you having an old weather radio here—I looked for it this afternoon but didn’t find it. Can you think of any place it could be?”
“I haven’t had a chance to look,” Greyson chimed in.
“I’ll go,” Gabe offered. “Just give me a few more minutes to rest.”
“I still can’t believe we got that much snow,” Annabelle said from the kitchen where she was looking through the cabinets to find food to start dinner. “The fact that it took that long with a snowblower just to get to the road blows my mind.”
Devlin leaned toward Gabe. “I’ll come help you search for the radio if you’d like.”
He raised his head from the couch and smiled, one corner of his mouth tilting up. “I’d like nothing more.” He rolled his shoulders. “If I keep sitting I think my muscles will start to petrify.”
Devlin stood and reached out her hand, a jolt running through her when Gabe touched her. She gripped his hand and pulled him up, and he emanated strength.
“We’re going to take one more stab at finding this weather radio, guys,” Devlin announced to the room. “Is there any place you didn’t look, Prudence?”
“I didn’t go into the basement. The light wouldn’t work, and I couldn’t find any extra bulbs. I’ve seen one too many horror movies to know that a lone female going into a dark basement is never a good idea,” Prudence explained.
“We don’t have any ghosts here, Pru,” Greyson said.
“That’s what every victim in a horror movie says. Besides, I heard moaning last night, and I don’t think I was hearing the wind,” Prudence clarified.
It took every fiber of her being to not look at Gabe right now. She was sure her face had either gone very red or very pale. Don’t look at him. Don’t look at him. She looked. He, of course, was staring right at her, his mouth quivering with apparent mirth.
“Well,” Gabe got out, “if we find any moaning ghosts we’ll be sure to report back to the group.” Without waiting for a reaction or replies, he ushered her out of the room. She was able to hold it together for just as long as it took to get to the basement stairs and started laughing once the door closed behind them. Her sudden laughter faded as fast as it started when she noticed the pitch black. She reached for the wall switch and flicked it, with no luck.
“Pru wasn’t lying about the bulb being out,” she whispered, the darkness lending an intimacy to the situation.
Gabe’s breath mingled with hers, his warm arms holding her steady on the much too narrow top step.
“As much as I want to kiss you right now, I’d rather not risk a broken neck.” Gabe shifted and the flashlight on his cell phone illuminated the space as he took a few steps down the stairs, motioning for her to follow.
At the bottom, Devlin glanced around the basement cluttered with old furniture, boxes, trunks and totes, with an entire section labeled ‘Christmas’. The basement walls were stone, almost looking like they’d been carved right into the mountain, and it was much warmer and a lot less damp than she would’ve guessed.
“It doesn’t look half bad down here,” she observed, walking around and taking in what she could see from the beam of her cell phone flashlight.
Gabe reached the far side of the room, shuffling a few things before a click sounded and a dim light illuminated the room.
“Looks like a few more bulbs are out, but this should give us enough light to search for the radio.”
“Oh, we’re looking for a radio?” Devlin teased as Gabe walked back over and wrapped his arms around her waist. “We’re not looking for a moaning ghost?”
“I already found the moaning ghost.” He nipped her bottom lip. “Not only did I find the moaning ghost, but I’m ready to make her moan again.”
And moan she did as he took her mouth in a scorching kiss, his tongue plunging into her depths as he reached his arms up to lift her, but he broke away with a moan of his own.
“You’re that sore?” she asked, breathing heavy from the kiss.
“Like an old man. Every part of my body hurts,” he groaned, rolling his shoulders again, just like he had upstairs earlier. “I think I pulled something.”
“Here, come sit,” Devlin commanded as she guided him over to a couch with a loud floral pattern that had to be from the 1960s and not a decade later.
She started to massage his shoulders, neck and back, gently at first, then pushing harder at his request.
“God, that feels good.” He leaned into her, the smell of him taking over her senses.
She used her thumb to work on a hard knot and he let out a deep sigh. Her mind wandered as she worked, thinking about their surreal situation, being in the basement of Gabe’s family cabin when not even a month ago he didn’t know she was in Amber Falls, and it wasn’t even twenty-four hours ago that they’d made love.
She was startled to realize that the man she’d avoided for the better part of a year had seeped into her pores overnight. She couldn’t remember experiencing this level of ease with anyone, the complete abandonment of reality and her senses, not caring what happened next, just that she was with this one person. It scared her, but the exhilaration outweighed everything else. In the deep recesses of her mind, thoughts of her coffee shop and expansion tried to wiggle out, but she fought them back, deciding to let herself enjoy the moment for the few extra days they’d have together. Her actions were mimicking her ruminations and the massage had turned from therapeutic to caressing.
She snapped out of her reverie as she sensed him getting restless. “Is that better?” she asked.
He shifted on the couch, leaning back into her. “That helped, thank you.”
Devlin leaned forward, her mouth touching the side of his neck. “Does every part of you still hurt?”
He made a low noise. “Not every part.”
She moved her mouth to the other side of his neck. “How about here?”
“That spot doesn’t hurt at all.”
“Maybe it would be easier if you showed me what parts of you didn’t hurt.”
Gabe took her hand in his and ran it over the front of his jeans, cupping his erection with both of their hands.
“I feel no pain here. Nothing but pleasure.” He unbuttoned his pants and unzipped his fly as she reached in and released his cock, caressing it from root to tip. He turned to kiss her, undulating his hips into her grip as she captured his tongue with her teeth, then sucked it, mimicking what she’d do with his cock. He reached his hand up to tangle in her hair, fusing his mouth to hers as he pumped into her hand, then broke the kiss and straightened. Grabbing a condom from his wallet, he pushed his pants to his ankles. He quickly tore it open and rolled it on.
She stared at him, half naked with an impressive erection jutting out, and her mouth went dry, and wetness pooled below. She swung one of her legs over his and straddled him once he’d sat, her thighs quivering in anticipation. Thankful that she had on yoga pants, she lowered herself over his cock, her arousal already soaking through the fabric. Leaning slightly back, she rubbed her over him, the friction and wetness of her pants over her clit had her ready to orgasm as she ground against him, slowing only when he stopped her to pull down her pants.
His cock slid through her folds, and he teased his tip into her entrance before gliding through her lips once again. She put her hands on his shoulders for balance and was happy that he didn’t wince in pain.
“No moaning this time, Devlin,” he gasped.
“I wouldn’t dare to.”
She stood no chance to hold off coming as the entire length of him slid against her clit time and time again, and she shuddered in a powerful orgasm. He waited until she’d ridden it out before lifting her and sliding straight into her. She had no strength left in her legs, but he’d taken over, thrusting until he held her down as he pumped his release into her, the couch sliding backward at the power of his thrusts.
As she collapsed on him, she heard a thunk on the floor and the sound of radio static.
“Found the radio.” He grinned at her, pulling him to her and kissing her.
“Oh fuck, you found more than the radio.” She moved over him, loving that his cock was still buried inside her, a fullness that she didn’t realize she’d been missing. Sex wasn’t the only thing she’d been missing, but the specific feeling she got when she was with Gabe. She wasn’t ready to name it, but was very aware the feeling was there.
“Devlin,” Gabe whispered in her ear, sending a shiver down her spine. “I’m going to come again.”
At this, one of the most erotic things anyone had said to her, she finally did moan. She brought his head to her chest and cradled it as she rocked over him, not letting him thrust. He reached his hand between them to circle her clit and within moments they were both orgasming again, almost not moving as they let it wash over them.
Once Devlin came back to her senses, she extracted herself from Gabe’s arms, pulled her pants back up and plopped on the couch next to him. She grabbed his hand and twined her fingers with his, running a thumb over the delicate skin inside his wrist.
She sat there, her senses stunned and her muscles weak. She tried to get the sound of rushing water out of her ears until she realized it was the radio Gabe had knocked over, still blasting static behind the couch. She giggled at the thought that their lovemaking was so good it caused her hearing to glitch.
“I’m not sure that’s the sound I want to hear after doing what we just did,” Gabe said.
“I’m not laughing at that, definitely not at that.” She pointed behind the couch with her free hand. “I forgot about the radio and thought for a moment that you’d knocked my senses off balance.”
A satisfied smile crossed his face. “Don’t believe that I couldn’t.”
He put himself back together while she leaned over the back of the couch and grabbed the radio.
“Here, let me see.” Gabe reached out and took it from Devlin. The sound of static had grown quieter but was still there. He took the antenna and pulled it up, rotating it around the room, trying to catch a transmission. The sound sputtered then died.
“Damn, I swore this was a crank radio. We’re gonna have to find batteries.”
“Can we stay here for just a bit longer? I don’t think they’ll get suspicious—they won’t notice when we come back with the one thing that we all want.”
Gabe kissed the top of her head, letting her nestle into him. “The radio isn’t the one thing I want.”
Devlin was quiet for a while, content with the last words Gabe spoke. She was fighting this too hard. I haven’t fought a single thing since we’ve been here. She hadn’t tried. They had a few more days to live in this bubble before they could leave and reality would hit, and she wanted to take every advantage she could. She reveled in the rise and fall of his breathing, listening to the steady beat of his heart.
“Do you think anyone knows?” Gabe interrupted her calm.
“You heard Annabelle this morning, I’m assuming?”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“She thinks she knows, or suspects.”
“You think we can keep it on the down low until Tuesday?”
She toyed with a button on his shirt, thinking. “I can if you can.”
“Is that a challenge, Dev?”
She stood and reached out to pull him up, just like she’d done in the living room earlier, and he stood this time with more ease and less noise.
“Not a challenge,” she said as he flipped the light off and she led him to the stairs. “Just a statement of fact.”
Opening the door at the top of the stairs, Devlin walked out first, hoping no one would be around. What she didn’t expect to see was Annabelle practically perched on Sebastian’s lap as he was sitting in one of the oversized chairs. His eyes were wide as Annabelle twirled a piece of his hair at the nape of his neck around her finger. She noted Greyson and Prudence on the couch watching the whole thing happening, both still, like deer caught in the headlights.
“So, you’re telling me that Gutenberg’s wasn’t the first printing press?” Annabelle asked in a sweet voice.
“It was the first moveable type press and that revolutionized the printing world,” Sebastian explained.
“Just fascinating stuff.” Annabelle ran her hand down Sebastian’s chest and stood. “I’ve got to visit the ladies’ room. I’ll be right back.”
Silence fell over the room after Annabelle walked out and Sebastian let out a slight cough.
“Sebastian, you can’t be this dense,” Prudence finally said. “Annabelle has worked in newspapers longer than you have. She knows how a printing press works.”
“But—” Sebastian started.
Greyson gestured to the pile of notes on the coffee table. “Let me guess, you were looking over Gabe’s proposal when Annabelle came in here and she just happened to all of a sudden forget how one of the most important pieces of equipment at a newspaper works.” He exclaimed with obvious glee, “you’ve been Mata Hari’d!”
“What?” Sebastian asked, apparently flustered.
“Mata Hari, the famous spy—”
“I know who she is,” Sebastian interrupted. “But that’s not a thing .”
“Oh, it’s most definitely a thing. It’s the exact definition of a thing. In fact, I just witnessed it happening.”
“You did fall for it,” Prudence pointed out, standing and taking a small step closer to the notes on the table. “I, for one, was very interested in your answers.” She sat on the arm of the chair next to Sebastian, a look of rapt attention on her face while she glanced sideways at the notes.
“It’s amazing how the printing press has— Hey!” Sebastian swiped the notes into a pile and flipped them over. “That’s enough from the both of you.”
“What happened?” Devlin asked.
“Grey and I had left the room for maybe ten minutes, and when we got back Annabelle was draped all over Sebastian asking inane questions about printing.”
“She wasn’t draped all over me,” Sebastian said.
“Draped is a nice way of saying it,” Greyson confirmed. “Neither of them noticed us coming back into the room, so we sat down and watched what was happening. It was so apparent that Annabelle was studying Gabe’s proposal notes during Seb’s long-winded replies.”
“Hey!” Gabe exclaimed. “Those are confidential, man.”
“I’m sorry, Gabe, I didn’t know she was doing it. I thought we were having a real conversation about something that interested both of us.”
“Do you think she could decipher your chicken scratch?” Gabe asked.
“She’s the only one at work that can,” Sebastian groused.
Devlin was secretly excited that Annabelle had got to see Gabe’s plans, but she couldn’t let him know that. “I’ll talk to Annabelle,” she promised. About what, she didn’t say.
“That was the nicest she’s ever been to me,” Sebastian muttered.
“It’ll happen again,” Prudence promised, gesturing to the window. “Hell has officially frozen over after this storm.”
Prudence stood and walked into the kitchen, passing Devlin along the. “Hey, the radio was down there!”
“Yep,” Devlin confirmed, holding it up. “We tried to get reception downstairs, but all we got was static, then the batteries ran out.”
“Is it a creepy basement?” Prudence asked.
“Anything is creepy without lights on,” Devlin answered. “Gabe knew where the other switch was and that gave us some light. I didn’t see any ghosts, though.”
“I might have heard some moaning,” Gabe said, his tone casual. Devlin’s eyes widened at this, and Gabe continued, “But I think you’re right, it’s probably just the wind. It seemed to pick up while we were down there.”
Greyson grabbed batteries from a kitchen drawer and handed them to Gabe. “Here, try these. I swear the radio wound up.”
Devlin watched as Gabe popped the batteries in and extended the antenna. He pressed the weather button and they all waited with bated breath as the static turned to a weather signal stating that the state was in a blizzard watch until the end of the day.
“That was more than a blizzard,” Gabe said, “the whole sky dumped down on us.”
“Would a local station have more information on when things will clear here?” Devlin asked.
“I’m on it.”
Devlin watched Gabe’s strong fingers play over the radio knob and felt her face flush, knowing where those fingers had been no more than a half an hour ago. Gabe lifted his eyes as if he sensed what she was thinking and tilted a half smile at her as a local disc jockey crackled on talking about the storm. Annabelle had come back into the room by this point, and they all listened as he repeated, probably for the one hundredth time since the storm ended, that they’d received almost three feet of snow, but the wind made the drifting seem like more. Crews were out working on the roads, the mountains would be cleared by Monday evening at the latest, and no further snowfall was expected.
Prudence had made a makeshift charcuterie board by the time night had settled in, and they were all gathered around the fire still listening to the radio. Crackers, smoked oysters, olives and pickles were being eaten and tea was poured as the group settled into a comfortable routine of conversation followed by silence as a captivating news story came on then conversation again as they discussed what they’d just listened to.
Devlin and Gabe were next to each other, and Devlin used all her willpower to not lay her head on his shoulder or grab his hand. The coziness of their surroundings made her long for what she couldn’t have, at least not with Gabe. It made her want to have a brood of children running around, playing with dollies or wooden cars, the youngest one nestled in her arms, sleepy, warm and ready for bed. She felt herself listing toward Gabe, and straightened, needing to speak to stay awake from the heat of the fire.
“I feel like I should be darning socks or crocheting a sweater while the men smoke pipes,” Devlin ruminated during a commercial break. “This is what our grandparents did when they only had a radio. Sit around and just listen to what was happening in the world.”
“Times were simpler then,” Gabe added. “I miss my phone, but not having to look at it every few minutes is nice. We have a lot of other things to do, even if it’s just being here together.”
Just like the night before, the group broke off, going to their own beds. Tonight, though, as Gabe and Devlin ascended the stairs, Gabe reached out and took Devlin’s hand and she didn’t resist.