Chapter Eighteen
EZEKIEL
My dick is hard.
And I wish I could say it’s easy to ignore, considering this has been a chronic condition of mine since I saw Aurelia naked and haven’t been able to scrub the image from my brain, but I can’t.
I’ve known since our run when she dared me to kiss her that I would give anything—do anything—to sink my cock inside Aurelia George.
And now…she knows it too.
It’s been a few days since I let Khalil, Thorin, and even Aurelia goad me into stripping her ass raw with her pussy dripping all over our coffee table. Since then, as penance for our depravity, the mountain has sent us constant thunderstorms which, at this altitude, are particularly deadly.
It means we’ve been trapped inside this cabin under the stifling weight of our need for days.
And if I don’t get out of here soon, I fear I’m going to pin Aurelia against the bookshelves she’s currently perusing, ruck that pretty little white dress with tiny purple flowers up, and fuck her senseless while the books fall down around us until she’s as lost in this fog of lust as I am.
And Aurelia is nothing if not vengeful.
Ever since the spanking, she’s been giving us all the cold shoulder, but is it just to see us squirm for daring to flex our dominance, or is it because, if not for Thorin and Khalil’s meddling that exposed me, she wouldn’t be feeling so rejected right now?
Either way, she’s barely spoken to us in days.
Whenever our eyes meet or we wander too close, I tug against the natural pull leading me to her, and the frost surrounding her grows.
Meanwhile, none of Khalil’s and Thorin’s attempts to thaw her cold shoulder have worked.
Khalil, who is staunchly against junk food of any kind, even risked the lightning, mudslides, and fallen trees to drive into town and procure all of her favorite snacks.
Five grocery bags of them. But the mountain of sugar, saturated fat, and sodium remained untouched on the kitchen island.
Even the Oreos that Aurelia had been craving rather crabbily for over a week.
Only I seem to know what it is that she really wants though.
I’m currently lying on the couch and staring at the ceiling, trying to figure out how to tell her that I want her, when Khalil steps into the room carrying her pack and bow.
“Goldilocks.”
“Yes, Khalil?”
She speaks, and my heart skips a beat.
When Khalil doesn’t respond, Aurelia sighs at the unspoken command and lifts her head from the romance book she’s pretending to read as an excuse to ignore our presence.
I know because I’ve barely taken my eyes off her since she plucked one from the shelf before sprawling out on the rug that used to be Bruce.
Every so often her gaze became distant while reading, and she took too long to turn the page, or she turned the page too quickly, only to frown when she realized she had no idea what was happening.
Today, I have a particular fixation on the way her bronzed shoulders glisten in her white off-the-shoulder dress.
A gift from Thorin that was conveniently given to her before I screwed everything up by showing my desire for her.
Before, I had at least had plausible deniability, even after I almost kissed her, since Aurelia hadn’t believed I truly wanted to.
But now…now I’m screwed. If not for Thorin’s impeccable timing, I wouldn’t be rewarded with the bottom curve of Aurelia’s ass peeking out from the hem.
Did I mention she’s glowing? She’s always glowing. I see why Seth calls her Sunshine.
“It looks like the storm is finally clearing up. We thought you might want to get out of the cabin today. Get some fresh air.”
“Pass.” Aurelia returns her attention to the romance she’s reading, turns the page, frowns, and then turns it back.
“Khalil, you tried it your way. Now we do it mine,” Thorin says as he joins us in the living room with a change of clothes for Aurelia.
“We’re all getting out of this fucking cabin for some fresh fucking air, and since it’s not fucking safe for you to stay here alone, you’re fucking coming with us.
On your own two feet or hog-tied and fucking carried. Your fucking choice,” Thorin barks.
Aurelia huffs and slams the worn paperback closed.
I’ve read it. It’s not bad, so I can understand her irritation at being drawn away from it, though I doubt that’s the only reason she’s glaring daggers at Thorin.
As if there is an invisible leash tethering me to her, I stand when she does, and it draws her gaze over her shoulder.
The moment our eyes meet, her chin wobbles from the rejection she thinks she knows is coming, and she turns away again. “Fine.”
Khalil walks over to the kitchen island and starts shoving a few of the snacks he got for her into her pack before moving to the sink and filling her canteen with water. Thorin hands Aurelia the yellow bathing suit he’s holding, and for the first time, Aurelia notices we’re all in swimming trunks.
“Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.”
Aurelia’s frown deepens, and then she attempts to sidestep Thorin to enter his bedroom. He quickly blocks her path.
“What the hell, Thor? I thought you wanted me to change?”
“Change here.”
“Why?”
“I don’t trust you not to lock yourself in the bathroom again.”
“Sure. That’s why.” Aurelia turns away and tosses over her shoulder, “Pervert.”
She misses Thorin’s eye roll as she pulls her dress over her head and drops it on the floor. I suck in a breath at the sight of her naked body, so I notice too late that Aurelia’s watching me with a glint in her eyes that spells trouble.
I guess I’m up to receive her ire.
She saunters over to me, bathing suit in hand and completely secure in her nakedness, and I decide in that moment to match her energy.
I stay where the fuck I am even though she’s expecting me to run.
They all are. Thorin and Khalil are already tense from the explosion they see coming a mile away.
When Aurelia stands in front of me—so close our bare toes nearly touch—I inch a little closer and watch the way her pulse quickens.
“Something you want to say to me?”
She visibly swallows past the nerves that are warning her I won’t be the easy adversary she mistook me for. “Bathing suits are complicated,” she says despite the simple one-piece that Thorin procured for her. “Will you help me?”
My gaze flicks to Thorin and Khalil who are both scowling at their girlfriend. And me, like I’m poaching on their territory. Technically, she’s not mine, so it does sort of feel as if I’m stepping over some line.
And just like that, I’m hard again.
Fuck it. If there’s any hope of Aurelia telling me what happened between her and Seth that fateful day, then maybe it starts here. By earning her trust. Still, I feel the need to warn her.
“You’re playing with fire, princess.”
“What can I say, Ezekiel? Maybe I like the burn.”
I take the bathing suit from Aurelia and crouch, which puts her pretty pussy level with my face.
I want to kiss it so bad that my hold on the suit tightens and I come dangerously close to ripping the material in half.
Instead, I stretch the neck wide so that she can step inside.
Aurelia braces her hands on my shoulders, and I feel her fingers flex curiously at the bunched muscles there before she sticks one foot through the hole followed by the other, bringing her even closer to my mouth.
Her scent is a goddamn drug.
I lick my lips and then quickly wrestle the snug material up her curvy body until I’m standing again. Aurelia works her arms through the straps and then adjusts the square-neck bodice over her breasts.
“Thank you.”
I nod and walk away without a word because I don’t trust what will come out if I do.
I go into the kitchen to fill my own canteen, and when I return, Aurelia is wearing denim overalls over her bathing suit and her tan hiking boots with purple laces. She has her pack on and is studiously ignoring whatever Khalil is whispering to her as he hands Aurelia her bow and quiver.
When she doesn’t respond, he sighs and takes her hand.
Aurelia doesn’t snatch her hand back, but that could easily be explained by the tight grip Khalil has on her hand.
I frown at it and feel my teeth clench with the effort to feign indifference before Khalil glances my way and nearly catches me. “You ready?”
I nod and grab my pack and the crossbow from where they’re waiting by the stairs. “Yeah.”
“Wait,” Aurelia says when we all take a step toward the door. “I have to do something before we go.” She wrangles her hand free from Khalil’s and then disappears downstairs.
The three of us exchange a look, but I’m the only one who knows what she’s really doing—radioing the sheriff. I can feel Thorin and Khalil’s impatience and confusion but none of us say a word when she returns. Khalil just reclaims her hand and we leave.
The four of us hike down to the valley where the ATVs are stored inside a cave at the base of Big Bear.
The Ski-Doos we use during the winter months are already stored away until the weather turns.
The mouth of the cave is carefully hidden under dense foliage just in case some campers get curious.
Khalil gets to work uncovering the entrance while Thorin and I duck inside to pull out the ATVs.
“Wow,” Aurelia says as we line up the ATVs.
I look up from sticking the key in the ignition to see her staring at the vast expanse of open terrain.
The ground is damp and muddy from the storms but otherwise barren and not worth the awe in Aurelia’s brown eyes.
In the winter, it’s a frozen tundra that never seems to end, especially if you’re unlucky enough to be caught out there during a storm.
“I haven’t been back here since Thorin lost that race. ”
“What race?” I ask before I can remember that I’m not supposed to care. Resisting Aurelia is an exhausting and futile endeavor. And I’m losing.