Chapter Nine
Gabe lay in his bed the morning they were leaving for the cabin, reliving the past few days. Devlin was a whirlwind, just as she’d been the night they’d met. He needed this time away, even though he knew he’d be spending most of the weekend tempering his feelings. He knew he was hard to read, just like his brother. They were often told they’d gotten that from their father—told so by their mother.
A shock of cold air rushed in, as he prepared to get out of bed, so he drew the covers back over himself and snuggled in, hoping for a few more minutes of warmth. Grabbing his phone from the nightstand, he opened his thermostat app, upping the temperature in the master bedroom a few degrees. Five more minutes wouldn’t hurt, so he let his mind drift back to Devlin and her pretty face. Her features, though sharp and angular, were strong and bold. Her style was so different from when they’d first met. She was still bold, but she’d softened. He pictured her rounded hips, felt the swell of her breasts against him when he’d pulled her close in the old art gallery. She just fit. Gabe felt himself starting to throb as he grew hard.
He glanced at the clock. Greyson and Prudence would be there to pick him up within the hour, and he still needed to shower, but the air was so cold and his skin was so warm, so he slid his boxer briefs to his mid thighs, turning onto his back. He thought back to their last kiss, he ran his hand up and down his inner thighs, growing harder as he thought of her soft lips. He gripped his shaft— those lips soft on his head, fuck —already the bead of pre-cum was forming on the tip. His thumb swiped over it and letting a groan build in the base of his throat, he used the moisture to stroke his cock now erect and throbbing. His mind drifted back to that night, how in control she’d been, his pace still slow. He had yet to taste her, and he imagined the bliss that might await him, he pictured her body hovering over his, her legs spread over his face as she took him in her mouth. He would lick her clit, and lap up her wetness, driving her wild. He stroked harder and faster, mimicking what she might be doing with her mouth as she tried to stay focused during his ministrations. He would go back to her clit, sucking with just the right amount of pressure, licking back up then in circles over and over, sucking a little harder with each pass. Her motions would become erratic as her thighs started to tremble. He gripped his cock tighter and stroked harder. Would she give in or try to fight it? He remembered that she’d given in to the sensation while he’d been fucking her, and he had no doubt her orgasm would be on his lips with little coaxing, sliding a finger in as he focused on her clit, she’d clench and the warmth would spread, just as his ejaculate spread now into his hand. He relaxed back into his pillows. Good lord he needed to taste her. He was desperate for her.
If he’d thought getting out of his warm bed into the cold room had been hard before, it was unbearable now. Sprinting into the shower, he blasted the water, toying with the idea of masturbating once more. As tempted as he was, he was running late enough. Sporting a dark flannel and warm vest, he trotted down the stairs, his hair still wet, as he heard Greyson let himself into the house.
“Morning, little brother,” Greyson offered in a cheerful voice. “Ready to go?”
“Yes, just these few boxes and my bag at the door are going. You want any coffee to go?”
“Devlin is bringing the caffeine this morning.” Greyson smiled like the cat that ate the canary.
“What’s with the weird smirk, Grey?”
“Let’s just say Prudence is almost as good at planning as Annabelle. We’re meeting at The Bee in about five minutes.”
Gabe’s look grew more confused. “I don’t want to know. Let’s go.”
Greyson and Gabe carried the boxes down the front steps, navigating the small patches of ice on the walkway leading to Greyson’s black SUV idling in the driveway. He could see Prudence through the windshield, bobbing with excitement.
“Hi, Gabe.” She beamed, getting out of the car to help with the boxes of wine and spirits.
“Mornin’, Pru,” Gabe greeted, stacking the boxes and his bag in the already full back end then securing the hatch.
“Take the front and sit by Greyson, you’ll have more leg room.” Prudence slid into the back seat. “I’m so excited, I love the mountains and it seems like forever since I’ve been there. The pine trees lined up like toy soldiers, marching to battle.”
Gabe rolled his eyes as he climbed in the front seat, knowing full well she had something up her sleeve, since she only chattered on like this when she was nervous or a plan was in action—and she wasn’t nervous.
“Do you know if we still have fishing poles at the cabin?” Gabe asked in a quiet voice, letting Prudence keep hyping the virtues of mountains. “I looked for mine, but I must’ve misplaced them somewhere.”
Greyson backed out of the driveway and started in the direction of The Bee. “I think so. Remember when Dad left ours at home and just bought a bunch to keep at the cabin?”
Gabe laughed at the long-lost memory. “I don’t believe for one second that he forgot them. He hated packing those things with a passion and forgetting them was the only way Mom would let him have two sets.”
“You think we’ll have time for ice fishing?” Prudence leaned forward between the two seats. “I love ice fishing.”
The drive to The Bee was as brief as her list of reasons why she loved ice fishing, which consisted only of getting to wear her cute winter gear to not having to use live worms as bait, with a long pause in between.
As they pulled into the parking lot, he could see Devlin getting out of her car. Greyson parked beside her, hitting the button to lift the rear gate.
Prudence and Gabe got out of the SUV at the same time. “Good morning, Devlin!” Prudence chirped, going to help Devlin with the coffee.
“Devlin, where are your bags?” Gabe questioned. “I can grab them for you.”
“I just have the one in the back seat, thank you.” Devlin smiled at Gabe.
“You continue to amaze me,” Gabe quipped.
He made quick work of the small bag and had just gotten back into the car when Sebastian pulled into the parking lot, followed by Annabelle. She parked and hustled around to the back door where Devlin and Prudence were already settled in the back seat of the warm SUV.
“Move over, ladies,” she commanded, reaching for the door handle. The telltale sound of the locks engaging was her only response. Annabelle reached out and tugged on the door handle. “Prudence Marie, you would not do this to your best friend since grade school. Open this door right now!”
Gabe realized what was happening when he spotted Sebastian leaning against the back end of his SUV, the lift gate open. Prudence rolled down her window. “Sorry, friend, full here. Good thing Seb decided to come too. It would’ve been too tight of a squeeze.”
Annabelle growled low in her throat. “Did you just call him Seb?”
Prudence extended her arm, handing Annabelle a coffee. “Here, you may need this.”
“No way, Prudence.” She grabbed the coffee then pleaded with Gabe. “You have to ride with him.”
“Bye.” Prudence smiled. “See you guys at the cabin!” As Greyson backed out and shifted into drive, Prudence smirked. “And the student has become the master.”
“You did that on purpose?” Gabe asked.
“I sure did. Annabelle meddles in everyone else’s affairs, it’s time she got a taste of her own medicine.”
“You know there’s a good chance she goes back home,” Devlin chuckled.
“You know as much as I do that she’s been looking forward to time off and out of town. She’ll forgive me as soon as she gets out of the car there and breathes in the mountain air.”
“We’re not in the mountain air yet and the wind is already picking up,” Gabe commented. “I wonder if the forecast for snow might be right this time.”
“It should clear up when we get out of town,” Greyson advised. “I hope,” he added with a grimace.
With that they fell into comfortable chatter as they drove the two and half hours out of town through the snow-covered countryside of Massachusetts. Gabe kept his mind off Devlin, following the conversation, nodding and chiming in in all the right places. As they pulled up to the cabin, he was brought back to his youth and the time spent there with their parents. Gabe took in a lungful of cool fresh air when he stepped out of the car. Not that they lived in a big city or anything, but mountain air just hit different out here, and he did believe Annabelle would forgive all once she got there.
“Will you ladies please go in, turn up the heat and start uncovering the furniture?” Greyson asked. “No need for all of us to bear the cold, we’ll bring all the stuff in.”
“You bet, babe.” Prudence kissed his cheek.
Greyson and Gabe were making quick work of the boxes and bags when Sebastian and Annabelle pulled in. Sebastian had just stopped when Annabelle jumped out of the car.
“Never again, Sebastian!” Annabelle slammed the car door shut. “Argh!” She let out a melodramatic yell, then opened the door, grabbed her bag, and slammed it again for apparent good measure before storming up the walkway to the cabin. “Prudence! Friendship off!” she bellowed as she opened the door.
“I have no words.” Sebastian made his way to the door to where Devlin was peeking out.
“Need more help?” Devlin asked. “We’re all set up inside.”
“Last box here,” Gabe responded, and the three of them followed Sebastian inside to the kitchen where Annabelle was unpacking the food. She was slamming items on the counter when she did a double take at Sebastian. He noticed Greyson and Prudence were already missing.
“You do have some actual outerwear, don’t you?” Annabelle asked, clearly unimpressed by Sebastian’s hiking boots and windbreaker. “These winters are no joke, and the wind outside isn’t letting up—that tells me a storm’s coming.”
“I am always prepared,” Sebastian promised. “Besides, the last two months of forecasted snowstorms, other than the little bit we had this morning, haven’t happened. I have no faith the weatherman is right about this one.”
“Let’s get the rooms situated,” Gabe interrupted. “The cabin has five bedrooms, plenty of space. I’m going to assume Grey and Pru are already in the master, and you two”—Gabe pointed at Annabelle and Sebastian—“can have the other rooms on the second floor, I’ll take one of the downstairs rooms.”
Annabelle looked thoughtful for a minute then gasped. “Like hell we will!” she exclaimed. “Those upstairs rooms have a connecting bathroom. We already had to share the car ride here, I’m not sharing a bathroom with that man!” She looked at Sebastian with clear disgust and shuddered. “He looks like he’d be…hairy.”
“Hey, man,” Sebastian addressed Gabe. “She doesn’t need to have access to my room, who knows what she’d do to me. I wouldn’t get any sleep, wondering when she’d bust through the door to ravish me.”
Greyson entered the kitchen, keeping a safe distance from the commotion. Prudence slid past him while shaking her head, moved to rejoin the girls and began to open the first bottle of wine she saw.
“Oh, you wish—” Annabelle started.
“Okay! I’ll stay upstairs with Sebastian and you two ladies can be downstairs.”
Devlin searched the cupboard pulling out two large baking sheets.
“Listen, Sebastian.” Greyson leaned in closing the distance between them. “Sorry about the reception. I’m sure it’ll improve once she gets some food in her.”
“Or something else,” Gabe joked.
“It’ll be a long two days if she’s expecting that.” Sebastian stood. “I need to burn off some steam, didn’t you mention a bonfire tonight?”
“Yeah, we’re pretty sheltered off the back patio. Want to chop some wood?” Greyson asked.
Gabe poured the guys all two fingers of Glenlivet then propped his hip against the kitchen island.
“Really? The Boy Scout couldn’t chop pre-split wood,” Annabelle teased, making it apparent she was listening to their conversation then taking her glass of wine and sitting on the bar stool at the kitchen island. “That smells amazing, Dev.”
“Thank you, chicken and artichoke pizza.”
Sebastian downed the remainder of his drink. “Winters, you are on my last nerve. Don’t you have some matron of honor things to be planning?”
“ Matron of honor? The title is maid of honor, since I’m not married,” Annabelle corrected, walking right into his apparent trap.
“Surprise, surprise.” Sebastian threw over his shoulder but was already out of the side door before Annabelle could reply. They all watched him walk across the patio to the wood pile. He unwedged the ax and stacked the log to be split, widened his stance then swung the ax over his head, his other hand coming up to grip the handle, bringing it down on the log with a powerful blow.
“Well, shit,” Annabelle mumbled, almost missing the island when setting down her glass of wine.
“Careful there, AB. You seem distracted.” Gabe chuckled and winked at Devlin. “Marshmallows for toasting tonight?”
“I’m in.” Devlin smiled back, sprinkling the last of the cheese on the pizza.
* * * *
After dinner, the group moved outdoors to toast the marshmallows as promised.
“I’m glad Mom talked Dad into putting this patio in.” Gabe removed the cover from the fire pit, turned on the propane and ignited the fire.
“What was here before?” Devlin looked over to Gabe, who was sitting next to her on a bench.
“Well, this has always been a patio,” Greyson answered, “but Mom wanted more privacy, and a fence wasn’t good enough, so Dad decided to rebuild it from the bottom up, adding the wind breaks. We’re so high up that the wind can get nasty, but there’s almost nothing, even when the wind is blowing as hard as it is now.”
“I can’t imagine needing more privacy. No other houses are around for miles,” Devlin pointed out.
“That wasn’t always the case.” Prudence skewered two marshmallows. “I recall a house fire led to the nearest house being torn down, right?”
“Yep.” Gabe motioned to a space behind the tree line. “That house was the reason Mom wanted more privacy in the first place, but then they decided not to rebuild after the fire and my parents bought the land from them.”
Gabe watched Devlin’s face as she took in this information and realized he was happy to share this all with her. She appeared so content bundled in her fur-lined parka, white boots and matching hat and mitten set. A half smile played on her lips while the group talked, interjecting only at a few points but seeming satisfied to just be a part of the group. The family.
He found himself quieting and letting the rest get louder as the hot toddies and spiked cocoa kicked in. His Irish coffee was landing just right but he felt mellow rather than boisterous. Soon midnight neared and yawns were taking over the frequency of the conversation.
“Brrr.” Annabelle shivered. “I’m gonna turn in, guys. I think I’m starting to get a chill.”
“And you thought I’d be the one in improper dress.” Sebastian gestured to her high-heeled winter boots.
“Please. These boots have seen me through many Massachusetts winters, and they’ll last many more.” She stood and turned to leave.
Sebastian followed, opening the door for her, their conversation fading out as it softly clicked shut behind them.
Prudence stood as well. “You ready, Grey?” she asked, reaching out her hand.
Greyson took her hand and winked at Gabe and Devlin. “Always. Night, guys.”
Gabe and Devlin watched the second pair go in, then they were alone.
“I think I’ll stay out for a little while more.” Devlin reached into the bag for another marshmallow. They’d been seated next to each other all night and with slow, unintentional movements, had eased themselves so they were so close but barely touching now, a hint of pressure with each almost made contact.
“I’ll keep you company.” Gabe second-guessed himself. “Unless you wanted to be alone?”
“No, I’d like for you to stay.”
“Thank goodness, my room is right next to the master, and whatever Grey and Pru are doing, I don’t want to hear it.”
Devlin laughed, a sweet peal of sound that washed over Gabe like a security blanket. “I’m glad I’m sleeping downstairs.”
“I might end up on the couch. They just can’t get enough of each other.”
“I wonder what that’s like,” Devlin murmured, so quiet he wasn’t sure he’d heard her. His blood thickened and he pushed down a wave of desire. Swallowing hard, he cleared his throat enough to ask the question he wasn’t sure he could handle the answer to right now.
“What do you mean?”
“I wonder what that kind of love is like. So in love that nothing else matters. Not fame or fortune. So wrapped up with another person that they’re the air you need to breathe, or you need them otherwise your body just doesn’t function.”
Gabe’s body was functioning fine right now, and it took this opportunity to remind him that he was a red-blooded male with a stunning woman sitting inches from him, looking at him now, her eyes wide and searching. He lowered his head, giving her time to retreat. It seemed like she was going to, pulling back a fraction before stopping. His lips touched hers with the lightness of flower petals brushing against each other in the breeze.
A gust of wind blew in so fast and harsh that it almost extinguished the fire’s flames, and the blast was so icy that it startled them apart. Devlin stood and backed toward the door.
“I’m sorry, Gabe. I don’t know why I let this keep happening. I meant it when I said I didn’t want any entanglements right now. I want to focus on Books and Beans with nothing else to distract me.” She didn’t give him the chance to respond before pulling open the door and retreating inside.
Gabe knew she was right. They were competitors now, both needing the building between them to expand their businesses. Only one reason existed for them to be here at this cabin—to put together proposals good enough to knock the other one out of the competition. He stood and turned off the fire pit’s propane and replaced the cover. He moved through the patio door, turning to lock it behind him. Divesting himself of his winter gear, he turned off the downstairs lights and trudged up the stairs.
“Gabe, wait!” He was halfway up when he heard Devlin’s loud whisper. His heart stuttered then soared when he saw Devlin stop at the base of the staircase. This is it, we’re going to happen . All thoughts he’d had moments ago about how correct she was to back away jumped right out of the window.
“There’s a man in my room.”
His soaring heart plummeted. “What?”
“A man. I’m assuming Sebastian, since Grey and Pru wouldn’t spend the night apart.” She motioned with her hand for him to follow.
When he got to Devlin’s room, he indeed saw a man on her bed. He walked over and shook Sebastian’s shoulder, getting a muffled, “Not now, Winters,” in reply.
Gabe bent over Sebastian’s prone figure, lying face down, quiet snores escaping his nose. “Dreaming about AB, huh?”
He jumped in startlement when Sebastian replied, “Fine, just put it on my desk you infernal woman.”
Devlin snickered under her breath, still standing in the doorway.
He shook him again, to complete silence this time. “He’s out.” Gabe looked around the room, then sighed. “It seems wrong to wake him, you might as well just sleep upstairs in his room, we’ll figure it out tomorrow.”
“Hold on, let me grab my pajamas.” He heard a muffled oath as she almost tripped on Sebastian’s coat and shoes that he’d left in the middle of the floor. “I should turn the light on, that’ll teach him.”
“I don’t think he’d notice.”
Devlin struggled in the dark then picked up her suitcase. “I might as well just take the whole thing, I never unpacked anything.” She stopped and threw a blanket over before they left, pulling the door shut.
“You old softie,” Gabe joked, taking her suitcase to carry upstairs.
“I’d like to think he’d do the same for me.”
As they ascended to the second floor their fingers brushed once, twice. He showed her to Sebastian’s room, opened the door and turned on the light, depositing the suitcase by the door. “A bathroom connects the rooms. You can go first, I’ll use it after you.” He waited for her to go in. Please, you have to be the one to leave first.
Devlin gave him a small smile, slipped through the door and closed it. He heard the click of the lock that signaled the definitive end to the evening.