Chapter Nine
Escalation
Eli
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T HE WORLD WAS A FIRESTORM of hail and ice. Each flake of white torment raged past me at speed as it trailed its private course to the growing bed of its peers at my feet. Even though I’d vowed not to let her out of my sight, I’d headed out into the freezing conditions after compelling a sandwich into Erin. Promising to return soon, I’d ensured the door was closed when I left, but I hadn’t expected the exacerbated situation. The wind had picked up since we’d found refuge and made each new step forward a bracing challenge.
“Shit.”
Turning my back to the gale that seemed determined to knock me from my feet, I responded to the call of nature and plowed on sideways, surveying the exterior of the cabin for any signs of additional wood stocks. The bad news was that, so far, there was nothing except growing drifts of the same snow that had landed Erin and me in the ranger’s hut in the first place. One glance at the sky confirmed there was no shortage of it to come.
I pushed away the trepidation threatening to balloon in my chest. If there was no more wood, we’d have to make do with what we had. Erin already had the benefit of the fire inside the cabin, and when that waned, she could huddle in her blankets.
I’m doing everything I can to look after her.
It was true, but my stiffening jaw also accepted that my altruism was mainly because I was so utterly responsible for the fate of the rest of her party. Three of them were missing and two presumed dead. Even in a career as long as mine, it was a pitiful tally, and if I’d only done a better job with James and Miles, we might not have been stuck in our current predicament.
“Saving James wouldn’t have changed the weather,” I reminded myself as I fought past another gust of wind. “All five of us might have ended up here.”
That would have been a nightmare.
The grim realization of that scenario did little to lift my spirits as I accepted what had become obvious. There were no other wood stocks to bail us out. We’d have to make the meager supply she’d discovered inside last the course.
However long that was.
An image of Erin burst into my head as I struggled against the force of the tempest. Despite having met in such stressful circumstances, she was still the most beautiful woman I’d laid eyes on in many years.
“And I could have been holding her against me tonight.” I’d given her the bloody bed without so much as a fight, cursing myself as I gave in when all I wanted to do was tumble into it with her. “But that’s not what she wants.”
Pressing my back against the lodge, I considered my conclusion. Erin had thrown me a few breadcrumbs since we’d met. The way her stare had lingered in my direction and how her face had reddened when we’d spoken, but it wasn’t much to go on.
“It’s nothing to go on.” I stamped my boot into the snow, acknowledging how deep the whiteout had become in the short time we’d been inside. If the blizzard continued at the current rate, the cabin would be virtually buried in a few hours, and without extra wood, it was a grim reality.
‘It’s no more than you deserve!’
The impish voice rattled along the breeze, my brow furrowing as I turned to acknowledge who it belonged to.
There, able to withstand the strength of the wind with no effort, was the latest ghoul sent to plague me. Tall, dark, and with no discernable features, the creature shifted toward me, floating along the snow as though it were flying.
“Just go away!” I hollered, irritated at the way its presence had derailed me. It was bad enough having lost three of the party and accepting that Erin didn’t want me. I didn’t need another haunting. “Leave me be.”
‘You didn’t leave me be.’ Its voice was a sneer. ‘ You didn’t leave me until I was dead!’
Anxiety gripped my stomach at its accusation. “If you’re dead, then disappear!”
Turning, I focused on trudging on and getting back to Erin. The nonsensical ramblings of my latest visitation would have to wait, but its words resounded in my head, even as I fought my way around the side of the hut, its recriminations stinging more than they should have in a man who was paid to put bodies in the ground.
Flinging open the door, I tumbled inside in a dramatic heap of cascading snowflakes before I shoved the door closed with my boot.
“Are you okay?” She edged closer, apprehension flashing in her alluring eyes.
“I’m all right.” I was already shrugging out of my hooded jacket and pushing the unit back into its position blocking the door. “But the weather’s even worse than it was earlier.”
Her brow furrowed as I pulled the waterproof trousers over my boots. “Christ, I didn’t think it could get much worse.”
I wanted to laugh at her naivety. Clearly, Erin didn’t spend much time in the wilderness. The climate out there wasn’t only changeable but sometimes brutal.
“Is there someone else out there?” She wandered closer to the fire, which I was pleased to see was going strong. “It sounded like you were talking to someone.”
She’d heard that?
The idea surprised me. The wind was so powerful that I was shocked she could hear anything over its whining gusts.
“There’s a gale blowing out there,” I told her. “You probably just heard it whistling through the trees.”
She stared at me as though she knew I was fudging the truth but didn’t pursue the point.
“If there was any power in here, I reckon we’d have lost it by now,” I went on, happy to divert her from the subject.
The last thing Erin needed to know was that I conjured the demons of my past crimes into reality. I needed to be the dependable, knowledgeable one who would see her through the storm, not someone she would worry about.
“Crap.” She pulled in a fidgety breath. “My phone is getting low on power as it is.”
“Better that you put it in your bag and save power for the time being.” I carried my gear past her to the fire, buoyed by the flames still roaring there. The logs might have been comparatively small, but so was the space. Before I’d ventured out into the freeze again, they’d done a decent job of heating the cabin, and if we were sensible, we could trap what warmth remained while we slept.
It was the best plan we had.
It’s the only plan.
“The signal is still out on mine,” I went on. “And there’s no mobile data.”
“I noticed.” Her answer was a sigh. “It’s so frustrating to have a fancy device that can’t do anything to help us.”
“That’s the problem with technology.” I laid my waterproofs out on the floor by the fire before appreciating its welcoming glow. I was used to hostile conditions, but even I was thankful for its fiery warmth. “Everyone relies on it these days, so we feel helpless when it doesn’t work.”
I was guilty of that too, having used the compass on my phone instead of the good, old-fashioned variety. Fortunately, I always carried a backup with me.
“Yeah.” Her quivering voice revealed the tension she was feeling. Presumably, losing her friends and ending up in an abandoned cabin with me hadn’t been on her agenda for the day.
I could relate, but from where I stood, things could have been a lot worse. Clinging to the blanket she’d hoisted around her shoulders, her large eyes, full lips, and long limbs were completely mesmerizing. Once more, I wished I was sharing the bed with Erin instead of taking the chair.
“Relax.” Standing beside her, I was struck by just how much shorter than me she was. Smaller, less knowledgeable, and obviously needy. My cock stirred at the idea. I liked needy women. The ones who needed me were the most enthralling. “We don’t need technology right now. We have food, water, and fire. We’re safe.”
“But we need wood.” She caught her lower lip between her white teeth, her expectant gaze searching my face. “Did you find any more out there?”
“Sadly not.” I wished I had better news for her. It would have been good to see some of the tension in her body ebb away. “No storage container and no more wood.”
Glancing behind her, I studied the pile of timber we did have. “We’ll just have to use what we have sparingly. The trees outside have been saturated and won’t be good for burning for a while.”
By which time, hopefully, we won’t be here anymore.
“Do we have enough?” The same uneasiness I’d seen glinting in her eyes about our sleeping arrangements greeted me, goading me to do what I did best—rush in and take control.
“We’ll make it enough.” I didn’t want to be too brutal with her, but I equally wasn’t going to lie. Despite her relative size, Erin was a grown-up. She needed to handle the truth. “Sure, it would have helped to have an extra woodpile, but things could be worse.”
“Yeah.” Her knitting brows suggested she wasn’t sure she agreed, but she said nothing further.
I could see the anxiety snaking in her, though, wrapping itself around her throat until her breaths became shorter and raspy. She needed me to reassure her and make decisions.
It was just as well I was dying to make them for her.
“Are you feeling warmer now?” I turned to her, aware that her legs and feet were still exposed.
Bared beneath the blanket I’d offered, she was truly vulnerable. My pulse sped up at the delectable thought. I liked the idea of her helplessness almost as much as I wanted to look after her.
“A little, thank you.” She feigned a smile. “I’m not looking forward to climbing into the bed, though. I bet it will be freezing.”
A glance in the bed’s direction confirmed the basis for her unease. Positioned on the opposite side of the cabin to the fire, it would likely reflect a temperature closer to the door than the flames.
“Want me to move it over here?” I could manage it, especially if she lent a hand.
“Would you?” Her voice was hopeful.
“I wouldn’t offer otherwise.” Stalking to the end of the bed, I moved the chair out of the way. “Can you help?”
“Erm, sure.” She tied the top of the blanket in a knot at her hip. “Okay.”
“I suggest we drag it toward the fire.” It was only a few feet of effort. “Can you take the other side of the bedstead? We’ll see how we do.”
She moved into position. “I’ll do my best.”
“Good.” Weaker and less experienced than me she might have been, but I had no doubt she was capable. She’d exhibited her mettle in the clearing before James and Miles had fallen. “We move on three. Three, two, one...”
Pulling at the post, I hauled it ten inches or so across the timber floor. The noise of the wooden bed grating against the wood flooring filled the space around us, and when I glanced up, I noticed she’d managed almost as far at her end.
“It’s harder than it looks.” Her face lit up in the first natural display of exhilaration since she’d laid eyes on the waterfall, and a shot of hope bloomed inside me. If she kept the faith, I could get her through this.
I have to.
I couldn’t lose them all—couldn’t add another specter to my list of lost souls.
“You’re doing fine,” I encouraged. “Let’s go again.”
Inhaling, she squatted, waiting for my count before she heaved her post further along the floor.
“This is quite the workout.” Her smile was weary as she rose to stretch out her back.
“It will be worth it,” I reminded her. “When you go to sleep by the heat of the fire.”
“I know.” She swallowed. “I want to thank you for letting me take the bed. I know you didn’t have to.”
“It’s the right thing to do.”
I left it at that, preferring not to mention how I’d imagined what it would be like to climb into the bed beside her and spoon her tempting body. Her reaction to the mere idea of sharing with me had shown me her reluctance, and I guessed that was understandable.
We were two strangers trapped in the cabin. Nothing more. Only two random people thrown together by circumstance.
It was ridiculous of me to contemplate how soft her skin might be, or how it would feel to tangle my limbs with hers, and wrong to imagine the noises escaping her throat when I slid my shaft into her warm, wet places.
“Ready to move the bed again?” Lunging for the post, I held her gaze.
The light shining in her eyes insisted I pause for one further second. Her pupils conveyed a knowing I hadn’t noticed before, a sense that she might know what was on my mind after all, but in an instant, the look was gone.
“Yes.” Her fingers tightened on the wood. “I’m ready.”
We continued, lugging the bed past the table and on inch by inch until finally it filled the space between the spare logs and the fireplace. Peering back into the comparative gloom of the unlit half of the room, I noticed the path the posts had taken scratched into the floor.
“Well, I’m feeling warmer now!” She laughed, flinging her arms out as she collapsed onto the blanket-covered bed.
“Best you get under the covers, then,” I jested, dragging the chair to the side of the bed nearest the flames and sinking onto its hard seat. Adjusting to its uncompromising confines, I wished I’d been less of a gentleman and taken the bed for myself. If I’d climbed into it first, she’d have had no choice but to either take the chair or share the bed with me. “You need to capture that body heat.”
“Good thinking.” Stretching out on the covers, she glanced my way. “I’ll do that.”