Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
OLLIE
My phone rings the moment I’m entering the apartment, and I grin like crazy because I know who it is.
Ever since the day Ethan spent the night—and half of the next day—here, he’s been calling me every single day.
We talk every time we’re both free. He asks me about my day and I eagerly listen to his as well. I text him silly things during the day and he sends me breathtaking pictures of the mountain when he’s on his break.
And I miss him so much I can’t breathe.
The phone is out of my pocket and in my hand before I can even shut the door behind me.
“Hey,” I smile when I pick up, even though he can’t see it.
“Hey, baby. Did you get home okay?”
God, that deep, low voice does things to me, and paired with his genuine interest it’s a miracle my brain is still functioning.
“Yes, all good,” I tell him, closing and locking the door behind me.
“And how was work?” he asks, sounds of him moving about spilling down the line.
“It was… interesting.”
He chuckles. “That sounds very promising.”
“Let’s just say that I spent about two hours putting together a giant display of cookie boxes in the shape of a Christmas tree, only to have them knocked down an hour later by someone who accidentally bumped into them. Fun times. Thankfully, no other major disasters at my diner shift earlier.”
“Damn, sweetheart. Make sure you eat and rest well now that you’re home, alright? I’d hate to have to break a few of someone’s bones if they’re overworking you.”
You’d think that the threat of physical injury would be off-putting, but it’s all I can do not to melt at the way he’s so protective of me.
I busy myself with taking off my overcoat and boots in a vain effort to distract myself from doing something stupid. Like swooning over the phone.
“I will, Ethan, I promise,” I tell him softly instead. “Tell me about you. How was your day?”
“It was fine. Definitely quieter now that the holidays are around the corner. Though it’s much better now that I’m talking to you.”
“God, Ethan.” I let out a very unflattering whine. “Please don’t make me miss you more than I already do.”
He halts whatever it is he’s doing on the other side of that line, only silence coming through.
“You missed me, baby?” His voice is even lower now, and I swear it’s as if he’s here with me, whispering it into my ear, feeling the vibration wash over me.
“So much…”
Ethan groans and the sound shouldn’t send such a thrill through my body.
“Fuck, I missed you too, Ollie. I’ve had to physically stop myself from driving over to you and throwing you over my shoulder.”
My toes curl in my socks, heat spreading in my belly.
“That sounds almost like caveman behavior,” I can’t help but tease him.
He lets out a raspy chuckle that makes me swallow.
“I know how much you love to be carried, sweetheart. I’d just be giving you what you need.”
I sincerely hope my shallow breathing isn’t as loud as I think it is.
“You’re right. I do love it when you carry me.”
Ethan curses and I can’t contain the small giggle that escapes me at his eagerness to see me.
“Just one more day, baby. Tomorrow, I’m taking you home with me, even if I have to carry you out of your damn job.”
Tomorrow. When Ethan is going to pick me up so we can spend Christmas together. My very first Christmas with someone who makes my heart full and light.
My mind runs through everything he said we could do together and a bubble of excitement floats inside me at the idea of spending more time with him.
He said we’re going to decorate.
I’ve never decorated a Christmas tree in my life. I wonder what that would look like with Ethan.
Will he sneak in kisses under the mistletoe like I’ve seen in the movies?
Oh God, am I blushing just thinking about it?
“I can’t wait,” I tell him, holding tightly onto the device in my hand as if it’s a lifeline.
“Me neither,” he replies, resuming his moving around.
“What exactly are you doing right now?”
The noises stop again.
“Um well, I’m… tidying up. I didn’t want the cabin to be messy like the last time you were here.”
His words temporarily stun me.
“Ethan, the last time I was there, a little mess would have been the least of my problems. Plus, I happen to like your fresh laundry chair in the bedroom, and your overcoat chair in the entryway, and everything that reminds me that it’s you living in that place.”
He’s silent for so long that for a moment I fear the line has gone dead.
“The things you say, Ollie,” he mutters hoarsely. “You have no idea.”
What does he mean by that? I’m only saying what I’m feeling. It’s nothing but the truth. But before I can say anything, he goes on.
“Tomorrow at seven outside the mart?”
“Yes,” I sigh into the phone, “tomorrow at seven.”
“Sleep well, baby.”
“Sweet dreams, Ethan.”
“They will be, sweetheart.”
We hang up, but even though I’m walking to my closet and changing into my comfortable sweats, mentally I’m still with him.
I’ve already prepared my backpack so that I can take it with me to work tomorrow. No need to stop by here again. I want us to get to my favorite place in the mountains as soon as possible.
A grin stretches my lips at the thought of what I’ve packed in my backpack for Ethan, hoping he will like it.
I don’t know how I manage to eat my dinner with the way my stomach is fluttering or how I will ever be able to sleep tonight. But I don’t care.
Because tomorrow can’t come soon enough.
***
“You do realize you’ve been staring at the clock every five minutes, right?”
My gaze snaps to Eric at the cashier’s counter and I smile sheepishly at my co-worker.
“Sorry.”
He chuckles, shaking his head. “Don’t be. It’s just that I’ve never seen you this excited before and it’s nice to see you happy. Do you have plans?”
I smile because yes, I do have plans. The best plans ever.
I nod fast. “Yes, I’m waiting for someone who’s picking me up in a little while.”
Why do I feel like my grin is slightly unhinged?
Oh well.
“Niiice,” Eric bobs his head. “Okay, then, why don’t you take care of the trash at the back from now so that you don’t keep that someone waiting when he gets here?” he asks, wiggling his eyebrows which makes me laugh.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m fine here on my own. It’s not like they’re queueing outside.”
“Alright. Thanks, Eric, I’ll get on with that.” I spin on my heel, not even pretending that I’m not in a hurry to be done with my work.
It doesn’t take me more than half an hour to make sure all waste is in trash bags, having already sorted through the perishables and expired products earlier.
Clutching two huge bags on each hand, I manage to open the back door of the mart with my elbow. The December evening is cold against my face, making my cheeks tingle as I make my way to the nearby garbage cans, but it’s mellow, lacking the sharpness of the cold outside Ethan’s cabin.
Which is perfectly normal considering the altitude, I chuckle to myself.
I’m still thinking about trees and snow and secluded cabins as I make my way back to the door, which is exactly why I don’t immediately notice a second pair of footsteps apart from mine.
At least, not until it’s too late.
I feel the presence at my back just seconds before a palm covers my mouth and I’m roughly pulled against a strong body that pins me to the wall.
My pulse skyrockets as I scramble to turn slightly just in time to avoid slamming against the hard surface face-first. The skin on my cheek and temple feels like it’s on fire but it has nothing on the pure terror that floods my veins, threatening to completely overwhelm me.
Because even though I didn’t get a chance to see who it is, I know who he is even before he speaks.
“Hello, Oliver. You’re a very difficult man to corner,” Mason whispers in my ear, his breath revoltingly hot against me.
Oh God, that sickly-sweet, smooth voice that I only now realize was actually never smooth, just oily.
Slithery. A voice I’d managed to purge from my mind, choosing to believe that I was safe now because the messages had stopped, that I was of no use to him now that my heat had passed, that maybe he’d forgotten about me and I didn’t have to look over my shoulder anymore.
What a fool I was.
I swallow the bile that rises to my throat, desperately trying to get my heartbeat under control, to make myself calm down.
He plasters himself on my back and my skin crawls. I make an unintelligible sound behind his palm but it is muffled, and he laughs harshly.
“Did you think I wouldn’t get to you? That you could run away from me or have fucking bodyguards on you and that it would stop me from finding you and taking you?”
There is an edge to his tone that feels dangerous—sinister—but his words momentarily pierce through the fog of fear.
Bodyguards? What is he talking about?
His hands feel like steel traps on me and everything inside me screams to find a way to call out for help or to get out of his hold and run.
I can feel him scenting my neck and my eyes squeeze shut, wishing with all my heart I could tear myself away and never let him touch me again.
“Fuck!” he growls, his hold becoming bruising. “You did it, didn’t you? You let another alpha fuck you through your heat and now his scent and marks are all over you,” he spits out in disgust.
I bite hard against his palm, only managing to scream for help for just a second before he’s muffling my voice again even harder.
“No one is going to fucking hear you, you little slut. You’ll just stay here with me and when I’m done with you,” he grinds against me, fresh terror spreading through my body, “I fucking promise you that no one will ever want you again. Your alpha will take one look at you, used and tainted, and will hate the very sight of you.”
Ethan. His name echoes in my mind, despair crashing into me at the thought of never seeing him again if something happens to me.
Oh my God. He’s going to be waiting for me and I won’t be there.
I won’t be there for him to take me to the cabin.
No, no, no, the word trapped in my throat as I struggle and fight and do everything in my power to get free, but in vain.
I want to decorate my first Christmas tree with him, I think as hot tears streak down my cheeks. I want to be happy with him.
Please, I just want to be happy with him.
Please.