Chapter Six
Severin
Morning light filters through the cabin windows. I wake to the warmth of the fire and the lingering scent of woodsmoke and pine. The blanket has me sweating like a race horse after running on the tracks. I vaguely remember kicking it off last night. The woman must have covered me back up.
I sit up, muscles stiff with each movement reminding me I have a wound from the fight with Rizzo last night. The pain is duller now, thanks to whatever she gave me, but it’s still a constant throb.
I stand, bracing myself against the couch and pressing my hand to my side. No blood shows on my bandage that heals faster healing than I thought. However, there's no time to waste. I need to get back to the cabin and move Rizzo's body.
Wincing with pain, I reach out, grabbing one of the bandages lying on the side table. I tear off the back of the dressing and press it firmly against my wound to stop the bleeding. I take pieces of the tape and wrap it tightly around the gauze to secure it, careful not to reopen the skin.
Then a voice suddenly halts me in my tracks.
“You really shouldn’t do that on your own.” She’s standing in the doorway with her arms folded across her chest. Her eyes target on my bandage, inspecting the blood and gauze in my hands. Like a statue right beside her, her dog sits by her feet .
“I said I can handle it.” I continued to finish taping up the dressing.
She approaches me, completely unphased by my words. “No. You’re clearly bleeding through and need double packing on the wound. Now stop being stubborn and sit.”
Her tone leaves no room for argument. I pause for a moment, then settle back onto the couch. I’m annoyed with myself for needing help. And I’m even more irritated that she makes me want to give in.
She kneels beside me, her soft, silky, dirty blond hair brushes against my chest while she quickly unwraps what I have done and redoes the bandages her way.
She bites her plush and light pink lip as she concentrates on me.
Jesus Christ. How perfect that mouth would fit around my cock with my hand fisted in her hair.
Each time her soft fingers touch my skin, I bite the inside of my cheek to prevent myself from groaning.
“See? It’s not so hard," she murmurs as she tapes the last piece. Her eyes briefly lock onto mine. A spark of electricity passes between us, and it nearly takes my breath away.
All she has to do is look down, and she will see how freaking hard I am. It's been a while since I’ve been with anyone. My sole purpose has been to eliminate my brother’s killer. Nothing else matters. No one else matters.
“Thank you for playing nurse,” I mutter, shifting on the couch.
She gives a faint smirk. “You’re welcome. And by the way, I am a nurse.” She rolls her eyes. “Now, don’t try to fix yourself again.”
I let out a sigh, but I decide not to argue. For once, I just give in and let this stranger take care of me.
As the room falls silent, my thoughts drift to Rizzo in the cabin.
We just left his body there, and someone has to handle it before his men come looking for him, and this woman is in even more danger than I’ve already put her in.
I push off the couch, the bandage fits tightly, and the blood has stopped for now. Thank God.
“I need to go,” I say, already heading toward the hall looking for a bathroom to take a piss.
She stands in the doorway, holding toiletries and dry clothing, when I open the door to the bathroom. “Have you seen outside this morning? There’s more snow than you can shake a stick at out there, and it’s not safe to travel.”
“I’ve gotta clean up Rizzo’s body before his men come looking for him, or real trouble is going to come onto your land.” I grab the long-sleeved shirt from her hand and try to head toward the door where my boots are.
She blocks my way, feet firmly planted to the floor. “Severin, it’s not safe out there, and your wound is not healed even a little bit. What do you think you will be doing up there? One wrong move and you will open yourself up again.”
The way she says my name nearly has my heart beating out of my chest, but I shake my head. “No,” I snap. “It doesn’t matter. I can’t leave him there. I killed him, and it’s my mess to clean up. I’ll be fine.”
Her face flushes red, and she looks like she might shove me back inside and lock the door. Instead, she folds her arms and moves closer, allowing the lingering smell of wood smoke on her clothes and the faint shampoo in her hair to waft to my nose.
“You’re not going alone,” she says.
I laugh. “You think all of that was an invitation?”
“I don’t need an invitation," she states coldly. "This is my land and I’ll go where I please. You brought this mess here. I don’t want his body here any more than you do. If you’re going to clean up, I’m coming too to make sure no traces of your mess is left behind.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose and let out a sigh. She is stubborn, I’ll give her that. Most men who know me wouldn't even try to talk to me the way she does. I wonder how well she’d moan my name if I pressed her against the wall behind her and finger fucked her.
Shaking those naughty thoughts away, I ponder whether I should just tie her up somewhere till I’m done.
I understand why she wants to come and help, but what she doesn’t realize is that if any information gets out that she was involved in any way, it won’t just be my head on the chopping block…
it will be hers too. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if something happened to her because of me.
“Fine,” I finally say. "You may come, but you have to do exactly as I say. Understand?”
She raises an eyebrow, crossing her arms. “You might be the boss wherever you come from but you are not the boss here. You got that? Now come on, it’ll be faster to take the side-by-side.”
I blink, she’s insane. “Side-by-side?”
“Yep.” She grabs the keys from the hook and nods toward the door. "Remember, you're a guest. Guests don’t drive.”
I think about arguing for a moment, but there’s a fire dancing in her eyes, so I decide against it. “Fine,” I whisper, following her.
The cold hits me in the face as soon as the door opens, snow whipping in from the trees. She climbs into the driver’s seat, and Brutus jumps into the back, watching me with that same damn judgment in his brown eyes.
I slide in next to her, being cautious of my patched side, as she revs the engine. The vehicle lurches forward, kicking up snow as we push through the snowdrifts. She handles the rough terrain with ease, self-calmness, self-assuredness, and boldness.
“Start talking,” she says, eyes fixed on the trail ahead. “Why was he here? Why my land?”
I exhale, my words burning as they escape my mouth. “I don’t know why he was on your land. I don’t know how he even knew to come here. But he was on the run from me. He killed my brother.”