There’s noise behind me, and then Sebastian enters. He’s dressed casually in jeans and a knit sweater now and moves with careful precision around the small space: pouring his coffee into a mug, adding creamer, and then making two slices of toast with butter and honey from the cupboard.
He doesn’t look at me once, not even when he finally takes a seat, and starts eating his breakfast like he’s dining at a five-star restaurant.
I get it. I’m the ravenous animal, eating with my bare hands.
“The snow’s still coming down,” he says, finally acknowledging my presence. “We’ll likely be trapped here a few days.”
“Great.” I mumble, grabbing some of that honey, and smearing it on the bread. I don’t care if I look like a ravenous beast right now, swear, I’ve never been so hungry in my life before.
“Luckily, I keep my stores well stocked.” Sebastian watches me eat, with something like disdain on his infuriatingly handsome face. “There should be supplies in the cellar. When you’re done here, you can make yourself useful and take inventory, before you eat us out of house and home.”
His tone is clipped and patronizing. Clearly, our ceasefire from last night is over, and he’s back to hating my very being. I’m the last person in the world he wants to be snowed in with.
And the feeling is mutual.
I match his cool stare with one of my own. “Fine,” I say, icy. “Anything else?”
His scowl deepens. “You could try putting some damn clothes on.”
I glance down. My robe has fallen open at the neck, revealing my bare cleavage. “Is that a problem for you?” I coo, toying with the neckline, parting it a little wider, just to get a rise out of him. “Like you said, it’s nothing you haven’t seen before.”
Sebastian just scowls and walks out.
Fine. I yank the belt tighter, and finish eating before going to follow his orders. Orders. As if he has any right to boss me around, after everything that’s happened. If he hadn’t come after me on the plane, then we wouldn’t be stranded out here.
Hell, maybe the plane wouldn’t have crashed at all without him masquerading as the pilot.
I grab my bag, and haul it upstairs, where I find some women’s clothing in the guest room closet and dresser. I shouldn’t be surprised, but I can’t help feeling a stab of jealousy as I turn on the hot water, filling the small bathroom with delicious steam.
Which is crazy. Sebastian and I are over, I remind myself sternly. Even our pretense at affection is dead; there’s no act to get swept up in anymore. No more faked emotion to blur the lines to the real thing.
It should be a relief. Instead, it feels like a loss.
I take my sweet time getting cleaned up, letting the hot water run over my bruised, aching body. Nothing can wash away the stress and terror of the past twenty-four hours, but I try, and by the time I emerge, scrubbed clean, I feel refreshed and ready to face my next challenge. After all, I survived a plane crash and a grueling hike through the wilderness. I can deal with a day or two under the same roof as Sebastian. Especially now that there’s heating and hot water.
I continue my pep talk as I dress in some of the underwear I grabbed from my case, and a borrowed sweater and jeans. Soon enough, the snow will stop, and we’ll be able to call for rescue. Until then, I’ll just have to grit my teeth and make it through as best I can.
Starting with figuring out our food situation.
I decide to do as Sebastian suggested and check out the cabin’s stocks. He was an asshole about it, but I do want to know how long we can survive out here.
The last thing we need is to run out of food.
There’s no sign of Sebastian when I come back downstairs, so I get organized, finding a notepad and pen, and methodically going through every cupboard in the kitchen. There’s almost nothing there, it’s clear nobody’s been at the cabin for months, but just when I’m starting to worry, I go down to the cellar like he suggested, and hit paydirt. A fully stocked pantry of canned and dry goods, plus a freezer chest full of meat and frozen bread. I’m guessing that even though the power went out, it was too cold here for anything to thaw, so it’ll be safe enough to eat. We have enough to last weeks if necessary.
Weeks… I feel a chill at the thought, despite the cozy temperature inside. Being trapped with Sebastian that long, I don’t know if I would kill the man.
Or even worse, kiss him.
I block out the thought and focus on staying busy instead. I grab a box, and load up some provisions from the cellar stores, bringing them up to the kitchen. I’m just unpacking them when a movement outside the window catches my eye. I see Sebastian emerge from the small woodshed with a pile of thick logs in his arms. He’s wearing a coat, but it’s unbuttoned, allowing me to see his gray T-shirt stretched across his broad chest. His jaw is set, and I know that the load he’s carrying must be heavy.
I know the strength coiled in that taut physique.
His hands gripping tightly on my hips… His weight pinning me to the mattress…
His cock driving deep inside of me, hitting just the perfect spot…
An aching heat blooms deep inside me, and I have to force myself to look away. The usual wash of shame follows the desire, and God, I’m sick of being torn between loathing and lust like this. I don’t want to feel this way about him anymore. This sexual connection between us may be thrilling and terrifying, but it has brought me nothing but trouble.
When will I be free of him?
Soon, I vow. Soon, this will be over. Despite my despair yesterday, I have more clarity now. He may have ducked out of custody, but Sebastian’s a wanted man, completely ruined in the eyes of the pubic. When the blizzard passes and we can get out of here, I’ll go home and hopefully, he’ll go to prison. Or maybe into hiding. It doesn’t matter. All I care about is that I’ve destroyed the life he had, taken the wealth, and status he loved so much, and burned them all to ashes, the way I promised to avenge Miles’ death.
And I’ll never have to see him again.
I spend the rest of the day holed up in the tiny library I found, tucked in the back of the house. The walls are lined with bookcases, and there’s a comfy chair by a fireplace. I settle in with a book, relishing the chance to escape reality for a few hours.
Sebastian leaves me alone in blissful solitude, lost in a thick fantasy novel, and I’m not even sure how much time has passed when I’m pulled back to reality by delicious food smells wafting from the kitchen.
My stomach lets out a growl.
I put my book down and stand, stretching out my stiff body after hours of immobility. I have no idea what’s cooking, but it smells too good to resist, so I make my way to the kitchen. I find Sebastian there, making dinner. He’s chopping vegetables and has a big pot of something bubbling on the stove, sending up that hearty scent.
I watch him a moment from the doorway. It’s crazy how moments like this, he seems like a different person: unguarded, even relaxed.
Then he looks up, and his whole body tightens with tension again. There’s a moment of silence as our eyes meet, the tension thick enough to cut with one of those deadly looking knives he’s using to slice bread.
“Smells good,” I offer blandly. He doesn’t reply. Instead, he ladles stew into a bowl, and goes to sit at the table. He starts eating, alone, as if I’m not even here.