free chapter 4/7

Dani

I twisted around in the blanket on the couch for the hundredth time. The fire was roaring not five feet away, but it still wasn't enough. I would just barely warm one side of me, and in that time the other side would freeze. I felt like a turkey roasting on a spit, I had to keep turning to stay warm.

This house had no insulation. The walls, being logs stacked on top of each other, had small cracks that let freezing air in from outside. It was held together by stubbornness and bullshit.

I glared up at the loft, wondering how Ryker could stand the temperature here for months on end. Is he a vampire? As far as I knew they didn't care about temperature, but he didn't look like one. No... he found me in the daylight, that's not it. I rolled over, again, and sighed into the wool blanket. Maybe he was right about the furs, maybe that's how he made it through the Siberian winters. Maybe I could sneak up and grab just one...

Steeling myself against the cold, I rolled off the couch and to my feet. With the blanket still wrapped around my shoulders, I snuck across the floor as quickly and quietly as I could. Gripping the blanket with one hand, I reached out with the other to climb the steep stairs to the loft.

At the top, I sucked in a breath. There was Ryker, sprawled across the bedding, ass up and naked as the day he was born. He let out a sleepy hum and shifted a little before settling back down.

Damn. He's chiseled from head to toe, I'll give him that.

Wait, I'm freezing my ass off and he's butt naked and content?

From the top step I stretched out my free hand, reaching for a thick black fur that wasn't directly under Ryker. My fingers fell short by several inches.

I sighed through my nose, and climbed off the top step and onto the loft floor. I reached out for the fur, gently dragging it to myself as Ryker slept on. I wrapped it over my already blanketed body and drank in the warmth.

It was heaven, wrapping around my body, sinking into my bones, caressing my face.

My face. The blanket wasn't covering my face, but it was warm anyway. Blissfully warm.

I crawled a little further onto the loft and away from Ryker and the edge. The last thing I needed right now was to fall and break my damn leg.

I reached out and tested the air with one arm. My eyes widened as I realized it was the air in the loft that held the heat. I shrugged off a little more blanket and I was still perfectly comfortable.

"What the shit?" I breathed out.

Ryker stirred, shifting in his sleep and I snapped my mouth closed. Then, in one horrible moment, he flung a leg across his bed and blocked my exit.

No! No no no.

I inched forward, seeing if I could reach the stairs at all without disturbing him. I could try to creep over his leg and to the stairs, but I risked falling or waking him up. Neither one of those options was something I was willing to risk.

I resigned myself to a night on the wooden loft floor and laid the fur out in a corner. I curled up on top of it with the blanket, and eventually drifted off to sleep. I was finally warm.

~

Ryker

Something woke me up. I stretched, taking in a deep breath of nighttime air and inhaling the sweet scent of a female. A comfortable rumble sounded in my chest and I glanced down to the couch on the lower level. The couch was empty and the embers had completely gone out.

I didn't hear anyone in the bathroom, and I would have heard her go outside. I sat up, glancing around the loft. There she was, in the corner. Her hair was fanned out around her in a bit of a mess, but it was cute. Her lips were slightly parted as she breathed in a calm, restful rhythm. The big t-shirt and flannel pants she wore to sleep in were about three sizes too big and smelled faintly of male.

I growled, then stopped.

What did I care that she wore another male's clothes? Still, her scent was light and sweet. She smelled like vanilla shampoo and sandalwood incense, now that the rum was out of her system.

The blanket around her shoulders had slipped down during the night and she was probably a little cool still. I couldn't really remember how cold was too cold for humans, but Gavin always complained about the weather at my cabin so I assumed it was too cold here at any given time. It didn't really help that early spring around here usually still meant snow. Since I couldn't turn in a dead witch for the bounty, I decided to investigate her situation.

I kneeled over by Dani. She was still pretty out of it. She did look cold, and rather than haul her downstairs and light the fire again I decided to just warm her myself and get some more sleep. I took the edge of the furs and slid her over by the bed slowly. She stirred a little, but didn't wake up. I was able to slide her right up onto the mattress with little trouble, and laid down next to her.

I settled back down and yawned. My body heat would be more than enough to keep her comfortable, and I had no trouble falling back asleep.

Vanilla and sandalwood drifting over me until morning.

I slept better than I normally did. I was finally comfortable, so I was pretty pissed when a jerking motion woke me up in the morning light.

I peeled back an eyelid and saw Dani sitting straight up, eyes wide and staring down at the bed around her.

"Go back to sleep," I growled. "It's too early."

She stiffened and shot me a dirty look. "Did you move me last night?"

"No, you rolled all the way over here and climbed into my bed. Very forward of you, Danica." I smiled and turned my head the other direction on the roll of fleece under my neck.

I could almost feel her annoyance fuming off of her. Damn, she was too easy to tease. She stood up, making her way to the stairs. She climbed down them, stopping to look at me as she descended. I grinned at her, and she shot me a dirty look before continuing to the floor.

I yawned and heard her rustling around in her backpack. She found whatever it was she was looking for, and locked herself in the bathroom.

I tried to drift back to sleep, but she was so damn noisy I couldn't. I settled for just resting my body, face down and trying to gather the energy to drag myself out of bed.

At some point she was finished with her bathroom routine and came out, wearing another cotton dress that was not nearly warm enough for the Siberian spring.

The cabinets in my kitchen banged lightly as they opened and closed. I gave up on resting and simply scooted to the edge of the loft where I could watch her rummage through my kitchen.

She looked up at me with a scowl. "Do you seriously only own one single frying pan?"

"Only need one," I grunted.

She huffed and placed it on the wood stove. Then she continued to inspect the cabinets.

"Ok, I give up, where is your fridge?" she asked.

"What are you doing?" I yawned.

"Making breakfast for my gracious host," she said, hands on her hips. "Can you just tell me where your food is?"

"Out back." I propped my head up with my hand and my elbow on the wood floor, immensely amused by the little witch trying to be domestic in my cabin.

She steeled herself against the outside air and the freshly fallen snow and bolted outside. She was back in a moment with two wrapped packages from the deep freeze. She slammed the door shut behind her.

"Where is the rest of it?" she demanded, holding up the brown paper packages and shivering.

"The rest of what?" I smiled down at her.

"The rest of your groceries! Where is all your food?"

"You're holding it, little firecracker."

Oh, that annoyed her.

I grinned down at her.

She scowled up at me. "What the hell are you?"

"What do you think I am?" I asked, patiently.

She set the packages on the stove and crossed her arms over her chest. "I wish I knew. Are you a wolf? I've never seen a wolf that didn't have those yellow eyes, but at this point that's one of the few things that makes sense."

"Nope, not a wolf," I smirked.

"A demon," she sighed.

"Nope."

"A fae."

"Nope."

"Well then what the hell are you?" She stomped a foot.

"Make me breakfast and maybe I'll tell you." I smirked and rolled back from the edge, stretching across the bed once more.

She let out a frustrated grunt and I heard the squeaking of the wood stove door. She put some wood inside and began rummaging through the cabinets once more.

"Where is your lighter and lighter fluid?" she called up to me.

"Don't have 'em." I answered. "You're a witch, light it yourself."

That gave her pause. Interesting.

"I can't," she said.

A lie. Curious.

"Can't, or won't?"

She sighed heavily. "If you don't have a lighter, how the hell do you light your fire?"

I grinned.

If only she knew.

But I wasn't ready to show her just yet, she was too fun to tease. Gavin kept some matches around here somewhere though. Now, where was that...

"Check the fireplace mantle," I said.

After a moment she must have found them, because I could hear the striking of matches. It sounded like it took about eight tries to get the stove lit, but finally she closed the door and started unwrapping the meat.

I stretched and sat up, climbing down the stairs while she was otherwise occupied and pulling a pair of jeans from the small closet next to the bathroom. I cleaned off my face and relieved my bladder before entering the kitchen.

I owned exactly four sets of plates and cutlery, because that's how many came in the box. I set out two of each on the table and pumped a pitcher of fresh water in the kitchen sink. Dani was struggling with the large pan, but the meat looked nearly done. I sat back in my usual chair and observed her.

There was a little crease between her eyebrows when she was concentrating on something. She also tended to flick her head to the side to toss hair out of her face and behind her back. She looked cold in her light dress and boots, I'd have to see if there was anything around here she could wear after breakfast.

Dani finally pulled the pan off the stove, satisfied, and walked over to slide two thick cuts of boar flank on our plates. I doubt she even knew what kind of meat she had picked out, she was out and back in so quickly she probably just grabbed the first thing she could reach in the freezer.

She sat down with a huff in front of her own plate and I poured the icy water into each of our glasses as she stared me down.

"Vampire."

"Nope."

"Gargoyle?" she asked skeptically.

"Nope."

"Incubus?" She narrowed her eyes.

"Nope."

"Arg!" She smacked the table with a fist. "What the hell are you?"

"You and I are going to have a great time, Danica. I can tell," I said calmly, grabbing my fork and knife with a smile. "Let's eat."