Frostbitten (4 page)

“I’ve no intention of ever meeting him,” she retorted. She looked down at her hands and wrung them together on the table.

“I’m not an ass, you know. I promise I won’t be carrying you from here over my shoulder kicking and screaming. However, I’m serious about this storm. It’s not going to abate on its own. Even your mother won’t be able to return until we make it stop.”

Adonia stiffened. She stopped fidgeting and laid her palms flat against the table. “You play dirty.”

“I’m not trying to play you. Just stating the facts.”
Okay, maybe I am trying to play just a little
. Anything that would move him closer toward mating was a weapon he might be willing to use.

•●•

“So, how does this mating work?” Adonia lifted her gaze. She felt defeated, worn down by the smooth-talking snow wolf currently filling her entire cabin with his…damn perfection. The man was sexy, cute, funny, smart, hardworking, and he could cook. Ugh.

He swallowed.

Good. She like him a little flustered.

“You mean the logistics?”

She smiled at that. It would be super rich if she made him spell out the details about the birds and the bees, but she thought it might be overkill. “I’m pretty clear on the anatomy. I’m talking about the rest.”

His shoulders visibly relaxed. “Well, what you’re feeling now is only the tip of the iceberg. My understanding is that it will intensify after the claiming. We’ll be connected, in a way. Some wolves can even communicate without speaking, telepathically, especially in wolf form.”

“Even half breeds?”

“Why do you refer to yourself in such a derogatory manner?”

She raised her eyebrows. “I didn’t realize there was any other way. It’s what I’ve always been called.”

“I’m sorry for that. The reality is there are many wolves in the world with one parent who is a shifter and one who isn’t. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Your pack is backward in their thinking, and prejudiced.” He inched his fingers across the table toward hers, but didn’t make contact.

She found she enjoyed the proximity. She wished she had the courage to reach out and let the tips of their fingers touch. “Go on. I’m still wondering why a full wolf like yourself would even consider mating with me.”

“It doesn’t work like that.” He shook his head. “You’re misinformed. We don’t choose our mates. Not true mates, anyway. There are plenty of wolves who meet and fall in love without an actual fated claiming. Once they mate, they never know the difference. However, if an unclaimed shifter meets his or her actual mate, there is no stopping the inevitable.”

Adonia flinched and jerked her fingers into her lap. If what he was saying was true, she would be powerless to stop this from happening. And she feared he was correct, because she felt about as helpless as an injured animal in the wild.

A knot had formed low in her core, and it gathered in intensity as the day wore on. Like a magnet, her body felt compelled to connect with the man across the table. Instinctively she knew a simple touch would not be enough. It would only make the need increase until she went crazy with desire.

“So, even though I’m not a full-blooded snow wolf, you’re okay with that?” She lifted her gaze to his.

He smiled. “I don’t give a damn if your other half is a rodent, baby.”

A chill shook her frame as he used that endearment. No one had ever looked at her with such tenderness. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Her mother and her extended family loved her. But it wasn’t the same as the intense feeling of being cherished like the most important being on the face of the earth that was evoked every time Zephyr looked at her. Her mouth hung open, but no words came out.

He continued. “Even if I had some preconceived notion I would mate with only a full wolf, which I do not, I would still have tossed those stupid barbaric ideas out the window the moment I met you. That’s how mating works.”

“My mother never mentioned any of this,” she muttered.

“Your mother was never truly mated, was she?”

“No.” She realized her well-meaning parent had only been able to impart what she knew. True matings weren’t in her repertoire. Hell, she doubted any members of the pack her mother was from experienced anything like this. Their strict methods and beliefs undoubtedly prevented them from a full life.

“Hey, this is all new to me too. Even though I’ve known mates, I’ve never experienced a claiming myself. We’re on the same page where that’s concerned.”

Adonia narrowed her gaze at him. “I hardly think we’re even reading the same book. The only thing we have in common right now is the fact that we are both stuck in this cabin until this storm passes.

“I’ve led a very simple life, Zephyr. You’ve been in a city surrounded by people. The thought of leaving here makes me hyperventilate. It’s not in my realm of possibilities. If what you say is true, and mating will increase our desire for each other, then you should steer clear of me. I’m not leaving my home. And you would suffocate in my world.” She stood once more and backed up toward the far wall of the cabin.

How would she last even one hour trapped with his alluring scent? Let alone an entire day or a week. What if the storm didn’t let up for even longer?

But she had to remain strong. The light in Zephyr’s eyes when he spoke about his family and friends was all she needed to see to know he couldn’t stay here any more than she could leave.

Fated or not, there was no possibility of them mating.

The storm raged on. At first the cabin felt like it would collapse under the strain of the snow. Zephyr feared they would be buried alive. But after a while, he calmed. As the snow rose, the structure stabilized as though it were being held together by the rising snow levels. The wind blew so hard, he doubted there was more than a dusting on the roof.

“I’ve never been this far north. How often do you get blizzards like this?”

Adonia had kept her distance. Something he’d said had caused her to retreat. And he could kick himself. Just when he’d thought they were making headway, she’d backed off.

He scooped steaming bowls of stew and set them on the table.

“Never.” She glanced at the window for the millionth time. “I’m worried we’ll run out of firewood at this rate.”

“It can’t last forever.”
Just until you agree to be mine.

She inched toward the table as though he would pounce at any moment. “I’m not so sure about that. With the number of weird things that have happened today, I’d believe anything now.”

“Sit.” He pointed at the chair across from him. This would make the third time they’d occupied this table together, and he intended for it to matter this time. “I’m not an animal. Your virtue is safe with me.”

“Ha ha. Last I checked, you were a snow wolf. I saw you in your magnificent form outside. And my virtue isn’t safe anywhere near you.”

Ah, finally. Headway
. Admitting it out loud was a good first step, right?

Nevertheless, she took a chair and reached for the fork he handed her, carefully avoiding skin-on-skin contact.

He’d left her in silence for the last several hours. She’d spent the time staring into the flames of the fire, curled up in a ball in one of the two chairs flanking the fireplace.

“Tell me about your childhood,” he prompted.

She blew on a bite of stew and let her tongue reach out to test the warmth. He nearly moaned when her sweet mouth opened to take the bite. She ignored his conversational cue.

As she swallowed, her eyes closed. “That’s heavenly. How’d you do that with the few supplies I have?”

“Thanks, but all food tastes better when someone else prepares it.”

“Huh. I wouldn’t know. I’ve been cooking for years.”

“Your mother doesn’t cook?”

“She does. But she doesn’t enjoy it as much as I do.” She lowered her face, letting her hair cover her from his gaze.

“I’m sorry. It must have been rough growing up so alone. I’m sure Jack will take care of both you and your mother now that he’s found you.”

 “You really think he’s that decent?”

“Yes. He can appear harsh at times and won’t suffer injustice of any form, but he takes care of his own.”

“My mother is in no way someone he would consider his own. She’s just a woman he fucked once twenty-seven years ago. I’m surprised he even cared enough to send you to find me.”

Zephyr flinched at her harsh words. She was hurting. And she had every right to be. It would take time for her to overcome the loss she’d suffered by spending her life in exile from not just her own people, but all living beings.

No way was he going to alienate her again by mentioning how she would feel when he took her to meet the man. He’d been down that road and had no interest in a repeat performance. She’d come around on her own time. Any urging on his part had proven to push her farther away, not bring her closer. “Regardless, your father does right when the cause arises. He called for me the moment he found out about you and sent me scrambling to locate you. I wish the directions had been less vague. I would have found you sooner.”

Adonia ate her stew in silence. When she sat back, she looked much more relaxed. Darkness had moved in, partly because the window was covered with snow and partly because the sun was waning in the sky. It wasn’t late. This far north, the days were very short.

“You never answered my question about your childhood. What was it like living out here alone, fending for yourselves?”

“It was…fun.”

“Fun? That’s how you describe exile?”

She chuckled and he loved the tinkle of her voice. “I never knew any different. My mother didn’t tell me we had been banished until I was old enough to understand. She raised me as though all children lived in the wilderness alone with their mothers. It was…normal to me.”

She leaned on her elbow on the table. “We ran free in wolf form nearly every day. My mother reminded me how lucky I was to have that freedom. ‘In the cities,’ she would say, ‘wolf shifters can’t shift and frolic like we can out in the middle of nowhere.’ She made it sound like I was the lucky one.”

“She sounds like a fantastic parent.”

“She’s been my everything. And now I fear she’s been caught in this storm. What if she didn’t make it to town before it hit?”

Zephyr swallowed the lump in his throat. Angst for a little girl kept secluded all her life threatened to overwhelm him. “I can’t promise you she’s perfectly safe, but I can assure you this storm isn’t about her. Frost wouldn’t conjure a storm that would pull you and me together at the expense of your mother.” He reached across the space between him without thinking and wrapped his hand around her forearm.

The moment they touched, the world stood still. Neither of them moved to break the contact this time. He gazed into her eyes, feeling as though they were already connected on a deep personal level. Her soul seemed to bare itself to him through the pools of blue. If he never moved from this position, he would die a happy man.

Finally she cocked her head to one side and smiled. “It’s not avoidable, is it?”

He grinned back. “No.”

“We’re too different. I can’t leave here and you can’t stay. It will make things that much worse for us.” She stated these facts with a resigned tone.

“Fate has a way of making things work out. I don’t know Her plan, but I do know She knows what She is doing. We have no choice but to trust Her judgment and follow Her lead. Whether we stay or leave will become clear to us in time. I’m as sure of that as I am that this storm will in fact release its hold on Siberia eventually, leaving us alive and well beneath her white blanket.” Adonia closed her eyes and tipped her face toward the sky. She inhaled deeply. “Your scent has permeated my space. I can smell nothing but your personal musk. Even the stew has ceased to exist.”

He chuckled. “I’m afraid I have to disagree with you on that issue. The place assuredly smells only of your sweetness. The flavor of your shampoo is teasing my tongue every time your hair bounces. Your sweet pussy is creaming with desire and filling the room with your pheromones until my cock aches so bad with need, he’s threatening a revolt.”

She didn’t flinch this time as he used language he knew she was unaccustomed to. Instead she swallowed again and then licked her lips.

“I’m going to kiss you now. I need to taste your tongue, your lips, your essence…” He leaned forward across the wood, clasping her other arm with his free hand and tugging both wrists away from her face.

When he held both hands in his palms, steading her against the top of the table, he waited a beat. Her heart rate soared. Her arousal spiked. For all that she was frightened, she was also titillated by his words and actions.

He closed the distance between them as her lips parted. She might have been about to say something, but whatever it was dissolved on her lips the moment he connected with her.

Beyond the stew, he tasted…Adonia. There was no other way to describe it. She had her own flavor. Sweet and salty at once. Honey to his lips.

He tipped his face to one side and sipped from her sweetness, skimming his tongue over the slit between her lips until she parted for him and let him delve into her warmth.

He needed her like his next breath, but he would take this slow. She was not only a virgin, but unkissed. The experience needed to be perfect even if his cock disagreed. This claiming would set the stage for the rest of their lives, and he intended to make sure she never wanted it to end.

She moaned into his mouth, and he swallowed the sound as soon as it left her lips. He strained to keep from gripping her wrists too hard, concentrating on stroking the tender flesh on her inner arm with his thumbs as he deepened the kiss.

He delved into her mouth with his tongue, exploring her until she squirmed, jarring them loose.

He set his forehead against hers. Her eyes were glazed over, her lips swollen. She sucked oxygen, but each breath fueled his need as he breathed in her exhale.

He slid his hands up her arms until he held her biceps. “I need you,” he muttered. He wouldn’t pressure her, even now. She had to consent before he took one more step.