Page 38

AURELIA

T horin rushes me the moment I climb unsteadily off the snowmobile. I’m still wearing the blindfold, but I know it’s him because of the heady scent of cardamom that’s even stronger now with one of my senses blocked.

And because I could feel his eyes on me the whole way down.

Blindfolded, I had no sense of time.

How long had it taken us to reach the main road? An hour? Maybe less? I wouldn’t be surprised if those fuckers went around in circles or took the scenic route to throw me off even more.

Before I can figure it out, I’m pushed against what I’m assuming is the truck they spoke of as Thorin quickly crowds me. My helmet is ripped off my head, but he leaves the blindfold on as Thorin says, “I know what you’re doing, wolf, and it won’t work.”

It’s an effort to keep my tone level when I respond. “What am I doing, Thorin?”

“You’re trying to make me feel bad for blindfolding you.”

I don’t even have to fake my derisive snort. “Trying to make you regret behaving like a controlling, domineering asshole is like trying to make fire feel bad for burning me. I don’t waste my time with trivial pursuits, Thayer.”

I hear a low whistle and a stifled laugh come from somewhere close, and then car doors opening and closing. I’m guessing Seth and Khalil got in the truck to give us some privacy.

“Kiss me.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“You know why,” I answer, returning his words from earlier.

I don’t flinch when Thorin wraps his hand around my throat. He doesn’t squeeze as he lifts me onto my toes, but the threat is evident as it sends a nervous thrill down my spine while my panties become damp. I feel his warm breath skating my mouth a second before his lips do—just as he did at the top of the trail. When I ignore the request a second time, still refusing to kiss him, he slams his fists on the roof of the truck and shoves away from me with a frustrated growl.

The truck roars to life behind me, and then I hear what sounds like gravel under his boots as Thorin retreats and opens the truck door.

“Keep the blindfold on and get in the truck.”

I mock salute and reach my arms out to feel where the door might be, but then Thorin sighs and guides me inside with a hand on my lower back.

There’s a steady rush of heat from the vents as it works to warm up the truck. I feel Thorin climb inside next to me before shutting the door and the four of us inside.

“So who’s driving?” I ask to quell the nervous toil inside my belly.

Their individual scents quickly mingle and take over the small space, just as they do back at the cabin. It’s almost eerie how much it calms me.

“I am,” Khalil announces.

“I don’t know how to drive either, Sunshine,” Seth confesses.

I reach out a hand toward where I think the front passenger seat is and fumble around until I feel the powerful muscles of Seth’s shoulder under my palm, and then I squeeze.

It’s quiet for a moment longer, and then Khalil asks, “Would you like to learn?”

As it turns out, Seth is a very confident driver.

A little too damn confident if you ask me, Thorin, Khalil, the other drivers on the road who rage-honked their horns as we sped by, about fifty traffic laws, and from the sounds of the angry bleating I heard…a goat?

Each time Seth sped around a curve, I swear I could hear Thorin and Khalil’s sphincters tightening along with my own. Khalil had stopped bothering to give him instructions less than five minutes in, and the three of us have been holding onto the “oh shit” handlebars ever since.

It takes us roughly twenty minutes to reach the town limits from the bottom of the trail, even with Seth’s speeding. I know the moment we arrive because Seth slams on the brakes, which is probably the first time he’s bothered to use them.

My heart is beating so fast that, at first, I don’t notice Thorin reaching behind me to untie the blindfold. It falls into my lap, and I’m suddenly staring through the front windshield that’s still defrosting. Seth is fiddling with the radio as he waits for a group of small children wearing safety vests and holding hands to finish crossing the street with their teachers. Once the last child is safely on the sidewalk, he takes off again but sticks to the speed limit as we cruise the street with stores on either side.

The buildings are mostly brick with different kinds of awnings. The dirty snow that had been paved from the street is now piled up at the edge of the sidewalks that have also been cleared. Even the sidewalks themselves are charming. The colorful bricks are wet from the earlier rain that must have fallen, while the puddles that gathered reflect the roofs of the buildings and black lamp posts. Dividing the street as a median are leafless trees sporting fresh buds with spring just days away, and I wonder what color they’ll be. For some reason, I imagine pink cherry blossoms and wonder what they mean.

The town is bigger than I imagined but still much smaller than I’m used to. We pass a bakery, pizza parlor, hair salon, pharmacy, hardware store, and post office before Seth finds an open parking spot. We haven’t yet reached the intersection dividing the street and remaining businesses, so I know there’s more to explore—assuming I get to.

Khalil looks over his shoulder at me the moment I unbuckle my seatbelt. “Tell me the rules, Goldilocks.”

I sigh but list them off. “Don’t talk to anyone, don’t wander off, and keep the mask on.”

“Good girl.”

I hide my reaction to the praise under the guise of slipping on the wolf mask. Thorin helps me secure it and then slips the oversized hood of my winter coat on.

I’m completely disguised.

“You don’t think the mask will freak people out?”

“We already freak people out,” Thorin answers but doesn’t elaborate.

The three of them climb out of the truck, and I linger for the space of a single deep inhale before I join them.

The town is…loud.

There aren’t even close to as many people as I’m used to seeing in L.A. However—after nearly a month in the wilds—I’d grown accustomed to the quiet. I almost prefer it.

Because of that longing for home, I look back the way we came—at the three snow-capped crowns of the Cold Peaks looming in the distance, waiting for our return. Home.

Khalil slips his arm around me before I lose myself to that conflicting feeling, and the four of us travel down the sidewalk. We garner some looks as we walk by other pedestrians, but perplexingly, it’s not my mask that causes most of them.

It’s them.

My mountain men.

Thorin, Khalil, and Seth stand out like three tall, menacing, sexy, sore thumbs.

I, Aurelia George, for the first time in over a decade, am a non-fucking factor. Of course, they don’t know it’s me under the disguise, but I have a feeling it wouldn’t make much of a difference if they did. This feeling of being invisible is strange but freeing.

Seth looks back at me as he leads the way. Khalil is next to me while Thorin guards our backs. “Got your list, baby?”

“Right here.” I pull out the list I quickly scribbled together before we left the cabin and wave it in the air.

The house stuff is easy, but I have no idea what I need to start a garden. Khalil says they already have most of the supplies from his previous attempts. All I have to do is decide what kind of garden I want and purchase the seeds.

I’m downright giddy at the thought of doing something of my choice besides singing, but I don’t let it show. Three weeks is not nearly enough time to exorcise my uncle completely, so I’m still very much afraid of him finding a way to snatch this small slice of happiness from me, too.

“The market is this way—”

“We need to make a pit stop,” Thorin interrupts Khalil.

Seth, Khalil, and I stop walking.

“Where?”

“Here.” Thorin grabs my hand and pulls me inside the store we’re standing in front of before I can see what it is.

I’m thrust inside a store that reminds me of a REI, only a fraction of the size, dim lighting, and the overbearing smell of weed.

“Welcome to Ran—” Coughing interrupts the greeting, and my gaze follows the sound to the counter where an Asian kid around eighteen years old is pounding his chest while smoke expels from his mouth with each cough. He’s wearing a black polo with the store’s logo on the front and a beanie pulled low over his head. “Dall’s,” he finishes. “Call me J.R.” Another cough follows. “Randall is my father.”

“Hi, J.R.!”

My mountain men shoot me dirty looks, and I realize a second later that I’ve already broken the first rule.

But you know what’s even weirder than the mask?

Not speaking when spoken to.

Being a bitch will draw even more attention than the mask and have me sticking to people’s memories like glue.

Thorin tugs on my wrist, leading me through all the racks of clothing, ski equipment, and camping gear to the back wall where the shoes are. In front of the mirror dividing the wall of shoes are two plaid ottomans that have seen better days.

“Sit.”

I take a seat and look around. “What are we doing here?”

“You need new boots. Something better for the terrain. I’m tired of watching you split your feet open with those pitiful excuse for boots you’re wearing.”

“I’ll have you know these are Dior .”

“Well, then you should have left them at the D-oor.”

“Oh my God.” I snort and slap my hands over the mask where my mouth would be. Thorin pauses his perusal of the hiking boots to look back at me quizzically, and I drop my hands to tease him. “Did Thorin Thayer, full-time grump, and part-time asshole, make a joke?”

He rolls his eyes and turns back to the boots with a ghost of a smile. “I joke.”

“You do not.”

Khalil sits on the second ottoman and tugs my right foot into his lap. I try not to gape as he works the laces free and tugs off my boot.

“What size shoe do you wear, songbird?”

“Seven,” Khalil and I say at the same time.

“And how do you know that?” Khalil just gives me a look like it’s a dumb question and removes my other boot. “Oh, God,” I say, coming to my own conclusion. “Don’t tell me you have a foot fetish, too. I honestly don’t think I can handle another kink between you three.”

“Seth doesn’t have any kinks.”

That’s Khalil’s response.

“He told me he wants to put his hand inside of me. His hand . As in all five fingers and his palm too. How is that not a kink?”

“You can handle it,” Khalil says with absolute certainty.

“I cannot and will not.”

Khalil hums noncommittally, but I still hear the unspoken “we’ll see” underneath it. Thorin finally chooses a boot for me to try, handing it to Khalil before he walks off. I peer over my shoulder to watch him prowl over to the counter where Seth is leaning and speaking low with J.R.

“Take a picture. It will last longer,” Khalil teases.

I snap my head back toward Khalil, who is slipping the hiking boot onto my right foot. “Huh?”

Khalil finishes tying the lace and taps my leg. “Wipe that drool from your lip, and tell me how that feels.”

Like a cloud, I think as I stand and pace the short aisle between the wall of shoes and the seating area. “Like a boot.”

Khalil peers up at me, caressing his bottom lip with his forefinger as he studies me, and I fall into a trance watching that finger sweep his lip.

Have I mentioned how fucking sexy Khalil Poverly is?

If we’d met in high school or college, I never would have stood a chance with him. I was rather lame before my uncle pulled me out of school. I had no swag or confidence and only textbooks for friends. Girls like me were never noticed by boys like him.

“You really can’t help but be a bitch, can you?”

I surprise us both when I drape my arms on his shoulders and straddle his lap with a coy smile. Khalil’s muscular thighs under my ass is better than any cushioned ottoman. “Not really, no.”

I rub his shoulders in apology, and Khalil tilts his head to kiss my neck. My lashes flutter when his kisses grow more heated until he’s sucking and biting on my neck too. It makes me wet, thinking of him leaving his mark like he owns me. It makes me insatiable, knowing he does.

Before long, I’m swirling my hips and grinding on his growing erection and wishing we were alone because I really want his dick in my mouth right now.

The spell is broken too soon, though, when Khalil lifts his head suddenly. I can feel the abused skin of the spot he was marking throbbing when he mumbles, “Shit.”

“What’s the matter?”

“J.R.’s watching us.”

“So?”

“So judging by his wide eyes and the fact that he just turned red as a tomato, I’m thinking either Seth or Thorin already told him you were my cousin.”

I fly out of Khalil’s lap even though it’s already much too late to put the awkward back in the bag.

I’d forgotten about our cover story.

“Oh, oh, my God,” I mumble. Meanwhile, Khalil clutches his stomach as he bends over from laughing so hard. I punch his shoulder as hard as I can. “It’s not funny, you jerk! He’s going to think we’re weirdos!”

No longer laughing, Khalil snorts while I chew a hole in my lip. “It’s a little funny.” When I just glare, he sobers and rolls his eyes. “You do realize we’re not actually cousins, right?”

“Why couldn’t you have just made a story about me being an ex-girlfriend or something?”

“Yeah, that would have been better.”

“You’re…not…helping,” I grind out.

Khalil sucks his teeth and stands, and I fight the urge to take a step back. Even after all this time, the height difference is jarring. Add on all the muscle he’s packing and the fact that he’s quite literally capable of murder, and yeah, I still get a little nervous.

And to make matters worse, my pussy likes that I feel intimidated.

“Fuck him. Come on,” Khalil orders.

Keeping the hiking boot on and swiping up my own useless one from the floor, I reluctantly let Khalil lead me over to the counter. Thankfully, J.R. isn’t there when we walk over. Thorin isn’t either, and I spot him over by the sleeping bags, holding a basket already overfilled with items. After a quick perusal, he selects one and rejoins us at the counter.

“Is all of this for me?” I ask as I look over all of the gear. There’s a rope, a compass, a map, a watch, a first aid kit, a head lamp, an honest-to-god hatchet, a foldable spade like the ones they used to build the quinzee, a fire starter, a canteen, a sleeping bag, a tent, and a bunch of other shit I don’t know how to use.

“Yup.”

“Why?”

“So if you change your mind and run again, you can at least keep yourself alive long enough for us to come and get you.”

I have no idea how to respond to that, but I find myself searching for words anyway. “I—”

“Whoa!” J.R. says, returning with a shoe box containing the other half of my new boots. “Did Halloween come early?”

I hear a click and see Seth with his folding knife out and poised under the kid’s throat before I can tell him to kiss my ass.

“Okay, okay. No harm. Jeez.” A pause, and then, “So, what’s the deal? Is she disfigured or something?”

“Yes, J.R.,” I quickly answer despite his insistence on talking around me instead of to me. Thorin sighs like he’s finally resigned to me never doing what I’m told. Maybe. But also, I don’t want this kid’s blood on my hands. Seth will cut him. “I’m horribly, horribly scarred, and if you look me in the eye, I’m afraid you’ll turn to stone. Ah!”

I lunge like I’m going to attack. Thorin, Khalil, and Seth howl when J.R. jumps back and throws his arms over his eyes.

“No! Don’t turn me into stone! Please!”

“She’s fucking with you, J.R.,” Khalil says. “Ring us up, and stop smoking so much weed.”

“Really?” He still has trouble meeting my gaze, but I’ll give him a D-minus for effort when he finally does. He seems nice. Gullible as fuck. But nice.

I flash him a razor-sharp smile. “Maybe.”

His eyes widen, and he quickly gives us our total, throws our shit inside two reusable bags once Khalil pays, and flees through the door behind him marked, “Employees Only.”

Seth grins at me. “I think you scared him off, Sunshine.”

“And he didn’t even say goodbye.” I fake a pout.

I feel hands on my waist, and then I’m being lifted and turned before I’m sat on the counter. Khalil pulls off my remaining leather boot and slips on the hiking one.

“Thorin chose well. These are good,” he tells me as he ties the lace.

I’m barely listening as I admire his hair and my handiwork. Rather than his usual plaits, I’d given him two fishbone braids that stop past his shoulders and emphasize his sharp cheekbones rather than hide them. It’s almost a shame he’d chosen a profession that could have ruined that pretty face instead of utilizing it because Khalil Poverly could have been a model. Or maybe a pornstar because that dick and that body…chef’s kiss.

“They’re cushioned for long hikes and will keep your feet dry and warm in the winter and cool in the summer.”

“Yeah, I guess they’re cute,” I say, admiring the unique tan color with bright purple laces. They stop right above my ankle like my old ones, except they don’t chafe. It even comes with a detachable zippered pouch on the side. Eek!

Seth chuckles while Khalil flicks me an exasperated look.

Thorin takes my designer calfskin boots, which were part of a limited-edition collection, and…throws them in the trash.

“Hey! I paid two grand for those!” The three of them blink at me like I’ve lost my mind, and I cross my arms. “I don’t appreciate the judgment. I’m a billionaire, remember? I could spend my money on a bunch of dumb shit and still never run out of money.”

Thorin swears and fishes my boots back out of the trash. He throws them into the box that the hiking boots came in while Khalil helps me down from the counter.

Seth grabs the bags from the counter, and I almost forget that I’m mad at Thorin when he takes my hand this time. I don’t pull away, though; I let him lead me out of Randall’s. I look around once the four of us are standing on the sidewalk again.

“So where to now?”

“Fuck,” Khalil breathes.

I swing my head his way and find him looking off in the opposite direction. “What?”

“What the hell is he doing here?” Thorin barks under his breath rather than answer me. “He’s supposed to be at the lake today.”

“Who?” I ask again while looking around in confusion.

“He hasn’t spotted us yet,” Seth reasons. We could still—”

“Boys!” A hulking man with a thick salt-and-pepper mustache and a warm smile interrupts. The gray uniform he’s wearing makes me think he’s a postal worker since it’s the post office he just stepped out of, but it doesn’t explain why my big, bad mountain men are shitting a fucking brick all of a sudden. “You didn’t tell me you were coming down for supplies today. You’re a bit early, aren’t you?”

The man approaches, and when he stops barely a foot away, I finally spot the shiny gold badge on his right chest and read the seven black letters emblazoned on the metal.

Sheriff.

My stomach bottoms out.

I guess that explains why Khalil, Seth, and Thorn are ready to take me and haul ass in the opposite direction.

The sheriff finally notices they’re not alone, and his eyes widen when they land on me. “Where are my manners? I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you there, young lady. I’m Sheriff Kelly. Pleased to meet you.”

I…don’t say a fucking word.

I couldn’t if I wanted to. It feels like I’m being strangled with the threat of what Thorin, Seth, and Khalil will do to this man if I do.

The sheriff’s bushy brows turn down in confusion, and he chuckles awkwardly. “I s’pose the pleasure’s all mine?”

Scream!

Tell him you are!

Throw yourself at his feet and beg him to rescue you!

I don’t do any of those things. I’m pretty sure I press a little closer to my guys. I feel a hand come to rest on my lower back, but I’m too nervous to look and see who it belongs to.

“Sorry. This is my cousin, Aurora,” Khalil explains. “We were pretty close growing up, so she decided to visit me for a few weeks, but she gets shy around strangers.”

“Oh. Well, you’ve come to the right place to get away from folks. Not too many around here. And these three aren’t very social either, so you’ll fit right in, though I’m sure you know that already.”

His kind eyes roam my face, and I see the faint pinch in his brows when he notices my mask. Unlike J.R., the sheriff’s too polite to ask about it.

“I guess that explains why you’re a couple of weeks early for supplies?”

“Yup,” Seth says simply.

Out of three, he’s the only one who isn’t tense. In fact, he looks downright bored. But no, that’s not right. Seth gets excited when trouble is brewing, which means he’s pretending right now.

Holy shit…this is bad.

We could fool the townspeople, but I’m guessing the sheriff is too shrewd.

“Well, welcome to Hearth, Aurora. We’re glad to have you with us, and I hope you enjoy your stay.”

With a tip of his hat, the sheriff walks off.

The moment he’s out of hearing distance, Khalil takes my arm. “We got to go.”

“Wait. What about the seeds and other stuff we need?”

“One of us will return for the rest in a couple of days,” he answers tightly.

Without me, he means.

As we approach the dark gray, heavy-duty truck, I take one look around the quaint town. There’s a fat chance I’ll ever see it again, so I look my fill, stumbling over my feet as Khalil pulls me along.

Seth reaches the truck first and opens my door for me. He kisses the top of my head in apology before rounding the truck bed and climbing in on his side.

And just like that our outing is over. I barely got to see anything.

I go to follow my guys inside the truck when I feel eyes on me and pause. Looking around, I spot the culprit three cars down.

It’s the sheriff.

He’s standing next to his cruiser, watching me with a contemplative look on his face, and I don’t look away.

I can’t.

I hold his gaze through the mask, and time slows as we stare at one another. The town, the truck, and even my guys fade away as the sheriff attempts to unmask with me his eyes, and I teeter between wanting him to and wishing he’d go away and forget he ever saw me.

Judging by the suspicion rapidly growing in his gaze, I know there’s little chance of that.

A horn blows nearby and snaps us out of it.

The sheriff lifts a hand and waves like he’s greeting a neighbor instead of the missing woman whose face has undoubtedly been plastered all over every news channel in the world.

Lifting my hand, I force a smile before remembering he can’t see it and awkwardly wave back.

I don’t exhale until I’m safely inside the truck.

Thorin, who’s in the driver’s seat this time, starts the engine while Seth blindfolds me. I feel the truck making a U-turn, and then he speeds all the way back to the trail where the snowmobiles are parked.

The mood by the time we return to the cabin is dark as hell.

Thorin puts my bags down and then goes back outside to blow steam chopping wood.

Khalil goes down to the basement, where he trains well into the night.

Seth goes to lock himself inside his destroyed bedroom, and I have a feeling it’s to keep himself in rather than keep us out.

Sensing that it won’t end well for me if I poke the bears, I quietly perform my duties. I put everything away, mop the wooden floors, organize the kitchen cabinets, and make their dinner, which goes untouched. There’s safety in reminding my mountain men why they’re keeping me alive. Afterward, I shower, grab a gardening book from the shelf to study, and crawl into my loft to hide until morning.

Hopefully, they’ll be in a better mood.

As much as I try, I can’t get how the sheriff looked at me out of my head. Once the basement quiets and Thorin comes inside, only to go straight into his room, I allow myself to admit what Thorin, Khalil, and Seth must have already figured out.

The sheriff knows.