Page 25 of Curvy Cabin Fever

ARIA

S now crunches under my boots as I step out onto the porch, the cold air biting at my skin and stealing my breath in the best way.

Everything is white and glittering, untouched except for the single trail of footprints Morgan left ahead of me.

The storm may have passed, but its beauty lingers—soft, powdery layers coating the world in silence.

“Keep up, darling,” Morgan calls over his shoulder, flashing that wicked grin that makes my stomach tighten.

I roll my eyes but hurry after him, hugging Rhett’s borrowed coat tighter around me. “This better be good. I left coffee and central heating for this.”

He slows his pace so I can walk beside him. Our arms brush, and the heat of his body feels like a furnace in the middle of all this chill. He doesn’t say anything for a few minutes, just walks in comfortable silence while our breaths fog in the air.

The snow sparkles like crushed sugar, and for a moment, everything is still.

“I like it when it’s quiet,” Morgan says softly. “Like this.”

I nod. “It’s…peaceful.”

He glances down at me, something shifting behind his eyes. “That’s what you do to me, y’know.” His voice has lost its usual playful edge, replaced by something raw and honest.

I blink. “What?”

“You make it quiet. In here.” He taps his temple. “All the noise shuts off when I’m with you.”

I don’t know what to say to that—no one’s ever said anything like that to me before. Not even close.

We reach a little clearing surrounded by pine trees, the snow deeper here, undisturbed. Morgan stops and turns to face me, brushing snow off a fallen log before patting it. “Have a seat, gorgeous.”

I sit, the cold wood seeping through my leggings, but I don’t care. Not with the way he’s looking at me. I love how the sun hits his face just right, highlighting the scruff on his jaw and the fire in his eyes.

He kneels in the snow in front of me, and my heart stutters at the sight. His jeans must be soaking through, but he doesn’t seem to notice or care.

“Morgan—what are you doing?”

“Something I’ve been wanting to do since the moment you walked into that cabin.”

He takes my gloved hands in his bare ones, pressing kisses to my knuckles through the fabric. “I know we’ve been circling this. And I know the others have had their time with you. But I want you to know this isn’t just about sex for me. I’m not trying to compete. I’m just trying to be worthy.”

My throat tightens as I watch him, this beautiful man kneeling in the snow, offering me his heart without pretense.

“Morgan…”

“I’m not perfect,” he says, looking up at me with those eyes that hide nothing. “I mess around and joke too much. But I see you, Aria. All of you. And I’m not gonna pretend I don’t want you. Every way a man can want a woman.”

The sincerity in his voice makes my heart ache. There’s no performance here, no carefully crafted charm. Just Morgan stripped down to his core.

“I’ve spent my whole life hiding parts of myself,” he continues, his thumb tracing circles on the back of my hand. “Hiding who I love, what I feel. With Rhett—” He stops, swallowing hard.

“You can tell me,” I urge in a whisper, squeezing his hands.

He looks away, watching his breath cloud in the cold air.

“With Rhett, I’ve been half-living for years.

Wanting someone who couldn’t want me back—not the way I needed.

” His eyes find mine again. “Or at least, that’s what I thought.

But then you came along, and suddenly I’m feeling everything all at once. For him. For you.”

I reach out, cradling his cold-flushed cheek in my gloved hand. “You don’t have to choose, you know. Not with me.”

Something like hope flickers across his face. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I see you too, Morgan. All of you. Including how you look at him.”

He leans into my touch, eyes closing briefly. When they open again, there’s a vulnerability there that steals my breath away.

“I think I’m falling in love with you,” he remarks simply. No grand declarations, no flowery words. Just raw honesty.

Before I can answer, he rises and cups my face, fingers sliding beneath my beanie, thumbs brushing over my cheeks. His lips press to mine—soft, slow, and melting me from the inside out.

It’s different from the other times we’ve kissed. This isn’t teasing or playful. This is Morgan giving himself to me completely, holding nothing back.

I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him closer, trying to pour everything I’m feeling into this kiss. The snowflakes fall around us, catching in his hair, on his eyelashes, making this moment feel suspended in time.

When we finally break apart, we’re both breathing hard, creating little clouds between us.

“Let’s go back,” I murmur against his lips. “I want to show you how I feel.”

The walk back to the cabin seems both endless and too short. Morgan’s hand finds mine, our fingers intertwining despite the awkward barrier of my gloves. Every few steps, he pulls me close for another kiss, like he can’t bear to not be touching me.

“What about the others?” I ask as the cabin comes into view.

He looks down at me, his expression serious. “This isn’t about them right now. This is about us.”

By the time we stumble back to the cabin, the cold barely registers beneath the heat building between us.

We never make it past the front door.

Morgan kicks it shut behind us and presses me against the wood, his hands already tugging at my coat, his mouth crashing into mine again, rougher now. Desperate.

“Aria,” he growls against my lips.

His hands are everywhere—pulling off layers, cupping my breasts through my sweater, squeezing my ass until I gasp. I fumble with his jeans, breath hitching when I feel how hard he is.

“Jesus, Aria,” he groans as my fingers wrap around him.

He lifts me like I weigh nothing and carries me to the couch, laying me down gently before peeling the rest of my clothes away. His eyes roam over every inch of me, dark with desire but also something deeper—something that makes me feel cherished rather than just wanted.

“You’re so damn beautiful,” he murmurs, kneeling between my legs. “And I’m gonna prove it to you.”

And he does.

With his hands and his mouth, Morgan worships me. He takes his time, learning what makes me sigh, what makes me moan, what makes me arch off the couch and beg for more.

“Please, Morgan,” I gasp as his tongue works magic between my thighs.

He crawls up my body, pressing kisses along my stomach, between my breasts, up my neck until he captures my lips again. I can taste myself on his tongue, and it only makes me want him more.

“I need to hear you say it,” he husks, his forehead pressed against mine. “I need to know this isn’t just physical for you.”

My hands frame his face, forcing him to look at me. “I’m falling for you too, Morgan.”

Something breaks open in his expression—relief, joy, and desire all mixed together. When he finally thrusts inside me, it’s not rushed. It’s not frantic.

It’s serious—even if neither of us is ready to fully name it yet.

He moves with purpose, his eyes never leaving mine, one hand supporting his weight while the other traces patterns on my skin.

“I’ve never felt this way,” he confesses between thrusts, his voice ragged. “Never thought I could feel this way about anyone but?—”

“I know,” I quietly assure him, understanding exactly what he can’t say. “It’s okay.”

And somehow, in this moment, it is. Whatever complicated feelings exist between all of us in this cabin, what Morgan and I are sharing right now is real.

We find our rhythm together, bodies moving as one, breaths syncing until I can’t tell where I end and he begins. When I finally shatter beneath him, chanting his name, he follows immediately, burying his face in my neck and holding me like he never wants to let go.

After, we lie tangled together, my head on his chest, his fingers trailing lazy circles along my back. The steady thump of his heart beneath my ear becomes the most comforting sound I’ve ever heard.

“What happens now?” I inquire softly, tracing the contours of his chest.

He presses a kiss on the top of my head. “I don’t know. But I know I’m not letting you go.”

Snow falls again outside the window slowly.

But inside this cabin, wrapped in Morgan’s arms, everything is warm.

And quiet.

Just like he said I make him feel.