Page 6 of Trapped (Snowbound with a Stranger #2)

Opposite Attraction

Eli

Erin snapped the energy bar in two and waved half in my direction.

“At least have this too.”

Concern gleamed in her eyes, but she needn’t have worried.

Years of reconnaissance missions in the middle of nowhere with only basic provisions and then months of working out in the wilderness meant I was more than used to surviving long periods without additional calories.

“You first.”

Motioning to her to eat half of the bar, I waited as she pushed the honeyed grain between her lips, enjoying the sight of her chew. Watching Erin eat had become something of a surprise indulgence. She’d already finished the banana, sliding the fruit into her mouth an inch at a time as though she was intentionally teasing my only recently satiated desire.

Maybe she is teasing?

She had a proven track record in that arena, after all, having played the tantalizing tormentor in between the sheets earlier, but her growing blush suggested she had motivators other than only alluring me. An agent provocateur wouldn’t look so discomforted as she weaved her spell over her prey, and the version of Erin forcing the food past her lips seemed anything but comfortable.

“I have another two bars.”

I held my breath as her tongue darted out to collect a peanut from her lips.

“Which should keep us going for a few hours.”

Or days. If they had to.

“Thanks.”

Her free hand rose to clear the loose strands of her hair from her face. The coquettish woman sitting beside me couldn’t be further from the brazen vixen who’d just mounted me.

“And I think I have an apple stashed away somewhere, too.”

“We’ll be okay.”

Once again, I asserted the vow with certainty, even though I had no way of knowing what would happen. Taking the rest of the bar from her, I simply couldn’t conceive any version of events where I didn’t get her back to safety. It was as though she had become my entire objective, my reason to be, and losing all of the others had only solidified the point.

I would look after the brown-haired banshee with the soft heart and the surprising mettle, whatever transpired; with my life if I had to.

Biting the end of the energy bar, I considered the differences between us. She, with her green eyes, quiet stoicism, and unexpected defiant streak, and me, with my killer instinct and years of established experience. How had we ended up together, and had any two people ever been more different?

I had no idea what her day job was, but based on her limited skillset with the elements, she wasn’t especially at home in the great outdoors. Likely, she had an office job somewhere and her proficiency on a computer would blow my own aptitude out of the water, but in the wild, she was out of her depth.

That’s why she has me.

I suppressed the grin that threatened to surface, knowing that, even after the glorious sex, she would likely counter the point, but she did have me—whether she liked it or not.

Two virtual strangers, snowbound in one of the most isolated parts of the country. We knew very little about the other, and even the little we had shared had been intentionally vague. She’d asked about my past, but I’d stopped short of divulging the details of my previous employment. What had the quiet woman with such a strong sense of right and wrong made of what I had admitted? She’d seemed intrigued, but I couldn’t help but think that if she discovered more, her curiosity would morph into fear and disgust.

Her moods always seemed balanced on a knife edge. Either she appreciated what I’d done for her, or she was outraged by it; she longed for me, or she didn’t want me to be near her. With Erin, there was no middle ground.

I doubted she’d be able to reconcile that the man she was fucking with such apparent vigor was actually a killer—someone who’d snuffed out more lives than he could even remember. Unpredictable she might have been, but I struggled to conceive a reality where Erin would be okay with that.

My smile faltered at the thought of her disapproval, her hypothetical reaction more troubling than it had any right to be. I shouldn’t care what she thought, yet in the short time we’d been together in the cabin, it was clear that wasn’t true.

I’d never met anyone like Erin before. Women I’d known with smoking-hot bodies were usually vacant in the brains department, while those with sharp intellects tended to lack elsewhere. She walked the line between the two flawlessly, seemingly able to entice me without even trying, which made her pendulum-style approach even more difficult to manage.

“What?”

Looking back at me, she tugged her lower lip between her teeth, and all at once, I realized I was smiling. Sitting there, thinking about her had induced the response in me unconsciously.

“What’s so funny, sir?”

Sir.

Caressing my ears, the word resounded in my head. At least she was using it without a fight.

“Nothing.”

I swallowed down the remaining sweet nuts and seeds.

“I just like watching you eat.”

“That’s strange.”

She flushed as though I’d just suggested debauchery, but after all the things we’d done, I couldn’t believe she was really disturbed by my confession.

I still remembered how she looked tied up in my rope—the remnants of which were still scattered idly across the same bed we were sitting on—how she’d responded when she’d been sprawled over my lap, and best of all, how she felt when I’d slammed into her wet warmth. Erin had demonstrated a myriad of wonderful responses, but rarely had I known the coy version of her.

“I guess I find you quite attractive, little girl.”

That was an understatement.

“Including the way you eat.”

“Yeah, well…”

She fidgeted inside the cover I’d enveloped her in.

“That’s mutual, sir. It’s the only reason I’m playing along.”

“You’re playing along?”

I smirked at her inconspicuous description.

Her account belied how little choice she’d had in most of the decisions thus far. She hadn’t had a say over James’ silly actions, hadn’t chosen for Chelle to walk away, and she sure as hell hadn’t decided the weather should turn as rapidly icy as it had—and all that had been before we’d stepped foot in the cabin. Almost everything that had happened since then had taken place at my direction, leaving Erin in charge of little more than herself. The idea that she was ‘playing along’ was laughable.

“I suppose it’s better than considering yourself ensnared with a monster, eh?”

Chuckling, I took the wrapper from her fingers and rose to deposit it in my bag. Months of living and working in and around the cabins meant I was keen to see the environment kept clean and tidy.

“That’s right.”

She huddled inside the blanket, though I noticed how she made no move to put her clothes back on.

“I do usually appreciate your approach… but I wouldn’t like you so much if you were a monster.”

If you only knew.

I smiled, despite the nagging monologue. Erin would never know the truth. Nothing good would come from that level of honesty. I hoped there could be a future beyond those four wooden walls and the trek back to the tourist’s base, but the reality was, aside from the cabin, there was nothing keeping us together. Even if we somehow attempted to sustain something longer term, the chances of two such different people finding satisfaction were disconcertingly slim.

Unless I make her stay.

My attention flitted back to the ropes strewn around the bed, falling to the place my gun had fallen. I had ways and means of ensuring her good behavior, but we’d only just started to move past the old hostility and get along. Coercion of any sort would only amplify the angst between us.

“So, you do like me, then?”

Striding past the place she was sitting, I lowered to collect my gun. However I chose to play the next day or two, I’d rest easier knowing where it was, and while I didn’t think Erin was the sort to wield the weapon against me, she was right—we didn’t really know each other.

“Yes, I like you, but...”

Her breaths were labored as she noted what I was doing.

“Wh-where are you putting that, sir?”

“Away.”

Flashing her what I hoped was a reassuring smile, I checked the safety was on before I slid it into the side pocket of my bag and carried the pack to the side of the bed. I wanted to be able to keep an eye on it from wherever I was in the cabin but know it was stashed out of sight.

“I’m hoping we don’t need it.”

“Same.”

Her stare lingered on my bag.

“But what I do still need is to pee.”

She rose from her place.

“I’ve put it off as long as I can.”

“Ah, yes.”

I was wondering when she’d finally relent to the call of nature. The urge seemed to have been lost to the wave of sexual desire—a fact I was not complaining about—but at some point, she’d need to cede.

“The facilities are there for you if you want them.”

I gestured to the pot she’d rejected earlier, watching as her expression fell.

“Oh, God. Not this again.”

Her fingers tightened on the edges of the blanket, but her squirming told me she was desperate and she had no choice.

“Come on now,”

I chided.

“I’ve had you over my knee and on my cock. I’m sure you’ll survive emptying your bladder across the room from me.”

She frowned, apparently liable to protest, but in the end, only a long sigh left her lips.

“I’ll turn my back if you go now.”

How much more could I do to create the right ambience? We were in a dusty cabin in the middle of nowhere. The pot was as good as it got.

“You’ll be okay.”

“Fine.”

She hobbled past me toward the pot, a scowl etched onto her pretty face as she stooped to collect a packet of tissues from her bag. I followed her journey with my gaze before I duly turned away toward the dark hearth.

“It might be worth checking our phones again soon.”

I hoped the small talk would break the silence and improve her chances of success.

“Sometimes, the signal comes back before mobile data. Maybe we’ll be able to reach out to the emergency services again.”

“Sure.”

She sounded pained, and I envisioned her crouching over the small pot.

I wondered whether she’d discarded the blanket for the task—a decision that would surely have made the feat easier but would leave her exposed. Fleetingly, I considered turning around to see for myself, but I held back. I’d told her I’d look away, so that was what I’d do. I’d put her through a lot already and I couldn’t promise there wouldn’t be worse to come, but I could offer her that one tiny sliver of solace.

Crouching to retrieve my device from my bag, I held my breath. My focus was fixed on what Erin was doing more than the phone’s results as I flicked it on.

“This might be the most humiliating moment of my life,”

she muttered as nature finally took its course.

“Really?”

My reply was sardonic.

“Worse than when I tipped you over my lap for a spanking?”

“Oh, God.”

Despondency rang in her tone.

“Are you done?”

Opting to change the subject, I focused on not bursting into laughter at her performance.

“Yes.”

She sniffed, as though hovering over the pot had been her most grueling trial of the last day, but we both knew that wasn’t true. Whether it had been watching the rest of her party slip away or dealing with me in the claustrophobia of the cabin, she’d definitely dealt with worse.

“What was that?”

My gaze scanned over the screen in my hands as it lit up.

“Try that again, little girl.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!”

she snapped.

“Yes, sir!”

She barked the reply, and as I spun, I saw her offering a feigned salute. Standing there with the blanket at her feet, she was totally naked and far too tempting to resist.

“I can only assume you like skating on thin ice?”

Throwing my phone to the bed, I moved so fast she barely had time to react, closing the distance between us in two long strides.

“Wh-what?”

Her eyes were as large as saucers as I grabbed her wrist and tugged her closer.

“What are you doing?”

She collided with my body with a gentle thud, my arm closing around her middle to hold her in place as I went on.

“How many times have I told you how to address me?”

Whatever the number, the answer was too fucking many.

“We can get on really well together, if only you’d just learn to control that pretty mouth of yours.”

“Why should I?”

she hissed, daring to challenge me despite her labored breaths.

“Why should I call you sir?”

Burying my hand into her length of dark hair, I fisted her tresses and held her head still.

“How about because you fucking love it?”

She blinked at me, apparently unprepared for the accuracy of my response.

“I know how much you adore submitting, and so does your body, so why can’t you just stop fighting?”

My fingers tightened, eliciting a gasp from her parted lips.

“It’s not up to you,”

she panted, her hands rising between us as though she intended to push me away, but there seemed to be no real intention to the deed.

“I decide what I call you.”

“Is that right?”

I tugged her head lower, exposing her neck.

“You decide, eh? Just like it was your choice to go on the hike in the first place, and your call to come here to the lodge. It’s all been about you, hasn’t it, Erin?”

Her brows knitted as I listed her impotency, but for once, she said nothing.

“Just give in to me.”

I shook my head at her unwillingness to capitulate. Everything with her had to be a fight.

“You know I’ll take care of you, little girl.”

“Like when you tied me up?”

Her breaths were coming hard and fast, although the venom in her tone seemed to have eased.

“I took care of you then.”

My balls contracted at the enticing memory.

“Very well as I recall.”

“The things you do…”

The crease in her otherwise flawless brow deepened.

“They make my head spin… sir.”

Finally, she relented, swallowing as the word escaped her supple lips.

“I don’t know if I’m coming or going.”

“That’s easy,”

I replied in an instant.

“If I’ve got anything to do with it, you’ll definitely be coming.”