Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 119597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
“The plane was headed north, likely to the coast.” I shove on my boots and lace them up. “It’ll return to whatever city it came from when the hunt ends. Maybe it’ll take the same route back.”
“Where are you going?” Frankie grips my arm. “You’ve been in bed for two days and—”
“Two days?” My stomach plummets.
“Yeah. You need to eat before you pass out again.” She thrusts her implacable chin and punches my chest for good measure. “Right now.”
“Don’t boss me, woman.”
“Someone needs to.” She turns toward the door.
I smack her backside on the way out, making her yelp.
Leo stiffens, glowering, seconds from blowing steam from his ears.
“Lighten up.” I clap a hand around his neck.
He turns even more rigid beneath my grip.
“Hey.” Softening my tone, I step into his space and bow my head with his. “Thank you for coming for me. I owe you my life.”
“You owe me nothing.” His tension melts away with his exhale. “Wish I’d killed a wolf or two.”
“Yes, but…if we ate the wolf that ate Denver, does that make us cannibals?”
“Fucking hell, man.” He stares at me like I’ve lost my mind. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“It’s an honest question.”
“One I never want to think about again.” He strides to the door, shaking his head. “Keep that shit to yourself.”
I follow him out. “Can’t believe I was out for two days. What did I miss?”
“Frankie’s undivided attention. You worried her.” He veers into the kitchen and pauses at the island. “We were both worried.”
A swallow sticks in my throat. “I put us behind schedule.”
“We don’t have a schedule. But now that you’re up, I’ll convert that water tank.”
“Not until you eat.” Frankie emerges from the pantry, holding a package of cured caribou meat we’ve been saving. “Sit. Both of you.”
We sit on the only two stools we haven’t chopped into firewood.
“Now listen up.” She measures the meat on three plates, adds some canned vegetables from the greenhouse, and pushes the dishes toward us. “We’re going to eat more, drink more water, increase our energy levels, retrieve the snow machine…”
Leo drops his head in his hands, probably fighting the urge to argue her first point.
“Once we’re strong enough,” she goes on, “we’re going to have sex.”
His head pops up. I stop breathing.
“Oh, good. You’re listening.” With a grin, she bends forward, setting her elbows on the counter. “I’m not kidding about the sex. I miss it with you.” She looks at Leo then turns to me. “And I want it with you. I’ll wait until we have our strength back. But just so we’re clear, when you’re both ready, I am, too.”
I’m hard. Instantly. Prematurely.
A glance at Leo tells me he’s hard, too. Hardheaded. Hardfisted. Hard-set against sharing her.
He’ll get there. I may not be able to convince him, but she will.
“In the meantime…” She chews on a strip of meat, watching us. “We’re going to solve the riddle, get the plane running, make the trek to the hunting cabin, and get the pemmican. Maybe even shoot a few wolves on the way. What do you say?”
“I miss it with you, too.” Leo reaches across the counter and captures her hand.
Her entire body melts.
Every day, her face grows thinner, sharper, making her eyes appear too big. But goddamn, she’s still stunning. Especially when she looks at him like that. Like she would die for him.
She shifts those too-big eyes to me, and a different emotion transforms her expression.
Want.
Never has a woman looked at me like that, but my body recognizes it, understands it instinctively. This tension between us isn’t just about earning back her trust. It’s carnal in nature. Primordial. Sexual. We have things to work out. Physical things that need to be addressed and soon.
“I’m going to keep searching for the key to the plane.” She collects her plate, taking it with her as she leaves the kitchen.
I watch her go, my eyes glued to the way her leggings mold to her delicate form. Leo stares, too. Stares at the same ass I’m staring at. It’s impossible to look away. There’s something there. Something magnetic and potent about her, pulling everything and everyone into her orbit.
“It’s cute how she thinks she’s in charge.” I’m still staring, spellbound, long after she vanishes from view.
“Yeah.” He hasn’t looked away, either. “Cute is one way to put it.”
Trapped in a cabin that holds the whispers of our despair and the heat of our intertwined bodies, we exist in a limbo of ice and shadows.
Will the plane return and see our signal?
Will we solve the riddle and escape on our own?
Which will come first? Salvation or starvation?
Hunger occupies most of the space in my mind. It goes beyond the stabbing pangs, fatigue, and depletion of muscle and fat. The psychological impact cuts deeply and incessantly. Depression, anxiety, hallucinations, and preoccupation with food…God help me, eating is all I think about. I think about what I ate last, what I’ll eat next, how it will smell, what the taste and texture will feel like on my tongue. It’s agonizing.