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)
My heart aches with love for him, a love so intense it infuriates me. Turning away, I face the windshield and focus on bigger problems. Like the frostbite burning my nose. And the missing key to the plane. And the gnawing hunger.
We need answers. Solutions.
Leo, with his technical aptitude and knack for tinkering, believes he can bypass the plane’s ignition and manipulate the electrical system. He’s trying to do something similar with the cabin’s disabled power.
The cabin is his priority.
If he restores the electricity, the pipes would unfreeze. We would have lights. Movies to pass the time. Running water.
Oh, God, to have a hot shower again.
Given his skill at building and repairing machines in this godforsaken place, I have faith in him. But Denver was calculating. He kept all knowledge about the plane and hydroelectric generator safely guarded because it gave him leverage over his sons.
Extinguishing the candle beside me, I climb out and scan the garage for Leo.
“He’s in there.” Kody nods at the generator room.
A shiver spikes through me.
I can still feel the pipe in my hand and the crunch of Denver’s face caving in, turning into pulp beneath my bloodthirsty strikes.
Tools clang within the chamber, followed by a string of curses. Leo’s back at it, determined to undo whatever Denver did to the power system.
In the meantime, we need heat and better lighting in the garage if we’re going to continue spending every waking moment in here.
Hoss has three coal stoves. One in the kitchen and the other two in this building. Two weeks ago, Leo and Wolf mined a sled full of coal from an interior basin. But the snow machine didn’t return. It lies broken and silent, miles from our doorstep along the icy river.
“We need that coal.” I breathe into my cupped hands, trying to generate warmth. “How do we get it back to Hoss?”
“Leo’s the mechanic.” Kody takes a step closer to me, his voice thick, full of gravel. “When he’s ready to venture out again, we’ll work out the logistics.”
Like who goes and who stays.
They don’t want me to leave the cabin in this weather. They also don’t want me here by myself. With only three of us left, it’ll be interesting to see how they work through that dilemma.
“How long are you going to avoid me?” He watches me steadily, tracking every twitch like a damn stalker.
“I’m not avoiding you.”
With deliberate slowness, he narrows the gap between us, backing me against the airplane’s tail. No part of him touches me, but his heat invades, licking my body, top to bottom, front and back. It’s electric. Powerful. Maddening.
Rather than shrink away, I stand taller, lift on my tiptoes, and raise my chin.
I’m still a head shorter, a fraction of his size. Even now, after he’s lost so much weight.
For six weeks, we’ve been rationing, and the toll on his physique is concerning. He and Leo both. Yet his height remains imposing, towering, like an unclimbable mountain.
Despite my stubborn anger, I find myself fighting a different impulse—the desire to caress his cheek, his square-cut jaw, the rustic texture of his stubble, and the firm pillow of his pouty lips.
“What about the pemmican?” I fist my hands at my sides. “When will we retrieve that?”
The cans in the cupboard are diminishing, their labels a blur through my desperate tears. The thought of starving to death, especially when we have high-protein pemmican at their hunting cabin, is unbearable.
“That’s a thirty-mile hike.” His low, growly tone nettles my goosebumped skin. “Impossible in this storm.”
“How long until the storm passes?”
“A few days.” He leans in, his teeth bared like knives. “Or a few months.”
In a moment of weakness, I’m ensnared by the dark landscape of his black-brown eyes and bold, masculine features. Made by God and raised by the devil, he’s a formidable force of nature, devastatingly handsome, looming over me, stealing all my air.
“Back off.” I grind my molars.
“Make me.” He licks his lips, itching for a fight.
If he keeps looking at me like that, he’ll get one.
“Where are the rest of the candles?” My lungs pant, the heat between our mouths hot enough to melt the permafrost. “We’re burning through the supply in the cabin.”
“That’s all we have left.”
“So we’re to spend the winter in darkness?”
“Scared?”
“Fuck you.”
Kody, with his stalking and his secrets and his superior hunter’s instincts, can strike fear in the heart of anyone. But he doesn’t scare me. He makes me burn. And pisses me off.
“Let’s address something we can resolve.” His dark eyebrows slash over black eyes. “Like your attitude.”
“My attitude?” The implication penetrates, invading my veins like Denver’s needles.
“Yeah. Time for it to go.”
My temper snaps, and I slam my hands against the solid wall of his chest. He doesn’t budge, doesn’t give me an inch. Just steady heat and an unwavering glare.