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)
I’m so in tune with the rhythm of her lilt that I instantly notice when she starts masking her fatigue with a forced tone.
She’s done for the day.
“We’ll camp here.” I break trail and select a site that offers some shelter from the wind.
I erect the tent with practiced efficiency, securing each stake against the erratic gales. Inside, I combine our sleeping bags to maximize warmth, insisting she takes the spot farthest from the entrance.
There’s little I can do about the cold. Burning a fire isn’t possible unless we find a cave. We’ll sleep in our boots and coats. If hers aren’t warm enough, I’ll give her mine.
Huddled together in the tent, we eat quickly. Fatigue visibly engulfs her fragile body, her eyelids drooping at half-mast. She struggles to keep them open, each blink growing heavier and longer.
I feel it, too, my bones completely drained of energy, every muscle screaming for rest.
But as she starts to fall onto the bedding, I stop her. “You need to pee.”
She glances at the tent flap and grimaces. “Nope.”
“You haven’t emptied your bladder all day.”
“My bladder and I appreciate your concern, but my girly parts are boycotting the cold.”
“So…you’re not going to pee for a month?”
“I’ll wait until we reach the hunting cabin.”
“That’s two weeks away, and there’s no indoor plumbing.”
Her eyes go round, fully awake now. “We have to go outside?”
“Same as here.”
“Well, shit.” She draws in a shaky breath. “Then I guess I’m holding it for a month.”
My back aches. My head hurts, and I can’t keep the cold from sharpening my voice. “Frankie…”
“When you say my name in that tone, you offend not only me but my grandfather.”
“Your…grandfather?”
“My father’s father. I inherited his name. Never met him, but if Frankie Trevis were alive, he would not appreciate your snarling, young man.”
“Trevis? Is that your given name? Before you married?”
“Sure is, and it’ll be my name again when I become unmarried.” She drops her chin, mumbling, “If I’m not already.”
Leo or I could make her ours by law. We could give her our name.
Frankie Strakh.
The notion hits me with the force of a physical blow.
In all my fantasies, I never dreamed of passing along that surname. A name that was forced onto me by the monster who stole my childhood.
I don’t know what my birth certificate shows. Kodiak Knowles? Or my biological father’s name, whoever he is?
Do I even care?
Strakh is all I know, and it means something that Leo and Wolf share that name, too. I wouldn’t change it. To honor Wolf, I would pass it on. To Frankie. To our children…
Children.
Another dream I never dared to have. It scares me to even hope.
Right now, it’s not even a possibility. She takes her pill every night. Never forgets.
If she were free and safe from starvation, I wonder how that might change. Frankie, pregnant with our child, could be a good thing.
It could be a wonderful thing.
I unzip the tent flap, bracing myself against the blast of icy air. “Let’s go.”
With a jolt, she scrambles away.
I don’t know where she’s trying to go, but I have her draped over my shoulder before she can sink those kitten claws in my face.
“It’s not healthy to hold it in. Could lead to an infection.” I carry her out, the wind slicing through our layers. “You don’t want that, especially out here.”
“It’s not healthy to get frostbite on your vagina, either.” She wriggles in my hold, her movements slow and weak. “I can’t believe you’re making me do this. Stop. Put me down. I’ll fucking walk.”
There’s no fight in her voice. She doesn’t need to be a nurse to know I’m right.
The blustery night drenches us in a darkness that swirls with the aurora’s green ribbons. I carry her a short distance from the tent, crouch in the snow, and set her on her feet between my legs.
“Strip. Squat. Pee.” I reach beneath the hem of her coat and find the zip on her snow pants. “We’ll do it quick.”
“We aren’t doing anything.” She makes a shooing motion. “Give me space.”
“Space? Too late for that, woman. We shower together every night. You helped me piss when I was injured. I’ve had my fingers knuckle-deep inside you. You and I are joined so tightly not a whisper of air can slip between us.”
The way she stares at me, I don’t know whether to protect my groin or bend her over my knee.
She leans in, putting her face in mine. But instead of a kick, she delivers a kiss. A sweet cherry-frosted kiss on my gaping mouth.
“I love you, Kodiak.” Her gloved hands adjust my hat around my ears, her breath clouding with mine. “But if my vagina freezes off, we’re looking at a long celibate future together.”
“Nothing’s freezing off. Here.” I widen the spread of my thighs and dig a hole in the snow between my boots. “Squat over this. I’ve got you.”