Eddie’s head turned in her direction. The alpha’s amber eyes glowed from the firelight. The wood in the fire crackled, breaking the silence.
“And what about you, Liana? What do you deserve?”
“Not sure. Still trying to figure it out.” And that was the truth. She had no idea what she wanted out of life. She had assumed that one day she would settle down with someone. Have a few kids. But lately, nothing had come to fruition.
“Fair enough.” Eddie’s mouth twitched.
Liana returned to her position in the crook of Eddie’s arm. Eddie brought her arm down and enclosed it around Liana, bringing her body flush to hers. There was something special between them. Liana felt it, but she wasn’t sure if Eddie did. She snuggled closer and realized she liked the way Eddie looked at her.
It was more than the sex. It was a deep feeling inside her that she couldn’t shake—the feeling that something irreversible had started between them. She felt herself drift back off. The warmth of Eddie allowed her to relax again. One question continued to remain in her head.
Did Eddie feel it, too?
Chapter Seven
The storm had left the world wrapped in white silence. Eddie stood on the porch, her breath ghosting in the brittle morning air while the weight of the winter pressed against her lungs. The snow had come heavy through the night. She surveyed the bulky drifts clinging to the cabin’s eaves. Snow had swallowed the narrow path she’d shoveled yesterday. The trees bowed beneath the weight of it.
All of it was beautiful in a cruel Montana way. The landscape made her feel small, humbled even. She’d grown up in this kind of wild, but some mornings still left her in awe.
She tugged on her gloves, the leather creaking as she flexed her hands. The generatorstill hummed behind the cabin. It was half-buried under another fresh coat of snow. She’d have to dig it out again, check the fuel line, and chop more wood before the next wave hit. The scent in the air told her the storm wasn’t finished.
She stepped off the porch and sank nearly to her knees.
“Damn,” she muttered. The storm had packed the snow tight. It would take hours to clear the truck. Maybe days if Mother Nature continued to dump on them.
She should be frustrated. She’d come here for solitude, not survival mode. She trudged through the snow and tried to concentrate on everything she needed to do, but her thoughts were on a certain person who was inside underneath the blankets and warm.
Liana.
The name caused her heart to flutter.
Eddie had never met anyone like her. She was a city-born woman who was stubborn yet fragile. She made Eddie want to wrap her up and never let her go. Liana tested Eddie in a way that made her bear want to claim her. She was brave, defiant, and curious, all traits that would make a great alpha mate. Even after everything that hadhappened, she’d laughed that morning as she’d cleaned up the kitchen. Her jovial humming had brought a smile to Eddie’s lips.
Mine, her bear grumbled.
She grabbed a shovel that rested against the house and stabbed it into a snowbank with more force than necessary.
“We haven’t claimed her yet,” Eddie muttered. The thought of marking Liana as hers, keeping her forever, presenting her to the world as her mate, gave her a warm rush of feelings.
Her bear growled low, unhappy with Eddie. The beast couldn’t understand the wait. She didn’t care about logic, or timing, or anything other than the claiming. There was a pull to be with Liana. Eddie felt it all the way to her soul. Every time Liana looked at her, every time her scent hit the air, Eddie wanted to nuzzle her neck and breathe her in. It had taken everything she had to untangle her limbs from Liana. She had been warm, scented of wild honey and something that made Eddie’s pulse spike.
She tried to focus on the work at hand.
One shovel of snow.
Then another.
The rhythmic scrape of metal against the ice underneath the mountains of snow steadied her breathing. Her muscles strained with the weight of the heavy mounds. It felt good to do some physical labor while breathing in the crisp mountain air. The clouds were already thickening again. They were iron gray, pressing low over the tree line. She could almost taste the next wave of snow in the air.
She should leave the snow where it was, but if she did, then it would only be taller and heavier come tomorrow. Plus she needed a distraction.
If she stayed in the cabin all day with Liana, there would only be one physical activity they would be engaged in. She paused and allowed the memory of her face buried between Liana’s legs come to the forefront.
The taste of her was addictive. She had been sweet, tangy, and hot. A low rumble from her bear sounded as Eddie’s breathing hitched.
Liana’s whimpers and cries had filled the cabin. Eddie’s tongue had been everywhere. She had wanted to consume all of Liana. She could have stayed there forever in her own little heaven between her woman’s thighs. If she closed hereyes, she could still taste a hint of Liana on her tongue.
The door opened behind her. Eddie blinked and turned to find Liana standing bundled up in one of Eddie’s thick hoodies and an oversized coat that probably belonged to one of Eddie’s cousins. It was long enough that the hem went past Liana’s knees. She must have done something to her hair while Eddie had been working. Her curls were wild and free, creating a soft halo around her face, the wind blowing it gently.