“Something like that.” I lean forward, drop my voice low, just enough to make him shiver. “You game, pretty boy?”
His lips part, breath catching, and there it is, that spark I love lighting in his eyes.
“Did you bring the mask?”
FIVE
CALEB
The cold hitsme like a slap to the face when we step outside.
Snow falls in slow, lazy spirals, the flakes sticking to our coats, our boots crunching deep into the untouched drifts that blanket everything. The air smells sharp—pine, smoke, ice. It’s quiet enough that I can hear the snow landing.
I pull my grey balaclava higher over my nose, my breath puffing against the fabric. “This was your idea of fun?” I say, voice muffled but smiling underneath it.
Miguel laughs, his own mask covering the lower half of his face. He ties back his hair and pulls it up over his head. “You love it. Don’t lie.”
“I love not freezing my ass off.” I tilt my head and roll my eyes. “You know, like back inside with the cozy fireplace.”
He steps close enough that his body heat cuts through the cold, gloved fingers brushing my jaw through the fabric. “We’ll fix that later,” he murmurs. “You’ll be sweating soon enough.”
That sounds like … a promise and a threat.
He reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a small, coiling, stretchy keyring. A single key dangles from it, catching the graylight. He loops it around my wrist, the plastic cold against my skin. “Okay, baby, listen up.”
I nod, my pulse already racing.
“There’s an old hunting cabin about two miles from the property,” he says, voice dropping into that tone that hits straight between my ribs. Slow, dominating, certain. “The owners said it’s still stocked, and they were kind enough to leave us the keys.”
Why the fuck would we want to go to a hunting cabin?
He leans closer, his breath warm against my ear even through the mask. “So I’m gonna chase you. If you make it there before I find you… You can do whatever you want to me.”
Sold.
I’ll freeze my nuts off and win just so I can have that power over him.
I look up, raising a brow even though he can’t see my full expression. “Whatever I want?”
Miguel’s grin is visible even through the knit fabric, the crinkle at the corners of his eyes giving him away. “Well, almost anything. I do have limits.”
“Almost anything, huh?” I say, taking a half step back, letting the teasing creep into my voice. “You sure about that? ’Cause I’ve got a pretty good imagination.”
“Baby,” he says, his voice going darker, dropping to a near whisper. “That’s exactly what I’m counting on.”
My mouth goes dry.
The key around my wrist glints when I lift my arm. “So… what, I just run?”
He nods. “You run. You hide. And you pray the snow slows me down.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
He tilts his head. “Then you’ll know what happens when I catch you.”
My ass is gonna get pounded in the snow.
The sound that leaves me isn’t exactly a laugh. More like a shiver trying to pretend it’s a smile. I tug my gloves tighter and take a step backward, boots sinking into the powder. The trees ahead blur together in the gray light, branches heavy with snow, paths barely visible.
