Tomorrow we will go to Mack and Mollie Felle’s place to celebrate with all the guys up on the mountain. Lilli and Landon will be there, Watt and Willa, plus all the other lumberjacks and their ladies. I am looking forward to it. Slater, on the other hand, seems less than enthused.
“Two hours. Three tops,” he growls as he pulls me against his chest, pouting the cutest, grumpiest pout.
“Honey, we’re going to be with your friends. Our friends. It is Christmas, this holiday has no time limits.”
“If it means sharing my old lady with a bunch of jagoffs, yes, sweetheart, it does. You best get used to it. I am a needy man.”
“I accept this,” I tell him with a laugh, pressing a lingering kiss to his lips. Hmm, he tastes of the chocolate cocoa we had earlier.Delicious. “If you accept that there will be other folks inour lives for short periods of time.”
“Leave here with your panties full of my cum, I will accept it.”
“Slater Roth! Wecannotbe filthy on Christmas.”
“My cock and your greedy cunt say otherwise, sweetheart,” he hisses, and I gasp as the crown of said cock presses against my very wet, very greedy cunt. “Sit on daddy, little girl. I might let you talk me into a New Year’s party too if I’m being choked by my good little slut,” he hums these filthy, fiery words against my throat. Rocking my hips, I whimper as I rub needily against him, wanting to let him have his way but not yet ready to.
Sitting there trembling with need, tasting him, hearing his hot grunts, feeling his thickness press against me, I start to panic. What am I doing? What have we been doing hiding away up on this mountain the past week? We’ve been so naughty with each other, sharing such intimate, intense moments. Slater claims he wants to marry me, to give me babies, to keep me up on this mountain with him forever.
Can this chaotic, clandestine thing last beyond Christmas?
Taking care of my four brothers back in True Ridge, of mother, of all the friends I’ve made here in Driftwood Peaks, is what I do. Selling people not just a house but their home, it is a way to take care of others. Just the way making those ornaments, making the rounds with the carolers up here on the mountain was a way to take care of all the growly men on this mountain. Giving back in some way was all I wanted to do.
Now I am tangled up with this man, with this obsessive, possessive, needy and naughty lumberjack. This growly, grinch of a man. A man who first kicked me off his doorstep but now claims he never wants me to leave. What am I doing with this man? How I have let this twist and turn so out of control while the storm has kept us stranded up here.
“Am I…am I not free to go, Slater? I teased about howobsessive you get about me…does that mean I am…not free from you?”
Slater blinks up at me, his dark eyes taking a few moments to focus. His silky hair is a mess, falling over his forehead, so he shakes it out of his eyes to stare up at me. There is a flash of something in his eyes. The eyes that lured me in that very first night. That brought me back to him. Is it…is it guilt? Do I have it right? He will not…let me leave?
“No, no you will never be free of me, sweetheart. Do I want you tucked away in this cabin for me to eat you, to fuck you, to own you whenever I want, hell, yes I do. That does not equal you being my prisoner. I said I will do anything you ask of me….so be careful what you ask.”
Pushing off his lap, I untangle myself as I back up from him. I need some distance. Some space between his big, hard body that I have grown addicted to. I crave his scent, his warmth, his skin on mine. It is too soon for this to feel the way it does. For us to make the promises we’ve made.
Just thinking about leaving the cabin sends me spiraling. I have a cute bungalow down in Driftwood. I just hung new curtains my mother sewed for me with cute yellow checkers and strawberries. I love bright colors, cute things that would never make sense in this dark cabin.
“Slater…. what…I mean, what does that mean?” I stammer.
Standing, he towers over me, stalking towards me slowly. My heart triples with each step. My thighs quake. God, he is beautiful. Sexy in a dark, dangerous way that excites me as much as it terrifies me. He turns me on until I ache. Until having him is all that stops my pain, my need.
How do we trust a need that walks the line of obsession?
“It means do not ask me something I cannot give you. Do not ask me to let you go. I will not let you be free of me. I willnever be free of you, either. Which I am glad for. You knocking on my door changed my entire world, Serena. You set it spinning again. Do not ask me to go back. To give it up, givethisup, to ever giveyouup. I won’t. Iwill not.”
Something in the shake of his voice ratchets my panic up. I continue to back up. To put space between us. Something he refuses me. Each step I take back, he takes two forwards. I go until my back hits the door. It is cold, the storm that has caged us in for days still howling beyond its threshold.
“Serena…come back to me, little girl. Donotdo it,” he warms.
“Slater, stop. It…I am…I am scared. I cannot, I mean…I have my place down there, my offices, my clients. If I just never went back. If you refuse to…” I break off on a shout as he eats up the space between us, slamming my back against the door. It does not hurt. I welcome the press of his big body against mine. It grounds me as he cages me in.
“I will refuse you nothing, little girl. Not ever. Daddy will give you everything you could ever need. You believe that don’t you? You know I would give the entire world to you, one piece at a time, one Christmas tree, one ornament, one little baby in that belly. Whatever you ask of me.”
“Except freedom…” I trail off as my hand turns the knob of the door. It sounds so loud as it breaks free of the latch.
“Yes. Except freedom from me. If you go, know I will be there behind you every single fucking step you take,” he warns me, letting me wiggle free of him just enough to scare us both.
Turning faster than I think either of us expects me to, I bolt. I hesitate just a moment once the frigid air hits my skin. I am in a pair of his sweats and his big, soft Felle Landing hoodie. Sliding down the stairs, my bare feet sinking into the deep snow, I start to run. I never look back once. Why would I need to—Slater will be there, following my skittish steps.
What he said about being right behind me is what sent me running. I am almost vibrating from it. I hear him behind me, huffing as his huge body stomps through the snow. I get down the drive, through heavy snow drifts, but I know I will never lose him. The snow is whipping against my skin, my feet will ache later, still I never stop or even slow. I give it my all.
Just as I see a glimpse of the road, I know I am out of time. Slater’s huge body slams into me from behind. He rolls so he hits the ground instead of plowing me into the snow drifts. We roll a few times, his powerful arms locking me against his chest to protect me. I almost laugh when he rolls once more, pinning me to the ground beneath him.
