Quiet surrounded the cabin. The sounds of chopping wood had stopped. I turned back to the window to see Kane had stacked most of the logs along the edge of the rock, a solid pyramid shape. There were only a few stray logs left.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his body, the fluid way he moved. I licked my lips. My tongue became thick in my mouth. He was strong, stronger than the tattooed guy. In fact, he was a better prospect than the tattooed guy in a lot of ways. Kane took care of himself. He’d been taking care of me.
The heat inside me roused these thoughts, my instincts telling me to weigh my options. My basic biology was the loudest voice right now, and it wanted the closest available male to quench my need. And Kane was looking like a very, very good option. My only option.
The man in question gathered an armload of wood and headed away from the pile.
I froze.Shit.He would come back inside. I squeezed my thighs together. He was a shifter with heightened senses like mine.
Shit. Shit. Shit.Frantically, I looked for a place to hide. There wasn’t any. After a day in this cabin, I knew that.
His feet thumped on the landing outside. I gritted my teeth. The door opened, and I curled my fingernails into my palms to stop myself from going over there and jumping him.
Kane took one step inside, then stopped. My pupils dilated at the sight of him. His nostrils flared, his shoulders tensed, and his eyes zeroed in on me like I was the exact person he was looking for.
He could smell my heat.
My heart pounded in my chest. What would he do? I’d never been around a male shifter while in heat before, never searched one out either. I stuck to humans because it was less complicated. Mom always said that if we had sex with a shifter, there’d be strings attached. I also didn’t want to be on the receiving end of a shifter’s sexual aggression, no matter how appealing that might be. Humans were simpler.
Tearing his gaze away from me, Kane strode to the potbelly stove. He crouched, piling the newly chopped logs in the wood box with precise movements.
I wrapped my arms around my middle. Should I say something? What would I say? That I was going into heat? He could tell. There wasn’t much else to talk about unless he became a willing partner. And from the way he seemed bent on ignoring me, it looked like that wasn’t going to happen.
His arms empty, he stood and walked to the kitchen counter. I watched as he moved around, grabbing bread to pop in the toaster, heating water in the kettle. The more he ignored me, the more the tension in my body released. From the way my mom had talked, it had sounded like as soon as a shifter smelled heat, they’d pounce.
Kane didn’t seem to have a problem resisting me. A part of me became annoyed. If he pursued me, then at least some of this ache would ease. Instead, it would keep building, to peak painfully in the third or fourth day. The thought made me swallow.
The toaster popped, the kettle bubbled, and the scent of toast wafted toward me. Kane set plates on the table along with peanut butter, jam, and honey, gesturing for me to sit. A thrum of satisfaction rippled through my stomach. I liked that he was taking care of me no matter how simple the fare.
A soft purr began in my throat.Stop it.I needed to remain in control of my baser instincts. It was the only way I’d be able to survive the next few days with my sanity intact.
While I limped to the table and sat, Kane made coffee, pouring hot water into a French-style coffee press. It was the kind my mom liked to use, and seeing it here sent a wave of homesickness through me. Maybe it had something to do with going into heat too. My mom might be flighty most of the time, but she would have advice for how to deal with this.
But my mom wasn’t here. I was on my own with this big man who couldn’t speak but knew how to live totally cut off from the world, independent. Taking a breath, I picked up the peanut butter jar and opened the lid.
He set a coffee mug in front of me along with powdered creamer and sugar.
“Thank you,” I murmured around a tongue that felt too big for my mouth.
Sitting in the chair opposite me, he nodded once and picked up the peanut butter jar I’d set down. I watched as he spread a thin layer on his toast then went for the honey. A large glop was dolloped onto the thin layer, way more than a normal person would use. The man liked it sweet.
We ate our toast and drank our coffee in silence. I kept wanting to bring up the heat thing, to lie and tell him it wasn’t going to be an issue. But every time I opened my mouth, the words stalled in my throat. What was I supposed to say? There was no stopping biology. By tomorrow, we’d both be extremely uncomfortable.
I finished my toast, drank most of my coffee, and stood. When I hobbled toward the sink, intent on doing the dishes, he waved me away, taking my coffee cup to refill it. If he’d let me do the dishes, then at least I’d have something to think about other than the need building inside my body.
Letting out a breath, I fixed my coffee. I hobbled out the front door then sank into the wooden chair, trying not to spill the brew on myself. The fresh air was crisp, but I liked the feel of it. It cooled my hot cheeks and cleansed my head. A bird sang a two-note song followed by a longer trill. For a moment, I wished I could have my mom’s bird book in front of me so I could figure out its name.
My ankle ached from the short trip to the porch. The tree stump sat there from the day before, and I set my foot on it. Having it elevated eased the throbbing some. It felt like I had a second heart in my foot, beating away.
I’d almost finished my second cup of coffee when Kane joined me. He gestured to the path that went to the outhouse.
“Yes, please,” I said, scrambling to my feet. A shot of pain went through my calf. I winced.Moved too fast.
Strong arms swept me up a second later. I gasped. Not from the pain, but from how good it felt to be cradled. My body craved the connection,neededit. My heart rate accelerated, and my hands moved around his neck like they had a mind of their own. The heat between my legs intensified. The sudden urge to press my face against his throat and inhale his scent deeper into my lungs made me shiver. Maybe I would take a nip at his flesh.
The voracity of the primal thought had me leaning away from him in shock. This was going to get so bad if I didn’t find relief soon.
He set me on my feet. I’d been so caught up in the sensation of being held, I’d missed the whole trip.
