Page 30 of Knot Mine

Clearly hitting a nerve, he closes his eyes again, “I had training.”

“Rom said.” I know I sound judgy, but his alibi doesn’t add up. He says nothing, and for the next four hours we drive in a calming quiet, where his soft snores are the only thing cutting through the silence.

“The cashier said we should be careful, there’s a storm moving in this weekend.” I grab the bag of goodies we’d gotten at a garage forty-five minutes ago and wait for Zale to get out of the car. He’d dozed through our little pit stop, only waking to give me a list of snacks he wanted before going back to sleep.

“Shit, should we just go home?” He asks, clambering out of the car and stretching, swinging his arm across his torso in a way that has his T-shirt rising up to expose a band of tanned skin just above the waist of his jeans.

“Nah. My parents have made sure the cabin is stocked up.” They’d emailed us both ahead of this weekend, making sure to include things we both like but they’ve gone all out, ordering extra for Millie’s friends and our birthday celebrations.

Zale leans back into my car and reaches over the front seat to grab his bags, giving me a decent view of his ass. “What about Millie and the others?”

Fuck, was I just checking out my sister’s boyfriend? What the hell was wrong with me? I swallow, my skin feeling clammy. “They’re supposed to be here first thing tomorrow. It should be fine and you can all hole up and weather out the storm together.”

It wasn’t unusual for there to be a few small snowstorms at this time of year, and once everyone was here it would be fine. They could celebrate as planned, sit in the hot tub and watch the snow falling while drinking champagne to celebrate Millie’s twenty-first.

“Where will you be?”

Eating my weight in strawberry Twizzlers and fucking myself silly so I don’t have any more weird thoughts.

“In my room, enjoying my space.”

Millie already ruined my plans of staying in my apartment so I was determined to be a lazy, orgasmed out, anime nerd. I wasn’t usually so sex obsessed. The suppressants took care of that, but ever since the biting incident, my libido had taken an upturn. Maybe my heat was approaching and I needed to take a couple more pills? How many was too many?

Zale looks like he’s about to say something else, but I don’t give him the chance, locking the car and heading up the short walkway to the cabin. I can’t spend any more time with him tonight, my nerves are already more frayed than Bell’s denim booty shorts.

Cabin is also kind of a misleading word, since it’s more like a huge two-story house complete with a wrap-around balcony and patio out back with a hot tub and fire pit. One of the walls at the rear of the house is mostly glass, to give a fantastic view of the mountains and the valley below and the stonework in the living space, with the huge fireplace are nothing like what comes to mind when you say ‘cabin’. But when your family are property developers, a little shack in the middle of nowhere just doesn’t cut it.

“This is seriously impressive.” I didn’t realize Zale was so close behind me, his breath tickling over my neck as I let myself into the house with my keycard.

“Uh, yeah.” I shift away from him, trying to put some space between us. “You might want to take your shoes off here, save tracking snow in. We’d have to mop it later otherwise.”

He chuckles, “What, no staff?”

Kicking off my shoes, I place them on the rack before switching on more of the lights and heading towards the kitchen with the snacks. “No, not this weekend. My parents thought Millie would want it more private and casual, so it’ll just be us.”

“What Millie wants…Millie gets.” He shakes his head with a small smile. If only he knew how much those words feel like a hand wrapped around my throat.

Most of the downstairs living areas are open plan, so I watch him wander around from the kitchen as he takes a closer look at the fireplace.

He runs his fingers over the bookshelves, pulling out a few to read the back of them before sliding them back into place. When he stops to smell the fresh flower centerpieces on the dining table, there’s a strange pattering in my chest that doesn’t ease up, even when he stands in front of the glass wall to look out over the valley. I force myself to look away, hating how strangely soft and…almost vulnerable he looks at this moment.

“How do you ever leave here?”

I glance up from putting the snacks away in one of the cupboards. “Huh?”

Zale has this strange, almost wistful look on his face as he presses his hand to the glass. “This place, it’s so…it’s really nice. Quiet.”

Nodding in agreement, I grab us both water from the fridge. It could see how it might be nice to be here more often if you had someone to share it with. “It is. It’s not my favorite property though. I like the villa in Crete. I prefer the warmth, and the saltwater air any day over snow and cold. Plus, the culture is very different there.”

I hand him the bottle, ignoring the way a shiver skitters across my skin as our fingers touch. I’m desperate for that shower, my skin still on fire as my heart keeps going crazy, like a one instrument marching band in my chest. I subtly try to stretch, to ease the ache I feel in my bones as my skin feels too tight, too hot, too sensitive. Too much.Not enough.

There’s a lot going on right now and I’m overstimulated as Zale offers me a ghost of a smile. “Yeah, but there’s something about a fresh blanket of snow and staying cozy.”

I swallow, feeling clammy as I wipe my hand on my jeans. “Well, the guest rooms are up the stairs and to the right or Millie’s room is the second to the left. There are two bathrooms upstairs, besides my parents’ ensuite. You obviously know where the kitchen is, help yourself to whatever you want. I’m gonna shower and sleep.”

“Yeah. Yeah. It was a long drive.” He reaches out, wrapping his hand around my wrist gently as I turn to leave. When he seems to register what he’s done, he drops me like a hot potato. “Where’s your room? Y’know. Just in case there’s an emergency or something.”

“All the family rooms are on the left. I'm in the room at the end.” I point, showing him where my door is, right next door to my twin’s.

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