Page 14 of Just Right
Then again, maybe that’s the case. Finn told me that Rowan is the quintessential older brother. He basically saved Colt and Finn from the hunters in the woods—the only thing other than another powerful predator that could challenge one of the bears—and has taken on the position as head of the family ever since.
Finn and Colt—well, more Finn than Colt, but both of them really—run nearly everything by Rowan. They do the same when I first mention Charlotte, and only when he nods do the twins admit that they don’t know Charlotte, but there have been plenty of other human females who have found their way to Blackmoor. Some have stayed. Some have left when their time was up. Some… didn’t make it.
The idea that that could have happened to Charlotte… I drop the topic myself. Instead, I ask about Blackmoor.
I ask about fairytales.
And that’s when Rowan decides that the evening is over, and I have to wonder whythatof all topics is the one that he refuses to talk about.
On my fifthday in Blackmoor, I wake up in an irritated mood. Ever since the bears told me to stay, I’ve been borrowing Finn’s room. Last night, when I had to pee in the middle of the night, I nearly tripped over a slumbering bear in the hallway. Realizing that he’s been shifting to his fur and sleeping just outside the doorway… part of me wanted to sleep on the couch so that he could have his bed back. The other part thought about inviting him to join me in the bed.
In the end, I did my business, climbed back under the quilt, and tried to fall back asleep without the guilt eating me alive. Over the last few days, I’ve become much closer to Finn than his brothers, and while he’s let me know that he’s definitely interested in his veryobviousway, I don’t want to ruin our budding friendship just because he’s pretty and I didn’t realize how lonely I’d been until he devoted himself to becoming my shadow.
Then there’s his brothers… if Finn is obvious, Colt is almost cocky in his come-ons. I’ve ignored him because I can’t be sure if he’s serious or if he’s just needling Rowan by constantly hitting on me, but if I’m having a low self esteem day, all I have to do is wait until Colt returns to the cabin because he’ll surely give me a pick-me-up with his compliments.
But that’s as far as he goes. As though even he suspects that I’ll choose one of his other brothers over him, he doesn’t cross the line… until I do.
I blame the irritation. Last night, I fell asleep feeling guilty that Finn was sleeping outside the door. This morning? I’m annoyed at myself for passing up the opportunity to sleep next to him. It wouldn’t take much at all to go from ‘sleeping next tohim’ to ‘sleepingwithhim’, and the achy, needy feeling in my pussy is wondering why I’m punishing us both by sleeping alone.
It’s not just my pussy that needssomething. My whole body seems like it’s on pins and needles, it’s that alert—and that sensitive. My head hurts. My skin itches. I’m overheated to the point that, I swear, I’m suffering from a fever with no other symptoms except extreme horniness.
Simply put, I need to fuck. It’s almost like I’ve been slipped an aphrodisiac, and if I’d had anything to eat this morning, I might’ve wondered if that was what happened to me. Only I just woke up like this and, somehow, that’s worse.
I manage to duck Finn by pretending to sleep until he goes out to check on the bee hives he keeps nearby. He showed them to me a few days ago, letting me keep my distance after my near miss following my arrival in the forest, but he hasn’t been back since. Too busy with me, I guess, and when he murmurs through the closed door that he’ll return for me later, I wait until the cabin seems silent before I go to the bathroom to freshen up.
There is no shower here, and when I mentioned that, Finn seemed confused. I asked how he washed up, deciding it wasn’t worth it when he mentioned wading into the nearby river to get clean when he wasn’t just scrubbing at the hand pump near the weird toilet. Since I’m not about to swim butt-ass naked in a river, I give myself basic sponge baths and hope that my lack of deodorant isn’t too off-putting to the bears.
Then again, theyarebears. For all I know, theylikeit.
After my makeshift bath, I decide to go outside. Mainly because I’m dying for some fresh air, but also because it’s been a little cooler lately. As hot as I am, that might be what I need.
I don’t go far. I told Rowan I wouldn’t, and when Idofinally go off in search of Charlotte in a few days, I want it to be after he’s stopped expecting me to disappear. It’s a messed-up thing to do, but I’m not in Blackmoor to make a man happy. Even ifhe’s gone out of his way for me… if I waste my chance to find out more information about Char, I’ll never forgive myself.
That’s not today, though.
Today? I just need…something.
It’s like that sensation from my first day. When I followed some unseen path, sure that if I left it, I was making a mistake. This is no different. As I stumble down the stairs, walking with more effort than it should take toward the door, I feel a sliver of relief as if this strange fever is rewarding me for doing what it wants.
Pushing open the door, I step out onto the front porch. Maybe it’s the mid-morning sun shining through, but I swear I see golden curls, wisps of light,magicswirling around my bare feet. I’ve long given up on my fishnet stockings, and considering Rowan’s collection includes everythingexceptunderwear, I’m not wearing anything under the casual pale green dress I have on.
The gold mist wraps around my ankles. Up above, the leaves seem to glitter. The sun gleams. Around me, the air is thick and heavy, but it’s not warm. How can it be when I’m the one that’s one fire?
More than that, I feel flushed. My hair sticks to my cheek. With a huff of frustration, I shove it out of my face. I’m super fucking itchy under my skin, a sensation that has me scratching at my bare upper arm.
My heartbeat races; as I stumble down and away from the porch, it refuses to settle. My thighs clench with every step. I pause, tightening them together, trying to find some more relief for my needy pussy. My nipples harden against the top of my dress.
My pulse pounds. Thud. Thud. Thud.
But it’s not just my pulse, either. As I move blindly, so consumed by the sudden fever, I hear athud, thud, thudandrealize that I’ve stumbled my way over to one of the bears in the middle of chopping down a tree. That repeated thud? The swing of his axe hitting the wood.
I try to make my escape, but either the fever has its hold on me or I really didn’t want to go far because all it takes is Colt dropping his axe to the dirt and murmuring my name—“Aurelia”—for me to stand still.
And it is Colt. Standing there, shirtless and sweaty from all of his chopping, is the middle Brown brother, his hair sweat-damped, his gold eyes roving over me as though he can sense just how hot I am.
Maybe he can. Maybe he was waiting for just this moment. When it’s just him, just me, no Finn interfering or Rowan intervening…
My heart skips a beat.
