Page 71 of Curvy Cabin Fever
Maybe she will be good for them.
My thigh brushes hers under the table. She doesn’t move away.
Dinner passeswith snorts of laughter and simple conversation. The kind that only happens when people are comfortable with each other but still feeling their way around things. Rhett talks more than usual—about hunting, the tools in the shed, the frozen generator. Morgan teases him, tossing in jokes that get progressively more ridiculous until even Rhett cracks a smile.
Aria soaks it all in, laughing at all the right moments, reaching out to touch a hand here, a shoulder there. She’s not choosing between us—not yet—but it’s not because she’s indecisive.
It’s because she’strying tolet us all know she wants us, all of us.
And fuck me, it’s working.
I watch her move, speak, and laugh. I watch the way she looks at Morgan—tender and sweet—and the way she glances at Rhett—heated and intrigued, like she’s still unraveling him thread by thread.
And then there’s the way she rests her hand on my arm when she passes me the butter. Like I’m her anchor. Her calm in the storm.
I’m not in competition with any of them. They’re my best friends, and I love this.
And maybe I’m falling for her.Maybe.
After dinner,Morgan cleans up, humming some old song under his breath while he does it, shoulders swaying to the nonexistent beat. Rhett disappears to check on something—again. Aria leans back on the couch, stretching like a cat, her shirt riding up just enough to tease the edge of her hip.
I grab a spare log and feed the fire, poking at it until the flames flare bright and hot.
Behind me, Aria says softly, “You’re always the one doing that.”
“What?”
“Keeping the fire going. Making sure everyone’s warm.”
I shrug, half turning. “Someone’s gotta.”
She crosses the room and sits beside me on the rug, her legs folding beneath her, shoulder brushing mine. We sit like that for a while, watching the flames crackle. Her body is relaxed, but there’s something about the way she leans into me—quiet, trusting—that tells me she feels safe, cared for.
And I like that.
Later,I watch Aria across the room, laughing with Morgan about something I can’t hear. The firelight catches in her hair, turning it to dark velvet, and something primal shifts inside me. It’s not just that I want her—though God knows I do constantly—it’s something deeper, more possessive.
When she glances my way, smiling that smile that’s just for me, I have to shift in my seat to hide my reaction. There’ssomething about the way she fits so perfectly against me, like her body was made to complement mine, that makes me think dangerous thoughts.
“You’re staring,” Rhett mutters, nudging my shoulder.
“Can you blame me?”
He follows my gaze and shakes his head. “You’ve got it bad, man.”
If he only knew. The things I imagine doing with her go beyond what I’ve admitted to anyone, beyond what I’ve even fully admitted to myself. Sometimes when we’re together, when I’m buried inside her and she’s gasping my name, I think about what it would be like to truly claim her. To fill her completely, to know some part of me would grow inside her.
The thought alone makes my blood run hot, makes me want to drag her away from the others right now and?—
“Earth to Damien,” Morgan calls, and I realize I’ve been silent too long, my thoughts wandering into territory that makes my face heat.
“What?” I ask, clearing my throat. “I’m just thinking.”
“Dangerous pastime,” Aria teases, dropping onto the couch beside me, her thigh pressing against mine.
I drape my arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer, my fingers absently tracing patterns on the bare skin of her arm. “You have no idea,” I murmur against her hair, breathing in her scent.
When her hand lands on my thigh, innocently high but still enough to make my imagination run wild, I have to fight the urge to whisper exactly what I’ve been thinking into her ear. But I don’t. Not yet. Some desires are better saved for when we’re alone, when I can watch her reaction, see if she’s as intrigued by the thought as I am.
