my fingers with his. Chaz sighed but didn’t say anything, pulling me against him until our bodies melded into a warm, comforting cocoon of limbs and blankets.
It was a very long, very frustrating night.
Chapter 4
The next morning, I woke up before Chaz. I lay there for a bit, curled up against his side and listening to the soft sounds of his breathing and heartbeat. His body was radiating warmth like a furnace. As the fire he’d started last night had burned down to only a few hotly glowing embers, it was welcome.
Rain fell in a soft, muted pattering on the roof. The little sunlight trickling through the gap in the curtains was dim and subdued. It was difficult to even consider moving, but hunger eventually goaded me into getting up.
Chaz mumbled something and rolled over, pulling a pillow over his head when I turned on the light. I chuckled and put the covers aside to tug on some heavy wool socks. It didn’t do much against the chill in the air. Next I tossed a couple of pieces of wood onto the embers in the fireplace. It took a bit, and I had to throw on another match, but soon they caught and started blazing cheerily away.
Coffee, being an essential staple of my diet, was obviously next. Once it started brewing, I turned to Chaz. “You want me to make you a cup?”
He mumbled something unintelligible from under the pillow.
I grinned and walked over, rubbing his shoulder. “Come on, sleepyhead. Don’t tell me you’re thinking about missing breakfast?”
A little “eep” of surprise was startled out of me when he twisted around lightning fast to grab me around the waist and pull me onto the bed. My heart was doing a tap dance in my throat, his low laughter rumbling in my ear as I squirmed to escape.
“You do make it hard to get any sleep. Why don’t you just stay right here with me? It’s not like we’ve got somewhere to be today.”
I gave him a gentle poke in the side, mock frowning at him. “Says you, mister. I’d like to start meeting the rest of your pack today.”
“What’s the rush?” He started doing things to my neck and collarbone that had me squirming and laughing before long. “We’ve got the whole weekend ahead of us. They can wait a little longer.”
“Mm, I just wanted to get an early start. I’m curious; I don’t really know anything about them.”
“If you insist.” He sighed dramatically, urging me to get up before swinging his legs around and standing with a yawn and a stretch. “I’ll take some coffee, but I’m going to grab a quick shower before we head up there.”
I headed to the kitchen, and poured myself a cup. Normally I’d want cream in it, but since all they provided was the powdered crap in the little basket of goodies on the tiny counter, I’d take it black. “Okay, hurry up then. I’ll hop in after you.”
He nodded and headed into the bathroom, leaving the door open a crack. Cradling the hot mug, I walked over to the front door and tugged it open, intending to get a breath of the fresh mountain air and see what the rest of the place looked like.
Heavy mist swirled through the trees, clinging low to the ground. A bird was warbling off in the distance, muted by the rain. The creek was rushing along somewhere out of sight, and I couldn’t see much more than hints of the cabins on either side through the trees and fog. I stood in the doorway, safe from the rain under the eaves, seeing what I could of the mountains out in the distance. Their shapes were indistinct, for the most part hidden by clouds and mist, but I could see them outlined against the meager sunlight filtering through in patches here and there.
A flutter caught my eye, and I glanced at the door. There was a piece of graph paper with torn, ragged edges folded in half and pinned to the door with a small pocket knife. Frowning, I tugged the knife out of the door and took the damp piece of paper inside, shutting the door as I opened it. The writing at the top done in thick, black marker had started to bleed down the page from the humidity.
ATTN: THE KNUCKLE-DRAGGING MOUTH-BREATHER IN CABIN 12 GO BACK TO THE CITY YOU ASSHOLE!
Below that was another line written in jagged pencil, the writing more hurried and