“We’ve got to try, alright? I’d rather try and die than live like this for god knows how long.” She lifted her shovel from the snow and carried it to the clearing. “Where’s your cabin?”
“Raven, I—”
“Melanie, I’m not leaving unless you come with me. Be brave, okay?”
I carried my shovel to the edge of the clearing and tossed the snow onto the pile. I’d done my best to convince the boss to take my sister too, but he wasn’t just stubborn, but uncompromising. If Raven didn’t at least try to escape, she would stay here until her neck was in that noose. “Is your guard helping you?”
“Kinda…in a way. You need to be prepared at a moment’s notice. You need to be prepared to run like our lives depend on it—because they do.”
When I returned to the cabin at sundown, I stepped into the room and immediately shed my coat, because the hard work had actually made me warm, made me sweat throughout the day. The fireplace was burning, and my dinner was on the bed. I pulled off my jacket and tossed it on the floor. Then I reached for my shirt to pull it over my head.
“Be aware of your surroundings.”
I dropped my shirt back down then clutched my chest as I turned to look at him in the armchair behind me, sitting there in his long-sleeved black shirt and black pants. His bomber jacket was thrown over the couch. It took me a few seconds to catch my breath.
He grabbed his glass of scotch and took a drink, his deep-brown eyes glued to my figure. His eyes were almost the same color as the contents of his glass, like automobile oil with an earthy hue. His eyes roamed over my figure as he licked away the drop that he missed. “Continue.”
My hair was caked with sweat, and my clothes were uncomfortable because they were soiled with a hard day’s work. As hungry as I was, what I really wanted was a shower. There was a lone tub in the corner with a shower curtain. I used to take baths when I couldn’t figure out how to get the fire going. “I’d like to take a shower.”
He raised his glass and slightly gestured toward the tub. He was exactly the same each time we interacted, possessing a quiet hostility with clipped responses. There were no good moods or bad moods.
“Do you mind coming back later?”
His only response was taking a drink of his scotch.
“Then can you at least look away?”
“No.”
I released an annoyed sigh, because I was so uncomfortable in my own skin that I really wanted to rinse off.
He drank his scotch and watched me.
I grabbed my towel and did a quick change, dropping my clothes next to my bed then moving to the tub, a black towel wrapped around my body. I turned on the shower head and waited for the water to get warm.
He held his glass but didn’t take a drink, his eyes piercing me like my appearance in that towel was enough to fuel his attraction. His desire was palpable, somehow in the air like the steam from the shower. It was just a piece of cotton, but he looked at it like it was lingerie.
I got behind the curtain and draped the towel over the edge. The warm water hit me, and I felt all my muscles relax with the heat, felt the clumps of sweat leave my scalp and the roots of my long hair. With the curtain closed shut, I could forget he was there, have a moment to myself after the long day.
When I was finished, I dried off as best I could before I grabbed the clothes I brought with me. I put on the gray pants and the black tank top before I wrapped my hair in the towel. Then I opened the curtain and stepped out.
His look had only intensified in the meantime. His eyes were borderline angry, and one hand had tightened into a fist on the armrest. It was so startling that I actually stilled before I continued to move to the bed.
His eyes followed me.
I sat on the edge then combed out my wet hair so it would be free of tangles.
“You have a beautiful silhouette.”
My eyes immediately went to the curtain, imagining the light from the fire creating a distinct shadow of my body, like it was film on a projector. That was something I hadn’t