face in his neck and writhed and gasped and rode each wave until the final shiver released me.
Panting, bodies slick with sweat and cum, we stayed in each other’s arms absorbing the moment, neither of us wanting it to end.
Chapter Twenty-One
Lachlan
It was my third week in Jasper when my life in Edmonton caught up with me. I’d spent the night at Easton’s and was headed back to the lodge after sharing breakfast with him and Percy just a short while ago.
Easton was a notoriously early riser, up to take care of chores before the riding school opened at nine. I’d taken to sleeping in, but only until Percy and Logan decided they’d waited long enough for my company and jumped into bed beside me. There was no sleeping after that.
Easton would come back inside around eight, and we’d all sit for a meal. Somehow, it had become routine. I’d stayed at Easton’s more days than not over the past week. When it was time to return to the lodge, I missed him—even when I knew I’d see him again in the evening.
My days were spent working on a secret project, swimming in the lodge’s outdoor pool, shopping at the little boutiques in town—which also meant getting acquainted with the people of Jasper—and ignoring calls from my dad and Christian.
It was easy to forget that this little piece of paradise I’d found for myself in Jasper wasn’t my normal life. No, this town was easier, more laid back, calmer, and, there was Easton.
I’d grabbed a coffee at the little café in town, along with a copy of the Jasper Times. I’d decided not to allow Josiah and his stupid articles annoy me anymore. Instead, I read them like I would any tabloid magazine and had a good chuckle at the daily town gossiper’s columns.
For a week straight, our relationship had stayed front and center, but like Easton had said, Josiah grew tired of us and moved on.
Deeply engrossed in an entertaining article about Lady Mallory’s predictions of a vicious ice age coming for Jasper this winter, I didn’t notice someone waiting outside my door as I approached my room.
“Well, halle-fucking-lujah. You aren’t dead, you’re just an asshole who can’t answer his goddamn phone.”
My head shot up as I came face-to-face with my brother. “Christian?”
“And you remember me. I’m honored. Here I thought, maybe you hit your head and wound up with amnesia. Maybe you got lost in the mountains. Maybe you fell into the river and drown and no one discovered the body yet. But nope. There you are.” He stopped, flinched, and then squinted at my chin. “Holy shit. What’s this?” He gestured at my face.
I rubbed my unshaven jaw and grinned. “Scruff. It’s freeing. Do you know how much I hate shaving every day?”
Christian blinked. Stunned. “No, you know what? It was aliens. You were abducted by aliens, weren’t you? Did they probe you?”
I couldn’t fight the grin. “Only once. But I probed them back.”
Christian stared at me in confusion, then shook his head. “That sounded frighteningly sexual. I don’t want to know. Seriously, though, what the hell is going on?”
“Can we go inside my room?” I gestured at the door.
He moved aside, and I let us in. I shoved the paper bag with the berry scone I’d bought for later into his hands. “Here. Best scones I’ve ever had. Let’s call it a peace offering.”
He held up the bag like I’d handed him a dead animal. “A scone? Lachlan, you dropped off the face of the earth. You’ve ignored all Dad’s phone calls and all mine too. You’ve been gone over three weeks, and you think a scone is going to fix this?”
“You haven’t tried it. I’m telling you, those scones are the answer to world peace. Try it. It’s life-changing.”
He threw the bag aside and planted his hands on his hips. “Lachlan. I’m serious. What is going on with you?”
Christian wore black trousers—off the rack, of course, but they fit his trim body well—a silk shirt and a tie. Seeing the outfit reminded me of the strangling, mind-sucking lifestyle I’d abandoned in Edmonton. Funny, I didn’t miss it.
I sobered with the look in his eyes and set my coffee aside, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans. “I wasn’t ready to come home. Things here have been…” I rubbed the back of my neck, suddenly unable to hold Christian’s gaze. “I met someone.”
I didn’t have to be looking at him to register the flinch. “You