Snowed In Read online

  Snowed In

  Holiday Heat Series

  Book One

  By Emma Lark

  Chapter One

  Allie

  No. No, no, no, no, no. Please don’t do this to me right now.

  I’m holding my breath as if that will somehow keep the gas tank from going completely empty.

  But…it does not.

  As I release my breath, the engine putters four or five times before shutting off. My car is now sitting in the middle of a snowy, winding mountain road, and it is completely out of gas. I can already feel the heat leaving the inside of the car as goosebumps start to crawl over my skin. I’m sitting behind the steering wheel watching the snow coming down harder, and I know I need to get out of the car and start walking to find help, but I don’t want to move. I am definitely not dressed for this. I’m wearing a tight black dress and high-heeled boots which looked great in the mirror earlier as I got ready for this Christmas party. But now that I am about to trek out into this snowstorm, I am longing for a snowsuit and snow boots. My leather jacket is warm, but not warm enough to survive a night in this snow that is quickly piling up around my car.

  I just moved to Ashland a few weeks ago to start my new job at the clinic. Coming from California, I’m not quite used to this kind of weather, but the little town that sits at the foothills of the mountains has grown on me quickly. I’ve slowly started to find my bearings in town, but these mountain roads on the outskirts of Ashland are a whole new world. Claire, one of the vet techs at the clinic, is having a Christmas party at her family’s cabin tonight. I didn’t want to go at first, but I know the only way I will ever meet anyone in this new town is to put myself out there. So, little miss California decided to trek these mountain roads on her own…and apparently on an empty tank of gas. I don’t know how I could be so stupid. I also had the address of the cabin punched into my GPS, but after I took a few turns making my way up the mountain, I quickly lost service and then my phone died.

  I have no idea where I am.

  “You can do this, Allie,” I whisper to myself as I get up the nerve to finally open the car door.

  As soon as I do, I take a step out into the dark, night air and realize I can’t see a damn thing. The wind stings at my face, and I struggle to keep the skirt of my dress from blowing up around me. When that chill hits my legs, I’m glad I at least thought to put tights on. My eyes take a minute to adjust to the darkness surrounding me when I notice a faint glow of light peeking through the trees just ahead around the curve. I don’t know what else to do but to head toward the light and only hope that someone there will be able to help me.

  I’ve been walking for about ten minutes, threading myself through the snow-covered pine trees. Each step seems to get more difficult and it feels as though the snow is now up past my calves. But once I push past a larger pine tree, the light I have been walking toward is coming into view and I can make out the edges of a very small cabin.

  Oh, thank God! Almost there, Allie, you can do this!

  Just as I am pushing myself to move my legs faster, I hear a noise to the right of me. Aside from the glow of the house several yards away, I still can’t see much around me, but I definitely hear the crunch of snow just a few feet away from me. Footsteps. I can’t tell if they are human or animal, but whatever they are, I am running away from those footsteps as fast as possible. As I stumble down a small embankment, a large black shadow jumps in front of me.

  And then I hear it: the cocking of a gun.

  Before I can run any further, I lose my footing and fall hard, face-first into the snow.

  Daniel

  I jump in front of the trespasser and cock my rifle right at him. He falls hard into the snow. But, as I get a closer look at him, I quickly realize he is not a “he.” This is a woman.

  “No, please don’t shoot!” she whimpers at me, her voice muffled by her face buried in the snow. “My car broke down! I’m lost! Please don’t shoot me!”

  I lower my gun and take a step forward. She lifts her head and I can't quite see her face, but I instantly realize she is shivering, wearing nothing more than a tiny black dress and a leather jacket.

  “Oh my god,” I mutter out. “Here let me help you up.”

  I hold my hand out to her and she places her small hand in mine. Her fingers are like ice cubes and they stiffen as I pull her body upright. She just about falls into my chest.

  “Woah there,” I whisper as she regains her balance. “You’re shivering. Here, take my jacket.”

  I take off my coat and wrap it around her small frame.

  “Thank you,” she says, her voice shaking. I can hear her swallowing back the tears. “My c-c-car ran out of g-g-gas. On…the way to a party. D-d-do you have a gas can?”

  A gas can? Is she serious? She wants me to refill her gas tank? Right now? In the middle of a blizzard? She’s shivering. She’ll freeze to death if she doesn’t get out of those clothes. Either way, I don’t have a gas can and the way that snow is coming down, we aren’t getting down the mountain anytime soon.

  “Um, I don’t have a gas can,” I tell her gently. “And, Miss, you’re soaking wet and the temperature is continuing to drop. You’ll catch hypothermia if we don’t get you inside and get you warmed up.”

  She doesn’t speak for a moment, and I wonder if the chill has stolen her voice. Then suddenly, her knees buckle and she sinks back down into the snow.

  “Woah, woah, woah,” I say and bend over to scoop a hand under her legs. With the other hand around her back, I lift her up and into my body and start walking back toward the cabin. She curls into my neck, and with her body so close to me, I can’t help but breathe in her scent. Her hair is wet from the snow leaving a blend of coconut and lavender floating in the air. It’s intoxicating, and I have to force myself to focus back on walking. A couple of minutes pass when she suddenly starts to fidget and shouts out at me.

  “Hey!” she yells and starts slapping at my chest. “What are you doing?! Put me down! Put me down this instant! I don’t know you! Y-y-you can’t just take me to your c-c-cabin in the middle of the m-m-mountains! You could be a murderer for all I know!”

  “Woah,” I say trying to grip her tighter into my chest as she fights her way out of my arms. “Look, lady, I’m not trying to hurt you, I’m trying to help you. You’ll die out here all alone.”

  She seems to consider it for a moment before shouting again, “I will not! I can take care of myself! P-p-put me down right now!”

  I can’t help but stifle a laugh watching how feisty she has become. I kind of like it.

  Maybe she doesn’t realize in her state of delirium that at 6’ 4” and 200 pounds of muscle, there’s no way she could escape my arms if I didn’t want her to. But, as I’m trying my best not to hurt her as she writhes in my grasp, she rails back and smacks me across the face. Hard. It doesn’t do much, but I’m not going to fight her on this.

  So, I don’t.

  “Fine,” I mumble and then drop her back down into the snow.

  Chapter Two

  Allie

  I can’t believe he just dropped me into the snow like that. I mean, I did smack him pretty hard, but still, he didn’t have to drop me. Whatever—I just need to get the hell out of here. I don’t know this man. Was there a hint of kindness in his deep voice? Sure. But, I still don’t know him. He could be a psychopath for all I know. So, I need to just get out of here. I will find my way back to the car and sleep there until morning comes when I can go and get help. It’s got to be a little bit warmer in the car, right?

  Before I have time to think it through, I’m blindly running—well, stumbling—back down the hill. While I run, I notice that I’m still wearing his jacket. I can still smell him on me. As I wrap it tightly around me, I take
in the rich scent of smoke and oakmoss and desperately try to push back the thoughts of how strong his arms felt wrapped around me. It felt so safe, so perfect, so…

  What am I doing?

  I should go back.

  I should go back to him.

  I need to go back to him.

  I turn around, but as far as I can tell through the dark that blankets the night air, he is gone. I can’t believe he is gone. What have I done? As I’m standing there in awe of my own stupidity, I notice a numbing sensation start to creep up my legs.

  Oh my god. He was right. I’m going to catch hypothermia.

  “What have I done?” I whisper under my breath. I whip back around and shout out into the dark, “Wait! Hey! I’m sorry! You’re r-r-right! Where are you? Where did you go? Please don’t leave me! I don’t want to d-d-die out here alone!”

  I can feel the tears welling up behind my eyelids as I squeeze them shut. And just as I try to force my legs to start moving again, I hear a noise coming toward me just behind a handful of trees.

  “Oh thank god,” I say and start moving in that direction. “Th-th-thank you so much for coming back. I’m so sorry. You’re right, I can’t—”

  And then a soft growl stops me in my tracks.

  My breathing is hushed as two glowing eyes peek out from behind the trees. I am completely frozen. I should know what to do in this situation—I’ve spent years studying animals, I should know what to do, but my brain is like slush and I can’t force myself to think clearly. I have no idea what to do as the animal creeps out closer to me, so I just stand there. Helpless.

  Then suddenly, I feel a whiff of air in front of me and a loud shot rings out followed by the sound of a buzzing in my ears. Before I can even react to the shock, the smell of oakmoss rushes past me, and I feel two large hands grabbing me by the legs and behind my back.

  And all at once, I’m back in his arms again.

  Daniel

  I don’t shoot the wolf. I just give him a scare and he scampers away into the dark. But I know that where there’s one, there’s a pack somewhere nearby. So, I don’t hesitate and scoop her back into my arms again. We have to get out of here.

  “I know you’re all trying to be a hero to yourself out here, but we need to get to safety and quickly,” I murmur into her ear.

  “Did you kill it?” she yells out at me.

  “What?”

  “The animal—the wolf—did you kill the poor thing?”

  Is she kidding me right now? That wolf would have devoured her tiny body whole.

  “I just saved your life from that thing, and you’re asking me if I killed it? No. No, I didn’t kill it, that’s why we have to move.”

  She continues to protest about the barbaric act of shooting at animals, so I just try to block her voice out as I carry her up the hill to my cabin. As much as she continues to proclaim that she could have saved herself in that situation, she sure does grip onto my body pretty tightly.

  When we finally reach the cabin, the porch light hits us and her face finally comes into view from out of the darkness. She takes one of her shaking hands and brushes her wet hair back from face. Her green eyes flutter up at me, the light hitting her at just an angle making those eyes sparkle like emerald. She is still going on about something when I notice how full her lips are. Despite the cold, they are flushed with pink and they are starting to tremble. My eyes travel back up to hers and our gaze becomes locked. She stops speaking for a moment and sucks in a deep breath. Those green eyes look as though they are seeing directly into my soul and it makes my stomach twist. And those lips. I want to gently brush my tongue across those full lips and then press my lips hard into hers. I feel a throbbing below my waist when I notice the jacket has fallen off her shoulder and the edge of her dress just below her collar has shifted, exposing a supple curving of her breast. I have to force myself not to reach out and trace a finger over the outline of her hard nipple poking through the thin, black material.

  “Well,” she finally speaks. “Do you?”

  “What?” I say almost choking on my own words as they snap me back into the moment. “Do I what?”

  “Shoot at animals like that? Do you just go around shooting at animals?”

  I stare at her for a moment more before letting go of her body. She drops to the ground, but I take hold of her arm so she doesn’t fall completely over.

  “Are you serious?” I ask her. “I just saved your life from that fucking thing and you’re over here accusing me of being some barbaric monster?”

  She shoves her hands to her waist in protest, and I can’t help but smirk. She’s pretty damn cute when she furrows her eyebrows like that.

  “Look,” I call out to her as I walk to the door. “You can either stay out here and freeze to death with your friend, the wolf, or you can come inside. Your choice.”

  I walk away from her and into my house, leaving the door open.

  Chapter Three

  Allie

  He dropped me again. I can’t believe he dropped me again. Well, I guess I can believe it—I’m being a pain in the ass. But, I can’t seem to help it. I can’t stop trying to argue with him for some reason. It must be some kind of a defense mechanism because I know once I give in to him, it’s all over. And I’m pretty sure it has to do with those eyes. When we finally reached the cabin and the light hit his face, my stomach did flips. He pulled his cap off and ran his fingers through his wavy brown hair. I wanted to clutch my fingers around a lock of it and pull him into me. The way his hair falls just at his jawline accents just how chiseled his cheekbones are. And then he looked at me…no, he looked into me. His eyes are so light brown, they are almost yellow. It’s as if they glow through me like he was the wolf behind those bushes, just waiting to pounce.

  And just like the wolf, those eyes are dangerous. I know I could fall into those eyes and never be able to get out. I would drown in those eyes.

  That’s exactly why I have to fight it. I have to put up a wall and refuse to give in. If I don’t, I will be in big trouble because all I want to do is climb up onto that hard body again and wrap my legs around his waist.

  God, what is happening to you? What are you doing, Allie? You don’t even know his name. Get it together.

  He has left the door open for me, but I’m still standing out here freezing on the porch.

  “You coming or are you just gonna’ stand out there all night?” he shouts out from inside of the cabin.

  “Um,” I mumble and then raise my voice louder. “What’s your name?”

  “What?” he says and appears again at the doorframe.

  “Your name,” I say. “I don’t even know your name. I can’t just walk into your house and not even know who you are.”

  He gives a stifled laugh and says, “Daniel.”

  He stares at me for a moment waiting for a response.

  “Oh,” I say. “Allie. I’m Allie.”

  I continue to stare at him, my feet like statues.

  “Well, Allie,” he smirks again, his voice so husky, it makes my toes curl. “You gonna’ come, Allie?”

  He disappears again inside the cabin and I finally push myself to move forward. When I walk into the entryway, I am halted by the beauty of the house. The rich hardwood frames every inch of the cabin and it is breathtaking. There is a fire roaring beneath a massive stone mantle, and I can instantly feel the warmth returning to my limbs. It smells of leather and spice which makes me yearn to breathe in his scent again.

  “Wow,” the words spill from my mouth.

  “What?” he says as he takes off his jacket and hangs it on a hook in the foyer. I notice the white thermal undershirt clinging to his pecs and think if I stare hard enough, I could probably count every one of his abs beneath the fabric outlining his hard body.

  “What is ‘wow,’” he asks again, drawing my attention back to those yellow eyes.

  “Um,” I mutter. “This house. It’s…beautiful.”

  “Oh, well, thanks.
My dad and I built it from the ground up before he passed.”

  I open my mouth to say something, but I can’t choke the words out. Knowing he has family—or had family—makes him even more real to me now. His father passed away?

  “Hey, we need to get you out of those soaking clothes before—”

  “We?” I snap out at him, the words cutting through the tension. “We won’t be taking any of my clothes off—”

  “Jesus—that’s not what I meant,” he says, his brows forming an angry scowl as he turns quickly toward the bedroom. “You, you need to get yourself out of those clothes…and do I have your permission to start a bath for you or will that also offend you?”

  I don’t know why I keep snapping at him because all I honestly want is for him to do just that: Take all my clothes off. No, rip them off of me.

  After removing my jacket, boots, and soaking pantyhose, I follow him through his bedroom and into the master bath. White marble sparkles throughout the room from floor to ceiling and feels surprisingly warm against my bare feet. He sits on the edge of a clawfoot tub, an antique chandelier dangling above him. The dim light shines down on him like a halo.

  “There’s also a steam shower if you’d like that instead,” he says and looks up at me with those yellow eyes.

  “Yes,” I spit out, my eyes lock into his gaze.

  "Yes, what? Yes, you want a steam shower?"

  “Oh, yes, no, I mean, the bath is fine—it’s great. The bath is perfection.”

  The bath is perfection?

  A smirk crawls across his face and he dips a finger down into the water. He then stands and gives a slight bow toward the bathtub.

  “All yours, miss, hope it truly is…‘perfection.’”

  He then walks out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

  Once he leaves, I walk over to the door and reach up to the lock. My fingers linger there for a moment before retreating back to my sides. I don’t lock the door. Instead, I slide my hands back up body and slip a finger underneath one of the straps of my dress, causing it to fall off my shoulder. I bring my fingers to the other side and the other strap falls; the dress drops to the floor around my feet. I place a hand against the door and wonder if he is still standing on the other side. I picture his body pressed up against the wood and my fingers automatically glide down to my breast and trace around my nipple. They continue their way down my stomach to the hem of my red panties. I dive them beneath the lace, finding my crease and begin caressing up and down, imagining his tongue between my mound.