Caught by the Blizzard: A romantic winter thriller (Tellure Hollow Book 1) (22 page)

“So yeah, since the surgery was voluntary—actually they called it a ‘prophylactic mastectomy’—we had to pay out of pocket for it.”

“The government didn’t help out? I thought you said your dad was in the Marines?”

I shook my head, kicking my feet out and pointing my toes together. “Not a cent. The procedure went well but then I got an infection, so I ended up staying in the hospital for almost two weeks.” My voice dropped to almost a whisper. I realized with a twist in my gut that it was the first time I’d ever run through the entire story. Framing it made everything so much…clearer. “My dad had to sell the house to even put a dent in the payments. I went back to work as soon as I could, but you don’t save up a whole lot when you’re working at Dairy Queen.” I pressed my lips together and whispered, “It was their house, the one they’d bought together.”

Bryan set the stained cloth down and examined my arms. He sighed and met my eyes. “You’re gonna have to take your shirt off so I can clean these properly.” The embarrassment in his voice made me smile.

“Already trying to get my clothes off, eh?” I said with a wink. Knowing my black sports bra was wide enough to cover the scars under my breasts, I didn’t mind pulling the ruined shirt over my head. He grabbed a blanket from the other room and wrapped it around my naked shoulders, giving my arms a little rub before returning to the floor in front of me. I held my arm out, the skin raw and scraped. Luckily, it didn’t look like there were any deep gashes.

Despite the cold, the touch of his hands made my body tingle with warmth. I pressed my knees together and closed my eyes, trying to ignore the ridiculous arousal happening beyond my control. Instead, I spoke. “Dad insisted I go to school, even though I had no idea what I wanted to study. I picked a college that was close enough to home I could drive back ‘cause I hated the idea of leaving him all alone.

“It was only a few months after the surgery when I met Rick. I was terrified at first. He’s a mean looking guy, you know? But he was nice to me and Kayla vouched for him. We went out a couple times in a group, but he was…intense.

“One night, I got really drunk when we were out and this random guy was all over me. Rick scared him off and…I don’t know. I guess I have a thing for knights in shining armor.” Bryan’s hand paused for a moment but quickly continued, my not-so-subtle message received. “He’d decided he wanted me and that was it. He knew I needed money…”

“And you started working at one of the clubs he owned, right?” It sounded so cliche when he said it. Girl with broken wing gets taken advantage of by big, bad wolf. That’s my life, though. I decided the sooner I admitted it to myself, the sooner I could move past it, maybe with Bryan’s help…assuming I didn’t completely scare him away.

“I started with waitressing in the clubs and moved to dancing in one of the cages. I always wore a bikini or something, never naked, and some nights I earned more money than the girls who took it all off. It was good money, more than enough money, but I wanted more.” I shook my head bitterly. “I saw him hit the girls, I can’t tell you how many times. He was a real asshole to them, but I was blind to it. Kayla loved him, he never raised a hand to me…”

“You were doing the best you could, I get it,” Bryan said trying to comfort me. I appreciated the gesture, but he still didn’t know the whole story.

“It was like I was leading two different lives. My dad thought I was doing well at school, making something of myself. He isn’t real tech-savvy, so I was able to forge my grades and keep him in the dark. To everyone else, everyone other than Kayla really, I was a slacker. I was the girl in the dorm they came to if they wanted to score some weed or coke or Rick’s signature ‘Snowball.’”

“One of Rick’s runners got picked up by the cops once and I filled in. You know, in movies they always make drug deals seem so cagey and serious but it’s not. It’s just like a pizza delivery or something. They call up, I’d run it over. Simple. He gives all his runners a percentage of the sale, says it’s more risk so they deserve a greater reward.” I shook my head. They were all my own memories but it felt like I was talking about someone else. I was describing the things another Liz had done. No. I was describing things
Beth
had done…

Bryan dried off my arms and applied the bandages. My eyes shot open when he rested his hands on my thighs, the contact felt so intimate. “I know what you’re gonna say, but your knees look pretty bad too.” There was a sparkle in his eye, but his expression remained serious.

“Oh do they now?” I said, my hands dropping from the scratchy blanket around my shoulders to my pants. I quickly undid them, pulling them down in one swift movement. After a cursory inspection, I decided the tears and blood had ruined the jeans, so I balled them up and threw them in the corner with my bloodied shirt. Pulling the blanket tighter, I did my best to ignore the cold air on my skin.

“Actually, they aren’t as bad as I thought…” he mumbled as he started to clean them.

I couldn’t stand the thought of him seeing me as a bad person. I might’ve done bad things, but hell, I wasn’t a bad person! “I know it sounds awful, but you have to try and understand. Between the club and the drugs, I was pulling in thousands every week. Even with so much money coming in, it would’ve taken me years to earn enough to pay my dad back.” I closed my eyes and tilted my head back, blinking the tears away. “The plan was that I’d graduate without any debt, medical or otherwise
and
have enough money to buy my parent’s house back.”

I rested my chin to my chest, feeling the weight of the entire situation come crashing down around me. My gaze fell to his hands as he smoothed the last bandage over my knee. The image rocked me. Here was I was, patched up, damaged. Hot tears prickled the corners of my eyes and I knew I couldn’t stop the flow. “If Rick is good at anything, it’s knowing exactly what someone wants so he can twist it to his own advantage. He knew I needed the money. I never told him why, I never let him in that closely, but he could sense the desperation,” my voice cracked. “That’s why it didn’t take him too long…to convince me…for me to accept that offer…” I couldn’t continue. Reduced to sobs, I finally faced the darkest thing I’d ever done.

“Hey, whoa there.” Bryan pressed into me, wrapping his arms tightly around my blanketed body. I was aware of being nearly naked but yearned for the comfort. I shifted my knees, wrapping my legs around his body as I opened up my arms. His cold hands slid against my bare skin but I didn’t mind. For several minutes, he held me while I cried, the shadows of my past flying forward to confront me. Without a word, he slipped his hands under my ass and picked me up, carrying me into the other room. After gently setting me down on the squeaky bed, my tears began to slow.

“We need to get you dressed. Do you care what I pick out? I’m not the best with women’s fashion.” I shook my head, wiping my cheeks with the back of my hand. I watched as he plucked a small tank top, thick sweatshirt, and black tights from my suitcase. He helped me pull the clothes on over the bandages, making sure none of the tape stuck to the fabric. Once I was fully dressed, I stood trembling in his arms. Concern filled his eyes. “Come here, let’s get you warm.”

Bryan threw another log on the fire as I sat down on the cushion. I could tell it was definitely cutting through the cold. He settled behind me so I sat between his legs, wrapping the blanket around our shoulders, his arm slipping around my waist to hold me. Before long, my face was hot from the fire, the rest of me warmed by his body heat. I shifted slightly so I could rest my head on his chest, closing my eyes as I listened to the steady beat of his strong heart.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what? You have nothing to be sorry for,” he said, smoothing my hair.

But I was sorry. For crying. For dragging him into this whole mess. For dumping my whole life story on one of the nicest guys I’d ever met. I looked up, his eyes glittering in the firelight. “I…I just…”

Our mouths slowly drew together, each of us unsure if it were okay to continue. I took a deep breath the moment our lips touched, the contact like an electric current running through my body. His right hand slid up the back of my neck, fingers delving into my hair. His tongue softly parted my lips, slipping between in search of mine. The way my body reacted left me breathless. Every inch of my skin zinged with the lightest contact, swirling together deep in my core until I practically pulsed with desire. What started as a soft kiss quickly built to something so much more. He sucked my lower lip into his mouth, and my tongue danced with his.

I wanted to show him how glad I was to have him in my life, to show him physically when the words had failed me. I pulled away for only a moment, our eyes locked on one another. I shifted in his arms, spinning until I faced him, my bent knees on either side of his torso. Sliding my hands to the sides of his face, I brought my mouth down on his, a hard, lust-filled kiss.

Bryan’s hand slipped beneath my sweatshirt, fingers digging into the flesh of my back. I clawed at the zipper on his dark hoodie, pulling it open and off his shoulders. My hands ran along the taught muscles of his chest. I remembered the scars I’d glimpsed back in the cabin, hiding beneath his shirt. He pulled my face back to his with a finger under my chin, gazing into my eyes before he devoured my mouth again. The heat in my core was white-hot, my pussy slick with anticipation.

It was my turn to strip. He pulled the sweatshirt over my head, his hot mouth immediately on my exposed neck. I arched into him, his hands gathering me closer at the small of my back. A groan escaped my lips which seemed to drive him crazy. He tried to pull down the strap of my tank top but I froze up, shifting my arm around his neck so he couldn’t. His hand slipped under the top, the contact causing a cascade of shivers to ripple through me.

He kissed my bottom lip, my chin, my jaw. I tilted my head back as he kissed down my throat to the edge of my collarbone. At the same time, his hand pushed up, tracing a path from my waist to my belly, searching for my breasts.

I wanted to let him touch me. God, I practically needed it for my own sanity. As much as I wanted to, I just couldn’t show him my scars yet. After all the events of the day, that was my hard limit. A fraction away from the bottom of my breast, I slapped my hand against his, stopping suddenly. He furrowed his brow in confusion but immediately pulled his hand from under the top.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to push you,” he said holding my face in his hand. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t think. You’re just so brave and beautiful…” His sincerity crumbled what little defenses I had left. I managed to keep myself from bursting into tears, my lip quivering with the effort. A few hot tears rolled down my face which Bryan quickly caught with his thumb. “God, I’m such an asshole,” he whispered. “After everything that happened tonight…”

Bryan pulled me close to his bare chest again, protectively. The heat from the fire had warmed the air and for the first time since Rick had arrived at the party, I felt safe. My fingers nestled into the thick patch of hair on his chest. “You don’t hate me?” I whispered.

He clutched me tighter, a curse escaping his lips. “How could I hate you? Everything you did, you did out of love.” He kissed the top of my head fiercely. “That bastard used you, took advantage of you.”

How could he say that? Couldn’t he see I was doing the same thing to him? I’d gotten so good at manipulating people, I feared I was deceiving him without even being aware. Although they felt real, how could I tell my genuine emotions from the ones I used to get what I wanted? I tried to scream, “Save yourself! Get away from me,” but I was too exhausted. Deep down, I knew it was futile. He wouldn’t go. The warmth finally seeped into my bones and I felt my head begin to droop.

Bryan gently helped me to my feet, wrapping me tightly in the blanket and led me to the mattress. He kissed me on the forehead and stepped away, my hand shot out to grab him. “Please, stay with me,” I said sleepily.

“Are you sure?”

“Mmmhmm,” I nodded. I was faintly aware of him throwing a few more logs on the fire, the crackling sound like music to my ears. The bed rocked as he crawled in beside me, draping his arm over my waist. Thankfully, I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

I woke the next morning completely disoriented, the blissful amnesia of sleep holding on a few moments after I opened my eyes. The events, both good and bad, came crashing down like a ten-foot wave. Rolling over in the bed, I looked for Bryan but found myself alone. I shot up, a surge of panic stabbing my chest. The hunting cabin was awash in morning light, the smell of bacon thick in the air. An old cast-iron griddle pan was spitting on top of the stove, and beside it a kettle that looked like something from a museum.