Lissa Kasey - Dominion 3 - Conviction (4 page)

Even Sei hadn’t been this sweet warmth that was wrapped around me. The handful of boyfriends I’d had in my life had been quick night trysts that followed with a “Good-bye, see you tomorrow in class” sort of thing. But feeling someone warm beside me was definitely a step up from lonely morning wood. And oh, did I have wood.

Jamie’s weight leaned against my back, his arm wrapped around my waist. He felt happy to be there, and I was more than thrilled to be so entwined with him. But I was pretty sure he’d freak out if he woke up with a stiffy pressing into my butt like it wanted to dig a new channel. And what a stiffy it was.

I tried to ease out from under his arm, though it was like trying to move an anchor without a wedge. Crap.
Well, what the hell? It wasn’t like he was going to throw me out in the snow. I wiggled my butt back, caressing his erection with my ass cheeks, and ground into him. It damn near tripled against my backside. Holy crap, he was huge!
He’d kept his boxers on last night when we’d cuddled to get me warm. Now I was dying of curiosity. I leaned back into his chest and tried to turn as much as I could to say, “I can take care of that if you’d like.” Oh please say yes. Even if it was just a hand job, I’d have memories to get me off for months.
He opened a groggy eye at me, staring like he didn’t understand, but his expression was an open book of sleepiness and lust. I rubbed against him again. His face turned beet red, and he leapt away from me, taking the blankets with him.
“Shit. I’m sorry.” He hurriedly stuffed his legs into his jeans.
“No hardship on my end.” I stretched and felt the air with my magic for moisture. It was heavy and strong outside but no longer being whipped around. How much snow had fallen? The fireplace still blazed, so it hadn’t blocked the chimney.
I reached down to my bag and pulled a clean pair of boxer briefs over my still wanting cock. No need to torment the guy. “Don’t mind the wood on my end. I don’t think I’ve ever slept with a guy as hot as you. Even if it’s just sleep.”
“Seiran thinks I’m gross.”
I blinked at him, knowing Seiran did not think anything close to that. “Huh?”
“He thinks I’m gross because my muscles are too big. He says I smell sometimes.”
“Everyone smells sometimes. You’ve got way too much brother worship going on. No one should change who they are just to please someone else. Not even their little brother.” And besides, I happened to like the smell of a man after a good workout, and big muscles.
“I just want him to be happy.”
“And when you’re smelly he’s not happy?”
Jamie shrugged, looking very young. I was beginning to think Sei wasn’t the only one who hadn’t had a great childhood.
I crossed the room and wrapped my arms around him in a gentle hug. “Sei loves you, even if he doesn’t express himself well. Whether you have muscles or are smelly. He’s just not good at showing it.”
He let me hold him for a few seconds before pulling away, looking uncomfortable and trying to pull his mask together. I watched the transformation, wondering how I could get him to break out of that protective shell for me. “What do you want for breakfast? We have chili and sandwiches.”
“How about we get wild and crazy and eat them both?” We would need the energy to get back to the lodge, and Jamie needed the distraction.
“Okay.” He put together the food with that soldier-like concentration that he had whenever doing domestic stuff. When the chili was heating, he pulled on the rest of his clothes and ran his fingers through his long blond hair. He wove little braids through the front parts and must have noticed me watching because he said, “Braiding it keeps it out of my face. And when it’s cold like this, I like to keep my hair down for warmth.”
I nodded like I knew what it meant to have long hair. Mine had never gotten longer than a Beatles shag. By the time we were both full and dressed, my watch read after 11:00 a.m. Had Sei and Gabe made it back last night? Sei hadn’t come knocking, and I really hoped they were okay. The cell phones got no signal. Even the weather radio stopped working.
“Shit,” I heard Jamie mutter, so I looked back to him. He’d opened the door, and the snow piled to nearly the top of the frame.
“I’ve only seen that happen on TV.”
Jamie began to dig through the random chests and storage until he pulled out a pair of snowshoes, then dug around until he found a second pair. “How good are you at snowshoeing?”
“We’ll find out, won’t we?” It was going to be a long trip. I packed up some clothes in my bag. “There’s like five and a half feet of snow out there. This is insane.”
“Which is why we need the shoes. Be sure to put your suit on. I’m going to go check the other cabin.” He bundled himself up and climbed out the door, creating a ramp up to the top of the snow. I hurried to douse the fire and gather anything I could carry easily. When he returned, he pulled off his goggles and snow mask. “They didn’t come back last night. Must have seen the storm and stayed at the lodge. Let’s get going. The temp is dropping, and we don’t have enough food for more than a few days of this.”

Once Jamie had most everything strapped to his back and I was bundled in my snow gear, we headed for the lodge. He had an old-fashioned compass since the satellite GPS wasn’t catching a signal. We seemed to be pointed in the right direction, so I wasn’t worried.

The day moved quickly but felt like something you’d see on the movie screen. We crossed the layers of snow. The temperature dropped, sucking the last bits of moisture out of the air. We picked our way carefully along the top of the snow, surrounded by what looked like Christmas trees. I was sure they were probably just the tops of old pines.

I recited my picks for this year’s fantasy football league in my head a couple hundred times, trying not to concentrate too hard on watching Jamie move. He trudged through the snow like some sort of survivalist pro. Seemed to know when the snow was too soft, or even if the path would become too difficult to navigate. Before my stomach rumbled with hunger, he handed me jerky and a handful of trail mix.

When the lodge finally came into view, my legs had been aching for awhile. The feeling of the cold air made my face numb, and I was sure I had windburn. The massive wall of windows was a dream come true. Though the snow had blown up against it and we probably could have walked right up to the second floor, we made our way around to the entrance, finding it surprisingly clear. I’d never been so grateful for heat than I was the instant we stepped inside and were hit with a blast of the fire’s warmth.

Jamie was already stripping off his snowshoes and gear. Sei threw himself at him, giving him a fierce hug. Jamie held on a little longer than most would have, but I couldn’t recall ever seeing them hug before, so maybe it was their first.

Sei let go and turned to me, giving me a hug too. “You’re okay? The hotel owners have been trying to reach someone to help all day. The radios are blocked, and the phones aren’t getting a signal. We were going to send search teams out looking for you.”

“We’re fine, Sei,” Jamie said. “Nothing some food and a warm fire won’t fix.” He glanced behind his little brother at a duo who seemed to follow closely behind Sei and had a hard time keeping the frown off his face. “Who are your friends?”

They looked a little alike, one male and one female. Both had rich brown hair and dark blue eyes. The woman was delicate and prim, like she was used to having people do things for her, and the guy was tall, wiry, with tattoos visible at his neck and wrist. He had a rough and ready stance that seemed to ask for trouble. He reminded me of someone I once knew, but I couldn’t place the face. Neither seemed the type of people that Sei took up with.

“Cat and Connie. They were renting cabins too but came back for dinner last night. When the storm hit, we all decided to stay here,” Seiran said. The shake already appeared in his hands.

“Catherine,” the woman said.
“Constantine,” the guy told us. And the name brought it all back. Ninth grade boyfriend. Gangly Con had grown up into a troublemaking player. He wasn’t the muscular model like Jamie, or an exotic beauty like Sei, but his spiked hair and colorful ink gave a wildness to him that just didn’t mesh with the guy I used to know.
“I’m Kelly, and this is Jamie.” I shook Con’s hand like I didn’t know him. We had not ended on good terms. Was the girl his pretend girlfriend? If so, he hadn’t changed much.
Jamie had already dismissed them. His concern was all for Seiran. He dug out a thermos and handed it to his little brother. “We should get lunch. You need to eat. Have you taken your pill?”
Sei clutched Jamie’s sleeve. “We can go now.” He seemed more skittish than usual, but being alone at the lodge, since Gabe couldn’t travel around freely, would do that to him. After a couple of weeks living with him I could read him pretty well. His body language and facial expressions were the most honest of anyone I knew.
“We have free rein of the kitchen.” Cat skipped ahead of us. “Follow me.”
Con smiled at me, a simple lift to the edge of his lips. That smile had been lethal in our younger days. He wore that after we jerked each other off in the locker room between practices. To this day I still didn’t know how we got away with it without being caught.
“Kelly Harding. You’re looking sunny as usual.”
“Tanning booths. They’re all the rage. Didn’t you hear? It’s winter in Minnesota.” I snapped up my bag and headed toward the main counter. Jamie and I would need a room, if they had one. Jamie, Sei, and Cat vanished around the corner, probably headed toward the kitchen.
The woman smiled at me from behind the counter. She was mid-fifties with graying hair pulled back into a bun and happy crinkles at the corners of her eyes. She held out her hand to me. “Louise Gossner,” she said. “Hans’s wife. I’m glad to see you boys are okay. We were worried. Hans is still trying to reach the county sheriff to find out when the roads will be plowed. No one saw that storm coming, else we wouldn’t have rented the cabins out to you boys.”
“We’re fine. Just hoping you have another room?” I pulled out my wallet to grab my credit card, but she waved it away.
“The only empty room I have is a single king. I won’t charge you. You’ve already paid for the cabins.” She pulled out two regular keys and handed them to me. “Give one to the other boy. The one with the big brown eyes.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Gossner.”
Pocketing a key, I turned around only to run into Con again. His face tilted down toward me like he was going to kiss me. I ripped myself away before he could get too close. “What, man? You made yourself clear years ago.”
“I’m out now. Don’t you think that fate is giving us a second chance?”
“No.” I stomped up the stairs to my new room, Con on my heels. Opening the door, I stepped inside and then shut it in his face, locking it behind me. My heart slammed in my chest while I waited for his footsteps to move away. Shit, that had been unexpected.
High school had been hard enough. I learned fast to keep my head low and out of trouble. The one other jock I’d fooled around with had beaten me up when one of his friends jested about me looking at him funny. Didn’t seem to matter much to the guy the night before when he had his cock in my mouth.
Con had been a whole other world of trouble.
We panted, coming down from the quick hand job in the back of the shower after training. Con had a dragon tattoo outlined that wrapped from his navel all the way around his back and up to his neck. It would be badass when it was finished. I traced it with my fingers, though all that really mattered was that his skin felt good against mine.
“Come over after dinner,” he said.
I’d climbed the tree beside his window a hundred times. Tonight would be different. We’d been together a whole year as of today. And though we talked about it a lot we’d never done
it.
“Did you get the stuff?”
“Yeah. I’ll make it good for you, I promise.”
The shower was good for me. Hot water pouring down on us. His firm grip still massaging the two of us together, and me pressed to his warm skin. I liked what we had so far. “I’ve read it hurts.”
His lips pulled up in that hot smile that made me want to go down on him then and there. We’d only have a few more minutes before someone else entered the shower, and our game would be over. “I’ll take care of you.” He leaned in and kissed me, all lips and teeth and exploring tongue.
“Okay,” I said when he pulled away. My heart pounded, and I had to say it. “I love you, Con.”
“Love you too, K.”
I shook myself out of the memory. That night had been all about romance. Sex hadn’t been all that great. It had been important because I believed I loved Con. We took classes together. Ate lunch together, camped, fished, and later fucked as much as we could. He’d always been a bad boy and a player, but I thought I could keep him on the straight and narrow. How naïve I’d been.
I unpacked my things and headed into the shower, determined to wash him from my mind. Somehow I didn’t think that was going to be as easy as I had imagined. Losing him had hurt. First loves were often that way.

I
WATCHED
Kelly disappear up the stairs, keys in hand, before I took Sei to find food. Sei nearly had a heart attack when we went into the kitchen. I shouldn’t have expected the cleanliness that Gabe required in his home or his bar to be extended to places outside his reach. Cat had been shocked by his reaction, though it didn’t stop her from clinging to my arm and batting her overly made up lashes at me. Dominion girls were all the same, and I didn’t need that kind of trouble.

I got Sei fed and calmed. We sat in a couple of recliners in the lounge, finishing up sandwiches and fruit. He watched me with worry and curiosity that I wasn’t used to.

He shook his head, looking away, but then his eyes darted back my way.
Did he think something was wrong? “You can talk to me, you know.”
He just gave me a sweet smile and stole a grape from my tray.
“Will you tell me what’s going on with you and Kelly?” Sei would likely have a different opinion of Kelly’s nightmares. I wondered if either of them was giving me the whole story.
“Nothing’s going on.”
I wanted to ask why I’d found him and Kelly sleeping together a half dozen times in the past few weeks then, get Sei’s take on his best friend’s behavior, but Sei would probably shut down on me, and after that hug in the lobby, I didn’t want to lose our progress. “I just want to make sure he’s okay.”
“He’s okay. Just dealing with stuff. That’s all.”