“Are you getting drunk, Ryker?”
He shook his head; his eyes were half-closed. “I think ten days of hiking on little sleep is starting to catch up with me.”
I took his hand and led him to the back of the room where a quilt had been spread out and cushions lined the wall. “Why don’t we lie down?”
“If I put my head down, I’ll be out, and I’ll be no use to you. Lay me down, and you can forget about me.”
I kissed him on the cheek. “Ah, I would never forget about you.”
Ryker took a seat against the wall. I lay on the quilt, my head on a cushion on his lap while he gently brushed my hair with his fingers. Miles played a slow blues on the guitar, which went perfectly with the snow dotting the window in specks of white. Lawson tended to the fire. Shaun and Ted went to and fro from the kitchen to the living area, bringing in drinks and snacks.
Unlike Ryker, I wasn’t sleepy, though I did curl up on the quilt and let myself be lulled into a sort of calm, domestic bliss. Outside, the weather looked bitingly cold, while I was inside safe and warm. Before me, I watched the many iterations of my lover carry out household chores, making the place and the people in it more comfortable and at ease.
“We’re missing Brock and Owen,” I said when I realized I hadn’t seen them in a while.
“And Doris,” said Ryker.
It was true. I hadn’t seen her in a while, either, though I was too absorbed in my fantasy to notice her absence. Plus, I’d barely talked with her all night.
Ryker massaged my scalp then the back of my neck. “Did you notice?”
“Notice what?”
Ryker lifted my head and the pillow it was on off his lap and eased me onto the quilt. Then he laid himself down beside me.
“Uh, oh. If you lie down, you’re going to pass out. Isn’t that what you told me?”
He snuggled up close against me. “You’ll keep me up if I start to fade.”
I could feel his stiff member against the small of my back and knew he wasn’t that tired.
“Did I notice what?” I repeated.
He rested his chin against the top of his head. When he spoke, his breath blew through my hair and tickled my scalp. “Doris.”
“What about her?”
He shifted. His lips now brushed the tip of my earlobe. He whispered, “She’s Shaun’s wife.”
“I know.”
“But they share her.”
I turned over to face him. “What?”
He kissed me on the forehead then eased onto the pillow, nudging me off it in the process. I slid down and rested my head on his chest.
“Need a blanket?”
I looked up, and Will was standing over us, unfolding a thick quilt.
“Thanks, Will,” said Ryker.
“If you’re tired,” said Will, “we’ve got beds in the back.”
“We’re good here,” Ryker mumbled.
“Okay. Anything you need, just holler.” He covered us in a warm blanket, and I was as snug and as comfy as I’d ever been in all my life.
Ryker whispered to me again; his breath felt like soft kisses on my head. “Shaun told me they share everything. Can you imagine?”
“Mmm, hmm.”
“Holly,” he repeated, “can you imagine?”
I wanted to look at them again, to see his brothers while we talked about them. But I was facing the wrong way. “Sorry, sweetheart. I’ve got to shift positions” I crawled over him and curled up on his other side, my head again resting on his chest but this time looking out to the room.
Ted came over to us, holding a large pillow. “This is the most comfortable pillow you’ll ever lie on,” he said, and he set it down next to us.
“Ah, thanks, Ted.” Ryker swapped his pillow for the new one then settled down, letting out a satisfied sigh.
“Holly, do you need anything,” Ted asked. “Warm socks? Tea?”
I felt like I could have asked for anything, and no matter how far-fetched or seemingly trivial it might have been, he or another Chandler brother would have brought it to me. But I felt so good and satisfied, I could think of nothing else that I wanted.
“Thank you, Ted. I’m all set.”
“Okay. Anything you need, just holler.”
I shifted under the blanket, my leg sliding between Ryker’s. His arm wrapped around my back and held me close while his other hand rested on my hip. I felt his erection against my thigh, and I murmured. “Hmm, I see you’re not as sleepy as you thought, or at least a part of you isn’t.”
He murmured and shifted slightly, his stiff member rubbing against me.
“You know,” I said, “they have beds in the back.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“And it is snowing.” I smiled up at Ryker, but his head was turned, and he was gazing absently at Miles, and the group sat around him. I kissed him on the chin. “Ryker, dear? Are you with me?”