He hung up his jacket and then grabbed his supplies near the door before kneeling in front of the fireplace. “Storm’s coming. I’ll keep a good fire going so you stay nice and warm.” Caleb added some kindling, blowing slightly, building the fire back to life. Within minutes, he was ready to add full logs to the flames.
“It smells so good,” she said.
He stood back up, brushing some ashes off his jeans. “The best smell.” It reminded him of family, Christmas, and happiness to name a few.
She swallowed hard, finally looking up at him.
Such pretty green eyes.
“Maybe I should leave before the storm. Will a taxi come way out here?”
“There ain’t no taxi service out here, Opal. Take a look around. We own thousands of acres and there are countless more surrounding that.”
“How will I get home?”
He shrugged. “Looks like you’re stuck.”
“I can’t stay forever,” she said.
Caleb moved forward,
forcing her to back up against the wall. “How old are you? Twenty?”
“Twenty-two.”
He was almost twice her age, and he didn’t give a fuck. Caleb may not announce it to his brother, but he wanted Opal and planned on keeping her. Every day he grew more and more attached, convinced she’d meld perfectly in their lives. She was young, innocent, a blank slate … perfect for their mate, the mother of their children.
Damon was passionate, cutting her loose too easily. He’d swooped in fast but backed off without a fight. Caleb knew better. They needed to seize what they wanted in life or it would pass them by. He wasn’t sure what game Opal was playing, because he could read her like a book. When she thought he wasn’t looking, he could see the way she sized them up, desire in her eyes. She wanted them just as much. They could give her everything she needed, likely more than she had roughing it in the big smoke.
“You’re young,” he said. “You need a man to take care of you.”
“Is that you?” she whispered, looking up, daring him with her eyes.
“It’s me and Damon.” He stated the fact, waiting for her to protest, but she didn’t.
“How can you protect me here? Everything probably wants to kill or eat me,” she said.
Caleb shook his head. “You’d be surprised. With a little common sense, we all get along just fine. The only danger here, like the city, are people, not animals. But don’t worry your pretty head, because we’ll protect you from them, too.”
Besides the usual issues with squatters and drifters, they had relentless loggers pushing them to sell a good-sized chunk of their land on the west end. It wasn’t going to happen.
“This is fast and crazy and doesn’t make sense.” She was rambling, trying to make excuses when he knew what she wanted. Why did she have to complicate something so simple?
He braced a hand against the wall close to her head. Caleb leaned in, brushing his lips against her ear. “If you leave, you’ll destroy my brother. He thinks he’s in love.”
“Did he say that?”
“He asked you to stay, no? You refused. I’ve never seen him this broken—not since our parents were killed. He’s usually abnormally upbeat.”
“I’m sorry about your parents … and Damon. I wasn’t trying to hurt him,” she said. “I’m not going to fix anything by staying. He hardly knows me. I’m just a woman.”
“That’s all we want, baby doll. Life out here is rough, but it’s perfect. Almost perfect. We need that missing piece, a woman to share, a mother for our children.”
“And if you’d found a different woman in the woods?”
He smiled. Her insecurities were endearing. “We would have driven her to town so she could get the help she needed.”
“How am I different, Caleb?”