I leaned in closer, brushing my lips along his. He pulled me into him, deepening the kiss. Things were starting to become a little heated between us. I pulled away and gasped for air. Our kissing resumed much less eagerly.
Guy tugged on the hem of my shirt, lifting it up my torso, kick-starting my anxieties and forcing me to pull away again. A cold air wrapped around me.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Did I do something wrong?”
I shook my head. “No. Just a little chilly.”
He smiled at me and stood from the couch. “I can fix that.”
He stood up to leave, and I started feeling a little guilty about withholding information from him. Though my excuse was not the entire truth. I wasn’t sure how to tell him I was a virgin. I wasn’t all that positive I wanted to share that part of me. Until I made up my mind, I was sticking to the chilly part.
6
GUY
I tossed the last few logs stacked against the fireplace onto the burning flames and stared at them as they caught. Soon, a burst of heat filled the room. I turned to face Cadence and asked, “Is this better?”
She nodded. Her eyes held mine as she said, “Thank you.”
“I would love to rejoin you on the couch, but we’re going to need more wood and soon,” I added and pointed to the wall where the logs should have been sitting.
“Want some help?” she asked, moving to stand up from the couch.
“No,” I said, holding up my hand to stop her. “I appreciate the offer, but I would rather you stay put and stay warm. I shouldn’t be too long. If I am, send the calvary.”
“I hope it doesn’t come to that,” she said through a laugh as she settled back into the couch and gazed at the flames that licked the stone. After a few seconds, she set her attention on me. “Please, be careful. Even bear shifters can freeze to death during a blizzard.”
I nodded and smiled. “It’s not a blizzard yet. But I will do my best to come back with all my fingers and toes.”
“You better,” she said through a chuckle as I headed out the door.
The cold bite of the artic air was sobering and a sharp contrast to the warmth inside the cabin and inside my body. And if it wasn’t for the fact that Cadence would freeze to death without more firewood, I would have stayed inside with her and spend the rest of the night teasing more kisses from her lips. Maybe even a little bit more than that.
Though I wasn’t sure where things were heading when it came to me and Cadence, I did believe she was telling the truth about the cold. Merely a breath before she pulled away, she started to shiver. The drop in temperature had somehow saturated the air around us, despite the fire. And the drop in temperature was just the beginning of what we faced when it came to the storm. The air was only going to become colder and more bitter.
And now that I was standing outside and had sobered up a bit, I couldn’t help but wonder if I had made Cadence uncomfortable with my advances. Did I read too far into her kissing? Was my eagerness for her a turn-off?
I couldn’t help myself, but maybe I should have tried harder to reign myself in a bit. Still, I had believed her when she told me she was cold, because regardless of the reason, she put a stop to what was building between us. I had no reason not to take her at her word. But I also knew there was more behind her pulling away when she did.
Still, I kicked myself a little bit for getting carried away with myself once she showed up. I had forgotten all about the wood and my lapse in judgment had earned me an appropriate moment outside in plummeting temperatures and increasing snow.
I was perfectly fine with breaking away regardless. I wasn’t like some men who thought more with their dicks and turned into monsters when they ran over a speed bump. I respected Cadence more than that. I had more self-respect than that as well. Besides, being outside, gathering wood gave me time to clear my mind and let my hormones settle. And it didn’t take long for me to realize there was something different about Cadence. Something that I yearned for but could never put my finger on exactly what that was.
And whatever that elusive thing was called, Cadence had it in spades.
Honestly, I couldn’t help myself from being carried away. She deepened the effects of the whiskey by completely obliterating my inhibitions. I wanted her. My bear wanted her. It was almost as if every cell in my body gravitated toward her. She was so warm and open and welcoming. Not to mention her smile and those beautiful, make-me-weak-in-the-knees blue eyes that shattered everything.
I just couldn’t get enough of her.
But she had something about her that also made me want to take my time with her and do things right. Starting with the damned person who kept blowing up my phone almost ruining everything between us before we could even begin.
I pulled out my phone and called the number that never let me be.
“Thank God, you called me back,” a familiar voice filtered over the line. “I was starting to worry you fell off the face of the Earth.”
Muffled shuffling filtered over the line. It took me only a few more beats for me to connect who the person on the other side of the line was.
“Cassidy?” I asked.