Cold Wood (Winter Warmers) by Cassie Mint

Author:Cassie Mint [Mint, Cassie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Cherry Publishing
Published: 2021-12-01T16:00:00+00:00

Six

Blaise

I’m carrying Ruby through the trees back to my cabin when I hear a twig crack. I pause, hitching her closer, her plump ass balanced on my palms, and strain to listen to the darkening woods. Lord knows how we wound up like this, Ruby clinging to me like a monkey, but when I met her in the clearing, she leaped into my arms like it was the most natural thing in the world.

And it’s not like I mind. Having the tip of her cold nose pressed to the bare skin under my beard… it’s heaven. Too good to be true.

I flatten us against a thick tree trunk when I hear the low voices, heart thundering in my chest.

Look, I’m not afraid of the locals, no matter the stories they tell about me. When their hunting parties come out looking for blood, they’re looking for the monster they’ve made up—the feral wolf-man who eats babies, not the ugly, polite woodsman who keeps to himself. But that doesn’t mean I won’t cause Ruby a whole load of trouble if she’s caught with me.

I couldn’t stand that. The thought of her regretting me in any way… it makes me want to bellow like a wounded bear.

“Why have you stopped?” Her whisper is muffled by my throat. Her hearing’s not as good as mine.

I squeeze her ass, trying to calm her. Trying to calm myself.

“Men’s voices. We’ll wait here, and they’ll move along soon.”

Ruby hums but doesn’t argue, wiggling impossibly closer against my chest. Her arms are looped around my shoulders, her fingers playing in my hair, and every breath I take smells of lavender.

My cock is rock hard, pressing up against her ass through both our clothes. It has been for a while now, but Ruby doesn’t seem to have noticed, and I’m sure not going to point it out.

Hell, she’d probably jump down and run away screaming. So I won’t say a damn word about it.

It’s dark for a group of men to be out here, moving around. Most of the hunters will be settled by now, in their cabins or camps, a fire licking over their log pile to keep the wolves away. I’m the only soul who walks these woods at night.

“Can you still hear them?” I close my eyes and concentrate, ignoring the distant, moaning wind and the steady thud of pine cones hitting the dirt. When I nod, Ruby presses her question against my throat. “What are they doing?”

“…Big, angry bastard…”

“…Comes out at night…”

“…Skin and butcher it here…”

I melt back against the tree trunk, relief coursing through my body. For a moment there, I thought… But it’s not me they’re talking about. “They’re hunting a big animal. Probably an elk.”

Ruby shivers. “Poor elk.”

We wait twenty minutes for the men to move along, and while we’re tucked away behind the tree, the winter cold seeps through my clothes. I’m used to it, used to the shudders that coast through my limbs, but Ruby’s not like me. She’s delicate.

“Ruby.” I hitch her higher in my arms.

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