Page 21 of Her Cold Brute
A small moan falls from my throat as I wake, my face buried in Cole’s neck, my body draped over his with his chest completely bare. A flush floods my cheeks when I find his gaze on me, along with Sammy and Ryan gawking at us from the end of the hallway.
“Well now, I didn’t know we were having a sleepover,” Ryan says pulling a question from Mom and my cheeks redden further as she appears behind the boys.
“Good morning, sweetie. Why don’t you freshen up while I get breakfast going?” Mom suggests, swatting the twins away when they begin to make teasing comments, and I drop my face back against Cole’s neck for a moment.
“Next time I’ll just take you back to our room to help you avoid the blushes,” Cole whispers against my ear, then drops a kiss on my lips when I lift up a bit in surprise that he said next time.
Amazingly, it doesn’t scare or worry me, and I slip off the couch, moving into the bathroom quickly to not have to say a thing. I brush out my tangled hair, foregoing makeup like normal, before slipping into my room to exchange outfits for something newer. I swear someone’s been sneaking sweaters into my closet, but I don’t know if they’re from Mom or Cole. Either way, I enjoy them with the temperatures dropping more and more every day.
We actually had snow fall a couple days ago and Cole said it was actually late in the year for the first snowfall, that it usually occurred in September rather than October. That was shocking since we never even got snow back home. We were too far south for it to fall. We rarely got ice, which makes this place a complete and utter surprise, but one that I’m starting to love.
I move back into the living room, a bit sad that Cole’s once again wearing his t-shirt. He looks amazing in the sweatpants that cling to his thick thighs, the shirt molding to his sculpted shoulders, his thick arms straining the edge of the sleeves. He turns my way as I come into the room, holding out his arms for me, and I don’t even begin to hesitate slipping into them.
His arms wrap me in what feels like a heated blanket, and I can’t help but smile when Mom gives me a huge grin seeing us together. This feels right and I just hope the other shoe doesn’t somehow drop, ruining it.
Cole slips onto my normal chair, holding me on his lap as Mom drops off a plate of French toast for me and a huge plate of eggs, bacon, and sausage for Cole. It surprisingly feels perfectly normal to eat like this even though my brothers all stare at us throughout the meal. I start to get up to help clear the table, but Sammy stops me, taking the plates instead and I rest back into Cole’s arms, as Dad lifts a brow our way, while he finishes his coffee.
“So, is the meeting with Rennick still on or should I tell him something came up?” Dad asks, and I fight against a smile, shocked that Cole asked him to be his beta in a way and yet I’m not. Rennick had no issues with it when he came back a week ago. He’d been at our old pack still, ensuring they were following Barry’s leadership. Cole handpicked the thirty-something shifter to take charge when he left, even though the man had never been in charge of pack prior to that. Which is why Rennick stayed with him until he and Cole were certain there wouldn’t be any issues.
“What do you say, baby? Want to come with me to see something special or should I head to my meeting instead?” Cole asks me, and I honestly can’t think of any reason not to go with him right now.
“Is this something special somewhere I’m going to freeze my butt off?” I ask, pulling a chuckle from him and I flush as he drops a nuzzling kiss onto my cheek, his short beard slightly rough against it in a good way.
“No, I promise you won’t be cold, sweetheart,” he states, and I give him a nod, pulling a smile from him that I honestly love. “Good, you can tell Rennick I won’t be coming and the two of you can decide what you think is best,” he tells Dad, holding out his hand to me after he stands us up.
“I’ll see you all later,” I tell them, curious as Cole grabs my thick coat and boots from the entryway.
We move over to his suite, and I change shoes while he gets dressed, coming back in a pair of jeans that mold to his body even better than his sweats did, and I feel a deep tug low inside me as he pulls me up from the couch, smiling seeing my boots on my feet. He has a bag in his free hand, which makes me immensely curious, but I refrain from asking questions until he stops us at the back door, pulling my coat on me. He only has a jacket for himself, but out of the pockets he pulls a fluffy white hat, thick knitted scarf and gloves for me.
“I told you I wouldn’t let you get cold, baby,” he says, kissing my nose before we move out into the cold wind. It’s definitely icy but wrapped up next to Cole, I barely feel it beyond on my face.
I’m surprised when we move into a garage, and he heads over to a large ATV. He straps the bag onto the back of it, then lifts me up before sliding on behind me. A laugh bubbles up when he zips his jacket up around us, me and my thick coat inside it with him, but I lean back against his chest letting him cover my face with the scarf before he starts the ATV and takes off up the mountain.
My legs are a hint chilled, but the warmth coming from Cole’s body staves off the full cold, and when we stop outside a gorgeous, glass-walled cabin, my jaw drops completely. Cole hands me the bag, before pushing the ATV under the overhang the porch creates, tying off a tarp to keep snow from covering the thing.
My head swivels as we move up the steps and into the stunning space. The view from the glass windows shows off the packhouse in the distance, from this height, no one there could possibly see into this place. I don’t think anything other than birds could from the way it’s positioned.
“What is this place?” I ask him as he moves to the fireplace, throwing logs into it after lighting the kindling.
“My cabin. I had it built for when I needed to get away, decompress for a bit. No one else comes up here unless I’ve asked them to bring out food,” he tells me as he moves across the large open space towards me. “I don’t know why but I had Edgar bring stuff up here earlier this week. At the time, I think I was just telling myself I needed to get some space so I wouldn’t do anything stupid, push you, but now, I know it’s because we were supposed to come out here for the weekend,” he states, surprising me entirely at that. “I’m not going to press you for anything more, when you’re ready for me to claim you, make you mine in every way, I will gladly do it, but that’s not why I brought you up here. I just wanted some time where we won’t be interrupted, by pack business, your brothers,” he teases making me laugh. “Time that we can spend together, relaxing, doing nothing, and not feeling bad about it, okay?”
“Okay,” I agree as the fire begins to warm the entire space. “I just have one question,” I add pulling his brow upward a smile on my lips. “Does this place have running water or a bathroom? You might not freeze going outside to use it, but I definitely will.”
“There’s a bathroom over there behind the kitchen. It’s like an RV’s bathroom so no plumbing, but there’s a grey tank that collects the yucky stuff, so you don’t have to deal with it. I put it in after going outside once when it was just five below and something decided to freeze, and I don’t mean my skin,” he says with a wink that makes me laugh fully. “You can wash your hands using the sinks. I collect snow and heat it until it melts during the winter for washing hands, pots and pans, while using bottled water to drink, or for coffee and cooking. There’s a small generator in the backroom that runs the pump and works the stovetop. The rooms are built into the mountainside, so it doesn’t normally freeze up, and the exhaust is filtered outside. It’s completely safe, I’d never use it if I thought it might hurt you.”
“Thank you,” I sigh, sliding into his arms until it’s warm enough to take off my coat and hat.
We make an early dinner after skipping lunch, then go back to the couch, watching the world darken, and my breath is completely taken away when the sky fills with the most amazing colors. “Is that…”
“The northern lights? Yeah, it’s one of my favorite views from here, along with the sunrises—well before you entered this place at least,” he states, melting the last bit of resistance inside me entirely. I lean forward, brushing my lips against his, and sink into his body when he takes over the kiss, deepening and quickening it, until my body is tingling from head to toe.
He lets out a low growl, pulling back and I can’t stop the whimper that escapes my throat, bringing his brilliant eyes back to me. “Mora, baby…there’s no rush. I promise that’s not what…”
“Kiss me, Cole, please,” I whisper, holding his gaze until he lets out a low, guttural moan, but he does exactly what I asked. His mouth claims mine, devouring it and me, as his hands glide over my body, flooding me with need deep down within me.
My hands slip beneath his sweater, touching his bare skin, and Cole pulls back from the kiss for two seconds, pulling his sweater completely off, giving me his entire chest to touch. I can’t stop from exploring it as his mouth returns to mine, shivering from anything but cold when he lifts the hem of my tops just enough that my belly touches his with nothing between us.
“Mora, are you sure? I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop if you don’t make me now,” Cole questions, his tone deep and growly, with need that resonates through my entire being.