Total pages in book: 194
Estimated words: 187754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 939(@200wpm)___ 751(@250wpm)___ 626(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 187754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 939(@200wpm)___ 751(@250wpm)___ 626(@300wpm)
My front bumper is inching closer to Aurelia’s rear when something slams into me from the right side. I swear viciously, feeling like my brain is bouncing around in my skull as I veer off track and lose speed as quickly as I’d gained it. Aurelia bursts forward, but I’m too busy reaching for the gun on my hip to worry about the race. When I aim in the direction of the impact, I expect to find a hungry bear staring down my sights—nothing else could have hit me with that much force—but all I see is a maniac.
I can’t see his face, but I know he’s proud of himself.
“Seth, what the hell?” I bark.
“Team Sunshine, bitch!” To Aurelia, he shouts, “Go, baby, go!”
Fucking pussy-whipped purse-holding traitors.
Aurelia hits the throttle and soars across the finish line while Seth flips me off and follows her. Khalil is cheering the loudest as the three of them stop near the gap in the tree line to celebrate with their cheating asses. I hear Aurelia giggling through the Bluetooth as Khalil and Seth hi-five each other over their stolen win.
I’m purposely quiet as I take my time catching up.
They can’t see the grin I’m wearing or feel the way my heart is aching at the picture laid out before me. I can’t recall the last time I saw my brothers this carefree and alive. And Aurelia…she’s in rare form today too—open, unresistant, and laughing—and I wonder if we’re being gifted a glimpse of what could be or taunted with a fool’s dream.
One perfect girl for three very different men.
Aurelia, Seth, and Khalil don’t have a clue what I’m feeling, so the three of them are quiet and guarded by the time I cruise across the finish line to join them. And I don’t feel the least bit bad about it. Pretending to ruin the mood is my petty revenge for being teamed up on.
Cutting the engine, I school my expression before removing my helmet, and Aurelia does the same. She’s still beaming and beautifully flushed from the thrill of the race, but when she notices me watching, her smile dims a little, and she lifts her chin in a clear challenge. “Well?”
I just barely hold back my grin. “Well, what?”
“Are you going to be a sore loser, Thorin Thayer?”
Leaning forward to rest my forearms on the handlebars, I hear Khalil and Seth snickering and give them unimpressed looks before meeting Aurelia’s gaze once more. “Of course not, my wolf. Congratulations on your victory.”
Aurelia looks gut punched before she looks away. We both know I’m not talking about the race.
Aurelia’s got us wrapped around her finger, and not one of us is interested in untangling ourselves. It’s only Aurelia who seems to shut down whenever we bring up the fact that she obviously feels something more than just reluctant lust for us.
She agreed to stay and give us everything, including her heart, yet…she’s not.
Not yet, at least.
I tell myself I can be patient. We haven’t had the best start after all. We haven’t earned her trust yet. But even after all my Marine training, patience has never been a virtue of mine. I want to possess every inch of this woman—her darkest desires, voluptuous body, rare smiles, teeth and wit, and soul…however it comes.
She stares toward the trail leading to Hearth when she asks, “So, are we hiking the rest of the way?”
“Fuck no,” Khalil grumbles after popping off his helmet. “We wouldn’t reach town until well after nightfall, and then we’ll be too tired to show you around.”
I cut Khalil a sharp look, which he pointedly ignores.
Aurelia keeps her expression perfectly sedate, leaving us to wonder if she’s calculating the distance between the valley and Hearth. There’s an odometer on the snowmobile, so if she pays attention, she’ll know exactly how close the town is soon enough.
Suddenly, the hidden cloth I’d brought—the one I hoped I wouldn’t need—is burning a hole in my pocket.
We’re pretty remote out here, but not so much that we’re completely cut off from civilization. The townspeople of Hearth are just all too happy to ignore our presence since they’re used to these mountains being uninhabited anyway. Sheriff Kelly visits occasionally, but even he knows we want to be left alone, so he keeps his visits to a minimum. It was hard dodging his many questions when he first discovered us hiding out here, and for a while, we were subjected to his overbearing scrutiny. But then we proved useful when we helped him find some missing honeymooners a few years ago. The sheriff’s been our only link to the main world ever since.
“We’ll ride the Ski-Doos down to the main road where our truck is waiting,” Seth informs her.
“Oh. Okay.”
“Aurelia,” I call as I swing my leg over the snowmobile and stand. The hard snow crunches under my boots as I walk the short distance over to her.