Page 58 of Stubborn as a Shadow

I rubbed the back of my neck, not sure how to answer him. If I told him he was too tempting, he might think about hooking up again. And that would be bad.

Really.

Morgan held his hand up like he was taking an oath. “I promise not to touch you inappropriately while you sleep.”

“It isn’t that. I just thought you’d feel more comfortable if I?—”

“Nope. You’re staying right there.” He jabbed his finger at the mattress, narrowing his eyes at me as if daring me to contradict him. My brain must have short-circuited because I couldn’t think of anything to say. He nodded sharply when I didn’t argue with him. “Good. Now, since the water is off, I’ll step outside for a minute to take care of business before I turn in.”

“Uh. Right. Okay. Don’t go too far.” I clenched my hands into fists. I didn’t like that he was going out in the storm, by himself, at night, when we were running from Magic only knew who. But I understood. Some activities needed privacy.

We stared at one another for another long moment.

“Okay, then, I’ll just…” He waved to the door.

“Right.” I nodded. “I’ll see about banking the fire. Do you want to fill a pot with snow while you are out there? We might need some water in the morning.”

I forced myself to poke at the fire as he moved across the room. I wanted desperately to follow him, to make sure he stayed safe, but yeah… That’d be crossing a line.

When he stepped outside, I exhaled slowly and tried to concentrate on the task at hand. I’d put too many logs on earlier. It’d take forever before these burned down. It looked like I’d be tending the fire quite a while longer.

That was okay. I didn’t think I’d be able to sleep tonight anyway.

21

SAD TROMBONES BY FIRELIGHT

MORGAN

The cold bit me as I stepped outside, stealing some of the heat from my cheeks. I welcomed it.

I’d obviously read the situation with Nelson all wrong. Damn it. I’d been looking forward to finding out what it was like to have someone’s lips—Nelson’s specifically—on mine. And maybe a bit more than that too, if I was honest.

Too bad that wouldn’t happen.

I stared into the night for a few minutes. A few feeble solar-powered lights tried valiantly to ward off the darkness, but I doubted they’d last much longer. With the blizzard, they probably hadn’t charged at all today. And now their tiny solar panels were covered in snow, so they probably wouldn’t charge again until the weather warmed enough to melt everything.

Still, their faint glow showed that the blizzard had worsened while we’d been inside.

So, not only did we have only one bed, but we were going to be trapped in a snowbound cabin. It had all the makings ofa brilliant rom-com, except my heroic sidekick wasn’t interested in leveling up to a main character role.

Cue sad trombone noises.

Wind gusted around me, throwing snow in my face.

I needed to get back inside before my sidekick decided I needed to be saved again. I filled the pot with fresh snow first and set it by the door, then I shuffled to the left and turned away from the wind. I really, really didn’t want to take myself out of my pants, but I also couldn’t hold my pee forever.

My numb fingers fumbled with the zipper. My dick was decidedly unhappy about this turn of events as I pulled it out. Faced with the extreme cold, my balls tried crawling inside my body to cozy up to my spleen, so that was fun.

After an excruciating few minutes, I was finally done and tucked away. I washed my hands in the snow, and that was that. I couldn’t put off seeing Nelson any longer.

When I got inside, I found Nelson arranging the cushions from the sofa bed in a line on the floor.

“What are you doing?” I asked as I grabbed the sanitizer from the bathroom and squirted some on my hands. Snow could only do so much, right?

I might change into an animal form, but I liked the perks of civilization, like hygiene products. “I thought we talked about this. You aren’t sleeping on the floor, and neither am I.”

“It’ll take a while for the fire to burn down. I don’t want to keep you awake, which I might if I am getting in and out of bed to check on it.”