THE NEXT time Zach emerged from the cobweb of shadows trapping him, it was nearly pitch-black. He was suffocating under the weight of something warm and heavy. He couldn’t breathe, and his limbs were sluggish, nearly as slow-moving as his thoughts. A shimmer of light bled over the shaggy mound near one corner, the flickering remains of a fire in the cabin’s fireplace. He couldn’t tell what time it was; it could’ve been night or even daytime if the storm covered the area. Zach could still hear it, whipping up the trees with its howling winds, and there was no mistaking the chill in the air when he pushed the covers from his chest.
He couldn’t see a clock, but he also couldn’t remember if there was one to begin with. Other than the storm and the crackling in the fireplace, the place was quiet. It took him a moment to discover Ellis’s brother sleeping in a large recliner on the far side of the cabin. Or at least he hoped the man was sleeping, because he badly needed to pee. Getting up was a challenge, made more difficult by the dizziness swamping his head. The room tilted again, then righted itself when he leaned against the back of the sectional to regain his balance. He got four steps toward the door he hoped was the bathroom when his foot struck a bookcase.
“Motherfucker.” Zach tasted blood and felt the shreds of his cheek with the tip of his tongue. “Shit.”
By the fire, Ellis the wolf snorfled in his sleep, flopping his great body over to warm his belly. Bending over was a bad idea, Zach discovered, when he tried to rub away the pain across his toes. His stomach rebelled, and a familiar sourness burned up his throat. Lurching toward the door, he fought to keep his sick down, desperate to reach the bathroom before he lost control.
“That’s a closet.” The man’s strong voice boomed through the shadows. “If you’re looking for the front door, it’s the one to your right, but you’re not going to get very far. Snow’s nearly up to the roof in some places, and besides, you’re still naked.”
“I need to—” He didn’t make it. Or at least he thought he wouldn’t. As his belly clenched, Zach felt strong arms around his ribs and the press of a bare chest on his back. He’d not seen the door to the left, and he barely heard the man rattle the doorknob open, but a moment later nothing else mattered but the sick-covered sink in front of him and the press of a hand between his shoulder blades.
“Stay here. I put some sweats and a new toothbrush for you by the towels. Figured you’d eventually need to go to the bathroom, maybe even wash up a little bit, but that was before we lost power. Pump runs on electricity, so until I fire up the generator in the morning, you’re going to have to be happy with the sponge-down I gave you. How about if you get dressed while I throw some wood on the fire?” The man rubbed Zach’s shoulders again and stepped away. “I’ve got a kettle going in the fireplace. Maybe some tea will settle your stomach. You okay with me leaving you? Come out when you’re ready, or if you feel like you can’t make it, give a yell and I’ll help you.”
“Yeah, I should be okay. Hopefully.” Zach waited for the wave of cold sweats to subside. The cool stone of the bathroom counter felt good under his hands, but the chill in the cabin was beginning to nip at his skin, and a shiver ran down his spine. It stayed in his belly, arguing with the nausea already floating there. His mouth felt puckered and his throat was dry, as if he’d swallowed the rock he’d hit with his head. Leaning over the sink, Zach turned his head slightly before the man left the cramped narrow space. “I didn’t catch your name. I know his is Ellis, but you didn’t tell me yours.”
“I’m Gibson. And you’re Zach Thomas. Welcome to Big Bear.” He handed Zach a towel, then tried the light switch. The bathroom remained dark, illuminated only by the faint glow of the fire in the other room. “Shit, I can’t believe I did that. I know the damned power’s out.”
“I didn’t imagine you were somebody who kept up with the gossip in the neighborhood.” Zach smiled despite the tightness in his belly. “So you heard I purchased the Wilson place and put two and two together?”
“No,” he replied, flashing Zach another of his tender, sexy smiles. “You had your wallet on you. Once you get settled, I’ll introduce you to Ellis, if he’s awake.”
“I know this sounds like a stupid question but….” Zach paused, cocking his head, then instantly regretting it because his spine twisted with another hit of nausea. Tamping it back down, he continued, “He doesn’t bite, right? I mean, he was pretty aggressive coming down the hill after me.”
“Actually, if you want to know the truth, he probably figured he was getting me company.” Gibson chuckled. “He used to give me shit about my love life—before what happened—and always said I needed help finding a date. Knowing him, it probably started off as a joke somewhere in that tiny mind of his, and he didn’t think it all the way through.”
Zach waited until Gibson left the bathroom to scrub his face with a handful of water from the jug Gibson left on the counter and use the toilet. Reaching for the mound of black clothes set on top of a rainbow stack of towels, Zach stole a glance at the wolf lying by the fireplace. Despite his massive head being nearly shrouded in shadows, Ellis’s eyes gleamed in the dark, and Zach wondered if he was imagining the hint of mocking amusement in those narrow amber slits.
“You knew exactly what you were doing, didn’t you?” Zach muttered softly, pulling a pair of too big sweatpants over his legs. “I don’t know who I should be more careful around, the wolf or his brother.”
Three
“THERE IS a loft upstairs. Steps are over by the back door. If you think you can make it, there’s a bed. You might be more comfortable.” It was an offer Gibson wondered if he was going to regret. It was already difficult to think with the scent of Zach filling the living space. He didn’t know how he would be able to handle the sweet musk of Zach’s body on his sheets. Muttering to himself, he put the kettle back on its hook over the fire. “I’ll probably just have to burn them. Don’t think there’s enough soap in the world to make me forget he’d slept on them.”
Zach appeared to be mostly leg, and despite the wobbliness in his balance, he moved easily across the room toward the table, using the sectional for support as he passed by. Gibson’s sweats hung on him, a swaddle of cotton fleece over a deliciously hard, muscled body. He’d tried not to look, or at least tried to keep a clinical perspective when he’d stripped Zach of his frozen clothes, but it was as if Ellis picked through his thoughts and found the one man within a thousand miles that could make Gibson go hard just by looking at him.