Winter: A time for love and revenge

One minute, we were trudging through the snow, and the next, we were back in the cabin. Aspen tapped my face repeatedly, telling me I couldn’t fall asleep. At the back of my mind, I knew he wasn’t saying this to annoy or torture me, but the logical part of my brain wasn’t in charge as I whined when he refused to stop.

He briefly set me on the bed as he pulled blankets out of a chest and placed them on the floor in front of the fireplace. Once he had the blankets laid out, he picked me up and set me down on them. I barely felt the blankets he covered me with as he relit the fire.

Shivers wracked my body as my eyelids began drifting shut again, feeling way too heavy to fight against. “Fay, you have to stay awake,” Aspen said, his voice full of panic and worry as he picked me back up.

He’d been wearing clothes when he found me, but now he was naked, his hot body pressed against mine as he positioned me so I was lying on his chest. He’d pulled multiple blankets over us, and the fire was now roaring in the fireplace. Even though he too, had been out in the cold, his skin felt hot as I placed my numb hand against his chest, watching as the muscles in his chest tensed.

Aspen had to keep reminding me to stay awake over and over. He soon began asking me random questions to keep me from drifting off. As my best friend, he already knew most of the answers. He’d known about my older sister who was mated—not a true mating, but chosen—to a werewolf in London and had joined their pack. But even so, he still asked me to tell him stories about growing up. It was a good thing he already knew these stories because my storytelling skills left something to be desired at the moment.

Aspen’s questions so far had been easy to answer, and as I warmed and began feeling all of my limbs once again, I was no longer struggling to stay awake or answer his questions. Out of nowhere, Aspen pulled out a question I hadn’t been expecting.

“Why have you been acting so strange around me?”

I’d been laying my head against his chest, tracing the muscles of his pecs, but once he asked the question, my focus jerked to his face. His expression was expectant as he continued stroking my spine, waiting for me to answer.

“What do you—”

“You know what I’m talking about.” Aspen let out a sigh as he adjusted underneath me. Now that I was no longer numb or struggling to stay awake, I was acutely aware of his naked body pressed against mine, and this conversation wasn’t helping matters.

Even though I was still recovering—not only from almost freezing, but my wounds weren’t fully healed—I began shifting off of him, trying to put some much-needed distance between us. The last thing I needed was for my body to give me away, given I was naked and without a barrier to hide the gathering arousal at the junction of my thighs.

I didn’t make it far, not with his hands capturing my hip and preventing my retreat.

“See? That’s the shit I’m talking about,” Aspen said, his voice showcasing his frustration and held a hint of a growl.

I opened my mouth only for it to snap shut as I looked away. Outright lying just wasn’t my thing, nor were secrets—other than being a werewolf, that had been ingrained in my head since I was a child. It was actually surprising I’d made it this long without him asking this question. I knew I should tell him. These feelings didn’t seem to be going anywhere any time soon. Yes, it would screw with our friendship if he told me he didn’t feel the same, but maybe hearing him say those words would make things go back to normal.

Even with my resolve to finally tell him the truth, the words refused to come out.

I struggled with the words for what felt like a minute before I realized this wasn’t going to work. Since words seemed to fail me, I needed to find another way to tell him. With how I was still lying on top of him, it was easy for me to press my lips against his. I kept the kiss brief and light, doing just enough for him to get the gist. His body may have been full of hard muscles, but his lips were tantalizingly soft, and all I wanted to do was to deepen the kiss, but I didn’t. Using all my willpower, I pulled back, forcing back the disappointment sinking my stomach.

Once again, Aspen halted my retreat, cupping the back of my head as he reclaimed the inches between our lips. This kiss wasn’t soft or chaste but hungry. The frantic way his lips moved against mine, matched my building desire. Aspen’s tongue traced the seam of my lips, and I immediately allowed him access. As his tongue explored my mouth, he rolled me onto my back, his body hovering over mine, keeping his weight off of me.

I hated that. I hated the inches separating our bodies and hooked a leg around his waist, trying to draw him closer. The need to feel his body and weight against mine was so strong that it nearly overwhelmed me.

“Maybe we shouldn’t do this now,” Aspen whispered against my lips, but the way his hand trailed up my body and cupped my breast was saying something else entirely. “You just recently thawed, and your wounds aren’t fully healed yet. We can wait until we’re back home and safe.”

“I could’ve died.” A growl rumbled in his chest at the reminder of my near-death experience. A smile tugged at my lips at his protective instincts. “We’re still not out of the woods yet. There is no way in fucking hell I want to put this off.”

Bringing up my near-death experience spurred Aspen into action. Rather than slide his cock in my pussy, like I so desperately wanted him to do, he dipped his head, kissing down my breasts. As he sucked my nipple into his mouth and I arched my back to give him better access, he trailed a hand down my stomach. His fingers brushed over my clit, pausing to press down on the nub and tease me before slipping through my folds and the pooling moisture. He worked his mouth and fingers in tandem, biting down on my nipple as he plunged his fingers into my pussy.

I writhed under him, my fingers sinking into his hair to hold his head in place as he kept switching his attention between my breasts. With how it had been months since I’d last had sex, I was coming faster than I’d ever come before.

Aspen trailed kisses back up my chest, paying special attention to my neck before kissing me again as his cock slid into my pussy. Even though I was soaked and ready for him, he still met a bit of resistance at first.

Holy shit. I’d forgotten how amazing sex truly was and how much I’d missed the feeling of being full, but even so, this was vastly different than all the other times. Maybe it was due to the emotional connection between us and how I’d wanted this for so long, but it felt like more.

Aspen held still once he was fully seated inside me, dropping his forehead as he groaned. Any discomfort I’d previously felt was long gone, and despite just recently having an orgasm, my impatience came out in full force. I shifted my hips, trying to get him to start moving, which he did but torturously slow.

Even though my wolf had mentally claimed him as ours months ago, she still chafed at the submissive position, and I was right there with her, especially if he was going to keep torturing me like this. Using my legs around his hips, I flipped us around so I was lying on top of him. Either he allowed it to happen, or he wasn’t used to fucking girls like me—it didn’t matter to me either way, so long as I got my way. Since I figured he’d soon try to take control, I began moving against him. I rolled my hips, riding his cock at a quicker pace, loving every second of his cock sliding in and out of my pussy.

I’d been right in my assumption that he’d take back control. He flipped us over so I was on my back, staring up at him as he began pounding into me. His thrusts were hard, hitting all the right places, while his right hand came up to cup my tender breast, pinching and rolling my nipple with expert precision, not missing a beat in his thrusts. Unlike some of the guys I’d fucked, he knew exactly what he was doing. Every movement had a purpose and helped to push me toward the orgasm that was quickly approaching.

When he reached down to pinch my clit, all the while continuing to slam inside of me, I unraveled as I fell apart and screamed his name. He kept his pace as I came, and this was a big reason why I preferred fucking werewolves. Yes, they were overly dominant, but they were always attentive and made sure you came, multiple times.

My limbs shook a bit, but I didn’t let that stop me from switching our positions again in an attempt to take back control. We kept going back and forth, wrestling for control—he won more often than I did, not that I actually lost in the grand scheme—and I came several more times before we finally collapsed against the blankets in a tangled heap.