Page 51 of The Wolf I Sworn To Hate

“You’re so good with him.”

Sean shrugged. “He’s a great kid. He’s hard not to like.”

Her smile widened, and for a minute, they stood there, looking at each other. A warmth spread through Sean that had nothing to do with the fire in the hearth.

Xyla broke the silence. “I guess we’d better get some hot chocolate before Edward drinks it all.”

Laughing, they headed into the dining room.

Dinner was ready an hour later. It seemed that everyone was in a much better mood. Apparently, the snowball fight had been exactly what they needed. The group decided to rewatch the cult classic movie,The Lost Boys.Sean liked the movie, although Marko, played by Alex Winter, would always be Bill, fromBill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure,pretending to be a vampire.

Somehow, the resort had gotten a lot smaller and the walls were closing in. Sean had to get some breathing room. Taking advantage of the darkness, he quickly donned his coat, gloves, and boots, and slipped outside. He took an armload of wood that should be enough to get him through the night and walked to his and Sawyer’s cabin. He slid down the much smaller tunnel, as the snow had melted, unlocked the door, and went inside.

He had just got the fire going when the cabin door opened. Whirling around, he was surprised to see Xyla slipping inside and closing the door behind her.

“What are you doing here?”

“I want to spend some time with you.”

Sean looked at her for a couple of seconds. “What about your father?”

“Dad would be very angry if he knew I was here, but he took some sleeping pills and went to bed right after dinner. He’ll never know I was gone.”

“We’re both adults. I really don’t like the idea of sneaking around like a couple of horny high school kids.” The words came out more harshly than he intended.

Xyla blushed and lowered her head. Her shoulders slumped and she sighed. “I know. I don’t like it either, but I really want to be with you. I just don’t want to deal with Dad’s anger. It would be so different if we weren’t all packed together on this damnedmountain like sardines. Here, there’s no way to escape him, and his nastiness is unbearable.”

Sean looked at her, undecided. He wanted so much to pull her to him and make wild passionate love to her, but he hated the dishonesty surrounding their situation.

Sensing his conflict, Xyla walked over to him, put her hand on his chest, and looked into his eyes. “Please, Sean. Please let me have tonight.”

20

Xyla

Xyla stared up into Sean’s face, holding her breath. For a minute, she was terrified that she would tell her “no” and send her back to the resort. An unreadable look flashed on his face and he nodded.

They pulled off their boots and coats and tossed them into the corner. She shivered slightly since there was still a chill in the air.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. He lowered his head and consumed her mouth in a hot, wet kiss. Their breaths mingled, and she breathed in his scent of pine and something else she couldn’t name. The smell was intoxicating.

Sean stroked the top of her tongue and tickled the roof of her mouth. He pulled her shirt out of her pants and spread his hands out on her back, holding her close to him. Smoldering embers in her core flared. Fires started to burn and spread throughout her body.

He pulled away long enough to tug her shirts off over her head and toss them into the corner of the room. Her bra soon joined it. Xyla’s fingers found the bottom of his shirts, and theysoon joined hers. She wrapped her arms around him, loving the feeling of her bare chest against his.

She splayed her hands on his back, her fingertips kneading the hard muscles. Xyla kissed his chest between his pecs. Her tongue darted out and she tasted his salty skin.

The air around them was warm from the fire and the heat from their bodies. There were no sounds except for the crackling of the fire and her beating heart, making Xyla feel as though they were completely alone on the planet.

Xyla’s mouth explored his chest and she stepped behind him, placing tiny kisses across his back. She nibbled lightly on his skin and then licked where she nipped. Xyla walked back in front of him and smiled at him.

This might be the last time she ever had with Sean and Xyla was determined to make it memorable for the both of them. She gently bit his bottom lip and licked where she bit. He put his hand on the back of her head and devoured her mouth.

Her hands roamed over his chest down to his waistband. She quickly unbuttoned his pants and pushed everything down to his ankles. He stepped out of them and kicked them out of his way.

Xyla looked at him and sucked in her breath. “You are so incredibly gorgeous. Before I moved away from Angel’s Creek, I always imagined what you would look like, naked. I won’t lie – I’ve seen the men in magazines. But you have them beat. There’s no contest.”

Sean grinned at her. “Thank you. What you’re saying is that I could have another career if I needed to add extra income to my bank account.”

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