Page 30 of Valentine's Miracle

“Silas,” she protests, but I bite her neck to shut her up.

“Please. I love you. I have never stopped, and I don’t plan on it either.”

She purses her lips, uncertainty and doubts cloud her eyes. “What if we don’t work?”

“We will because you love me too.” I lean down, and she doesn’t dodge me as I press my lips to hers.

She returns the soft gesture with a breathy sigh. “Yeah, I love you too.”

Chapter Nine

Victoria

The lights didn’t come back on. The remaining sunlight from the reflective snow on roofs is the only source of light in the hotel room as I sigh.

The email from the hotel to every VIP guest that’s invited to the convention had informed of what had happened earlier. The event concert had knocked the power out in the hotel, but the backup generator had been taken out by the snowstorm.

In fact, the entire hotel is out of power like the news alert from my phone stated the power grid was hit. There haven’t been any updates as of yet, but I can only imagine how hard everyone is working to get the power back up and stay warm. However, that doesn’t stop criminals from seeing this as a great opportunity to dabble in crime.

Silas had forbidden me to leave the hotel room. Sebastian and Fyodor had been stuck in their room because every magnetic lock in the hotel had malfunctioned, trapping everyone inside to prevent a security breach and chaos.

“There’s no need to show off,” I grumble, bundling up further into the two blankets that I had combined.

Silas spares me a glance and cocks an eyebrow, his hand holding a water bottle while peering down at the streets by the window. He has this majestic strength in his body as his muscles bulge when he drinks the water, the bareness of his arm is inked with patterns too intricate to be separated.

“Looking at you makes me cold,” I say as I shudder, a chill running down my spine.

“Then don’t look at me,” he states the obvious.

“Can’t help it,” I murmur, cracking an eye to take in the mirth in his green eyes. “You’re too good-looking. It would be a crime to not look at you. Don’t mind me, just pose and let my eyes feast.”

“I expect payments,” he remarks with green eyes darkening.

Another cold shudder travels down my spine and tickles the back of my neck. I wish the heat would come back on or I’m going to experience hypothermia.

“A small price to pay,” I mutter with a smile.

He puts the water bottle down on the desk, strolling up to me as the stretch of his shirt becomes distracting when he leans down. He’s bold when he presses his lips to mine, muffling a cry of shock as he breathes my name.

“This will do for now,” he muses. “I expect full payment later.”

I lift the blanket, signaling him inside the warm cocoon. “Hurry up and cuddle me; you’re letting the heat escape!”

“How do you survive in winter?” He’s poking fun at me, and I’ll have him know that I can take on the harsh winter just fine.

I just need a bit more preparation than the average person. Due to my house being empty and spacious, the cold tends to settle faster and longer than a smaller home. There is nothing I can do because I need the space to walk around and get my brain cells moving when I get stuck in any part of the equation that makes me want to pull out my hair.

“Every corner has a heater, the couch and bed, and heating pads, and the fireplace is always on with blankets on the ground to absorb the cold from the wood flooring.”

That’s only the beginning, I have more things that I like to do, but I don’t want to scare Silas away with the pointless steps to ultimately stay alive in the winter.

“Dramatic,” he scoffs, burying his face into my hair as I glare at his nice collarbone.

“It’s not,” I correct. “If you thought that was dramatic, then you have no idea what I did in winter break during Junior year.”

I just know his eyes are rolling, but he lets me vent out the anger as his warmth curls protectively around me. He smells of something that has my body melting into a pile of bones and light purring at his attentive ministration as his hand rubs along the curve of my spine.

“Enlighten me,” he says.

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