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I didn’t want to squat in the snow and freeze my bits off, but anything would be better than the embarrassment of peeing in the same room as the guy who’d just spanked and fucked me. There was a limit to how much humiliation I could take in one day, and apparently, I’d reached it.

“Outside?” Rising to his full height, he swung around to face me. My thighs squeezed together at the weight of his scrutiny, although I didn’t know why. He’d already seen the parts I was trying to conceal. “Have you got any idea how cold it is out there?”

“No.” But I could guess. Huddling so far away from the fire had revealed the plummeting temperature to my exposed and vulnerable skin. “But I won’t be long.”

“Erin.” He stepped toward me. “I relieved myself last night when I went out to look for wood, and even for a guy, it was touch and go. I haven’t got you this far for you to get hypothermia now.”

He was probably right. There was no simple way to pee in the snow without half undressing and crouching perilously close to the snow.

“Just go here and make your life easier.” He folded his arms across his chest.

“It’s so undignified, though!”

“But you like the indignity, don’t you?” His voice was dry. “We already established that.”

“No.” Swallowing, I refused to accept any similarities between my current ordeal and the fact I’d been aroused by his rough treatment. Rising from over the bowl, I yanked my clothing up to cover me, rage swelling in my chest. “Not like this!”

“You always say that.” His lips tugged. “You whined when I hauled you over my knee and complained again after the blow job. Maybe it’s time you started to accept who you are.”

“What?” My old headache taunted me with its predictability.

I was no closer to discovering what had happened to Chelle, and even though the sexual tension between us was thick enough to cut with a knife at times, I was overwhelmed by its intensity. Driving me wild with lust was captivating, but it wasn’t enough to keep me there.

There was a world beyond the oppressive little cabin—a world I’d been a part of only a day before—and I’d be damned if I let the giant of a man mocking me stop me from getting back to it.

“I’m sorry, but I need to leave.” I didn’t meet his eyes that time, heading straight for the door before he could argue.

I knew he’d be on me, knew he was bigger than I was and the odds were stacked against me, but blinkered with my cemented resolve, all I could think about was getting outside to where the air was clear and I could pee in peace.

The bedside unit was nudged out of the way from my earlier effort, and it only took a few hurried strides to reach the door. My adrenaline spiked as I yanked the handle.

This is it!

Frigid light spilled in when the door opened, ratcheting up my anxious excitement as I glanced back to collect my bag. I could sense Eli over my shoulder—an omnipresent threat—but I was determined not to fall foul of his domineering authority again. I was finally getting away from his clutches, and whatever came next, at least it would be on my own terms.

“I’m going!” My heart was racing as I hiked the bag on my shoulder. I didn’t have much food left and my bottle of water was still over by the hearth, but if the worst came to the worst, I could always eat snow. That would keep me going for a few hours and I’d be back to the tourist office by then. “Don’t try and stop me.”

Dizzy with anticipation, I edged back to the open door, keeping my gaze fixed on him.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” His smug tone might have irritated me had I not been so close to freedom.

“I said, don’t try and stop me!”

I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t coming after me. Not that I was complaining, but after hours of his possession, his hesitation was strange.

“I’m not the one who’s going to stop you.” His palms rose in a conciliatory gesture. “But I would advise you toturn around.”

His emphasis on the final two words grated, convincing my feet to pause. With my heart hammering, I twisted to see what he was rabbiting about, but I didn’t expect the sight that met my eyes.

“Shit.” Dropping my bag to the floor, I stared up at the wall of ice blocking my exit from the cabin.

“More like snow.” His droll tone sliced through me. “And frozen snow at that.”

“H-how?” I heaved in a breath, unable to fathom how an entire ice blockade had sealed us in during the night.

There hadn’t been that much snow, had there?

“Hours of relentless snow and then plummeting temperatures.” His brow rose. “We’re sealed in for the time being.”

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