Page 62 of Free Me

Linus went into the bedroom while Miko approached the fireplace. He’d gone camping a few times, and he knew the basics of building a fire. A built-in cupboard near a log holder had old newspapers, some random bits of kindling, and long matchsticks, so Miko used some of the paper to get those glowing embers burning brightly again. Then he added a few small logs to keep it all going. He inhaled deeply, enjoying the sharp, almost bitter scent of burning wood.

“We are so buying a house with a fireplace,” Linus said.

Miko looked up. Linus stood by the end of the couch, the front of his robe tented by his erection, one pocket sagging with the slick. “We are?”

“Hell yes. Do you have any idea how sexy you look crouching half-naked in front of a fire? No, wait, take the robe off. I need to see you completely naked by a fire.”

Adoring this forceful side of Linus, Miko stood and shucked the robe, letting the terry fabric flutter to the ground. The heat of the rising fire warmed his bare skin, while the heat in Linus’s eyes burned in his groin. “You better take yours off, too.”

Linus reached for his robe’s belt then froze, his gaze focused somewhere off to Miko’s right. The immediate hesitation sent Miko right to his bondmate’s side. He cupped Linus’s cheek with his right hand. “What? What did I say?” Miko asked.

“It isn’t you. I, um.” Linus tilted his head sideways so their eyes met, but the position was still submissive. Hesitant. “I’ve never just stood there, completely naked in front of someone since the accident. Or actually ever, and now with my leg…you know.”

“I’m sorry.” Miko brushed his lips over Linus’s. “I didn’t even think. You’re probably self-conscious anyway, and here I am asking you to prance around naked.”

“Prancing would be a little difficult.” Linus finally smiled and fully raised his head. “I know you won’t judge me and that you love me, but this is still so new. Be patient with me?”

“Absolutely, as long as you’re patient with me. I will do my best to be considerate of your feelings and how your perspective of your body has changed.”

“Thank you. Um, you still wanna do this?”

“If by ‘this’ you mean you fucking me while bent over this sofa? Then absolutely, I wanna do this.” Miko slipped his hands behind the folds of Linus’s robe and grasped his hips. “I need to feel you inside me again, alpha.”

It wasn’t easy, and they shared both laughter and grunts of annoyance, but Miko had never felt more in love or safe than when he knelt on the couch cushions, and Linus pushed intohim from behind. He was a little tender and it burned for a brief time, but then the absolute joy of being taken by his alpha dimmed the discomfort. Miko gripped the back of the couch and thrust backward, his ass meeting Linus’s hips, nonsense words dripping from his own lips.

Everything was so different this time because of the angles and positions and how amazing Miko knew sex could be, and they moved together for an eternity before completion. This time they washed each other in the shower, stripped the bed down to nothing but the top blanket, and curled up together to sleep.

“Do you want to build a snowman?”

Linus looked up from his repeat of last night’s dinner of bacon-and-egg sandwiches for their late breakfast/early lunch meal. After sleeping in most of the morning, Miko had just brought his plate to the table and sat opposite Linus before asking the question.

“Build a snowman?” Linus repeated dumbly. “Like they do in the movies?”

“Of course, dummy. I saw a few in different yards on the ride from the train station, so we know the snow is the right kind. Or the right weight? I don’t remember, but it has to be the right kind to pack together and make big balls.”

“Big balls, huh?”

Miko laughed out loud. “Don’t do that. You’re giving me naughty thoughts, not only about your balls, but about what we could build with snow.”

“You’d better be careful about the lawn ornaments we leave behind, or Frey will never let us come here again.”

“Good point. But snowman? Please?”

“Absolutely, we can build a snowman.” Linus would do anything short of hopping around the cottage bare-ass naked, if it made Miko happy. “Plus, it’ll give me a chance to try out the grips on my crutches.”

“Okay. Awesome.”

They finished breakfast, and while Linus did the dishes, Miko rummaged around in their suitcase for extra layers. By the time they went outside in sweatpants over jeans, and sweaters under their winter coats, Linus felt a little like a stuffed sausage. But his crutches did well gripping on the snowy walkway, and he was concentrating so hard on walking that it took an extra minute for the cold to smack him in the face. He knew cold, but this was a different kind of cold. Less sharp, almost damp, and also…quiet.

Maybe it was growing up in the middle of a bustling province, but Linus had never experienced this particular sort of silence before. As if the world around them was tucked under a blanket, muffling outside sounds, keeping them safe from all things.

Directly in front of them, the lake was a wide sheet of snowy ice. The houses were so far apart that Linus wasn’t sure what was a blob on the horizon, and what was a home. The only thing that could have made this more beautiful, more perfect, was if the sky opened up and dropped a fresh snowfall on them.

“This is magical,” Miko said, his breath puffing out in clouds of vapor. He tilted his head to the sky and smiled, and Linus wished he had his mobile ready to snap a photo of the moment. So perfect, so beautiful.

“I’ve never seen anything more magical in my life.” And he didn’t just mean the environment. “So, um, how do we start building a snowman?”

Miko bent and grabbed a handful of snow from the pile on the left side of the walkway. He tossed at Linus’s chest, and Linus squawked when it hit and shattered. “I guess we start with one of these, but make it a lot bigger?”

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