Page 40 of The Artist
“Where’s my clothes?”
“Indiana and I undressed you to give you our body heat. You had hypothermia.
“So that wasn’t a dream?”
“No. We sandwiched you in between us.”
“Did Indiana suffer frostbite?”
“No, why?”
“I thought I heard him talk about getting frostbite, but it’s all so blurred. Was Aubri naked too?”
“No, just you, me, and Indiana. We weren’t fully naked though.”
“Did you carry me in here?”
“Yes. About two hours ago. Thor helped me carry some of our things while I carried you. The storm had settled down a little by then and we decided that it was safe to get you inside. I thought that since I found you and you asked me not to leave you, I’d stay with you throughout the night. Are you still cold? I’ve been holding you close all night, but I was overheating so I took a small break.”
The last part came out sounding as if Mason felt a need to explain why he and I were half naked in the same bed.
“I didn’t want to break my promise to you. I wanted to be there when you woke up. I promise that I haven’t touched you in any sexual way or done anything inappropriate to you.”
I rolled to my side facing him. “Thank you.”
Mason propped himself on an elbow. “Are you feeling better?”
I covered my shoulders with the duvet and answered truthfully. “It’s just my hands and feet that feel cold now.”
“That’s to be expected. You heat up from the core and it takes longer than you think. I once had hypothermia, so I know.” While talking he moved his pillow closer and opened his arms to me. “I’m happy to be your personal heating device.”
I was overwhelmed by Mason’s level of care for me. He’d always been protective by nature but until tonight he’d never touched me much.
“You sure you don’t mind?” I asked hesitantly.
“Belle, just get in here.”
When I curled up against him with my cold hands to his warm skin, he closed his arms around me and pulled me tight. It felt surreal to be half naked with this ripped and muscled giant. I knew from Aubri and Freya that Mason was feared by many of the soldiers he commanded. But to me his masculine scent smelled of safety and comfort.
Touching the sprinkle of trimmed hairs on his chest, I muttered, “I’ll bet Victor wasn't hard to convince to give up his side of the bed.”
“No, he wasn't.”
We were quiet for a long minute and then I whispered. “I thought I was going to die trapped in that snow.”
As I lay with my head on top of him, I felt Mason’s words rumble in his chest. “You would have died if we hadn’t gotten to you.”
“But how did you get to me? How could you dig a tunnel like that? I couldn’t even dig my feet out of the snow. It was so hard.”
“Every house up here has a snow melting machine. It’s basically a laser that melts snow on the roof and clears pathways. Even though houses up here are built with sturdy materials the frost can linger for months. Packed snow weighs a ton and could lead to a roof collapsing. About five years ago we went hunting and one of our dogs got buried in snow, which was the first time we used the tunnel function of the laser.”
“Did the dog survive?”
“Yes.”
“I’m so lucky that you found me in time, Mason. I don’t know how to ever thank you enough.”
“Don’t! If anything, you should be angry that we put you and your delegation in danger. We should have postponed the competition as soon as the weather changed.”
