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DAMOND COULDN’T LIE, he was still pissed, not to mention confused from what nearly happened in that basement. The damn woman had left him with his dick hanging out, literally. Once he had pulled up his pants he’d powered everything down, including his desire, and headed up to his office. Figuring now was the perfect time to get his frustration out by writing a killing scene in the book.
Avoiding her in the days since, Damond didn’t know if he was doing it as the best course of action or so he didn’t lose his cool and go off. Was he annoyed he hadn’t gotten any, yes! Shit, it wasn’t like he’d asked her down to the basement with the goal of seducing her. They had been getting along with each other for a while and he just wanted to have some fun for the night.
Okay yeah, he’d picked up the condoms at the store, but that was just an instinctive male response. He was alone with an attractive and available woman. To the little brain in his pants that meant there was “some” chance he might get sex. Didn’t matter if it was .05% or not. So he had prepared for the vaguest of possibilities, not really thinking he’d get to use them.
That damn snowball fight put the ideal of kissing her in his head, and he hadn’t been able to shake it. It all bubbled up with all that dancing. His ploy to make her uncomfortable had ended with him being tortured. He could distract himself well enough during the day by focusing on his work, but at night he was left with a hard cock and a tired wrist. Lately he’d switched it up, and if this kept up much longer both hands would be useless.
So yeah, he was left feeling grumpy and figured laying eyes on her would make everything worse. Just like today, a couple of hours after skirting around each other at dinnertime he found himself back in his office gazing out the window. Snow had fell leisurely to the ground much of the day, but now it was coming down in sleets. The wind picking up so much the windows rattled. Startled by a streak of lightning, he stepped back. That was rare to see during a snowstorm. It struck again, then the lights went out.
“Well shit.”
Damond stood up, the glow from his laptop helping as he went to the bookcase for the flashlight stored there. He could already here Janae’s footsteps scrambling above. Less than thirty seconds after the lights winked out he heard her coming down and calling his name. Sighing and wishing he had a drink he went into the hall, meeting her at the bottom of the steps.
“I’m right here Janae.”
“Thank God. Did you see that lightning? I can’t believe the lights went out, this is creepy.”
She was rambling and Damond was surprised to see her so freaked out over a little power outage.
“Relax Professor, I’m sure the lights will be back soon.”
“How do you know?”
Janae hated the panicky sound creeping into her voice, but she absolutely hated the thought of being in the dark while here. Once night hit in these woods it was pitch black, now with the lights out it was suffocating. Lifting the battery-operated lantern she had found in the corner upstairs, she moved into the living room.
“Because they went out the first week I was here,” Damond answered her question trailing behind her.
“How long did they stay out?”
“I don’t know, it was right when I was taking my nap. All I know is that they were back on when I woke up two hours later.”
“Great, so you have no clue. It could have been the generator kicking on for all you know. You sleep like the dead.”
Damond shrugged. “I guess.”
“Speaking of, why hasn’t the generator come on? When I was looking into this place it said it had a generator for times just like this.”
“Yeah there’s one, on the side of the garage.”
“Why hasn’t it popped on?” Janae persisted.
“Have some patience, it’s only been a few minutes.”
“No, it’s been closer to five minutes, generators are supposed to come on almost immediately.”
“You know this because you have one at your house?”
“No... that’s just the way it works. It’s the whole point of having them! So you don’t go prolonged periods of time without electricity.”
“I don’t consider five minutes to be that prolonged.” Damond said dryly, only to have her whip around and glare at him.
“This isn’t funny. You should go check on it.”
Crossing his arms he let the beam from his flashlight glint against the wall.
“I’m not laughing. Let me get this straight, you want me to go outside in over a foot of snow, to check on something you barely gave five minutes to work? Plus, the lights might come back on their own soon.”
“Maybe, or maybe they don’t for hours. I don’t want to wait that long.” Janae walked forward touching his arm. “Please, will you go see if you can get the generator working?”
Fuck, Damond felt mentally pushed into a corner. Did he ignore the pleading in her big eyes and become the biggest jackass in history, or did he become the biggest fool by trekking outside in the cold, snow and wind? All because she was afraid of the dark. Nature wasn’t fair, some primal mechanism made men susceptible to big eyes and big asses. Both of which always spelled trouble.
“I’ll go take a look. Let me get my gear on.”
“Thank you!”
When he filed out to the hall she was right on his heels. He ignored her, putting on his parka, hat and struggling into his boots. Opening the door the wind hit him hard. Damond glared at her, only getting a tepid smile in return.
“I really appreciate this.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He took his flashlight and headed out.
He had only gone a few steps before he was cursing under his breath. The wind whipping against his face felt like little needles. Picking up the pace as much as he could in the tall snow, Damond reached the side of the garage where the generator was housed.
Even before he shined his light on it, he definitely didn’t hear it doing anything. Great, now to figure out why. Bending down he dug and brushed the snow from the small space separating the machine from the house. Once he got down far enough he saw the gen-cord wasn’t attached to the transfer switch. He got a little pissed, and put it on the list of things to complain about to that horrible property manager Amanda. They were supposed to do basic stocking and a full check of the house anytime there was a reservation. Though he supposed it could have been knocked loose somehow, either way it wasn’t hooked up.
Reaching out to rectify this he paused, drawing his hand back. Janae had been all but on his ass trying to be close to him with the lights off. If they stayed that way there was a good chance she would be forced to spend time with him. He didn’t know if he wanted to do this to needle her a little bit, or because he wanted a chance to pick up where they’d left off. The little devil on his shoulder whispered it was probably both. It certainly wasn’t the gentlemanly thing to do, but a case of simmering lust could make a man act out of character. Standing, he started walking back to the house, telling himself he wasn’t being that much of prick. Technically the lights could pop back on at any moment.
*
LOCKING THE DOOR AFTER it closed, Janae’s imagination would give Damond’s books a run for their money right now. Because she was thinking a murderer who not only was a psycho but also a racist, had picked their cabin in particular for tonight’s kill. They had disabled the generator to have more time to stalk and terrorize the victims of the house. She had zero logical reason to think any of this, but she 100% did.
While those “cozy” thoughts ran in her head she went around the house and found some candles that she had noticed before. Lighting one for the kitchen and placing two in the living room. If memory served there were more of the lanterns in the basement but there was no way she was going down there alone. She did tiptoe to her bedroom and get the pepper-spray from her keychain just to be on the safe side.
It seemed like it took forever before the front door creaking open startled her to her feet. As she hurried to the hallway, all she could hear was Damond cursing and stomping the snow off his boots. What she wanted to hear was the whirl of a machine working or bright light stinging her eyes.
“What’s wrong with it? You couldn’t get it to work?”
“Uh no, and I’m not sure why.” He preempted.
“Darn it, what do you mean? Was it broke?”
“Look lady, I don’t know. I’m a writer not a handyman. It’s dark as shit out there. From what I could see there was nothing wrong with it, it just isn’t working.”
“Well take me to it. Maybe I can figure it out.”
“You’re certifiable if you think I’m about to go out there again. It’s still storming if you haven’t noticed. Feel free to go by your lonesome.”
“I just don’t like being in this dark.”
She sounded so dejected he almost felt bad for her. “I see you found some candles, so we’re not in the dark. Let’s get a snack, it’ll take your mind off everything.”
“Doubtful, but okay.”
Janae sat on a stool in the kitchen, her lantern adding more light to the room, while Damond rummaged around.
“The Keurig probably still has hot water, you want some tea or hot chocolate?”
“I want some lights,” she said peevishly.
“Well that’s not an option. And since you waited too long I’ll pick for you, coco it is.” Damond decided getting two cups ready as he got the mix down.
“I want marshmallows then.”
“What did you say? Stop mumbling. I’m sure you don’t encourage that in your class.”
“You can be so annoying!” She snapped. “Did you hear that?”
Janae jumped up getting the marshmallows herself, popping a few in each cup right before he added the water straight from the still hot tank. While he finished getting those ready, she opened her unofficial junk food cabinet. Grabbing a half-eaten bag of Oreo cookies.
“Grab my flashlight will you, my hands are full,” Damond asked her. “Let’s go into the living room.”