Chapter Three

 

 

Sebastian paced the length of the cabin as he kept his eyes glued to the window that overlooked the driveway. Not the first hint of a headlight coming in his direction. He glanced at his watch. Rory’s baby brother, from everything they could gather, had left the airport over an hour ago. He should have been there by now.

He wasn’t there.

His phone starting chirping again. Yanking it up, he answered, “Tell me something, Rory. Have you been able to get him on the line? What’s up?” He raked his hand through his hair and walked over to stand directly in front of the window. Nothing. Rory’s brother was stranded out in that snow.

“Nothing, Seb. All he has is a regular cell phone and you know that shit isn’t going to work in a snowstorm like what you guys are experiencing there. Fuck! Where did this storm come from? I knew there was supposed to be snow, but nothing like this,” Rory roared into the phone. “I’ve fucking sent him out there to freeze to death, Seb. The kid’s already in the dumps because of the whole ex-girlfriend shit. What am I gonna do? What can I do? Tell me how to make this better, Seb,” Rory demanded into the phone.

Seb could hear Rory’s desperation. He understood it completely. If that was his family out on that road, he’d be raging right about now. Hell, Rory was like his family…which made this unknown kid somebody he had to protect.

He’d just started pacing again when he heard someone whispering something to Rory on the other end of the phone. Whatever those whispered words were caused Rory to start cussing all crazy. Yeah, Rory’s anxiety level just inched up another notch.

“What is it, Rory? What did they say?” he asked.

“Riley finally got somebody at the car rental place to answer the fucking phone. Mackenzie’s in a small hybrid car that will drive like fuck in a snowstorm, Seb” Rory took a shaky breath. “He’s in trouble. He’s in fucking trouble, Seb. You’ve got to help him!”

“Don’t worry, Rory. You know I’ll get to him. I’ll call you back as soon as I have him at the cabin. You guys stay safe where you are and wait on my call. I promise I won’t let anything happen to your kid brother,” Sebastian said as he started gathering his warmest gear. He whistled for his dog, Valentine, and she came running around the corner, excited to be doing something.

A few minutes later, he had hung up from Rory, geared his body up for the snowstorm, and he and Valentine were walking out of the cabin. As he started his ATV and pulled down the driveway, he told himself that everything was going to be fine. He would find Mackenzie safely inside his rental car, cold and pissed, but perfectly safe. He’d make fun of the kid, they’d laugh about it, and they would both be back in the cabin, safe and sound, before the next hour passed. All would be good.

All was not good.

If Valentine hadn’t have been riding gunshot on the ATV, Seb would have never seen Mackenzie. He would have driven straight past the kid, leaving him to freeze to death in the snow. They hadn’t driven a full mile before Valentine had started barking like crazy, jumped off the ATV, and disappeared down an embankment. He’d been furious with her to begin with, but when he’d peered over the edge and saw what had her in frenzy, Seb’s heart had literally stopped beating. He could tell it was a body.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

He scrambled down the embankment and fell down onto the snow next to Valentine. Holy, shit, please don’t let this end the way he was afraid it was going to. The kid was propped up against a tree and looked to be sleeping peacefully. Sleeping in the snow – not good. Not good, at all. Bad.

Hell, he didn’t even know if the guy was Mackenzie Blanchard or not...he just knew he was the most gorgeous creature he’d ever laid eyes on. Pale flesh stood out starkly in the darkness of the night. Brown hair was plastered down by snow. The longest eyelashes he’d ever seen in his life rested peacefully against that pale skin. Sebastian’s heart skidded to a stop, hung there, and then started thundering wildly.

He reached his gloved hand out and touched the man’s cheek. “Mackenzie! Hey, kid, wake up for me! Come on, Sweets, wake up.” It had to be Mackenzie. He looked just like Rory…only cuter…cuddlier. Fucking sexier.

“Sleepy,” Mackenzie muttered with a frown and a flutter of those sexy eyelashes.

Again, Sebastian’s heart went wild. “Oh, no, Sweets,” Seb argued. “No sleepy out in the snowy. That’s some dangerous shit.” Seb couldn’t believe the happy dance his entire body was doing. He loved Rory, was thankful he was going to be able to get his friend’s kid brother to safety, but the shit going on inside of him had absolutely nothing to do with friendship…and everything to do with a nasty case of full-blown lust.

Mackenzie muttered something else but Seb couldn’t make it out with the wind howling and Valentine barking in his ear. He eyed Mackenzie’s propped-up body and decided the object of his latest obsession was almost his size and looked like he was stacked with nothing but pure muscle. It was a good fucking thing that his MMA training kept him in prime physical shape. Lugging this hot piece of lusciousness back up that embankment and onto his ATV wasn’t going to be a simple task.

“Come on, Sweets,” he urged as he tried to tempt Mackenzie into helping him in some way other than the ‘playing dead’ option he was currently going with. “I could use some help here. Wakey, wakey,” he pleaded. “Open those pretty eyes for me. Are they green like Rory’s eyes? Come on, let me see em!”

Nothing. Not even a flutter of those sexy eyelashes. Well, shit. Looked like he was going to be doing the heavy lifting all by himself…and if he touched Rory’s baby, straight brother inappropriately in the process? That would all be on Mackenzie. He could have forced those gorgeous eyes open if he was interested in protecting his virtue.

Thirty minutes later, Sebastian was seriously exhausted and more than a little worried. They’d been inside the cabin for about ten minutes and Mackenzie was awake, but not really fully alert. How long had he been in the cold? Why had the fool even gotten out of the car and tried to walk? What the hell had he been thinking?

He had called Rory to let him know they were in the cabin, had the fire blazing in the giant fireplace, and had converted the sleeper sofa into a bed. He figured right in front of the fireplace was the best damned place for Mackenzie to be. At the moment, the poor guy was sitting in the floor, shivering and staring off into space. His wet clothes clung to his body, making his discomfort even worse, Sebastian was positive.

“Hey, Sweets! I think I told you to walk around the cabin while I got the fire stoked. You need to be moving about to get the blood flowing again.”

Green eyes flashed in his direction. “Fuck off,” he said weakly. “Who in the hell are you, anyway?”

His fantasy boy was much cuter when his sexy lips were closed. Maybe he should put something in that pretty mouth to keep the bad words from slipping out?

“I’m Sebastian, rescuer of little boys who don’t know when to keep their asses inside cars instead of walking in six inches of fucking snow. I’m also the same guy that lugged your muscled ass up an embankment and inside this cabin, so ease back on the shit, okay? I’m tired and not at all in the mood.” Oh, he was in the mood for something…

“No, seriously, fuck you, man. No need to be an asshole about it. I waited in the car for over thirty minutes. How was I supposed to know that my knight in shining armor was going to take all fucking night before he decided to rescue me?” Mackenzie struggled to his feet and shook his head, sending a spray of water in Sebastian’s direction. “Oh, another thing – I’m straight so stop looking at me like that.”

Oops. Nothing like getting caught eye-fucking your friend’s kid brother. Well, if said kid brother was having a problem with how he was looking at him then he was going to have a very serious problem with what he was about to do next!

“Yeah, yeah, you’re straight,” he muttered. “Just my luck, right? I have to go and get snowed in with the only straight guy that was supposed to be at the cabin this week. Yay for me!” He crossed his arms over his chest and added, “Now…take your clothes off, Sweet Tart.” Yeah, he added the tart to his Sweets endearment after the first “Fuck you” pretty boy had muttered at him when he had been dragging him up the embankment.

Mackenzie’s emerald eyes widened in shock before narrowing into a glare that he sent straight at Sebastian. “Open your eyes, man. I’m all muscle and not afraid to use it. Whatever the hell you think you’re going to make me do, you’d best think again.” Mackenzie would have sounded a lot more badass if his teeth hadn’t been chattering.

Just for shits and giggles, Sebastian reached for the hem of his thick sweater and pulled it over his head, exposing his bare chest to the shivering Sweet Tart. Rory’s kid brother was stacked with muscle, that was for sure, but so was he. His mind, pervert that it was, went straight to a wicked vision of them, two alpha males, going at it – winner take fucking all. He smiled. “Take. Your. Clothes. Off.” He took a step in Mackenzie’s direction and grinned even bigger when the kid took a step back. From the way straight Sweet Tart’s chest was pounding, he was excited about something.

“W-why? I’m serious, man. Back your shit down. I’m fucking cold and not in the mood for your gay man-games. I’m cool with it. Being gay is fine. Rory’s my brother, so you know I’m okay with it but you are really creeping me out right now. Really…like a lot of creepiness is coming out of you.”

Sebastian threw back his head and laughed. “Aww, Sweet Tart, you are a prize. I’d have some fun with you that much is for certain.” He took another step in Mackenzie’s direction but this time the guy stood his ground. “But while fucking you sounds like it would be at the tip-top of my most-enjoyable-things-list, I really wanted you to get those wet clothes off your body so that we can start trying to get your body temperature regulated back to something on the living scale instead of the Zombie scale you’re teetering on right now.” Another step. “After we get you all warmed up, we can negotiate that whole fucking thing…if you’re still interested, of course.”

 

****

 

“I’m…I’m not interested!” Mackenzie sputtered in outrage. “You were the one hitting on me, not the other way around.” Mackenzie told himself that if he kept chanting that lie over and over inside his head, he just might start believing it. The alpha dude standing in front of him made his man-parts want to unthaw pretty damned fast. What the fuck? He wasn’t attracted to men.

Was he? Never had been. Shit, what about that night with Trystan and Jessie? No, he hadn’t been attracted to Trystan – just curious. He was pretty damned sure he was attracted to the guy standing in front of him now, demanding that he get naked.

“Trust me, Sweet Tart, when I hit on you, you’ll know it. None of that straight boy nonsense that you’re used to playing with your girlfriends.” He grinned. “Now, let’s get those clothes off.” Sebastian took a couple of steps back, sat down on one of the recliners, and started taking his boots and socks off. A polite man would have turned his back to offer a bit of privacy, but Mackenzie was beginning to learn that Sebastian might be a lot of things, but polite wasn’t going to be anywhere on the list. The bastard sat there, watching his every move, chuckling softly because he could see that Mackenzie’s frozen hands weren’t following the signals his brain was sending. He was so fucking cold and those buttons were so fucking small. There was no way he was going to be able to undress himself but he’d be damned if he let Sebastian touch him. The way his body was responding to Sebastian had him more than a little alarmed. There was something about the guy that made Mackenzie notice things he didn’t normally notice. Well, like his dick – the one that was barely hidden inside the skimpy underwear Sebastian had stripped down to. He shouldn’t be noticing Sebastian’s dick. Should he? The question of the moment vanished when he saw Sebastian toss his clothes aside and start in his direction, a determined look on his face.

Mackenzie held up a hand to stop Sebastian’s attack. “What the fuck, man? Why are you getting naked? I’m the one freezing to death.” Yep, his teeth were still chattering and he couldn’t make his fingers cooperate enough to get his fucking clothes off his ice-cold body. He was starting to feel dizzy. On top of that shit, visions of Sebastian’s dick were dancing around in his frozen brain.

“It’s called body heat, Sweet Tart. I’ve got it and you need it. Simple,” Sebastian said as he closed the distance between them and started pulling Mackenzie’s clothes off, quickly and efficiently. Sure, he had to swat hands away every few minutes, but since Mackenzie was so cold, his efforts to keep Sebastian’s hands off of him were almost comical.

“Stop trying to touch me!” Seb teased as Mackenzie tried to grab his hands when he went to unzip the soaking jeans. “Jeezus, Sweet Tart! When was the last time you got you some? I usually like a guy to buy me a meal before I let him grope me.” He leaned in closer and whispered, “But since you’re Rory’s brother, I might be convinced to make an exception in your case.”

Mackenzie dropped his hands to his sides in defeat and started laughing. “Dude, you are crazy.” He raised his eyes and looked at his rescuer…really looked into his eyes for the first time. They were a crazy blue – a pale blue that matched the eyes of the dog that was lounging in front of the fire, watching the two of them like they were the most entertaining creatures in the universe. High cheekbones. Chiseled jawline. A cute nose that had probably been broken sometime in the recent past. Oh, and the sexiest puffy lips he’d ever seen on a man. He dropped his eyes, suddenly embarrassed at the path his mind was taking. He yelped in surprise when his pants and underwear were suddenly yanked down to his knees, past his shins, and then, when he was certain he couldn’t have been humiliated any more, he found himself lifted off the floor and thrown over the Sebastian’s back.

Mackenzie realized he was not a small man. He also just realized that Rory’s friend was larger than him…and that that realization made his stomach make a funny tumble.

His ass hit the bed with the same lack of warning as when he’d been thrown over a muscled shoulder and before he could get his bearings straight, his pants and underwear made the final journey past his ankles and feet. They landed with a loud thud that sounded a lot like the door to a certain part of his life slamming shut. Mackenzie didn’t have a clue what was about to happen, he just suddenly knew that he wanted something to happen.

“Move it, Sweet Tart!” Sebastian ordered. “Climb that pert ass of yours to the center of the bed and get under the blankets. I’m gonna hit the lights and then give you my man…heat.” He winked. “You know, to warm that chilly body of yours up.”

Mackenzie’s face was burning with both embarrassment and excitement as he climbed toward the pillows and then hid himself under the blankets. The lights flickered off and he heard his rescuer shuffling back across the floor toward him. There was a sound of some clothes moving and then he felt the blankets being lifted up. He opened his mouth to finally say thanks for saving his ass, but when an incredibly warm and fucking hard body made contact with his – all coherent thought flew straight out of his brain and escaped the cabin through the chimney, leaving him all alone with nothing more than his physical needs. A thick muscled arm wrapped around his waist and dragged him close—no, smack-ass up against—Sebastian’s fucking hard…everything. For the briefest of seconds, Mackenzie allowed himself the luxury of just feeling all that hardness lined up against his. Hot breath tickled his neck, letting him know that Sebastian’s lips were mere inches from one of the most sensitive spots on his body. Bulging pecs were pushed against his backbone. He could feel every abdominal muscle of Sebastian’s six pack against his lower back. Most of all, he could feel about eight inches of dick, all hard and hot, resting not-so-innocently against the curve of his ass.

He didn’t feel a hint of repulsion. He felt fucking hot and itchy…all over.

“And what happened to your underwear, Sebastian?” he asked quietly.

Sebastian chuckled. “Underwear went AWOL, Sweet Tart. You gonna be okay with that?”

Mackenzie took a deep breath and then answered, “Underwear’s way overrated.” He took another breath and clamped his teeth together to keep them from chattering. After a few seconds, he asked, “Why do you call me Sweet Tart? That’s kinda cutsie and girlish…I don’t think that’s me.”

Sebastian laughed again. “Yeah, I started out calling you Sweets but then you opened that sassy mouth and I knew I needed to add tart to the sweets.” He snuggled even closer to Mackenzie’s cold body. “And trust me, Sweet Tart, I don’t think you look girlish…at all. Not even a little.”

“Good,” Mackenzie whispered. He wanted something but he wasn’t sure what, or if he wanted to want it. Hell, what was wrong with him? Had his brain completely frozen sometime during that first and second mile?

He thought back to the threesome he’d shared with Jessie and Trystan. He hadn’t wanted to touch Trystan, not one bit. Right now, he wanted to touch Sebastian everywhere – even more than he wanted the fire to be blazing…and he was fucking cold.

He started to turn over to face Sebastian, but the man stopped him with an even tighter grip. “Nope,” Sebastian whispered. “Not tonight, Sweet Tart. You’ve nearly frozen to death and I can’t be sure your brain isn’t scrambled up or frozen solid. No important decisions can be made tonight.” He tucked some of Mackenzie’s hair behind his ear. “I’ll still be here in the morning if you’re still interested. Or inquisitive. Whatever the hell it is you’re feeling at the moment.”

Sebastian was right about that – Mackenzie didn’t know what he was feeling. Hell, he’d never felt anything like it before. He and Jessie had been lucky enough to have a straight-up solid sex life. They’d done it twice a week, like clockwork. They’d tried different positions and some toys. Both of them had been adventurous in the bedroom. They had laughed and talked dirty. She had been his best friend.

Oh fuck…

That’s all she had been. He was lying to himself about the sex part. Yes, it had been straight-up solid, but mostly he’d hit the nail on the head when he’d described it as clockwork. They’d both done it because it had been expected of them. Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Jessie had been on to something with that whole threesome fiasco, it had just taken him longer to stumble upon the truth. His Jessie was getting married tomorrow – Valentine’s Day. For the first time since they’d broken up, he was happy for her.

He was a total idiot. Never one time with Jessie had he gotten as physically excited as he was at the moment, with Sebastian’s hard dick pressed up against his ass. His pulse was going crazy. Holy fuck, he had to know what that would feel like inside of him.

“We could just experiment…”

“Nope,” Sebastian interrupted. “Not going to happen, Sweet Tart. Don’t make this any more uncomfortable than it already it. Like I said, if you’re still interested in the morning, I’ll be all on board with that shit. Not tonight, though. Doesn’t feel right.” This time he kissed that sensitive spot at the base of Mackenzie’s neck. “Nite, nite, Sweet Tart.”

Mackenzie gritted his teeth in frustration. What if he wasn’t still brave with the early morning light? He wanted to experiment now! No, that was a lie. It wasn’t just experimenting. He wanted Sebastian – only Sebastian.