ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (4 page)

“I really like you,” George said. How many people came through here? How many women did he teach that also responded to him the way I did?

“I don’t know… I’m going to be gone again in a week and a new student will take my place. You hardly know me, anyway.”

“That doesn’t matter. Do you believe in love at first sight?”

I thought about it. I guessed I did, but it wasn’t something that happened to someone like me. It was the fabric of dreams.

“I guess I would if it ever happened to me. Do you?”

He nodded. “You know how it is when you look for someone, and every face you see, even if it is beautiful, is not the right one? Say you’re waiting for someone at the airport. A lot of people arrive, but none of them is the right one. Until the person you expected comes through the door, and then you can relax.”

I nodded.

“Well, that’s how it feels with you.”

I shook my head. “You can’t tell me this is love at first sight. You don’t even know me.” The alcohol huddled around my brain like a fog, and I was struggling to process what he was saying. It was really sweet but I was unsure. Everything was slightly off its axis.

“That’s why it’s called ‘at first sight’,” he said but he wasn’t mocking me.

I distanced myself from George, not because I wasn’t attracted to him, but because I didn’t know what I was feeling.

Toward the end of the night, when we were about to leave, George took my hand. My three friends walked ahead of me.

“I don’t know what to make of you,” I said, honestly. Alcohol did that to me. “You’re amazing and it’s so nice being with you. But there’s something about you…” my sentence trailed off because I struggled to form the rest of it. But George didn’t intend on letting me finish. He pulled into me again. The kiss was electric, just like before, and my body melted into his. If he took away right now, I wasn’t sure if I would say no.

I pulled away, breaking the kiss again.

“You’re right about me,” he said, looking down at his hands. “And you’re right about not knowing you. Sometimes you need to know more about someone. There’s a side of me not a lot of people know. Do you believe in magic?”

If what had happened between us tonight was magic, then yes, I definitely believed in it. I nodded.

He looked around the room, anywhere but at me. Until now he’d been open, always making eye contact. It was strange seeing him closed off. He looked around and found a napkin. On it he scribbled something and pushed it into my hands.

“If you’re still interested after this…” his sentence didn’t finish. “I’ll understand though.” He let my hand go, and I walked away. My friends waited at the door. I crumpled the napkin in my hand and kept it in a tight ball until I locked my bedroom door.

When I opened it up, smoothing out the creases, the words jumped out at me.

“You’re like an angel that fell from the sky, and I’m cursed to live with two faces. If you can fall in love with the one, maybe you can find the grace to accept the other. Fairy tales aren’t always just fairy tales. I’m a werewolf.”

Chapter 2

I woke up unable to move. My muscles were so stiff I could have been made out of concrete. My head thundered with a hangover and the sunlight that fell in through the window hurt my eyes. I groaned and rolled out of bed.

“You look like hell,” Ella said to me when I walked into the kitchen. She was making a greasy breakfast.

“That looks amazing,” I said. Grease was just what my stomach needed.

“How’s your head?’ I asked her.

“Pounding,” she answered. “But I think I drank less than you. I didn’t have blue eyes to get lost in.”

I rolled my eyes.

“So, are you going to follow this one through?” she asked.

“No.” I thought back to the napkin that I’d shoved into the waste basket. “He’s childish and ridiculous. Who needs man like that?”

“Who needs a man like what?” Ashleigh asked, shuffling into the room. She groaned when she lowered herself onto a chair. “I think I’m going to die.”

“Anna thinks George is just a child. But what does it matter what he’s like if he’s good in bed?”

“Ella!” I cried out. She shrugged.

“I’m just saying. After the week you’ll be gone again. There’s nothing wrong with having some fun. A wild mystery man might be just what you need.”

Wild. Mystery. Huh.

She put a plate in front of me with eggs and bacon. Another plate landed on the table with toast, and she handed us mugs with steaming coffee as well.

“You should be hung over more often,” I said, sipping the scalding liquid. “You’ve never served me food before.”

“I was up early,” she said.

Kate came out of the room. “I smell bacon.”

“Sit, Ella’s serving,” I said. Ella threw a dishcloth at me and I nearly spilled my coffee.

“We have another lesson in an hour,” Ella said, glancing at her wrist watch.

“I might just die,” I said.

“George will be there to resuscitate you,” Kate said with shimmering eyes.

I groaned.

We met George on the slope. We’d taken care of our skis now that we knew how, and he joined us after we were geared up and ready.

My muscles were unhappy, they always felt worse after a night of drinking, but it was much easier this time, and I didn’t fall nearly as often as the two days before. I actually enjoyed it. Id’ also remembered to apply sun block. In a winter wonderland where the temperature was somewhere around twenty degrees the smell of sun block was out of place.

George paid special attention to me, and I did what he told me. He was the instructor, and he knew what he was talking about, after all. But other than that I ignored him. I made eye contact only when I had to, and I tried to get up every time I fell before he could come over and touch me. After a while he got the hint and focused more on Kate.

Good. She could have him. I wasn’t going to spend time with someone that treated me like I was an idiot, writing corny poetry that had a crappy ending.

After we finished, George called me and beckoned me over. I hesitated. I didn’t really want to talk to him. When he beckoned again, I gave in. His blue eyes followed me as I skied closer to him. They were unguarded and blue like the sky. I had to force myself to look away. He really was handsome, and I wanted to stare at him. His eyes held the same kind of regard as they did yesterday.

“I take it you’re angry,” he said. “I’m sorry you feel that way.”

“You’re sorry?” I asked in a calm voice. Point for me. “Is this your idea of a joke?”

He shook his head. “I’m the last person in the world that thinks this is funny,” he said. His face was serious and his eyes changed to a lighter, harder blue.

“Well, I’m not into games,” I said. My words were clipped.

“I was telling you the truth, though,” he said. “Even if you don’t believe me. This isn’t exactly the way I use to get girls, you know. I wouldn’t just make an ass of myself for no reason.”

I was getting angrier. My blood became hot under my skin and I was suddenly sweating in my warm clothes.

“I don’t have time for this. I’m here to have fun, not to spend time with crazies.”

He looked wounded. “I’m not crazy,” he said. It was like me thinking that of him was really a problem.

“So then prove it,” I said, and crossed my arms over my chest. There wasn’t a lot he could do to get out of that one. He wouldn’t be able to prove it and I would win.

“I don’t think—“

“I thought so,” I said.

His eyes flashed white, and a ripple traveled across his skin. He glanced around us, like he was checking for someone watching. Then he looked me dead in the eye. His eyes suddenly changed into a deadly yellow, the whites around his irises melting into the venomous color. His pupils became a liquid black that grew until it ate up his irises, and only the black was left. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. He had me under some sort of spell. He was suddenly in my mind, I could feel him inside of me, moving around, flipping through my mind like it was a book.

“Seeing is believing, isn’t it sweetheart?” I heard his voice, but it wasn’t coming out of his mouth. It was inside my head, rolling around like an echo. His eyes drew me, and I stepped closer to him, reaching out my hand to touch his face. It was like a magnet, and I couldn’t stop myself even if I wanted to. But suddenly I didn’t want to. My fingers touched his skin and it was ice cold to the touch. I pulled them away and rubbed my fingers, half-expecting them to come away wet. Like when you touched ice.

But there was no water on my fingers. My eyes traveled down from George’s eyes, like they were being pushed down, and my gaze landed on his lips. They were soft lips, full but not too much. Perfect for a man. I remembered the night before, the feel of his lips on mine, and I craved it again. I touched his lips with the tips of my fingers. His smell was in my nose, wrapping around me like fleece. I couldn’t breathe without his smell filling my body. I rested my hands on his chest, felt it moving with his breathing, and planted my lips on his.

He kissed me back, sliding his tongue across my lips, and I opened my mouth, letting him in. He was in my mind already, he could be in my body too. My body ignited again like it had the night before, and I felt stuffy in my clothes. Getting rid of it would be a great idea.

Suddenly the spell was broken, and I snapped out of it. I was alone in my mind again, and George was in front of me, a separate person. I looked up at his eyes, and they were hard and cold like ice again.

An icy finger drew down my spine. My breath suddenly came in heavy gasps, rushing in and out of my lungs with a burn.

“What the hell?” I said. “You were in my mind. I felt you!”

George nodded slowly.

“Is that how you get your girls, make them want to sleep with you? I don’t even get a say in this?”

He shook his head. “I don’t have kind of power over people. I can read minds, yes, and draw your attention to something specific you’re thinking or feeling. But I can’t control what that is. Your attraction to me, your… lust. That was all you. I could feel it.”

I snatched my hands back, away from him and took a step back, stumbling over the skis I’d forgotten I was wearing.

“Don’t ever come near me again,” I hissed, turning around awkwardly and skiing away.

“What was that all about?” Kate asked.

“I told him I never want to see him again,” I said. I was angry, and Kate could tell.

“You told him that with a kiss?”

“Don’t even ask me about that right now,” I said. I felt out of breath, suddenly, and I yanked the skis off my feet. “Ella, get me another instructor. I don’t want that guy near me ever again.”

“But what—“

“Please, Ella,” I said, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath to try and clam myself down. “Just do it? I’m here to have fun, and that—“ I pointed to where George had been standing. “That is the exact opposite of fun.”

All three girls stared at me like I was crazy, but I ignored them and stomped back to the desk where I was supposed to hand my skis in again. I left for the hotel, not bothering to wait for my friends.

Because the fact was that I was terrified about what had just happened. And I was angry at him for being what he was. What did he look like when he changed completely? I suddenly wondered. But I shook my head.

I was angry at myself, too, for feeling that way about him. Because he’d been right. All of that attraction and lust, that had been me. It still was, I could feel it swirl in my stomach and make my body hot and wild.

“Thanks for waiting,” Kate sneered when they got back to the room half an hour after me.

“I just had to get away, okay?” I didn’t need my friends to hassle me about it. It wasn’t like I could explain it to them anyway.

“What happened?”

I shrugged. “I just don’t like him.” That was a lie, but I didn’t
want
to like him, so it was close enough.

Kate nodded. “Fair enough. But we’re going to the slopes again this afternoon. You’ll come, won’t you?”

“Is he going to be the instructor?”

“We had to book in advance because these guys are busy,” Ella chipped in. “So yes, we can’t just change it half-way through.”

“Then no,” I said.

“Don’t be a bitch about this,” Ash said. “We’re all here to have fun and you’re being a total stick in the mud.”

I took a deep breath and blew it out again. “Fine,” I finally said. “I’ll do it.”

I didn’t really have to say anything to him, did I? He was just a ski instructor.

“Great,” Kate said and hugged me. It was so easy to keep my friends happy. And they were right, I was being a bitch about it. “First we’re going to eat and then we’re going to head into town. I want to get some souvenirs.”

After lunch we phoned car and piled in. We headed to Whitefish itself, a town about four miles from the resort. It was like a town from a story, with downtown consisting of small stores and pick-up trucks scattered around against the backdrop of The Big Mountain. We walked from one shop to the next, sifting through winter clothes and fishing tackle. Kate bought a handful of fridge magnets and Ella bought Mike a fishing rod that we would have to fit on the plane somehow.

“This is so nice,” I said. The escape had lifted my spirits again and the sun made an attempt at warming up the day despite the icy wind that blew every now and then. I had been childish about the whole thing with George. Everyone had flaws, reasons why I could or couldn’t date them. His little quirk was just something like that. The more I kept telling myself that, the better I felt.

By the time we got back to the hotel room to get dressed for our afternoon session, I was in a good mood and ready to take on the mountain again. I zipped up a bright green jacket and white pants to go with it, and pulled a hat over my ears. It was getting colder, and I didn’t care about looking sexy anymore. There wasn’t anyone I wanted to dress up for, anyway. And if George thought I was unattractive, well, all the better.

“Ladies,” George greeted us while we were getting into our skis. Kate and Ella greeted him back but I ignored him. I had nothing to say to him unless it was a question about skiing, in which case he owed me because we were paying him for this.

“We’re going up the slope today,” George said. We had been working on mastering not-falling-over until now. Excitement rippled through our little group and we made our way to a chairlift.

Riding it up the mountain was an activity in its own right. It was beautiful. The air was clear and I could see for miles, the pine slopes of the mountain and the water in the distance that shimmered in the sun. The other girls chattered and George pointed out landmarks but I was getting happily lost in my own world. I wondered what it would be like in those woods, surrounded by nature only, the race of civilization untouchable. 

We finally reached the top of the beginner sloped and slid off the chair lift one by one. We lined up and I listened to George for a change as he explained what we had to do.

“One rule,” George said. “Never come here without an instructor. Not this week.”

The girls nodded but I rolled my eyes. What were we going to do that an instructor had to keep watch over? It wasn’t like we were kids that would look for trouble.

Kate went first and she did it perfectly. Obviously. Ella was next who looked like a chicken with her legs wide open and her elbows out. Ashleigh looked okay except for the fact that she fell face-first into the snow. When it was my turn George checked my skis for me.

“I’m glad you decided to still come this afternoon,” he said.

“I didn’t want to waste our money. Besides, it won’t be fair to the girls if I just stayed away.”

He nodded and I hoped he got the hint that none of this was for him.

“You’re good to go,” he said. Now remember—“

“I know,” I interrupted him. I wanted to cut the one-on-one time with him as short as possible.

I pushed off, nearly lost my balance, but managed to fix it and I slid down the slope. I went from side to side in hair pin turns so I wouldn’t go too fast. The other three girls cheered me on at the bottom.

“That was amazing!” I cried out when I got to the bottom.

“We have to go out for cocktails again tonight to celebrate this,” Ashleigh said. My hangover was a thing of the past and we all agreed. We would suffer again in the morning, but that was the thing about alcohol. You always went back for more.

“Even when some of us fell on our faces,” Ella quipped and Ashleigh shoved her into the snow. We went a couple of times more, and every time it was easier and more fun. By the time the sun was setting we’d all picked up our speed quite a bit and no one was falling anymore.

“Let’s get back to the hotel,” Kate said, out of breath. “I’m bushed. And hungry.”

“I want to get to town again,” Ella said.

I shook my head. “I want to go again.”

“We’ll come back tomorrow,” Ash offered. “George already left.” I shook my head.

“One more time, what’s going to happen? I won’t be long.”

They started to protest but I turned my back on them and skied to the chairlift. They didn’t have to wait for me if they didn’t want to, I could make my own way to the hotel and join them for drinks. I just wanted to go down the slope one more time. The sunset was beautiful, casting smudges of orange and pink across the snow as it reflected the light. I wanted to be wrapped in it again.

I took the chairlift and at the top of the slope I straightened myself out and slid down the snow. I went faster this time, looser turns. The wind whipped around me, nipping at my nose and my skin felt numb. This was the fastest I’d gone all day.

Suddenly there was another person in front of me, going really slow. I pushed the back of my skis out and my toes in, to brake, like George had taught us, but I was going way too fast. I was going to collide with him if I didn’t turn out. There was only one way for me to turn with the direction I was going, and I bent my knees and leaned hard to the right.

I missed the man by a hair. I’d been so close I’d seen the whites of his eyeballs. We’d both been sure it was going to be a collision.

The man was safe, but I wasn’t out of danger yet. I was heading for the edge of the slope, the small rise marking the edges lifted me into the air and I was airborne for a moment, trying to move my legs and keeping my balance. I landed okay but I was between the trees now, and still unable to stop, going faster and faster down the slope that was a lot steeper now.

I screamed, leaning from side to side to dodge trees. I managed to miss four, but then a huge pine tree jump up in front of me and I was too late and too inexperienced to do something about. I hit it full on. A sharp ache shot through my body and I saw white and black spots that melted everything in front of me together in a blur. The tree had been enough to hurt me but not to stop my momentum. I crashed through the trees, tumbling into the snow. I lost one ski, and then the other. I hit another tree trunk with my shoulder and it knocked my breath out of me. My body spun and I crashed into a trunk horizontally, with my torso wrapped around the tree. I gasped for breath, acutely aware of the ache in my shoulder and the burn in my lungs. I couldn’t see anything, and my head felt like it was swimming in the pool of black that wrapped itself around me.

And finally dragged me under.

By the time I opened my eyes again, everything was dark. The trees around me were black pillars and I couldn’t even see the sky above me. The night was a bluish-black and I tried to guess what the time was, but I wasn’t used to the length of the days here, and there was no telling how long I’d been out.

When I moved to pick myself up my shoulder hurt badly, and every muscle in my body complained. It wasn’t the same kind of complain as when my muscles were stiff. This was bruising.

I managed to push myself up and out of the snow. I thanked God ski clothes were all waterproof. I was frozen to the bone, but I was dry.

I rubbed my hands together to get some circulation flowing in my fingers, but even inside the gloves they were ice cold. I looked around. I had no idea where I was. I was completely disoriented, all I knew was that the mountain sloped down, so that was the only way I could go and hope to find civilization.

I started walking. A few steps down I found one of my ski poles. It didn’t have a sharp tip like I’d always though before this trip – instead it just ended in a blunt end. But it was a stick I could use to lean on when I needed it, and I could hit something with it at least if I was in danger.

This was a tourist spot and I doubted there were dangerous animals among the trees, but I wanted to be prepared as I could be, lost in the snow after a skiing accident.

In some places the slope was so steep I had to slide down it sitting down. In one place the snow was thicker and the ground further underneath my feet than I thought, and I sank into the snow and fell again.

I didn’t know how much time passed, but after what I guessed was an hour I was about ready to sit down and cry. I sank down on a log that had fallen, and rubbed my arms. I was hungry, and cold, and I wanted to go to the hotel and crawl into bed. Anything would be good enough right now.

Something moved through the trees on my left. Twigs snapped, like something large was weaving toward me.

“Hello?” I called out. There was no answer. The wind picked up and with it came an eerie feeling, like this was the last place I wanted to be alone.

“Is anyone out there?” I asked again. If whoever it was hadn’t answered me yet it was either because he had no intention of saving me. Or it wasn’t a ‘he’ but an ‘it’. I might have been wrong about the animals.

I stood up and held my ski pole in front of me like a sword.

A dark shadow suddenly materialized through the trees, and a moment later a large, white wolf jumped out of the trees. It had big black eyes, rimmed with yellow. The coat was ice white with a gray stripe running along the length its back, but its muzzle drew my attention. I would bet anything it was full of sharp, white teeth, ready to rip my throat out.

We stood frozen like that for a moment. I was ready for it with my ski pole ready to defend myself. I ignored the fear that curdled my blood. It was do or die and there was no way I was going to die.

But then it curled up in the snow, and started moving. It’s skin rippled like something was moving underneath it, and I realized it was the wolf’s bones. It took on a different shape, the bones shifting with a strange sound I’ve never heard before. The fur started retracting, crawling towards the spine, and white skin replaced the hair.

A moment later a man lay curled up in the snow, wearing a coat with fur the same color as the wolf’s had been.

When he looked up at me, those ice blue eyes smiled at me, and he got up. It was George.