True Love
Chapter 21

-My lord, forgive me for interrupting, but you must know that Derek is in agony.

-Did they get out of hand or what? He said rubbing the bridge of his nose.

-Emm… Yes sir. Said the young man with his head down.

-What idiots they all are! I told them clearly not to beat him to death, nobody in this f*****g house listens to me. I have to do everything myself, I’m surrounded by a bunch of useless people. I’m surrounded by a bunch of useless people.

The young man was still standing in front of the door showing respect to his boss, who got up from his chair in a rage. He walked steadily down to the cellar, he would have to take care of the lout who was still alive, or so he hoped.

He reached his open cell, the doctor was dressing his wounds, as Daren had requested every time he was beaten so that he would stay alive and be able to take more blows. But his inept men were thrilled with the task.

-Will he live? he asked with his arms folded.

-Yes sir, but not for long. I don’t think he can take one more blow.

-Damn it! Well Derek, your time has come. He said to the boy who didn’t even move.

Shery hadn’t slept a wink all night listening to noises, and the sound of the wind. It was still cold, but thanks to the sky they still had enough firewood for the whole day. But she didn’t know how long it would last if Ethan didn’t show up with more.

I didn’t know if it was dawn or still dark, only the firelight illuminated the small cabin. Sitting with her back against the door, she felt safe being like this because she could hear everything and also feel if anyone was walking nearby. She thought sleep was overcoming her, she looked at her sister who was sleeping tightly rolled up in a thick blanket. She envied her, she wanted that too but she couldn’t. Suddenly she became alert.

Suddenly she became alert, she had heard something. Like footsteps, she put her ear to the door and they were indeed footsteps. They didn’t sound like wolves, could it be Ethan? She would wait a little longer to be sure.

She stood in front of the door and her heart pounded, that wasn’t a wolf, that was a person. And if he hadn’t knocked on the door yet, it wasn’t Ethan, she thought of her father, there was no way he could have found them. He kept listening, but he couldn’t hear anything. He was just standing there in the doorway.

She was scared, a man could take her down with an axe or something. She remained silent so as not to raise suspicions that someone was inside, although it was difficult since that hut had a small chimney where the smoke was coming out.

-Shery! he heard softly with a gentle knock on the door. That voice.

-Ethan?

-Yes, it’s me. It’s all right, you can open the door.

Even with fear she decided to open the door, it was him, there was no danger outside. When the heavy door opened she noticed that it was not long before dawn, and it had stopped snowing but everything was covered with snowflakes.

It was bitterly cold, penetrating her bones, and unlike Ethan she wore almost no winter clothes, and looked normal as if the cold didn’t affect her at all. That was odd, and there was that curious dog smell again. She always smelled it when he was around, did he have a dog?

-Come with me. He said, holding out his hand.

-No, you’re crazy, there are wolves out there.

-Don’t worry, they are far away.

-How can you know that?

-I just know it. Come on, let’s go.

-But what about my sister?

-She’ll be fine. -With the door closed she’ll be fine. It will only take a few minutes.

She agreed, grabbed an extra blanket from the ground and went outside into the cold, snow-covered ground. Walking in the snow she could sink a few inches, it had been snowing all night. Ethan held her hand as he led her to who knows where.

But she didn’t care since she felt so good with him by her side, well if she confessed she liked that guy, but only a physical taste and nothing more, it’s not like she was blind.

-Where are you taking me?

-To the stream where we can talk.

-It must be freezing.

-Yes it is. But there are some big rocks where we can sit.

-What do you want to talk about?

-Why did you go out last night? -Why did you go out last night?

-How do you know that? -Because of what you told me.

-Because of what you told me, about the wolves.

The young man lied, he had already smelled the wolves before he got to the hut. And he had also smelled that Shery had left her scent all over the door. But that was something he couldn’t tell her at the moment. What worried him was that those animals had smelled them and already knew they were there, the prudent thing to do was to get them out of there that very day.

-Well yes, last night I had to go outside to relieve myself. We heard some noises and we locked ourselves in and I heard wolves all over the cabin. They rode on the roof but they didn’t try to get in.

-I told your sister that they shouldn’t go out Shery because you always disobey.

-You’re not my father to obey you, I didn’t even obey him. Thank you for your concern but we have survived many years alone.

-All right, then you want to tell me what’s going on in your house.

-I don’t want to!

-Why not?

-I don’t want you involved.

-I’m already in it up to my bones.

-Why are you helping me? You don’t know me, you’re very kind and we don’t have the means to pay you anything.

-I don’t want to be paid anything, I do it because I want to.

They were sitting on a big rock that was almost frozen, the river had a white mantle covering almost the whole surface, you could still see a little water without snow on top of it.

Very little would be more than frozen. She looked at him thinking about why this boy was so good to her, she had never seen him before in her life and out of nowhere he appears as a hero saving her.

She felt a warm hand hold hers, she looked at the intertwined fingers and then at the face of the owner of this one. He was perfect, handsome and his look was special. What was wrong with him? The smell of dog was more intense, but it didn’t repulse her, on the contrary, it fascinated her, was she crazy?

He approached her, they were sitting together but at a safe distance. Even so, he moved closer to her, always looking at her lips. She induced what was about to happen but didn’t stop it, she wanted it to happen, for the first time in her life she wanted a man to k**s her with her consent.

Between them she opened her lips waiting for the moment with desire, and the contact between the two flesh was incredible. He was very hot, while she was freezing, but that was changing because through the k**s her body began to take heat from her belly.

They deepened that wonderful k**s, each time shortening the distance between them. They couldn’t stop, if they did they might die trying. Something inside them insisted that they would keep doing it until they couldn’t. But Ethan knew he had to stop.

But Ethan knew he had to stop, he had to think with his head and relax, he would have her for him whenever he wanted. Because from now on, she was his partner and he would wait a while to propose to her.

He was the one who stopped the k**s, only to fall in love with her face when he broke away. She was flushed and her pupils were dilated, and that was not all, she was very excited. He was thrilled to know that she wasn’t indifferent to him.

-Are you all right? he asked sweetly.

-What was that?

-A k**s. She said laughing, as she ran her thumb along the edge of her swollen lips.

-I know, but it was different. You gave me warmth through him, how did you do that?

-I don’t know. She lied, not yet ready for the truth.

She touched her lips thoughtfully, as she sniffed. He wondered what she was smelling if she was a human? He heard her sigh deeply, then turn her gaze to the frozen stream.

-Why did you k**s me?

-It’s very clear. He said, smiling at her. -I like you a lot, ever since I first saw you.

-The first time you saw me, I was physically destroyed.

-That didn’t stop me.

-You don’t know me.

-I know you better than you think Shery. I want to take you home, you and your sister aren’t safe here. I can’t stay here forever.

The young woman thought about Ethan’s proposal, on the one hand he was right, he probably had other matters to attend to and by taking care of the two of them he was probably neglecting them.

After their glorious encounter in the frozen creek he took her back to the cabin leaving the supplies for them to wash up and eat and very soon he left, but not before giving her a look of desire. His sister was awake once they arrived and the look she gave them was very amused, as if she knew what had happened.