clothes and pushed them out from under the tarp, then pulled on the clean, dry ones.

When Dane came back a few minutes later, he pulled out a chemical hot pack and cracked it carefully,

then shook it. He picked up Lindsay’s sleeping bag on the way over to the corner. Crouching, he offered

both to Lindsay. “Tuck the hot pack under your coat, but over your shirt. It’ll get hot enough to burn, but you need it. Then get yourself in the sleeping bag. I’ll bring you dinner.”

“Are you going to come in too?” Lindsay asked. It felt strange to be so idle while Dane was busy

working.

“Not likely.” Dane tugged a foil-sealed meal pack out of his backpack and gave it a twist to start the

chemical heating process. His expression, shadowed by his loose hair, was almost angry. “You can eat that

in a few minutes. Let it warm. And drink this.” He passed over a bottle of water. “You need to rest. I can

wait.”

The temperature was dropping so fast that Lindsay was shivering in spite of the shelter and the dry

clothes. He worried about Dane not resting—Dane hadn’t slept during the drive from the airport to the

forest’s edge either—but he didn’t say anything. He didn’t have the energy.

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“Be right back.” Dane left Lindsay alone again, ducking out into the heavy snowfall to prowl the

woods as the wind picked up.

Lindsay huddled in the shelter and listened to the wind howling around the little hut as he ate. The

warmth felt wonderful after all the cold that had filled everything else today.

Nearly half an hour later, the door creaked open. Lindsay startled, scrambling out from the sleeping

bag, but he calmed quickly once he peeked out from under the tarp to see that it was Dane. In Dane’s arms

was a sapling bole to replace the long-lost bar for the door.

“Do you want me to do anything?” Lindsay was still shivering, but his words came out without

chattering.

“You need to rest and stay warm. It’s going to keep getting colder.” Dane shed his wet clothes,

hanging them up to dry on a line as he did, until he was stripped naked. Barefoot, as though the icy stone

floor didn’t bother him at all, he padded over to his pack to get out dry things to wear.

Lindsay was cold, but he wasn’t dead. Dane was beautiful and Lindsay had never seen him naked

before. Dane’s body was human in form, better than human, the perfect human animal. Lindsay watched

Dane until he realized what he was doing. “It gets colder than this?”

“Much.” Dane got dressed as far as his jeans and stopped, giving Lindsay a stern look. “Lie down.

You should be beat. Are you warm yet?”

Lindsay frowned and shook his head. “A little? The heat packs are helping some.” They were

radiating heat, and his body was soaking it up, but it didn’t feel like he was generating any heat of his own.

Dane stood there for a long moment, head tilted as though he were thinking hard about something.

Then, obviously having made up his mind, he shook himself and got moving again. He collected his boots

and things he would need if he were getting dressed in a hurry and lined them up neatly outside the little

haven where Lindsay was resting. “Move,” he muttered, ducking in to join Lindsay.

Lindsay moved. He skittered under the tarp and made room for Dane. A lot of room. Dane was big.

And half-naked, not that that made Lindsay want to move any farther away than he absolutely had to. He watched as Dane grabbed the sleeping bag Lindsay had been curled up in and twitched it over on top of the

other that had been intended for Dane.

Dane coaxed Lindsay into the top sleeping bag first, and slid in after him. He was quiet and quite

certain of what he wanted. Lindsay was nervous, apprehension and anticipation muddled together in his

belly, when he realized what Dane meant to do. He let himself be moved like a doll, though, and snuggled

against Dane’s chest. When Dane was done, they were both tucked into the one sleeping bag with Lindsay

almost lying completely on Dane’s big, warm body with Dane’s strong arms around him to keep him warm.

The spare sleeping bag under them kept the chill of the stone away from their bodies.

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“Now, go to sleep,” Dane said firmly. He was warm and smelled so good and was Dane—the source

of all the good things in Lindsay’s life. Suddenly, Lindsay felt all too warm, in all the wrong ways. He blushed fiercely, trying to ignore his arousal.

Dane stroked Lindsay’s hair soothingly, ignoring or oblivious to how much Lindsay was turned on by

the closeness. Lindsay closed his eyes and focused on the petting, letting it soothe him. He was worn out

and that was enough to put him to sleep before he embarrassed himself further.

Lindsay was too exhausted to wake quickly, but his body was awake long before his mind. He was

still pressed up against Dane and he was so hard. It wasn’t just a morning erection. He was surrounded by

Dane’s smell and warmth and body, and he couldn’t help himself. Lindsay didn’t know if he’d ever felt so

much need all at once in his life. Still half-asleep, he rocked his hips, pushing his body against Dane,

instinctively seeking the friction that would get him off.

Dane murmured sleepily and pulled Lindsay closer. That just made it better. Worse. Something.

Lindsay woke up a little more as he writhed, but he didn’t stop. He needed…fuck, he needed to come. He

kept moving on instinct, his breath coming faster. Dane shifted against him instead of pulling away, making everything feel incredible. Lindsay wasn’t awake enough to be ashamed as he rode Dane’s thigh, desperate

to come.

When Lindsay came, he felt so good, lazy and sated, until the rapidly cooling come in his pants

brought him back to reality. Horror jerked him awake, to full awareness of what he’d done. Oh, God. He tensed up, ducking his head against Dane’s chest to hide his face.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, feeling horrified at himself and, on top of that, afraid that Dane would be

angry at him. He didn’t want Dane to be angry at him. He was alone in this forest except for Dane. Dane

held Lindsay’s life in his hands in every way, and Lindsay had gone and done that.

“Hm?” Dane had the decency not to laugh or recoil in disgust. “Enh. No bother,” he rumbled. “It

happens.”

Lindsay winced, but he was grateful Dane didn’t seem to be angry. He knew Dane didn’t want him.

He shifted stiffly, trying to roll off Dane with as little contact between his groin and Dane’s body as

possible.

Dane unzipped the sleeping bag to let Lindsay out. “You put a coat on,” he warned. “It’ll still be

damn cold out there. And get another hot pack from my bag if you need it.”

“I’ll be all right.” Lindsay didn’t need a hot pack. He did need his coat, though. He wriggled up to the

top of the sleeping bag so he could reach it. Dane stayed very still while Lindsay disentangled himself,

much to Lindsay’s relief. It was still freezing out when Lindsay got free, but it didn’t matter. He needed to flee before he had to see the expression on Dane’s face over what he’d done.

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Lindsay would have been overwhelmed with shame and loathing, unable to meet Dane’s eyes, except

that Dane didn’t seem to care what he’d done. In fact, Dane was in a remarkably good mood and acted as