Game For Love: Winter Heat (Kindle Worlds Novella) (4 page)

T
he beast howled
with pleasure at having reign over the body they shared.

It was not his turn yet, he knew. But Samir was quite properly thanking him for not making himself known during Samir's mating time.

It had been difficult for the beast not to take the girl for himself, but he relied on Samir for protection from the world. And it was more important for Samir to have a mate than it was for the beast. He was proud that he had played his part well. And now he was going to gallop through the woods and find himself a rabbit for a snack.

Samir tried to slide himself into the passenger's seat gracefully. It was always hard at first but within a few minutes he would melt into the background and become one with the beast – making it easier when they began to feed.

A flash of red caught both their eyes.

Samir recognized her first.

His heart turned to ice.

He knew the beast could feel his fear. But he also knew the beast was aroused from their earlier encounter with the girl.

Would he hand back control?

Please?

The beast decided to run away instead.

The forest flashed by and Samir's heart began to beat again. At least Becca wasn't in danger. Whatever else happened to him didn't matter.

The beast smelled it before Samir did.

Becca was following. The scent of her sex oozed through the air like oil through his enhanced nose.

PLEASE.
Samir begged.

The beast hung his head and relented.

Samir's skin burned as he shifted back into himself.

Becca stood before him, her wide green eyes were rapt.

"Becca, please go."

"Samir..."

"I know you're frightened, and you should be. Please go."

"I – I'm not frightened."

Samir took a step back and looked at her.

She didn't look frightened. She looked curious. And maybe even a little...impressed.

"I'm not frightened," she repeated, "and I won't tell."

Samir gazed at her in wonder.

"I think it's awesome!" she grinned.

"You do?"

She nodded, dimpling.

"Well, that's only because you don't realize how dangerous I am."

"Are you?"

Samir thought about it. When the beast was in control he had a savage strength. On the other hand, even from his first shift, Samir had been able to keep the beast out of trouble. He had never harmed anyone.

Except Samir and his dad, of course – they had both been hurt.

"You looked lonesome."

Samir sank onto a fallen log. He rested his head in his hands.

How could things have gone so wrong? He had
one
job. Not to let anyone discover that he was a damned
yeti
. Now he had let the most important person discover it.

So why wasn't she running?

The beast nudged him.

Was she right? Was the beast lonesome?

Immediately he knew that it was true.

So what was he supposed to do about it?

He looked up and Becca was crouching next to him.

"Can you tell me more about this?"

He sighed.

"It's cold. Let's go back. We can talk on the way."

She nodded and offered him her hand in a sweet gesture, averting her eyes after a glance at his exposed body.

They headed back through the woods slowly, walking in silence for a long time. Samir was grateful to Becca for giving him the reins on this conversation.

"How much do you know about me?" Samir asked.

"Not much, I guess."

"Well, I was born in Nepal and lived in an orphanage until I was two years old. My parents are American and they adopted me and brought me back to the states."

Becca nodded. He figured she had heard that much on the endless loop of IW Games news.

"When we got home, they were really happy. Dad says Mom would carry me around the apartment singing night and day. She didn't care about anything but me. Then at the first full moon I changed. And instead of a cute baby they had... a yeti."

"Is that what you are?"

Samir nodded his head.

Becca seemed to consider it for a moment, then smiled.

"I'm sure you were a cute yeti."

He returned her smile, but it was tinged with sadness.

"My mom didn't think so. She hit the road the next morning. I think they had been through a lot trying to start a family. Dad said she felt like I was a sign that she had pushed too hard for something that wasn't meant to be."

"What a dumb idea."

"That's what he says."

Somehow it rang true coming from Becca in a way it hadn't all these years. As they reached the pile of clothes Samir had shed before turning, he squeezed her hand a little and she squeezed back.

"Anyway, my dad tried to figure it out. It turns out that even though I want to turn more often, I only
have
to turn at the full moon," Samir said as he began to dress.

Becca nodded, as though he had just explained how he saved fifteen percent or more on car insurance. Why wasn't she afraid?

"So why did you want to turn tonight?"

Oh boy. That was a tricky conversation.

"Excitement always riles him up. And I think he, um, especially likes you," Samir explained as he put the last of his clothes back on.

"Oh."

They were almost across the field now.

"We shouldn't talk any more about this in case anyone overhears."

Becca smiled and made a zipping motion across her lips.

B
ecca was in a fabulous mood
. Ever since Christopher had exhibited a talent for skating, she had lived a monotonous existence.

School. Skating rink. Sewing machine. Repeat.

She had lived more in the last twelve hours than in the twelve years before.

Samir had a bounce in his step too. Becca let her eyes run down his whole body – but there was no sign of the silky white beast he had been a little while ago. She admired instead the godlike physique beside her.

Samir looked over at her and smiled. Becca was dazzled.

"Hurry, I want to get you to bed," he said.

In a rush of happy anticipation she picked up the pace, trying to match his long stride.

Soon they had reached the stairs.

"You first." He gestured to the stairwell.

As soon as she had taken a few steps she could feel his hands on her behind.

"God, you have a nice ass!"

She blushed and found herself running.

She could hear him exhale and pursue her.

Somehow she beat him to the door of his room. She turned in time to see him run for her.

His eyes were flashing with excitement.

He pinned her to the door and kissed her with such passion she went weak-kneed. He pulled back, wrapped an arm around her to support her, and swiped his keycard.

The door swung open and Samir danced her over to the bed, laughing. She heard the door swing shut.

Then they were wrestling each other's clothes off.

Before she could catch her breath, he was inside her again and they were rocking and straining and moaning as one.

When it was over, he held her close, twining her curls between the fingers of one hand.

"You're so brave," he told her.

She smiled against his chest.

"Aren't you even a little bit scared?"

"You won't hurt me. And neither will he."

As soon as she said it she knew it was true.

B
ecca awoke
to the sound of a muffled conversation and a door slamming.

She sat up and wiped the sleep out of her eyes.

Samir was pacing the room, pulling at his too-long hair.

"What's wrong?"

"The half-pipe is too icy. They're re-building it. The whole event is being put off two days."

"That's good, right? No one will get hurt."

Becca had a feeling there was something her sleep-addled brain was missing.

"Two days out means that the televised half-pipe final happens during the full moon."

Oh.

"Are they definitely rebuilding?"

"Taylor made it sound like it. Though I guess he could have gotten it wrong. I want to check it out. Will you be okay?"

"Sure. Do you have an extra key card?"

He slipped her the one from his pocket.

"You're not going anywhere are you?" he asked.

"No, I guess not."

"Okay, good. I'll see you."

He kissed her absently on the top of the head and disappeared out the door.

Becca's heart ached for him. This was his big moment. But if he was going to turn into a yeti on the half-pipe there was no way around it – he would have to withdraw.

She bathed and dressed. He still wasn't back.

She looked at the television but didn't feel like watching it. She looked out at the mountain view. It was pretty, beautiful really, but it was no match for her nervous energy.

She grabbed her sketch pad.

As her mind went back and forth over Samir's problem her hands began to sketch on their own.

She looked down. She had drawn a mountain with a full moon over it and a yeti on a snowboard.

Perfect.

She grabbed the edge of the page, intending to tear it out and toss it in the trash before someone saw it, but something inside made her stop.

Biting her lip in concentration, she began furiously erasing and redrawing.

C
hristopher skated around the rink
, ostensibly warming up, though his cheeks were already flaming and his blood pressure was probably through the roof.

Where was Becca?

It had been all well and good for her to storm off last night. But today was different. How dare she be late for his qualifier?

Sasha and Tanya had shown him a great time, but as it turned out, they weren't much for talking. And now that it was qualifying day, the lines had been drawn and they were solidly in their teammates' corner.

Christopher felt completely alone.

As the minutes passed, it began to occur to him that Becca might not be coming.

The thought was terrifying . He tried to put it out of his head, but it had taken root.

Where did she go last night?

Where had she spent the night?

Was she okay?

His heart began to pound.

But the announcement was being made to get off the ice and there was nothing to do but glide over to his coach and try to focus on skating.

S
amir returned to the hotel
, devastated. The half pipe was already being disassembled.

It was over.

He hung his head as he entered the room.

Becca was on the floor, surrounded by drawings. She didn't even look up when he came in. She drew madly, the cloud of her red hair pinned through with colored pencils.

"Hey," he said.

She looked up from her sketchpad. Yet again, he was thrown by those big green eyes. He felt the beast stir, and the pain of his disappointment melt just a little.

"Hi."

He knelt on the floor beside her and looked at the drawings.

Oh god. She had drawn him again, but as the beast. She must finally be expressing the shock at his true nature.

Wait. Only some of the drawings were of a yeti on a snowboard, silken fur trailing out of his helmet and sleeves.

The others looked like a clothing designs – variations of boarding gear with silken fur trailing off the cuffs and out of the helmets. They actually looked pretty rad.

And there was a logo. It was a smiling yeti holding a board over his head.

"Your size doesn't change. At least not much, right?"

The pieces were coming together in Samir's mind.

Could it work?

"You're amazing!"

She smiled shyly.

"Amazing, beautiful girl!"

"But it's not that easy. I need materials and time..."

"We can get any materials you need! And we have two days. Is that enough time?"

She nodded.

"My agent will send them from New York. We'll text her what you need."

Samir was floating on air. The only thing in the back of his mind was the simple question, if Samir couldn't hold back the change on the half-pipe...

Could the yeti snowboard?

Looking into Becca's smiling eyes, he resolved not to worry about it. She was glowing with happiness - all for him.

Damned if he would ruin it with a reality check.

C
hristopher was steaming
. He had barely made it through the qualifying round to compete.

Stupid Becca.

That little cow had always been jealous of his success. That was the only possible explanation.

Why couldn't she just be happy for him?

Sasha was pretending she didn't know him today. Tanya had thrown him a sympathetic glance as she came off the ice, but when he started to approach her she had turned her back quickly.

Although he was angry, he didn't want to call Mom. First of all, she would go crazy with worry and secondly, he didn't want her joining him at the village.

If only he could find Becca so that he could get out from under the creeping worry that something was wrong.

He decided to grab a bucket of ice for his knee. Maybe if he sat in one of the lounges he would see her or hear something.

As he rounded the corner to the big ice machines he heard a familiar sound and froze in his tracks.

Becca's laughter.

He poked his head around the corner to see her surrounded by a bunch of knuckle dragging snowboarders. One of them had his arm around her shoulder and his hand tucked in the back pocket of her jeans.

Christopher was filled with white rage.

"Rebecca McCall!" he shouted.

She spun around instantly with a look of fear.

That was better.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded, grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her away.

He was surprised to feel her resist him.

Then the biggest knuckle dragger of all, the one who'd had his hand in his sister's back pocket, swaggered up.

"Take. Your. Hands. Off. Her."

"It's okay, Samir, he's my brother!" Becca said quickly.

No. Not Samir Andrews.

He took a closer look and could almost feel smoke pouring out of his ears.

Christopher had been seeing red and he'd seen right past the thing that should have made him angriest.

"I don't care who you are, you cowardly son-of-a-bitch, you will take your hands off her," Samir said.

He was massive and he looked super angry.

Christopher gave Becca's wrist a brutal squeeze, then let go.

"Where were you?" he asked his sister through clenched teeth.

"You kicked me out."

"You didn't come to my qualifier."

She had the decency to look guilty for a moment. But she didn't answer.

Instead Samir stepped up.

"You kicked her out, man – in a city full of strangers. You owe her an apology. And she does not owe you an explanation."

Christopher looked around.

Suddenly it seemed like every athlete in the village had come out of their rooms. They were all staring silently at him.

It wasn't fair.

"You walked out on me. And now you're with
him
. You're a witch, Becca. And you
will
get yours."

He turned on his heel and walked away.

Their chattering started before he had taken his second step.