Cabin Fever

❅ 9: Hannah ❅

Hannah woke up to an empty bed, the spot next to her cold and the room silent. She rolled onto his side and drew in a deep breath, relishing in his soothing scent. One morning she would actually wake up next to him. Maybe with him between her legs and his mouth on her. Or maybe she would one day wake up early enough to suck him out of sleep.

She rolled out of bed and immediately winced. Perhaps four orgasms in one day with a guy who was much bigger than she was used to wasn't the best way to break a two year dry spell.

God, it was worth every moment, though. She smiled to herself as warmth suffused through her at the thought. She dressed in his shirt again and put on some underwear to cover her tender flesh. The wood floor was a little cold, so she put on some warm socks too. What they lacked in sexiness, they made up for in adorableness—and, of course, practicality.

She went to the bathroom to clean herself up and tame her sex mussed hair. She put some lotion on the red area, extending from her lips to her inner thighs from his beard. She would need to invest in some more chafing products.

When she was satisfied with the result in the mirror, she left the bathroom and stopped in the middle of the room when the realization hit her. Christmas was yesterday. Which meant that Finn had given her four fantastic orgasms and dinner and she was behind. She had already cleaned and made breakfast yesterday as a thank you for his rescue, but that hardly counted as a gift.

She glanced around the room to see what she could use to make something, but then her eyes wandered to her suitcase and she tapped her lip thoughtfully. She had taken up sketching with some light brushes of water coloring recently, and while she was by no means a master, it was about the only thing she had that she could make a present out of.

So she would try her hand at making a piece for Finn.

Once she finished, she admired it for a moment before embellishing the paper with the bow salvaged from her present for her friend's family white elephant. Then she packed up her supplies and limped over to the kitchen to get breakfast going.

She decided that post best-sex-of-my-life pancakes were in order and she hummed and danced to herself as she mixed and poured the batter into the pan. She felt alive and the afterglow of being well loved suffused through her.

Finn returned as she was finishing her second batch and she felt a giddy rush of excitement. When she turned to him, she caught a wonderful view of his fine ass as he pulled on boxers and then jeans.

"I'm making pancakes," she announced, a bright smile on her face until he turned towards her and she took in his expression, then it faded to concern and she wiped her hands on the towel, walking towards him. "What is it, Finn? Is something wrong? Tell me."

"The roads are plowed."

"Oh, well, that's fine, right?" She looked confused at his words, not quite understanding why he looked so panicked. Then his eyes turned tortured, and a chill ran up her spine.

"I think you should leave, Hannah."

She blanked at this. "Finn, I don't understand."

He refused to meet her eyes, and she felt her heart shattering in her chest. "I can't have you here. I need you to leave."

"Finn, please," she cried, reaching out to grab his arm, forcing him to look at her. Her eyes watered and her lips trembled. "I th-thought you s-s-said I was your chosen life-mate. That you w-wanted me."

"The beast side of me chose you as a mate," Finn started, but stopped when she jerked away from him, her expression pained.

"But the human side didn't," she finished, her voice broken in anguish, and he looked tormented, his hand rubbing at the center of his chest. As if he ached in the same spot as her breaking heart.

"Hannah, please, it's not that, there's things I haven't told you. Things in my past." He paused, taking in her stormy expression, the sadness transforming to fury before his eyes. How dare he? How fucking dare he use her and then the moment she fell for his schtick, he immediately changed his tune?

"Fucking save it. I don't want to hear another fucking word from you." She grabbed the pan from the stove and tossed it in the sink with a loud clatter. She went over to her suitcase and quickly unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it on the floor. She pulled on a sweater and a pair of leggings.

"Hannah." His voice broke as he followed her into the bathroom. She swiped her things into her bag. "You don't understand."

"No, Finn, you don't understand," she snapped at him, walking back over to the door. She pulled on a pair of tennis shoes and wrapped a scarf around her neck. "You played me and I fell in fucking love with you. 'I chose you, Hannah.' 'You're my life mate, Hannah.' The oldest trick in the book to get a woman in your bed and I fucking fell for it like the stupid fucking idiot I am.

"You didn't even have to try that hard, you know. I was ready to drop my panties for you at the first instance just for saving me. You didn't have to adopt some persona to trick me into it. It just makes you a big asshole."

A sob broke out of her and she braced herself on the door as she trembled, tears streaking down her cheeks. Finn took a step towards her, but she held out her hand, stopping him. She drew in a few calming breaths until the sobs subsided.

"The worst part is that I haven't belonged anywhere in years and I was just so ready to be accepted by someone. I have been an unwanted addition to everyone's lives, and I was desperate for someone to want me—just me for who I am and everything these past few days just felt so real. I wanted to believe it so bad." She drew in another shaky breath before her face hardened and she gave him one last glance. "You don't even have to say another word, Finn. You want me gone, then I'm gone."

With that, she picked her suitcase, threw the door open and slammed it behind her.

Fortunately, without the white-out blinding her, she could see farther than a few feet in front of her and find the path from the cabin to the lane easily enough. Her fury warmed her from the inside, so the cold was a lot less biting in her thin clothing. She threw open the door to her car and tossed her suitcase in.

She was surprised that it actually started and to see the fuel gauge at a quarter of a tank. Finn must have been so eager to have her gone that he scraped up some fuel from somewhere. Now that she had no audience to perform for, the anger that had been holding her together faded and sadness swept in full force. She put the car in gear as sobs wracked her and she didn't get farther than the end of the lane before her bleary eyes and shaking made it impossible to drive safely.

How had she been such a fool? She knew he was reluctant, but she thought it was sweetness and not guilt that made him shy. Why did he have to play games with her heart before having his way with her body?

She had not held back from him. She was an enthusiastic participant before he even started talking about life-mates and all that bullshit. She would have still slept with him, but she wouldn't have had expectations of something more. She wouldn't have allowed herself to hope.

She put the car in park as she hugged herself and allowed the tears to flow and her broken-hearted wails to escape.

Maybe she was just always meant to be alone.