Tobias: Book One of the Cantrell Brothers Series

Chapter Thirty-Four

“There is no way that this winter is ever going to end as long as this groundhog keeps seeing his shadow. I don't see any other way out. He's got to be stopped. And I have to stop him,” Phil Connors said moodily on the TV, looking over to the groundhog's home in the little tree stump.

They – he and Jane – were curled up on his couch to ward off the cold, watching Groundhog Day as the fireplace crackled over in the corner. His head was resting back against the couch, and Jane was on top, his arms secured tightly around her.

“Tobias,” Jane turned around in his arms, her eyes reflecting an both an internal fire and the fireplace's flame. "We should do something.”

“Like what?”

She bit her lip in a contemplating look. "Uhm...go outside.”

Looking out through the windows, he saw it was a little windy, but other than that, the crisp Saturday night begged for two people to go mess around within its atmosphere.  The sun had disappeared awhile ago, blanketing the night in a thin darkness that held a surprising amount of comfort.

“Let's go." He bolted off the couch, an idea already formulating.

After changing into his Carharrt jacket and lacing up his heavy boots, he glanced over to see if Jane needed any help. She was beginning to need an awful lot of that lately. A few days ago, they had ventured out to go take a walk in the park once again, but that had all changed when tension had been flowing in gallons off of her.

A couple and their dog had been going for a walk, and he had had to comfort Jane as she had stood stock still in the middle of the sidewalk with her eyes closed tightly. He didn't know what he had said, but it must have given her incentive or reassurance for she had shakily continued walking with him. Now though, instead of the panicked woman he had been seeing lately, there was a beautiful goddess who was currently zipping up her purple winter jacket.

“Ready to go?” He came up behind her, the rough fabric of her stringy winter hat tickling his chin's underside.

“Yeah." She smiled, turning around to kiss him soundly on the lips.

Delving deeper into her mouth, he was surprised by how much fervor and eagerness he met as her tongue licked at the inside of his mouth in hungry, little strokes. Massaging her jacket-covered back with his hands, he made sure to press just right on all of her familiar pressure points. She moaned into his touch, but pulled away.

“This is not what I meant by going outside,” she teased and all but fled out the front door, leaving tiny snowflakes to invade his house.

Everything about her demeanor just screamed come and catch me, leaving Tobias with only one option – to accept the extremely inviting challenge. Shutting the door, he stumbled over Rex's large body for a second before sprint after her. The snow crunched under his boots, causing him to slip and slide as the distance between them quickly decreased. Soon, he was almost right on top of her, not even breathing heavily as they both ate up the long distance.

“No!” she squealed, taking a sharp right but not before his hand shot out and grabbed the back of her coat.

They rolled and they tumbled until finally, the soft snow pressed into his back and she was right on top of him. Cheeks flushed from the cold, and breathing coming out in thin pants, she continued to amaze him.

“C'mere,” he murmured, yanking on the long strings of her hat.

They kissed slowly for awhile, just breathing in the scent of one another as it teamed with the atmosphere around them. Her lithe fingers traced patterns on his left hip bone, and he squirmed underneath her touch as the long appendages stroked his aroused length through the thick, denim fabric.