Embracing Winter (Lords of Discord 4)

Why? It didn’t make any sense. Why didn’t Winter just lock him up the same way Damon had? The vampire at least had a good reason to, where Damon was just a fucking asshole.

“But…I told him I only needed a little bit. He shouldn’t have,” Fox stammered, struggling to keep the overwhelming emotions out of his voice.

“Bel likely had them get at least a week’s worth of stuff. If they missed anything, we can order it tomorrow,” Winter said. He grabbed the remaining bags and started pulling out boxes of pasta, cereal, and other simple foods.

To Winter it all seemed to be so logical, but this kind of generosity to him felt…weird. A useless witch trapped in a prophecy some asshole just made up. Fox kept his mouth shut, not wanting to make a bigger deal of the clothes than he already had. He’d find a way to pay Winter back if he managed to survive this.

He turned his attention to the food Winter was methodically putting away. Fox had been clear with River that he didn’t know a damn thing about cooking. He was good with basics. Since it was just him that would be eating most of the time, he didn’t want River and his mates to spend a lot of time picking up things that he’d never get around to eating.

Fox walked over to the fridge and opened the double doors to find the freezer loaded with packages of meat along with frozen pizza, waffles, and premade potato skins. Mmm…all forms of potatoes were heaven.

The fridge section was filled with beverages, fruits, and vegetables. And it was all beside stacks of bagged blood. Lovely. Food for him and food for the vampire.

“I’m guessing your brother got all of this too,” Fox said, holding the doors open for Winter to see.

“Yep. If there’s anything missing, we’ll order it tomorrow.”

Fox chuckled and closed the door. “I get the feeling your brother is expecting me to just eat food and change clothes constantly while I’m here.”

Winter gave a little shrug, not quite meeting his eye. “The situation isn’t ideal. I just want you to be comfortable while you’re stuck here.”

“You’re gonna have to work harder, you know? This is starting to feel a whole lot more like a pajama party and less like a kidnapping,” Fox teased.

Winter’s bright blue eyes lifted to Fox’s face and that devilish smirk was back, quickening Fox’s heart and making his mouth dry. “Well, I could tie you up.” The smirk instantly disappeared, buried under another frown, but he immediately looked away from Fox. Was he not supposed to say that out loud? Oh, Fox was taking that as a tiny victory.

“Now we’re talking,” Fox purred. “Maybe spread-eagle on the bed.” He stepped closer to Winter and his beautiful ice blue eyes flared brightly. “Or maybe naked to a chair.”

There was the most wonderful hitch in Winter’s breathing, and Fox wanted to step even closer, to touch him, but the vampire was already huffing a laugh and stepping around Fox. “You’re crazy,” Winter said dismissively.

Yes, Fox was definitely crazy. He wasn’t into being tied up or tied down to anything, especially after what he’d gone through at Damon’s. He wasn’t sure he could do it without panicking a little bit, but Winter had him blurting out things normal people wouldn’t. Thank God the vampire hadn’t taken him seriously.

“Let me show you to the guest room,” Winter offered as he took one of the bags from Fox. Apparently, they were moving past the flirting, but Fox was not going to give up. If he was going to be stuck at Winter’s place for a while, they could at least have some fun together.

“I can always stay in your room. Less mess to clean up,” Fox said as he trailed behind the vampire toward the metal stairs.

Winter threw him a look over his shoulder and continued up to the second floor of the loft. “You can get settled in while I check the security system and make sure the place is locked down for the day.”

Oh, Winter thought he could just ignore comments like that. Fox had seen little hints that Winter was interested, but he was behaving himself for the most part. Fox was gonna make this vampire crack. Game on, Mr. Fangs. Game fucking on.

The guest room was pretty much what Fox had come to expect from Winter, even if it was a little on the bland side. A comfortable-looking king-sized bed, nice TV hanging on the wall, warm colors, and an en suite bathroom that likely rivaled most master baths. Yeah, he was going to be living a very comfortable existence for the next several days even if he couldn’t work his way into Winter’s bed.

Fox dropped the two bags he was carrying onto the floor and flopped onto the mattress. He lay back, stretched his arms above his head, and sighed loudly. “This will work, but where’s your bedroom? You know…in case I have a bad dream and need to climb into bed with you.”