Chapter 121

#Chapter 121 – Heat Victor finally shuts down his computer, letting out a big breath. Finally, finished for the day. He picks up his phone, intending to text Evelyn to see if he can bring something down to the house for dinner, but he’s surprised to see a text there already waiting.

Evelyn: When you come down, bring your parka. Heat’s out.

Victor scowls and runs a hand through his hair. How is this possible? He had the heater replaced against just this possibility months ago when they had the security updated in the cottage.

He heads upstairs to change into warmer clothes and then pulls on his snow boots, heading across the property to Evelyn’s house. On the way, he asks two Betas to ensure that Evelyn’s house is fully stocked with firewood that some space heaters be brought down.

When he opens the back door to Evelyn’s cottage, Victor is pleased to feel that the air in the house isn’t icy – just a bit nippier than usual.

He’s greeted by a very pleasant sight, though – a giant blanket fort, in the living room, built before a roaring fire. Inside of it, he can hear the boys laughing.

Evelyn comes down the stairs, then, wrapped up in a cozy sweater and scarf. “Oh, hello!” she says, rubbing her hands together and smiling.

“Hello,” he says, watching her come down the stairs towards him, her cheeks and the tip of her nose flushed with cold. “What are you doing in all of these layers?” He asks, curious, unable to help himself from imagining her body beneath them. “It doesn’t seem so bad in here.”

“Not in here,” she says, laughing and gesturing towards the fire. “This room is fine. So is the boys’, really, as they’re right above it. But my room is ice.”

Victor frowns again and she laughs at him. “Don’t be so upset,” she scolds. “The Betas have already called the repair man, he’s going to come tomorrow to fix it.”

“Yeah!” Alvin says, sticking his head out of the fort. “And until then, we get to have an adventure!

Pretend we live in an igloo!”

“Igloo’s are very interesting!” Ian calls, his voice echoing from inside the fort. “Mom gave us a book!”

Victor shakes his head at the three of them, “you guys certainly know how to look at the bright side of a situation.”

Evelyn smiles at him slowly. “Well, it’s all brighter once you’re here.” She bites her lip a bit, watching him take off his coat, enjoying the way that his muscles move beneath his sweater.

Then she clears her throat, coming back to herself. “You want some coffee? Tea? Ice cubes?”

Victor shakes his head, denying a drink, but leans forward to grab her hand as she passes. “You really should have told me sooner, Evelyn. I’d have fixed it.”

She looks at her hand in his for just a moment, and then drags her eyes up to his, not pulling her hand away. “We didn’t want to bother you, Victor,” she murmurs. “I know that you’re busy.”

“Never too busy for you three,” he responds, letting her slowly take her hand from his and move over to fill the tea kettle. He notes that she blushes slightly before putting it on the stove. She keeps her eyes on it, not turning to look at him.

He watches her closely as she twists the knob on the stove to ignite the flame. “What is it you wanted to talk about?” he asks. The stove clicks, refusing to light.

“Hmm?” she says, confused and looking up at him.

“Your text this morning,” he clarifies. “You said you wanted to discuss something.”

“Oh,” she says, shooting a quick look at the blanket fort. “It can wait,” she says. She bends down, staring at the grate beneath the kettle. It continues to click, but doesn’t light.

Victor frowns, intrigued by her evasion. But, shrugging, he accepts that there are some things she might want to talk about with him that she wouldn’t want the boys to overhear. “Do you need some help with that?”

“Well,” she says, glaring at the stove, which still hasn’t lit. “Considering that I just remembered that the gas stove is controlled by the broken gas as the heat, I don’t think there’s much you can do!” Evelyn laughs a little and Victor joins in.

“I guess we’ll just have to keep each other warm,” he murmurs. Evelyn casts her eyes at him, surprising him by blushing again. He smiles at this. She’s not usually so coy.

The family has a very cozy time that evening, staying warm by the fire. The boys use their imaginations to think up interesting situations that embrace the cold. When imaginary Igloo gets boring, they pretend they are pioneers in the American West, living in a log cabin at the first frost. When they get bored with that, they pretend they are a family of bears, preparing their cave for their long winter hibernation.

“What do we play next, mama,” Alvin says, crawling onto the couch where Evelyn’s shoulder just barely touches Victor’s, though both pretend not to notice. Alvin’s eyes are bright, but, like his twin, he is sleepy.

“Nothing, baby, no more games tonight,” Evelyn says, putting out a hand to brush his cheek. “Mama bear is sleepy, it’s time for bed.”

“Good,” Ian says, rubbing his eyes as he sits before the fire. “I think I just want to be myself again.”

Victor laughs softly at this. “Your room should be warm and cozy by now,” he says. Betas had come by hours ago with a stack of plug-in heaters. “Do you want to go up?”

“Yes,” Alvin says, yawning.

“Okay,” Victor responds, standing up and smiling as he watches Evelyn snuggle into the pillows on the couch where he had just been sitting. “Come on, you two. Upstairs, I’ll tuck you in.”

About fifteen minutes later, when that’s all done, Victor comes back downstairs to find Evelyn still on the couch, staring into the fire. He leans his shoulder against the entryway, looking at her, watching the flames play shadows on the ivory of her skin, bringing out red highlights in her brown curls.

“What about you,” he says softly. “Are you going up?”

“No,” she says, her voice thoughtful, shaking her head. “I had them put all the heaters in the boys’ room so that they’re warm enough. I’ll just stay down here by the fire, where it’s cozy.”

She sits up a little, tucking her legs in to make room for Victor next to her on the couch. She c***s her head towards the empty space, a silent invitation. He accepts, sitting and draping his arm over the back of the couch so he can face her. Slowly, perhaps a bit shy, Evelyn extends her legs again, laying them over his lap.

Victor looks her in the eye and then, quite deliberately, places a hand on her calf, rubbing it softly, massaging it, moving it slowly upwards towards her knee.

Evely holds his gaze and then, very slowly, draws her lower lip into her mouth, drawing her teeth over it, and then letting it go so that it reappears, wet, plump, and red.

God.

Damnit.

Victor moves then, unable to help himself, swooping forward and wrapping a hand around the back of her neck, pulling her towards him, needing to cover that lip with his own mouth now.

Evelyn gives a little moan – of hunger, desire, need, she doesn’t know what – and responds in kind, crushing her mouth to his and pulling her body close to him, straddling his lap. Her hands are everywhere at once, in his hair, holding his face, across his shoulders and down his back. She wants to touch him everywhere – wants to feel his skin against her own –

Victor groans, feeling himself grow hard beneath her. God damnit he’s wanted her since the moment he saw her walk down the stairs tonight – wanted to slip his hands under that sweater, as he’s doing now, sliding them across the panes of her stomach, up to cup her full breasts in his hands.

Evelyn throws her head back, giving a heavy moan of satisfaction as he runs his thumbs over her hard n*****s, as he tightens his fingers around the round flesh of her breasts. Victor kisses her newly-bared neck, running his tongue up from her collar bone almost to her ear, savoring the taste of her. In response, Evelyn grinds her hips against him, feeling the hardness of his ready c**k pulsing beneath her.

At this, Victor growls, pulling back to look her in the eye. It’s a proprietary look, one which she steadily returns.

Mine, his face says, his teeth bared to her.

Mine, she responds, taking that face in her hands and running her tongue over that mouth, over the edges of those teeth.

Victor shifts, then, moving his hands from her chest to her ass and lifting her up off the couch, moving her to the ground where he lays her down on the blankets of the wrecked fort already strewn before the fire. He pulls her bulky sweater up over her head.

Evelyn lays back on the floor, bared before him, letting him look at her, letting him enjoy the sight of her hot flesh in front of the fire. He growls at the sight, running a hand down the length of her, stopping to again cup her breast, to spread his fingers out over her stomach before he reaches the waistband of her pants, which he moves to pull downward.

Evelyn obligingly lifts herself so that he can slip the pants off of her legs and then she sits up, kissing him again, unbuttoning his shirt and shoving it impatiently off his shoulders.

“Victor,” she whispers, “I want you now, please.”