Night had already fallen. Their gallop took them all the way back to the cabin in record time. Once inside, he let her down. The first thing he noticed when he looked at her was her breath forming puffs in the air. He then realized it was much colder in the cabin than before.
"It's fr-freezing in here," chattered Satrina. Their sad little fire had also burned down quite a bit.
"There's probably something wrong with the propane tank. I'll go check it out."
Satrina sat down on the couch and shivered. She wrapped her arms around herself and leaned foreword. Never a huge fan of winter, Satrina groaned inwardly. Maybe coming here wasn't such a great idea.
Alec came in and slammed the door. "Something's defiantly wrong. The bad thing is we never learned much about propane tanks. Thought they went out with Brittany Spears."
"Ugh, I hate the cold!" Satrina vented. The shivers continued to wrack her body. Watching Alec throw a few logs on the fire, she suddenly admired his Manticore upbringing. Not that she didn't admire the perfect body, good looks and smart ass wit they had blessed him with.
"You're so lucky, Alec."
He sat down next to her with a confused look. "What?"
"You don't have to worry about being too cold, or getting tired."
He shrugged. "It's not really all it's cracked up to be."
She nudged him. "You can't tell me that you don't love the fact that you can run faster than anyone, jump higher, run longer than norms."
Unconsciously, Alec grabbed her hands in his rubbing gently to warm them up. "But you also don't have people trying to hunt you and kill you."
Her head tilted to the side. "Funny, I didn't even try to hunt you and I got you. You must not be as good as I thought."
He quirked an eyebrow. "That's not what you said last night."
"Let's hope I never have to say that." Looking towards the fire, an idea popped into her head. "I think this couch folds out into a bed. Let's pile a bunch of blankets on here so we can sleep next to the fire."
"Sounds like a plan."
They both ran all over the cabin searching for every blanket they could find. After finding all they could, they changed into their pajamas; Satrina, a comfy pair of pants and a tank top, Alec, just comfy pants.
Hopping into bed quickly, Satrina continued to shiver. "Come on," she said to Alec who was throwing more wood on the fire, "hurry up."
"Do you want to be warm or not?"
"I was really hoping you could keep me warm." She smiled slyly.
He smiled equally slyly. "I'd love nothing more than to keep you warm." Alec swiftly climbed into the bed. Spooning up next to Satrina, he wrapped his arm around her slim waist. Alec was astonished to find her skin cold to the touch. "Satrina, you're freezing!" He felt her shivering continue.
"Don't I know it. I've never done well in the winter. I always get cold easily."
A smile curved his lips as he realized the perfect way to warm her up. His head lifted a few inches above her neck. He placed slow, deliberate kisses on the sensitive spots on her neck.
A large involuntary shiver went through her body and she let out a low moan. "Oh
gods, that's defiantly making me feel warmer."
She flipped over to be face to face with him. Her hands relaxed on his chest and her head tucked under his chin. "Alec?"
"Hmm?"
Lightly with her index finger, she traced circles on his collarbone. "After you left Manticore, were you ever scared?"
Alec wasn't usually one to admit his fears. Everything was kept bundled and tucked away, hidden behind Manticore made steal. But something about Satrina, her smile or her kiss, had made the steal corrode and he couldn't hide from her. So he told her. "There was this one time," he kept his voice quiet, afraid he wouldn't be able to finish. "It was about a weak after Manticore burned down. I hadn't slept in three days, my clothes we're filthy. I was sitting in an alley trying to think of where I could sleep. Then it hit me, I was alone. I could've died right there, and not another human being would have cared. They wouldn't have even know I had existed."
Satrina's heart ached for him. No one should feel that alone. "You're not alone anymore." Her lips touched the skin of his throat in a light kiss. "I'm with you."
Not having the words to express himself, he simply kissed her forehead. He could
only utter, "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Breathing in deeply, Alec couldn't believe he'd been so lucky as to find an amazing person like Satrina. Without any benefit or reward to herself, she supported him and loved him. It was confusing as all hell why she did love him. He knew he came off as somewhat of an asshole. He knew that people, especially Max, thought he was shallow and conceited. So he decided the best way to find out was to ask.
"Satrina, why do you love me?"
Abruptly, she pulled far enough away to see his eyes. Her hand reached up and gently stroked his cheek. "You just answered you own question."
Confusion was evident on his face as his eyebrows knitted together. If he was confused before, he was even more so now. "I don't get it."
"You appear to be self-centered and an asshole, but there's vulnerability in you. That's what I love about you. You're tough on the outside but soft on the inside."
Alec chuckled deeply, the sound reverberating in his chest. "You make me sound like candy or something."
It was Satrina's turn to chuckle. "Well, you certainly are eye candy."
He shrugged slightly. "I know. You should see all the women at Crash when we have the best chest contests. I have to beat them off with a stick."
Satrina rolled her eyes. Together they rolled over so Satrina lay on top of Alec. Without saying a word, she searched his eyes, not trying to find anything, just seeing what hid there. The blue of his eyes reminded her of the sky an hour before sunset. Slowly, her eyes traveled down the sleek curve of his cheekbone to his full, kissable lips. Giving into her desires, she kissed him tenderly, but before she broke the kiss, her teeth tugged on his bottom lip.
A smile touched her lips when she realized he was at a loss for words by her action. "Aren't you going to beat me off with a stick?"
A shuddering breath left him. "Maybe later. Right now, I think we should continue with the kiss."
"Anything you want, sweet-cheeks."
Having an older brother had never paid off so well. Satrina's older brother had taught her to throw and catch at an early age. So using the skill she acquired from her brother, she hurled the snowball at Alec. It would have it him square in the face had he not used his Manticore skills to block it. Seeing the glint in his eye, she ran. It was funny how they always ended up throwing things at each other.
Alec was gaining on Satrina, but, conveniently for him, she slipped on the freshly fallen snow. He chuckled as he peared down at her.
"How's everything down there? Wet? Cold?" he said with a grin.
Her breath caught as the wind was knocked out of her. Forcefully, she made her
lungs take in precious air.
His smile still painted on his face, worry crept into Alec's mind. Weakness became more apparent with each passing second. Desperately, he controlled the shaking that was beginning to wrack his body. No, this can't be happening now! I took my pills!
Satrina smiled up at Alec and quickly kicked him in the stomach.
Alec grunted. "Fine. We'll do it your way." Picking her up, her threw Satrina over his shoulder. She laughed wildly. A gleam caught her eye when she noticed the snow in her hand. Agile fingers pulled his coat and shirt back and slipped the snow in. But Satrina forgot that he wasn't easily affected by temperature changes. Purposefully, Alec trudged on until he found the appropriate spot to dump Satrina.
Seeing the mound of snow, she clamped her fingers onto him determined to stay where she was. "No, Alec! You dump me in there and you'll pay!"
"What do you really think you can do to an X-5?" Then Alec attempted to throw Satrina down but wasn't aware of her steal grip. Momentum took him down with her. They sat up on their elbows, snow clinging to every inch of them.
"Way to go slick," Satrina flung snow in his general direction. After a heavy sigh, Satrina sat up. "Let's go inside before I freeze and you look anymore yummy." She threw a glance his was noting how good he looked with snow in his hair and snow melting on his skin.
The cabin felt warm especially for being heated by only a fire. Involuntarily, Satrina shivered. Turning to Alec, she opened her mouth to say something but stopped. Alec's hand trembled.
Her eyes shot up to meet Alec's. "Are you okay?"
Sharply, Alec drew in air. "I'm fine." His voice betrayed any weakness he hoped to hide. "I just need to sit down." Control left Alec and his knees buckled. Before he hit the floor, Satrina snatched one of his arms and the zipper of his coat with the other hand. Gently, she lowered his trembling body to the nearby couch.
"Alec?" She rested her hands on each of his shoulders using pressure, hoping to still him.
"Sei-seizure," he managed to stutter.
Panic settled in Satrina's stomach. Alec was having a seizure and she didn't have the slightest idea what to do. "What do I do?"
Sweat streaked his forehead. "Pills ... coat poc-pocket," he whispered. The trembling of Alec's body shook the couch. Searching his pockets quickly, she found the pills he needed. Confusion creased her brow when she read the name of the pills. Tryptophan. Without any more hesitation, she popped open the bottle and took out two pills.
Carefully, she placed the pills in his mouth and held his head still to make sure he swallowed them. "Alec, please don't leave me. I don't know what else to do."
More than anything, Alec wanted to answer her, reassure her that he'd be fine. But this bout of seizures was worse than any other he'd had and he couldn't force himself to speak. Alec tried desperately to keep Satrina's troubled face in focus. Her beautiful tear soaked face blurred until Alec slipped into peaceful blackness.
So, is this any good? Tell me if it's great or if it's utter crap or if you just think Alec's hot.