#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
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtsituation.”
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.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmVictor 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.”