“No,” he crooned, hugging her tight under an awning as they watched the white flakes drift down, slowly blanketing the street. “Timing and cold cause hibernation. Someday snow will be fun for us.”
She could imagine it for a moment. Snowmen and sledding. Christmas lights up on some imaginary cabin wherever they settled. Stomping boots off before entering the house and riding a snow machine together. Everything would be different soon. She would make sure of it.
“Take me home.”
“Home?”
“Well, not home, silly bear. Take me to Link’s shed.”
Tobias’s lips were curved up in a smile as he kissed her, and when he angled his head and brushed his tongue against hers, she melted to him like that tiny snowflake on her hand. Her strong Tobias, unaffected by the signs of winter.
Easing away, he rested his forehead against hers and rocked back and forth in the slow falling snow. “Vera?”
“Yeah?”
“No matter what happens, I want you to know how much I care about you.”
“Winter feels like breaking up.” Her voice came out nothing but a soft squeak as she fought to keep her emotions in check.
“We’re not breaking up, or even taking a break. You’ll live a life while I sleep, but when I wake up, for me, it’ll be like no time has passed and nothing has changed. You’ll still feel this important.”
“You promise?”
Tobias nodded and kissed her again, just a soft pluck of her lips. “I promise.”
Chapter Seventeen
Vera stepped out of the car and nearly busted her ass on a slick patch. Tobias would’ve been worried if she hadn’t immediately doubled over and laughed. He cracked a grin as he slid around the Bronco toward her to make sure she didn’t go down the rest of the way.
“How are you so clumsy?” he teased. “You’re a fox.”
Vera swatted his arm and almost went down again. Tobias caught her around the middle and kept her from hitting the snow, but just when he thought she would wrap her arms around his neck and allow him to help her up, she spread out like a starfish and closed her eyes, the heels of her boots resting on the thin layer of snow. “It feels like I’m flying,” she whispered through a full-lipped smile he couldn’t drag his eyes from.
Funny. She made him feel like he was flying, too.
Instead of dragging her into the shed and fucking her silly like his bear wanted to do, he laid her down on the snow and took his place beside her, ignoring the cold flakes that fell into the neck of his sweater.
Even with the clouds above, there were still patches of stars and the faint glow of the northern lights. Blue tonight, like Vera’s eyes.
Vera blew a long, frozen breath, like a steam engine, and wrapped her pink mitten-clad hand around his. “Next year, we’re going to build a giant snow-werebear.”
“I’m gonna build a snow wereporcupine and kick it in its snow dick.” He was still pissed at Harlan and his many painful quills.
Vera giggled and stuck her tongue out to catch the falling flakes beside him, and he was stunned once again at how beautiful she was. Chestnut hair fanned across the fresh powder, eyes dancing in a way he hadn’t seen them in weeks. Her cheeks were likely pink from the cold, but he liked to think they were rosy because she was happy. He liked to think he was the reason for the color there.
He’d never done that before—made someone happy. Oh, people were grateful when he delivered supplies to them out in the bush, but this was different. Vera was the most important part of his life now, and every smile she gave him made him feel like maybe he wasn’t such a monster. Vera was sweet and loyal, and if someone so un-jaded could love him, perhaps he could do this. Maybe he could be the mate she deserved if he worked hard enough and long enough. Or maybe it was Vera’s chronic optimism that was rubbing off on him.
“Why do they call them piggyback rides?” she asked.
Tobias rested his cheek against the snow and studied the perfect curve of her petit little nose as she stared up at the stars. “Do you want a piggyback ride?”
“Yes, but why do they call them that?”
Tobias rocked upward, then stood and helped her onto his back. Hands hooked behind her knees, he strode easily toward the shed behind Link’s cabin.
Vera rested her chin on his shoulder. “A koalaback ride makes more sense, right?”
“It probably deviated from a different word in a different language and didn’t actually refer to the animal originally.”
“Huh.”
Inside the shed, Tobias built a fire in the wood burning stove he and Link had brought in. He handled the chill much better than Vera did, and he hated the thought of her sleeping cold tonight. Usually his body warmth was enough to keep her comfortable, but he wouldn’t be here in the morning. Vera watched him quietly, head canted, her eyes the startling gold color that said her fox was near the surface. She was so damned beautiful here in this place, the glow of the fire pulsing against her pink cheeks.
“You love me,” she said.
He shut the door to the stove and nodded. “Very much.” More than anything.