Bound By The Blizzard: A Safe Haven - Love At Last - Life After Death

By Wendy Gullet

A Safe Haven

After their horrible fight with the hunters, college sophomores Matt and Stella are able to escape from the cabin in the woods. They jump in their abductors’ Jeep and speed off into the raging blizzard. Stella is in shock. She can’t believe what she just did to get them out of the cabin alive! For the first time, Matt can see the scared and vulnerable girl underneath the spoiled exterior.

They decide to drive to her parents’ house in the stolen Jeep. Stella’s father is an influential lawyer, maybe he can help them out with the incredible mess they left in the woods. After all, they are now fugitives on the run! On the way over to her mansion, Matt and Stella start talking. The traumatizing experience completely changed the girl and made her realize her past mistakes.

When they arrive at her house, Matt can’t believe his eyes. Stella’s mansion is huge, she even has her own personal servants waiting for them at the gate! Her parents, Robert and Victoria Wellington, were worried sick about their daughter. They thank Matt profusely for saving Stella and insist that he stays with them for a while, at least until the blizzard is over. But no one is more grateful than Stella. She will do anything to make Matt forgive her for the way she treated him in the past...

Love At Last

After their first passionate moment together, Stella confesses her feelings to Matt. So much has changed in the last twenty four hours! Not too long ago, the broke college student was nearly invisible to her. But now that she can see past their social differences, she is falling in love with him!

But Matt is still hesitant. He loved Stella from the first moment he saw her, but when she shut him down it hurt him really bad. He doesn’t want to go through all that heartache again. But the horrible night in the woods changed them both for the better. They decide to forget about the past and give their love a second chance.

The more time Matt spends at Stella’s mansion, the closer they grow to each other. And her family also embraces him as the son they never had, even giving Matt an opportunity he couldn’t have dreamed of. One evening, Stella gives him a tour around the house and shows him the secret corridor between her chambers and Matt’s room. Tonight, she will be waiting for him. Impatiently, Matt waits until the last servant leaves and then sneaks over to Stella’s room. When he opens the door, he finds Stella in her hot tub. Things get steamy, and not only because of the hot water...

Life After Death

Now that their love is no longer a secret, Matt and Stella can’t keep their hands off of each other. But they have to behave themselves a little longer. After all, Mr. And Mrs. Wellington have invited Matt’s parents over for Christmas. But his parents are hesitant. They are poor, hard-working people and feel intimidated by the luxurious lifestyle of the Wellingtons.

Matt heads over to his parents’ house to convince them and to introduce them to his new girlfriend. He also has some explaining to do, as his parents are still unaware of the gruesome details from their horrible night in the woods. On the way over, Stella is very nervous. What if his parents don’t like her? What if they judge her for what she had to do in the cabin to get out alive?

After the meeting with his parents, Matt and Stella go back to her house to continue where they left off the night before. After another passionate night, the two lovers wake up in each other’s arms. It’s Christmas morning! Today, both families will meet for the first time...

After all they have been through, the love between Matt and Stella is stronger than ever. They know that there lies a bright future ahead for the two of them. And maybe not just for the two...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wendy Gullet
• Release date: Mar 20, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463163818

Book preview

BOUND BY THE BLIZZARD

The Trilogy

A SAFE HAVEN - LOVE AT LAST - LIFE AFTER DEATH

By WENDY GULLET

Published by Wendy Gullet at Smashwords

Copyright 2019 Wendy Gullet

Smashwords Edition License notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author

Disclaimer: all characters portrayed are at least 18 years old

***

A SAFE HAVEN

by

WENDY GULLET

As we started through the deep snow on the lane leading from Clyde and Billy’s cabin to the hard road, I could see the fire rapidly growing inside the cabin, through the cracked rearview mirror of Clyde’s Jeep. I knew that poor, murdered Billy’s body was being cremated, and that his brother, Clyde, was being roasted alive. The horror of the entire situation, Clyde’s attempted rape of Stella, his brutal murder of his brother Billy (who Clyde had called Bull, to make fun of his immense size and strength, along with his obviously limited mental ability), me wounding Clyde with his own gun, and Stella’s decision to torch their cabin with Clyde inside, alive, but disabled by his wounds, nearly overwhelmed me. I could barely drive through the deep snow, torn between the urge to cry openly from my terror and exhaustion, to be physically ill, or to pray to God to thank Him for sparing us and to beg forgiveness for our own guilt at having killed a defenseless man, even though the man had proven himself to be nearly the devil incarnate. Looking over at Stella, who had actually been the one to cause Clyde’s death, didn’t help me. She was sitting stiffly in her seat, staring straight ahead through dead-looking eyes, her face frozen into an unreadable mask.

When we reached the hard road, I turned toward home, hoping that Clyde’s monster Jeep would be able to get us through the deep snowdrifts and over the trees that had been blown down during the worst of the storm. We crawled along at a steady but slow pace, finally reaching Stella’s wrecked car, which is where our whole nightmare had begun. I stopped the Jeep I had stolen from Clyde so we could retrieve Stella’s purse and luggage, along with my duffle bag from my truck, all of which had been left behind when Clyde and Billy had kidnapped us. Stella was silent and expressionless the whole time. When we had gotten back in the Jeep and resumed our slow progress toward home, she broke the silence.

I killed a man, Matt. I burned him alive. He would have raped me if poor Billy hadn’t stopped him. He would have killed us both when he was done using my body. He laughed as he murdered his own brother. He deserved to die. He was a monster. We could have escaped after you wounded him, but I killed him. What happens now? Am I a murderer? Am I any better than he was? Will I go to prison? Will I go to Hell for this? Worse still, will I have dragged you down with me? She began to sob quietly, pitifully, tucking herself into almost a fetal position on the seat next to me.

I drove in silence, not knowing what to say to her. My emotions were so mixed up that I couldn’t decide if she was, in fact, a cold-blooded killer, or if her actions could be excused by the inconceivable horror of the entire situation and the mortal fear that Clyde had caused in both of us. I had shot the bastard twice, but I was at peace with that. I had been prepared to empty his gun into him just to prevent him from raping Stella, but I had been tied up and could not get my hands free. After Billy had attacked Clyde to stop him just as he had been ready to begin raping Stella, she had untied me and I had grabbed the gun, but I didn’t fire it. When Clyde had overpowered Billy and had killed him, I threatened Clyde with the gun. Clyde lunged at me with the same fireplace poker he had used to murder his brother, so I shot him twice to disable him. I was prepared to take Stella and flee the scene, knowing that Clyde would probably have bled to death before we could have sent police and medical personnel to his cabin, but I was comfortable with that. His death would, technically, have been at my hands, but I felt that, morally and legally, it was a killing in self-defense and in the defense of another. Stella’s dumping moonshine and kerosene all over him, knowing that it would trickle toward the fireplace and incinerate him alive was, perhaps, another matter.

The miles passed slowly on the drifted, tree- and branch-strewn woodland road. Stella and I were each lost in our own agonized thoughts. As we passed through the small town where I assumed Clyde and Billy had sold their hides and moonshine, I was acutely aware that we would have been seen as fugitives from justice if the stolen Jeep we were driving was recognized, but no one seemed to see us as we crept through the dark town. When we were back in the woods moving toward our home towns, Stella finally spoke again.

Matt, stop the Jeep. Find a place to pull over and stop. We need to talk.

I saw an abandoned gas station, and stopped behind it, hidden from the road. I stopped the engine and turned the lights out.

Matt, should we call the fire department? What if the cabin has started a forest fire?

I think that’s pretty unlikely, Stella. There’s so much snow out here that the likelihood of the fire spreading is almost nothing. The cabin will probably burn to the ground, but it’s so isolated that no one may even have spotted the fire. When someone finally does find it, all they’ll find is two badly charred bodies in the rubble. Even if they find the bullet wounds in Clyde, there will be no way to know who fired the gun. All our fingerprints will have been destroyed by the fire. They’ll probably figure that mean old Clyde finally pushed his brother too hard, that they fought, and killed each other. If they really investigate, they’ll find the broken moonshine jug and the kerosene lamp, which will probably have been broken when the roof fell in, and they’ll assume the fire was accidental.

Should we go to the police and tell them what happened? Stella asked.

"That’s your call, Stella. I understand why Clyde had to die. I’ve thought about it a lot, and I will abide by whatever decision you make. If you feel you need to tell your story to the authorities, you may be able to justify your actions and avoid any trouble. You may also be able to get your father to use his influence to help you or to get you the legal help you may need. But really, I think that the only evidence of us having been in that cabin will have been destroyed by the fire. Our vehicles are abandoned at least two miles from the cabin, and the storm has covered any footprints and tire tracks