The story of her life. She was everyone’s second, third or fourth afterthought. Never first.
Her feet crunched ice underfoot as she fought the urge to break into a run. That would be giving too much away. But she did quicken her steps, her path blurred by the stupid tears burning her eyes.
‘Lotte, stop!’
‘Fuck off!’
She had no idea where she was going and right this moment, she didn’t care. So when strong, powerful arms wrapped around her waist and swept her off her feet, she screamed.
‘Qué demonios, watch where you’re going!’
She strained to free herself from the bonds of his arms. ‘Get your hands off me!’
‘So you can go ahead and break your stupid beautiful neck?’
‘Valenti—’
‘Stop. Look,’ he growled in her ear.
Fighting the decadent shiver washing through her with his warm breath on her lobe and the arms locked tight around her, she swallowed. Focused on her surroundings. And gasped.
A mere ten feet ahead, the snow-covered ground fell away at a steep angle, with occasional rocks breaking through the white landscape. At the pace she’d been travelling, she would’ve surely tumbled down into the ravine, breaking a bone or several, possibly her neck.
‘Oh God.’ Her hushed exclamation wasn’t just for the narrowly avoided accident. It was also chagrin that he seemed to be saving her from a series of reckless mishaps.
No wonder he didn’t want to be around her. Tears brimmed faster and she wanted to kick herself one more time for yet another weakness.
‘Let me go, please,’ she said in a more subdued tone.
He didn’t comply. Of course he didn’t.
Between one breath, and the next, he swung her into his arms, striding back down the path.
He didn’t stop until they were back at the cabin, where he set her down in the middle of the living room, hands propped on his lean hips, and those molten eyes glaring holy hell at her. Much like the night he believed she was running away.
Lotte held up her hand. ‘Before you have a go at me, I take full responsibility for that. Granted I was annoyed with you, but I should’ve been looking where I was going.’
If she had hoped her pre-emptive apology would defuse the situation, she was very much mistaken. He shrugged off his coat and tossed it aside with barely restrained fury, his eyes never leaving hers.
‘Apology not accepted,’ he seethed. ‘Allowing your anger or dissatisfaction with me to lead you into danger is completely unacceptable. I could be scraping you off the side of a mountain by now.’
‘Oh come on!’ She took off her own outer garments, rolling her eyes as she hung them up. ‘That’s a little melodramatic, don’t you think?’
A dark rumble of thunder rolled out of his throat. ‘Melodrama is more your language. Maybe I should learn to speak it.’
She rolled her eyes again. ‘What next, a spanking to teach me a lesson?’
His eyes flared. ‘Now there’s an idea.’
She barely had a chance to react to that before he was reaching for her.
‘What are—Oh my God, don’t even think—argggh!’
The sharp sting on her backside, a direct result of being tossed over Valenti’s bent knees was as shocking as it was…hot.
‘How dare you!’
Her screech was more to cover up what was happening in her body than anything else. Because,sweet heaven, as the stings subsided as quickly as they’d arisen, the follow-up righteous outrage that should demand he explain and apologize for treating her like a child, swiftly died.
