She was a striking woman. Beautiful. A ripe, sensual mouth. Gorgeous eyes. A man could drown in her eyes. Her hair was loose and spilled from her black hat like wildfire to the tops of her shoulders. He didn’t know how he could see her hair in all that dark shit she wore, but he could.
His gaze flew back to her face. Bruises and cuts lashed her high cheekbones where she’d been slapped. The cold deepened inside him and at that moment he wanted to once again kill those bastards who’d hurt her.
She squatted beside him and white puffs of mist escaped her mouth with her every breath. Her lips moved. She was talking. He must have blacked out because he’d missed what she said. Her lips moved again.
“Will? Can you hear me?”
Hell, he didn’t remember giving her his first name. Warmth shot through him. Although he’d known it was the drugs urging her into his room that night, and he’d sworn he’d turn her down flat if she approached him, the instant she’d exposed herself to him—along with the tugging on all those rings—his self-control had vanished. He’d taken her up against the door and she’d been like a drug in his system, making him crave her again.
The erotic scent of her pleasure, her heat, her arousal, swept in around him and for a moment he was back in that room, kissing her pouty warm lips and licking her engorged clit while he held her ass cheeks. Her moans had been sweet and succulent.
“Will? Will? Can you hear me?” Her insistent voice snapped through his memory.
“I need you to wake up, Blade. Or you’re going to end up freezing your ass off out here on my grandparents’ snowmobile. So come on! Do me a favor and wake up!”
Snowmobile?
A sharp pain snapped against his frozen right cheek and damned if the reflexes he thought dead didn’t come to life. With lightning speed, he grabbed her by the wrist and held tight. Her surprised gasp made his cock tighten in awareness.
Well, what do you know? He wasn’t in such bad shape, after all.
“You’d better make sure I can’t catch you the next time you do that,” he croaked. Her cheeks darkened more than they already had from the cold.
Shit. She was blushing. Maybe she wasn’t as damaged as he’d originally thought.
He drifted again. Drifted into the memories. Of warmth. Of Red. Kissing her. Her hot, eager lips melting over his. Her mouth swollen and moist, opening to him, his tongue invading her sweet cavern.
Oh man, he could just about drown in these memories. She tasted so succulent…
* * * * *
He held her wrist so tight she couldn’t escape even if she’d wanted to. And she really didn’t want to because the sexual darkness in his eyes, his exquisite warning about her slapping him—as well as her need to wake him any way she could—had her lowering her head until their lips met.
Scorching tingles shot through her mouth and mind as her lips melted over his. She’d expected the kiss to be as weak as he appeared. It wasn’t. It was potent. Powerful and needy.
Just as needy as the sexual desire pounding through her. The heat of his kiss pushed aside everything else. Suddenly it was just the two of them. Just as it had been the one other time in that bedroom.
She fought to breathe as a rush of want raced through her. Lust, hot and heavy. Thick and powerful. It swept through her entire being like a firestorm, lashing her senses and sparking in her brain.
She wanted Blade. Wanted him like in her fantasy last night. Like she’d had him at the safe house. The kiss deepened and she inhaled him deep inside her lungs.
He was male. Raw and primal. Dominating. His scent powered through her and sailed deep into her bloodstream. Her body tightened with arousal, her pussy clenched. Hot moisture splayed against her panties. The driving hunger for him to fuck her took hold.
His tongue mated with hers. Erotic tingles swept through her and, with the growing heat, she unzipped her coat and cupped her breast.
Jolting at the realization she was getting carried away, Reena moaned with regret and broke the kiss. Blade groaned. His eyes were open and he seemed lucid.
“Need to get inside,” he panted. She wondered if he meant inside the cabin or inside of her. In the lamplight, his dark eyes glittered with pain and he inhaled sharply as she helped him off the snowmobile. Standing, he swayed like a drunkard but thankfully didn’t fall over.
Her legs went weak with relief as he stumbled forward. With her help, he managed the stairs, lurched across the planked porch and yanked open the screen door.
Within minutes, she had him sitting on a cot set up beside the woodstove. Heat blasted him in waves and Blade wished to hell his limbs would continue to co-operate, but it was as if his body knew it would be better if Red undressed him.
And she did. He was weak as a kitten and barely able to enjoy the show as she unzipped his jacket. Pain burst through his chest and he gasped as she tried to maneuver his jacket off his shoulders.
“Sorry,” she soothed.
When she had his shirt off, concern flushed her face. Concern for him. He spied the blood streaking his upper body and the puckered hole in his shoulder. With every breath, the pain slicing through him grew more intense.
