Blaze of Winter: A Loveswept Contemporary Romance (19 page)

“This is the first time I’ve heard her coughing all night, but if it gets any worse, we’ll take her right home.”

“Okay,” Avery agreed.

“Let’s go, Emma,” Jimmy said. “I’ll show you some of my hockey moves.”

“Reliving your glory days?” Emma asked, laughing.

“
These
are my glory days,” he responded, kissing her soundly before leading her to the pond.

Avery waved as they left, and she watched them skate around for a few moments. Jimmy was really quite graceful for his size. Emma was better on the ice than she was, but she was still a bit wobbly. Jimmy kept her hand wrapped in his the entire time. When Avery turned back to Theo, he had an unreadable expression on his face. “He makes her really happy,” she said.

“And she him. It’s exactly the way it should be. Now,” he said, steering her toward the table. “Let’s get you something warm before we get back out there.”

“All right,” Avery agreed. She was beginning to trust him. The intense physical connection between them hadn’t waned, not by a long shot, but he wasn’t pushing her past her comfort zone.

After some hot chocolate, which she gratefully drank, they returned to the ice. Avery moved a bit more confidently, so she and Theo did a few turns around the entire makeshift rink. She slowly released her inhibitions, her fear about sliding around on two narrow blades.

She was really moving fast now, Theo encouraging her by lengthening his own strides. Friends and family passed by in a blur and her hair whipped in the wind. The exhilaration was incredible and, brave enough to finally stop staring at the ice in front of her, she flashed Theo a wide smile. He responded by tightening his arm around her waist and her stomach did a funny flip-flop. She felt safe with him. Secure. And desired.

He wanted her and she wanted him right back. Did she want him enough to take what he offered? A little voice inside her whispered yes. Yes, she did.

As they swung by the edge of the pond, Emma called out to her.

“James and I are going to take Kate home.”

“I’ll come.”

“No,” Emma said, waving her on. “Stay and enjoy. Don’t worry about Kate. We’ll take care of her tonight.”

“Okay,” Avery called back. She was having fun, and Kate would be in good hands. She waved goodbye as Theo took her back around the pond.

It was late when they finally got off the ice. The fire had gone out and the smell of wood smoke was growing stale. Buster Quigley and a few others were dismantling the huge spotlights. Slowly she and Theo trekked back through the woods, Theo flicking on a large flashlight so that they could see the path underfoot. When they reached the road, he walked her to her car.

“You did well out there,” he said, his voice sounding hollow in the chill air. “You were really steady on your feet in that last hour.”

There was a slight tic in his jaw as he spoke, as if he were holding himself in check. His voice was calm, but his eyes sparked fire. “Yes, well,” she said, feeling heat creep up her cheeks. “I had a good teacher.”

“See you back at the Inn?” he asked casually. It wasn’t a demand. He was testing her, seeing how she’d respond to him.

Still dizzy with excitement from the skating, she was flying high. Feeling riskier than she ever had. She nodded her assent. “Sure. Maybe we could play that game of Scrabble.”
Maybe. Or maybe not
.

The fire in his eyes blazed hotter and he treated her to a devilishly sexy smile. “I’d like that.” Immediately and unexpectedly, desire slammed through her. She had felt so comfortable with Theo tonight, so peaceful, that she had almost forgotten his effect on her. Before she had a chance to process her feelings, she was in her car, driving back to the Inn. He waited until she was on the move before hopping into his own camouflage-green Jeep.

It was a dark night and she drove carefully down the narrow road toward town. Confusion muddled her brain now that she had some distance from him.

Did she really want to give in to her attraction to Theo? It wasn’t too late to change her mind, was it? She was in her car and he was in his. She didn’t have to go back to the Inn. Not
tonight, at any rate. She could make her excuses tomorrow, after she’d had the chance to cool off.

But maybe she’d never cool off. Maybe the heat would keep burning hotter and hotter until it consumed her.

Maybe she should just get him out of her system now.

CHAPTER 15

Before she knew it, she was parked at the Inn, and Theo’s Jeep was pulling up right behind her. Delicate flakes of snow floated down around her as she got out of her car. Feet crunching on the icy gravel, she walked across the driveway and up the back porch steps. She unlocked the door and briskly walked inside toward the parlor. Her desire for him consumed her, but it didn’t mean she wasn’t nervous. The board game was no longer a pretense. She had to find it.

Flicking on the lights, she began to rummage around in a cupboard. The click of the back lock slid home and she heard Theo’s footsteps on the wood floor as he slowly, inexorably, walked toward her. She was suddenly more on edge than she’d ever been in her life. Where had Aunt Kate put that damned game? The light wasn’t strong enough and it was too dark in this corner. Almost frantic now, she shoved game boxes aside, searching for the one she wanted. Anything to keep herself from thinking.

Then the back of her neck prickled with awareness and she knew he was behind her.

“Avery,” he said, his deep voice echoing in the large room.

She knew she could no longer deny how she felt about him. Still, she made one last attempt to save herself. “I can’t find the game,” she said. “Maybe we can—”

But he was standing right in front of her. With the same collected calmness he’d displayed all evening, he placed both hands on her shoulders and gave her a crooked smile. “Avery, we’re not going to play Scrabble right now.”

“We’re not?” she asked, her voice coming out in a breathless whisper.

“No.” Then he tilted his glossy black head and pressed his lips firmly to hers. And with that, she knew she was done trying to resist the way she felt.

Theo plunged his hands through her hair, tipping her head back to deepen their kiss. She massaged her tongue against his and he groaned into her mouth, sliding a hand down her back to press her more fully against him.

“I love your new coat, but it has to go.” He pushed the fleece off her shoulders and it slid into a puddle on the floor. “And these,” he said, tugging at her gloves one by one. “And this.” He pulled her sweater over her head, then kissed her even more deeply. He had taken his own coat off, too, she noticed.

Her face, her neck, her jaw—he kissed anywhere his mouth could reach. “This is right,” he murmured, fingers still entwined in her hair as he trailed his tongue up her neck. “You know it and I know it. I’ve wanted to do this since the first night I saw you.”

Avery tightened her grip around his waist. “Me too,” she admitted in a whisper. “But I’m scared.” Scared of her response and of her overwhelming need for this one, passionate man.

With the planes of his face shadowed in the dim light and his black hair blending into the darkness, he looked more like a devil than the man she’d begun to trust. “Don’t be. I’m with you.”

Avery nodded.
Yes
. She wanted him to touch her so badly it felt like every nerve ending was on fire. Once she was ready for this—for him—she was at him in a frenzy, grabbing the bunched muscles of his arm and clawing at the buttons of his shirt. But he steadied her, encouraging her to follow his lead.

She curled her fingers into the thick, soft hair at the nape of his neck. Trailing the other hand down his broad chest, she snaked it under the edge of his shirt and up his stomach. Reveling in the way he flexed his abdominal muscles when her knuckles brushed against him, she experimented by running her hand farther up his shirt. When she swept her palm across his chest, he inhaled sharply and deepened their kiss. Whatever she was doing, he liked it. And she liked it too. Her breasts swelled and when he ran his hand up her rib cage to gently cup one of them, her nipple hardened instantly. He kneaded the soft flesh, making her gasp.

“May I?” He tugged the bottom of her crewneck shirt from her jeans, but paused before sliding it up over her stomach.

She could barely speak the response. “Yes, please,” she whispered.

Then he pulled the shirt over her head along with her tank top, touching his lips to the base of her throat. Slowly, deliberately, he trailed down the top of one breast, then lower still. He inhaled against her skin, murmured something she couldn’t hear, and then reached a hand behind her back to undo her bra. Before she could even drag in a breath it was off, and his mouth was on her hard, sensitive nipple, his clever fingers having found its twin. Desire hit her straight in her core, hot and fast, but he didn’t give her time to catch her bearings. Instead, he moved his mouth to her other breast and suckled hard. Unable to help it, she let out a small cry of pleasure.

He kissed her again as he stroked his hand down her rib cage.

Any lingering uncertainty she had was swept away by his warm, passionate kisses and calm, capable hands. He was skilled, artful even, in the way he coaxed her body to respond. She had no time to think about what complications this might create between the two of them. Only about what he was doing to her—with her—and the way he was making her body sing.

Avery was so lost in sensation, she barely noticed him pulling away. “We need to take this somewhere else before we go any further.” And with that, he scooped her into his arms and began to carry her through the foyer. He headed straight for the staircase.

“Where are we going?”

He kissed her on the nose as he started climbing the stairs. “Smuggler’s Cove.”

A draft blew and she realized she wasn’t wearing a shirt when her nipples hardened further. “My clothes!” she said, heat creeping up her cheeks as she tried to cover herself.

“I like you half-naked,” he said, raking her body with his gaze. “And I love that I can make you turn pink with a few well-chosen words.”

He paused at the door to the room long enough to set her down and open it. Then he picked her up again and stepped inside, gently settling her onto the bed. He pulled off her shoes
before closing the drapes and the door. Then he turned back, his heavily hooded green eyes dark with passion. “Now, where were we?”

She was intensely aware of her vulnerability. Despite the fact that he was a bit rumpled, he was fully clothed, and she had nothing to cover her torso with but her own blush. Thankfully, the room was warm, made even warmer by the flame that Theo had ignited within her. Her breath caught in her throat as he stalked toward her.

Eyes wide, she watched as he approached, stopping about a foot from the edge of the bed. Untying his boots, he pulled each one off in turn. Then he pulled his shirt over his head, revealing the hard planes of his abdomen over his low-slung cords. Despite his sedentary profession, he was in incredible shape. A fine layer of dusky hair covered his pectorals and a narrow trail led right down the middle of his chest through his belly button and lower still. By the time he started in on his pants, she knew her eyes must be as wide as saucers. He tugged his cords off quickly, his boxer shorts following immediately after.

Every inch of Theodore Grayson was utterly stunning.

He stood there, welcoming her stare, letting her know how much she affected him. There was no arrogance to his stance, just a quiet humility. He had to know how gorgeous he was, but he didn’t show it, not in the way he stood, nor in the expression on his handsome face, which only made her want him even more.

But there was one small, er,
large
issue that she had to deal with first. His huge shaft extended out from a patch of dark hair. A flare of nervousness reared up and she tried to tamp it down.

There was a little lump in her throat as she swallowed hard. Licking her lips, she tried to speak.

“Ah, Theo,” she said, her voice sounding hoarse.

“Mmm hmm?” he questioned, stepping closer.

“I—” she said, closing her eyes. “I don’t think you’re going to fit.”

He laughed, the sound echoing off the walls of the room, before getting on the bed. He pushed her hair back over her shoulder before cupping her jaw. “We’re going to fit very nicely together. You’ll see.” Then he kissed her. Deeply, without any urgency. When he nibbled down her jaw, she tried to protest.

“B-but you’re s-so—”

“Bad?” His voice dropped half an octave, in a mock-seductive tone. “Yeah, heard that one before. Don’t believe what they say, Avery.” She laughed, but when he moved his mouth to her neck and then licked down its length, blowing on the spots he’d just moistened, she stopped laughing and shivered.

“No, I mean, you’re really—”

“Wicked?” He cupped a breast in his hand and thumbed the nipple, chuckling when she gasped in response. “Oh, yes, I certainly can be.”

“Theo! You know what I mean. You’re—”

“Shh,” he said, silencing her by gently stroking the palm of his hand up and down her back. “It’s going to be fine. I’ll take care of you. I swear.”

“Okay.” She nodded, believing him, but it took her a few moments of feverish kissing to forget why she was so nervous. Somehow her jeans and panties were gone—had he taken them off or had she?—and he was stroking her body, taking her even higher. He cupped her mound and swept a finger through her folds.

He returned his mouth to her breast even as he found the most sensitive flesh between her legs and massaged it. Heat radiated from her core, spreading through her entire body. He played her body like an instrument, making it thrum faster, then slower, her need ebbing and flowing with his touch. When he slowly worked one finger up and into her, she made a mewling sound. After rubbing his thumb over her center of pleasure, he added a second finger and carefully moved them in and out.

He kept his fingers and thumb busy as he bent his head to her breast, drawing her nipple deep into his mouth. It was nearly her undoing. She moaned in pleasure, unable to help herself from sinking her fingernails into the muscles of his arm. She needed him.
Now
.