Page 13 of Girl in the Snow
She blinked as new warmth unfurled in her belly.Somehow, she didn’t think that’s what he’d meant to say, but it didn’t matter.Whatever nonsense people said in the heat of the moment was inconsequential.Only it didn’t feel that way.It felt like someone calling her name, someone who loved her deeply.
Deanna pressed her forehead to his.“I don’t want to let you go either.”
“But…” he raised both thick eyebrows, “I need a second.”He lifted her up, off his lap, holding her firmly by the hips.
Deanna gasped as he left her body.“Oh.”
Her body had woken up, that was for sure.She wanted him back again.Didn’t want to be separated from him.Not at all.
Cal set her down on the sofa, where she wriggled into a ball under a blanket again.
“Back in a sec.”Cal winked at her, then rose and walked away, grabbing his shirt to throw on as he went.
Deanna stared, because Cal’s rear view was spectacular.Honestly, the man had legs like tree trunks and a firm butt that made her want to grab him.Bite him.
When he came back and sauntered across the room, he had a towel wrapped around his waist.She wanted to tear it off immediately.
Deanna crooked her finger at him and Cal grinned, sitting down beside her, placing a glass of water on the table.
She leaned over the coffee table and grabbed the Uno card she knew was at the top of the stack.Reverse.The little arrows going in both directions.She placed it face up on Cal’s chest.
“Reverse it.Your turn to be on top.”
Cal’s grin was feral now.“You play a mean game.”
Deanna nodded, a mock-serious expression on her face.“I play to win.”
“I thought this game was about pleasure.”
She smiled at him, trying not to laugh at the earnest expression on his face.Did he think she hadn’t enjoyed what they’d done?“Absolutely.I think you earned the right to control the next game.”
“I like the sound of that.”
Before she could say another word, he laid her back on the sofa and nudged her legs apart, unwrapping her blanket and kissing his way down her body until he was crouched down by her knees.
“Let me make you win, again.”
Deanna laughed, then gasped as Cal kissed her inner thighs.And he got down to business.“I think we’re both winners.”
Chapter Five
Thenextmorning,Deannawoke with her head smooshed into a soft velour pillow and a plush blanket pulled up to her chin.She was surrounded by a hushed silence that was totally not normal.No traffic, car horns or the neighbours’ clanging hot water pipes.No doors slamming and definitely no aircraft noise.So, she wasn’t in her apartment or her mother’s flat in London.Not on a plane or in a hotel room on a work trip, either.
Then her whole body heated as she remembered.The lodge.The snowstorm.The blackout.AndCal.The way he’d touched her, making her forget everything, even her own name.The chemistry between them was amazing, something she’d never felt before.
But wait, where was Cal?
She raised her head and rubbed at her bleary eyes with one hand, then pushed a loose curl out of her face.The fire was still burning but it was smaller than last night.Deanna sat right up and tucked the blanket around her.She was wearing Cal’s t-shirt and her own PJ pants, since it was freezing overnight.
Last night, after they’d worn each other out, Cal had been so sweet.He’d dressed her attentively, then wrapped her in his arms and told her to get some sleep.Which she obviously had, because the lemon-yellow morning light was filtering through the gaps in the heavy curtains covering the lodge’s windows.
Deanna blinked at the sight of her two suitcases lined up on the other side of the sofa.Right.She’d left them in her cabin before the hole in the roof and everything else.Cal must have fetched them for her.That was thoughtful.
Wait.Was this a sign he wanted her to leave?Maybe he was telling her to get ready to go.He might have already called a tow truck for her stranded car.Or did he think she had a flight booked today?They hadn’t had a chance to talk properly, not with all the other things keeping them occupied.
Deanna got up, feeling a pleasant soreness in certain areas, stretched her spine and went over to where her bags were.A shower was in order.She opened her larger case and found her wash bag and a change of clothes.Placing them on the sofa beside her, she was about to zip up her bag again, but her gaze caught on the package from her mum.
Hesitating, not sure whether to touch it, she reached for the thing, treating it like a bomb set to explode, even though it was wrapped in pretty gold paper.No, she couldn’t face opening it yet, whatever was inside.Not before a shower and coffee, anyway.
