He slid one hand up to hold the back of her neck while his other hand continued to gently torture her with anticipation. His blue eyes caught hers and Keira wished she knew what he was thinking now. Now, when passion simmered in pale eyes gone dark with desire.
She wanted to give him what he was giving her, so she slid one hand down his body until she could encircle his length with her fingers again. He swallowed a great gulp of air before lowering his head to take her mouth with his. His tongue plunged into her mouth, claiming her fiercely, desperately, as if he couldn't wait another moment to taste her.
And Keira matched his need with her own. She shifted position, sliding her hands around his waist to splay them against his back. She felt his heart pounding and knew her own was in sync that wild rhythm.
His fingers dipped into her center, first one, then two, diving in and out of her heat, touching her deeply, but not deep enough. Not as deeply as she wanted him. Needed him.
When he tore his mouth from hers, he stared down at her and whispered, “We'll never make it back up to the bedroom.”
“Not a chance,” she agreed, already so hungry for him, her arms and legs were trembling.
“Here then,” he said and, moving quickly, he picked her up, carried her to the counter and plopped her down onto it.
“Yikes!” The cold granite bit into her heated skin and sent a chill slicing right through her.
He grinned wickedly. “Cold?”
She narrowed her eyes on him. “You enjoyed that. Payback for locking you outside?”
“Just a little,” he admitted, then leaned in and bit her bottom lip gently, swiping his tongue along the crease in her mouth. “But I'm willing to warm you up again, too.”
She reached for him, sliding her arms around his neck, pulling him in closer. “A generous man,” she said with a sigh as his mouth came down on hers.
As he kissed her, he parted her thighs, moved in close and entered her body on a rush of sensation that poured through the two of them, linking them in a way that neither had experienced or expected.
Keira arched into him, moving her hips on the hard granite in a desperate attempt to get closer, to take him more fully within. She closed her eyes and saw swirls of vibrant color as her body leaped into life. Her being soared, and something deep within her unexpectedly awoke. Her eyes opened again as that thought sang through her mind. She watched him and felt new feelings stir within. New emotions. New and incredibly fragile threads of connection.
Nathan's hands dropped to her hips and he held her still, trapped within his steely grip as he plunged in and out of her depths in a ferocious rhythm designed to drive them both quickly over the edge.
The world dropped away and it was just the two of them. Nothing beyond existed anymore. Passion swelled and trapped them in a silky web of desire. Keira held on to him, and lost herself in his strength, surrendering to the twist of anticipation curling inside her.
Her body tightened, her mouth mated with his and she hooked her legs around Nathan's waist, pulling him in harder, deeper. She felt his body's invasion of hers all the way to her soul and knew she would never get enough of him. Knew that this man was touching more than her body. He'd already laid claim to a piece of her heart.
Whether she wanted it or not, she cared for him. More than she wanted to think about. More than she dared to admit.
She pulled free of his kiss so she could watch his eyes as he claimed her. His beautiful blue gaze locked with hers, as though he understood her silent plea and felt the same way.
Her body quickened, anticipation exploded and a climax stronger than anything she'd ever known before shattered inside her, splintering itself into brilliant colors that tore through her heart and spilled into her bones.
Nathan kept his gaze fixed on hers and when she cried out his name, he gave himself up to the release clamoring inside him and followed her over the ragged edge of control, into oblivion.
By morning, Nathan was rethinking the whole situation.
The night before, he'd thought it a great idea having Keira stay with him. They'd come together often during the night and each time had been more incredible than the first. He felt as though each time he touched her, he felt something more, something different. And he'd reveled in their time together, knowing that in the morning, she would be going home.
At least, that's what he had thought.
He gritted his teeth and stared out the bank of windows in the kitchen. Outside the lodge, the world was a wash of white. Snow piled on the sides of the deck and blew in under the overhang to coat the wood planks with a layer of snow at least a foot deep. And that was under the porch roof. It was much deeper everywhere else, and it was still falling.
He'd never seen anything like it.
“It's mid-March and it looks like Siberia in December out there,” he muttered.
Keira came up behind him, threaded her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his back. “Welcome to the high Sierras.”
“I tried the phone,” he said. “No dial tone.”
“Uh-oh.”
“What's that mean?” He turned his head to look at her.
“It means,” she said, “that with the phone lines down this early in the storm, it's a big one.”
Nathan glowered at her. “Which translates into …?”
She shrugged. “If the roads aren't completely blocked already, they soon will be.”
“Surely you have crews to take care of that.”
“Of course we do,” Keira said, smiling up at him. “But they can't roll till the heavy snows are over, and even when they do …”
He didn't like the look on her face. The look that said he's not going to like this.
“What?”
“They take care of the town first and then the main stretches of highway. Those are priorities for obvious reasons.”
“And …?”
“And,” she said with another shrug, “the roads up here probably won't be cleared for a few days.”
“A few days?”
“Maybe sooner,” she said, he suspected simply to placate him. “But the private roads and the roads leading to them are pretty much a lower priority. Unless there's an emergency or something. If the road crews get a call like that, they'll come right away.”
“The phones are out.” He paused, then said, “Wait. I've got my satellite phone.”
“But no one else around here has one.”
“Right.” Nathan shook his head.
She pulled her arms from around his waist, shoved her hands into the pockets of her robe and said, “Look, we do the best we can. And people generally privately contract to get their roads cleared, so that takes care of a lot of problems.”
“And does the lodge have a private contract?”
“I don't know.”
“Perfect.” Nathan blew out a breath. This month was turning into a real trial. “How long is this going to keep up?” He shook his head as he shifted his gaze across the lake, watching snow slide in sideways, riding a wind that was rattling the windows.
“Well,” she said, giving him a brilliant smile, “if it keeps up, at least it won't be coming down anymore.”
He glanced at her. “Oh, very humorous.”
She moved to stand in front of him, leaning both