She shivered.
“Are you cold?” he whispered.
She wasn’t sure. Was she cold or just extraordinarily aware of his lips on her skin? Regardless, she nodded.
“Come to bed, then. I’ll keep you warm.”
Shocked, she spun in his arms. But when a flash of lightning illuminated his eyes, she could see they were guileless.
“I’ll just keep you warm,” he repeated. “I promise. A Chase promise is—”
“—not given lightly,” she finished on a sigh.
She didn’t want to be just kept warm. She wanted to be kissed senseless. But she couldn’t face yet another rejection. She wouldn’t ask with words, ever again.
Instead, she went up on her toes. She raised her face to him, pulled the tie out of his hair, meshed her fingers in its silky softness.
Her reward was hearing his sharp intake of breath.
“To bed. To keep warm,” he said firmly and turned her around, guiding her across the darkened room with a hand clamped on her shoulder.
She clenched her teeth, but a tiny whimper slipped out anyway.
He halted. “Have I hurt you?” When she didn’t reply, his hand came up to clasp her chin and turn her face to him. She could barely see his eyes, but she could feel their penetrating gaze. “It’s your arm, isn’t it?”
“Aye,” she whispered. “I never found time to gather plants today.”
“Is it getting any better?”
“Nay.” She wouldn’t lie. But she didn’t want to alarm him, either. “It’s been but a day. These things take time.”
“I wish I could have a look.”
“Well, it’s dark. You can look in the morning, if it pleases you. For now…” She moved close and laid her head on his chest.
Though she felt him hesitate, she also heard his heart pounding beneath her ear. Muttering something unintelligible, he swung her into his arms and carried her to the bed, probably scattering all their carefully laid out clothes as he went.
But she cared not. She knew she had won.
The bed ropes creaked as he set her down, and another flash of lightning revealed his features in stark relief. Enough so she could find his lips with hers by the time the responding thunder rumbled through the sky, shaking the cottage, the floorboards, the bed.
Or maybe she was shaking. Nay, for sure she was shaking. His hands moved to cup her face, and then they were lying beside each other. It felt scandalous being this close to a bare-chested Jason, but it was growing colder, and he was warm, so she couldn’t find it in herself to fret. Tentatively, she pressed her palm against his smooth skin.
He sat up, breathing in slow, loud puffs.
“I said I wouldn’t do this,” he ground out from between gritted teeth. “It’s irresponsible, and—”
She gripped both his forearms, the only part of him she could easily reach. “For once in your life, would you forget about being responsible? What harm could come from a wee bit of kissing?”
His dark silhouette remained still. She wished she could see his expression.
A roll of thunder ended, leaving the room abruptly silent but for the dull pattering of the rain. “Just kiss me, Jason,” she whispered.
Another flash of lightning, and his answer was in his eyes.
No.
Despite her resolve, she had asked with words again—and, nay, he wouldn’t kiss the likes of her. He didn’t want her after all.
A sob tore from her throat—a sob born of frustration and embarrassment, endless rejection and unfulfilled hopes. She leapt up and made for the door, scrabbling at it with frantic fingers, shoving it to the floor behind her. A mighty crash resounded from the cottage as she raced out into the storm.
He was behind her within seconds, but she kept running, darting around the shadows of the trees, until finally he caught her from behind. She fell to her to her knees in the wet grass and threw herself forward, shutting her eyes against the sight of him, though she couldn’t really have seen him anyway in the darkness and the driving rain.
“Leave me alone!” she screamed over the deluge. Never had she realized water could be so loud. But that was good—it drowned out her harsh breathing and the staccato beat of her heart. It pounded her skin through the night rail, cold needles that drove away all her anguished thoughts. It caressed her body with the icy fingers she needed to cool her temper and bring her back to her senses.
Then warmer fingers were on her, rolling her onto her back. Jason was kneeling over her. “What on earth are you doing?” he demanded over a rumble of thunder. “You’ll catch your death out here!”
“Leave me alone!” Angrily she pushed at his hands and struggled to her feet. “Always, since I met you, you will never leave me alone,” she hollered as he came up after her.
A bolt of lightning illuminated his face for a second, just a second. But long enough for Cait to see his anguish, his regret, his obvious struggle with himself.
But most of all, she saw his want.
“I don’t want to leave you alone,” he bellowed over the wind and the rain and another hard crack of thunder. “I never wanted to leave you alone!”
And he was on her in an instant, his bare upper body hot against her coldness, his mouth seeking hers. Their lips met, and a jolt of need shot straight through to her heart. The kiss wasn’t gentle, but consuming. Lightning flashed as he crushed her to him. Rain pounded down all around them, but they were so close not a drop could shimmy between them. His lips traveled her cheeks, her nose, her hairline, leaving a burning path no cold water could erase. Unshaven roughness grazed her skin, a thrilling sensation that made her feel wild as the storm.
And for the first time, he didn’t pull away.
Long minutes later, it was she who
