They lay there together, in each other's arms, as evening turned to night. Elizabeth slept, warm, safe and content, protected in the embrace of the man she loved. Reece lay awake for a long time, thinking about his life and wondering if there was any chance that he could change. Was it possible for a hard-hearted, cold bastard like him to ever learn to love, really love, the way Elizabeth deserved to be loved?
Finally Reece allowed sleep to claim him, but even in his dreams he could not escape the fact that Elizabeth Mallory cared for him. And more than anything, yes, perhaps even more than revenge against the Stantons, he wanted to be able to return her feelings.
Elizabeth awoke to the sound of the winter wind whipping around the edge of the cottage, creating a keening whine. Opening her eyes to the morning sunlight filling the room, she glanced at the empty side of the bed and wondered where Reece was. The silence in the house chilled her far more than the frigid temperature in the room. Holding the covers around her to protect her from the cold, Elizabeth crawled over to the edge of the bed, leaned down and picked up her jeans and shirt from the floor, leaving her panties. She slid the garments under the covers and dressed as quickly as possible, then sat on the side of the bed to put on her shoes.
She glanced into the kitchen when she emerged from the bedroom. Coffee brewed in the coffee machine; two clean cups waited on the counter. When she entered the living room Elizabeth felt the warmth from the roaring fire and also a distinct chill coming from across the room. She saw that the front door stood wide open, freezing air pouring into the cottage.
Approaching the door, she noticed Reece standing on the porch, his back to her. She walked across the room and out the door, stopping just inches away from Reece.
'It's a beautiful morning,'' he said, not turning around. 'But it's damned cold. Are you wearing your coat?'
Elizabeth eased up behind him, slipping her arms inside his coat and around his waist, hugging him to her. 'You can keep me warm.'
In an instant he whirled her around and into his arms, opening his coat to pull her up against him. She smiled at him, loving the look she saw in his eyes, those lone-wolf amber eyes that told her how glad he was to have her near.
'What time is it?' she asked, wrapping her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.
'Probably around seven-thirty.' He rubbed her back with up-and-down strokes, warming her with his touch.
'How long have you been up?' She kissed his neck.
'Not long. About twenty minutes.' He nuzzled the side of her face with his nose. 'I've made coffee.' Reece turned her around so that they stood with her back to his chest, facing the front of the cabin. 'You were right about the snow. There's less than two inches.'
Elizabeth glanced at the white-glazed scenery, a light dusting of snow producing a fairyland effect on the bare trees and brush, tipping the evergreens with a thin layer of ice. The wind howled, blowing snow in every direction, creating the illusion that it was still falling from the sky. Like tiny, delicate diamonds, translucent in the sunlight, the snow danced in the wind.
'It is a beautiful morning.' Turning in his arms, Elizabeth looked at Reece, absorbing the pure pleasure of being so near to him. 'The most beautiful morning of my life.'
He took her face in his hands, gazing into her eyes, his look pleading with her for understanding. Then he kissed her, soft, delicate, gentle kisses.
'Morning always comes, doesn't it?' She smiled at him. 'I understand. No matter how magical the night might have been, today we're back to reality.'
'I'm sorry,
She covered his lips with her fingertips. 'It's all right, Reece. I know what lies ahead of us, what we'll have to face. I suppose I just wanted a few more minutes of pretending everything is the way I want it to be.'
'Come on back inside.' He ushered her across the porch and into the cabin, closing the door behind them. 'You're freezing, babe.' He brought her cold hands up to his lips, cupping them and then blowing his warm breath over them.
'How about breakfast? Toast and some scrambled eggs?' She pulled away from him.
He caught her around the waist, pulling her up against him. 'What time are you supposed to meet Sam at Gary Elkins's office this morning?'
'Ten o'clock.'
Releasing Elizabeth, Reece shrugged off his coat and tossed it onto a nearby chair. 'Toast, eggs and coffee sound good.' Reece sat on the sofa.
'Fine. I'll go fix breakfast.' She started toward the kitchen.
'Breakfast can wait.' Reece glanced over his shoulder at Elizabeth, who turned and looked back at him.
'I suppose it could, but if we're both hungry, why should we wait?'
'I'd say that depends on what we're hungry for, wouldn't you?'
Elizabeth swallowed hard, wondering if she could dissolve the knot in her throat. She took several tentative steps across the room, halting directly behind the sofa.
'What are you hungry for?' she asked.
Before she knew what was happening, Reece reached out, grabbed her and pulled her over the back of the sofa and into his arms. She squealed. He sprawled out the full length of the long wicker couch, resting her body atop his.
'I'm hungry for you, Elizabeth. I didn't get enough of you during the night.''
She straddled his lean hips, pushing one of her knees into the padded sofa back and balancing the other on the edge of a seat cushion.
'I'd rather devour you first and save the eggs and toast until we've worked up a real appetite for food.' Elizabeth unsnapped his jeans and released his zipper, finding him naked beneath his pants.
Reece undid her jeans and tugged them down her hips. She lifted her body up enough from him to jerk the jeans past her knees and down to her ankles. Just as she started to kick them onto the floor, Reece tumbled them both onto the heavy, braided rug in front of the fireplace.
'Reece!' Her jeans fell off her feet.
He eased his own jeans down over his hips, anchoring them at midthigh, then he pulled Elizabeth on top of him, positioning her just where he wanted her. She adjusted her knees on each side of his hips, lowering herself onto his arousal. He surged up and into her as she took him into her body.
He urged her breasts toward his mouth, taking one nipple between his teeth, nibbling, then stroking it with his tongue before suckling greedily. He allowed her to set the pace, to create the rhythm. Elizabeth took charge, building the tension higher and higher not only in herself but in Reece, allowing the primeval woman within her to dominate, to take her own pleasure as surely as she gave it to her mate.
There before the blazing fire, Elizabeth took Reece, glorying in her own feminine power and accepting the fact that he possessed equal dominion over her. When their bodies burned with a fire hotter than the one that warmed the cottage, they shattered into simultaneous releases so intense that the aftershocks rocked them again and again.
Elizabeth lay on top of Reece's sweat-damp body, exhausted from appeasing a hunger far greater than any she'd ever known. After endless moments Reece helped her to her feet and led her to the bathroom, where they shared a long shower, making love again before dressing and returning to the kitchen for breakfast.
Elizabeth waited for Sam outside the renovated nineteenth-century antebellum cottage on Main Street where Gary Elkins's office was located. She felt a bit under-dressed in her jeans, sweater and winter coat, but she'd packed light when she'd left Sequana Falls, thinking of nothing except following Reece.
At precisely ten, just as the town clock struck the hour, Sam Dundee stepped out of his rental car. Elegant in his dark suit and overcoat, Sam approached Elizabeth, giving her a quick hug.
An attractive young receptionist greeted them when they entered the office, which had been decorated by someone with excellent taste and a flair for making an office practical and at the same time pleasantly appealing. 'May I help you?' The receptionist smiled at Sam and Elizabeth, her warm brown eyes revealing her genuine friendliness.
'We have an appointment with Mr. Elkins. I'm Sam Dundee.' Sam assisted Elizabeth in removing her coat, then took off his overcoat and hung both items on a wooden rack near the entrance.
