so unused to people wanting to be with him just to be with him? Was his world so insulated that the only people he ever saw were the ones who worked for him or wanted something from him?
Slightly mollified, Keira stared up into his eyes and saw questions still lingering in those pale blue depths. The man did things to her she had never expected. He had a way of touching her heart at the oddest moments and she was more than a little confused about that.
She could continue the fight, which, let's face it, she was enjoying. She could give him answers to his questions. She could even make him wonder about lots of other things.
Or, she could do what she most wanted to do.
Tugging the lapels of his thick, cashmere robe aside, Keira stroked his bare chest with the flat of her palms and watched his eyes narrow into slits and his jaw clench as he hissed in a long, slow breath.
Deliberately, she teased him, spreading his robe open, baring his body to her touch. She slid her hands over his still cold skin and felt heat bubble beneath the surface at her touch. Then she tugged the belt of the robe free and swept one hand down to capture his hard length in a soft, firm grip.
“You know, Nathan,” she said, smoothing her fingers up and down his erection with slow caresses, “the simple truth is, I've wanted you almost from the moment I first saw you. That's why I stayed. That's why I want you again now.”
He groaned as she slipped her free hand down to cup him. “Works for me.”
Eight
The rich scent of Alfredo sauce was beginning to fill the kitchen, but Keira was hungry for something other than food. Strange, but even fighting with Nathan was stimulating.
Her body was quickening as his hands moved to tug her robe open and pull it down off her shoulders to let it pool on the floor at her feet. The air in the kitchen was still icy from the wind that had whooshed inside when the door was opened. Yet she didn't really mind it. Instead, that sensation added to the others already coursing through her body, mingling together, causing a ripple effect of near turmoil in her system.
His hands swept up and down her body, his long, talented fingers exploring every curve as she ran her own hands over him. His broad, muscular chest was clearly defined, sculpted and tanned, making him look as though he were carved from the same kind of honey-toned wood that graced the lodge.
But he was warm and ready, and his body was already pressing into hers, letting her know that he felt the same blood pounding need she did.
“Why do I want you so much?” he whispered, his fingers stroking, sliding down her body to caress the heat between her thighs.
Keira sighed and swayed unsteadily on her feet as a rush of something delicious began to build within. “Why do you ask so many questions?” she answered.
He smiled, and her heart flipped in her chest. A weird sensation, but a shockingly good one.
“You're the one with all the questions,” he murmured, dipping his head to kiss the curve of her neck, to nibble at the base of her throat.
Her hands moved to his shoulders and she clung to him desperately as he continued to smooth his fingers over her damp heat. Instinctively, he found that one most-sensitive bud and concentrated his attentions on it, thumb and forefinger gliding, stroking until Keira's blood felt as if it were boiling just beneath her skin.
“No questions,” she said, licking dry lips and trying to catch her breath. “Not now, anyway.”
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
