Joss had demolished his pie, too, so she served him the rest. “I don’t want you lying dead and frozen on a hillside.”
“That’s nice to know,” he said, with a hint of his familiar dryness.
He looked much better already. Remarkable, really, how quickly he recovered. It gave her hope that he mightn’t suffer any long-term effects from his trials.
She matched his tone. “Once the spring thaws start, the shepherds get upset if they find travelers who didn’t make it through the snow.”
Her heart cramped with love when humor lightened Joss’s features. “By all means, let’s keep the shepherds happy.”
***
Joss took Maggie’s advice and retired to his room early. He’d done his best to hide quite how battered he felt after fighting the elements, but his body ached like the devil after that long tramp hauling a lame horse. He’d been in a damned bad way when he’d staggered back to Thorncroft Hall. He’d thought winters in Sussex could be grim. He’d had no idea how bitter cold weather could be until he struck these wild northern uplands.
Now he lay in his big, warm bed, and he couldn’t entirely blame his restlessness on the aftereffects of his ordeal. Unsatisfied desire proved more agonizing by far than mere aches and pains.
Since he’d arrived, he’d spent hours lying awake in his room, hungering for Maggie. But tonight the yearning was sharper, more focused. Now he knew how her kisses tasted, and how perfectly she fitted in his arms, and the sounds she made when she enjoyed a man’s attentions.
Tonight he knew she wanted him, too.
Nothing had changed since he’d headed out on his futile quest to reach Little Flitwick. It was still wrong to seduce Maggie. Of course it was. Otherwise he wouldn’t have embarked on a journey that brought him to the brink of disaster.
But wrong or not, dear God, how he longed to have her here beside him. How he burned to see her all warm and rosy and responsive, the way she’d been after his kisses beside the pond.
The girl he’d first met had had sad eyes. But she hadn’t been sad when they’d skated, and when they’d kissed, and tonight when she’d welcomed him back. She’d been incandescent with joy.
And he’d recognized then that their coming together was inevitable. From the first moment, she’d caught him in her spell. Was that only four days ago?
He felt like he’d lived through a lifetime since.
Joss closed his eyes and surrendered to exhaustion, dreaming of Maggie becoming his at last.
***
The sound of the door opening pierced Joss’s dreams of fighting through snow as sticky as melted wax to reach Maggie. Instantly alert, he opened his eyes. He felt no disorientation. He knew where he was. He knew who had come in, even before he rolled over to face the doorway.
Elation surged so powerfully, it was painful. His heart began to race, and his mouth went dry with anticipation. He must have been asleep a couple of hours. The fire burned low and painted the chamber dull gold.
“Maggie?”
The woman who was his delight and his torment hovered on the threshold. Her hand shook so badly that her candle sent shadows jumping against the walls. She wore the white flannel nightdress, familiar from his first night.
Joss knew better than to take her presence for granted. Her arrival mightn’t mean what he so desperately hoped it did. “Are you in trouble?”
“Yes…” Her voice was a frail thread.
He was out of bed before he recalled he was naked and that if she’d come to ask for help, a huge lummox wearing nothing but his skin was likely to scare her silly. “What’s wrong?”
Her eyes, dark and mysterious, widened as she stared at his body. The candlelight performed a slow waltz. Joss saw her delicate throat move as she swallowed.
“I’m sorry,” he said gruffly, fumbling to find his dressing gown. Until he remembered it was in his pack. He’d been so bloody tired and sore when he came upstairs, he’d toppled straight into bed.
Her attention fell to where his cock rose hard and insistent against his belly. Through the uncertain light, he saw a delicious wash of pink color her cheeks. The dangers of sharing this house with her had never been so stark as they were right now.
When she lifted her eyes, he couldn’t mistake the desire he saw in her face. She licked her lips as if she wanted to taste him, the way a hungry man wanted to dive into eating an extravagant meal. Even through his astonishment, his body reacted predictably.
“Don’t be sorry.” That whisper played havoc with his control. With difficulty, he resisted the urge to cover himself like a bashful schoolboy. Instead he turned away and walked across to where his saddlebags rested against the wall.
She’d get an eyeful of his bare arse, but damn it, what choice did he have? His hands weren’t much steadier than hers when he opened his bag and rooted out his dressing gown. He shrugged it on, worried that Maggie remained so deathly quiet.