Storm wasn’t listening. A terrible cold had invaded her body. As she struggled to remove his sweater, her fingers refused to obey her, and fumbled clumsily with the welt. She tried to sit up, smothering a cry as she jarred her ankle.
Jago was beside her immediately.
‘Don’t touch me!’ she cried bitterly, shrinking away from him, terrified that her body would betray her to him. Even feeling as she did at the moment, she was still nerve-shatteringly aware of him.
His face closed up, his eyes hard and cold. ‘Don’t be a fool,’ he told her abruptly. ‘You’ve nothing to fear from me now, Storm. Now let me help you. Don’t you know how near you are to hypothermia?’ he asked bleakly when she continued to shrink away.
When she didn’t answer, he leaned forward, grasping her shoulders and pulling the jumper over her head, before turning back to unzip her anorak. It was soaked right through, the thin blouse she was wearing underneath plastered to her skin. She froze as Jago started to unfasten the buttons, but she needn’t have worried, his touch was totally impersonal.
What had he meant when he said she had nothing to fear from him now? Had the fact that she was still a virgin turned him off completely? Did he no longer even want her? She couldn’t stop the dismay the thought brought, and went limp in his arms as he removed her blouse. She heard him curse as her teeth chattered betrayingly, and as a terrible tiredness reached out to claim her she saw him disappear in the direction of the bathroom.
When he came back he shook her roughly. In the distance she could hear the sound of water, and for a moment she thought she was still lying outside in the rain.
‘I’m so cold,’ she complained wretchedly, shivering under his hands.
She thought he said something, but she didn’t catch it, and his voice was so grim she thought it was probably just as well.
As he tugged off her wet jeans she was too exhausted to protest, moaning softly as he touched her ankle. Dimly she was aware of him removing her briefs and bra, then he was picking her up—taking her where? she wondered stupidly, struggling feebly in his arms.
At first when she felt the stinging spray of the shower, she didn’t realise what was happening. The water was deliciously warm and she sighed softly, her body limp as she gave herself up to the reviving heat. She wanted to lie down, to bask in the comforting warmth, to close her eyes and sleep for ever on a hot sandy beach with the sun pouring its heat over her body.
‘Stand up!’ Jago commanded her tersely, and her eyes flew open, the hazy dream dispelled, as she realised what was happening. Jago’s shirt was plastered to his body, his jeans soaking wet as he held her under the spray.
‘Let me go,’ she mumbled, trying to stand. Pain shot through her ankle and she sobbed out loud, her fists pounding the dampness of his chest.
‘Leave me alone… I hate you… I hate you!’
‘If I leave you now, you’ll probably drown,’ his cool voice jeered. ‘Now be a good girl and let’s get you warm and dry. Think of it as nasty but necessary medicine,’ he drawled, ‘and when it’s all over, we’ll get you tucked up safely with your teddy bear and some warm milk.’
‘I don’t have a teddy bear,’ Storm protested hazily.
‘No? Well, you certainly aren’t up to the only other thing you can cuddle up to to keep warm, are you?’
The derisive words stung. She tried to push him away, but was far too weak. Despite the warmth of the water, she was still cold, with a deep inner coldness that warned her of the truth of Jago’s assertion that she had been close to succumbing to hypothermia.
She shivered again, and this time wasn’t given the chance to protest as he forced her back under the shower, its spray hotter this time, her body suddenly moltenly alive with sensation as Jago reached behind her squirting some tangy, masculine body shampoo into his hand and massaging it into her skin.
‘Not precisely what the doctor ordered,’ he said dryly, ’but it’s one way of getting your circulation back to normal.’
‘I thought brandy was the time-honoured method,’ Storm managed to mutter through chattering teeth, but Jago shook his head, his mouth compressing.
‘Not for hypothermia; the one thing you mustn’t do is fall asleep, and that’s exactly what you would have done if I’d given you brandy…’
‘I can manage myself,’ she protested thickly as his hand touched her thigh. All at once heat flooded through her, her body suddenly surging to life beneath his hands, her trembling no longer caused by cold but by a desire so intense she could barely contain it. Smothering a groan, she pulled away from him, caught off balance as he jerked her back, clamping her against him.
With a fevered moan she arched convulsively against him, his name on her lips as she thrust her hands into the thick darkness of his hair, her mouth opening eagerly beneath his, the feel of his body against her intensely pleasurable. Nothing existed except the way he was making her feel. With small moans of pleasure she kissed the hard warmth of his throat, his hoarse protest only inciting her to strain closer to him, her fingers impatient with his shirt buttons. In the end he helped her, tugging his shirt off and supporting them both against the tiled wall of the shower as her hands moved feverishly over his chest, her lips nuzzling his throat as his mouth caressed her shoulders.
Beneath her touch she could feel the perspiration dampening his skin, and the knowledge excited her. Her hands dropped to his waist and as though reading her thoughts, Jago muttered harshly, ‘God, Storm, don’t make me do this,’ but she was beyond caution or reason. Her fingers fumbled with his belt, and with a groan Jago pushed her away.
‘Please…’ she begged huskily, her eyes dark with passion, and swayed towards him.
‘Oh God, Storm, don’t you know what you’re doing to me?’ Jago protested hoarsely, removing the offending jeans.
With a sigh of blissful contentment Storm melted against him, revelling in the way he shuddered against her as she slid her arms round his neck and pulled his head down.
Even if he didn’t love her, he wanted her, and no power on earth could take that from her.
She closed her eyes and stretched sensuously against him, her heart pounding as she felt him move against her. Her hands slid down over his shoulders, following the line of dark hair to the flatness of his stomach, then her wanton downward exploration was stopped forcibly.