I was so foolish to drive here like I did.
But then the door swings open.
And it’s not a gentle caretaker here to welcome me.
No. It is a man, towering over me with broad shoulders and dark eyes, hair hanging loosely around his face, and a thick beard. He holds a three-pronged candelabra, and I know the power must be out here too.
He growls in lieu of a greeting and the timber of his voice tells me that this man is untamed, feral, and hungry.
The fact that my body stirs at the sight of him scares me more than the man himself.
I swallow hard, stepping back, despite the fact I have nowhere else to go. He must see the fear blooming in my belly as I wrap my arms around my chest, bracing myself against the chill.
“What do you want?” he asks abruptly. His eyes pierce me, and I can’t look away.
Not understanding the feelings seizing me, I realize with a gasp, that I don’t want to look away.
In fact, I want him to drag me inside and ravish me; shoving my panties to my ankles, binding my wrists with a rope, and taking all I have to give.
I blink. What in the world am I thinking? This is not some scene from a gothic romance. This is my actual life.
“My car got stuck in the snow and it’s freezing out.” I look around, biting my bottom lip, not wanting to stare at him. When I look at him again, I picture him stripped of his clothes with his bare chest against mine and his large hands holding my hips where they belong.
“And?” he snarls.
My eyebrows furrow. Is he dense? Or just leery of strangers?
“And my phone doesn’t get reception out here.”
He doesn’t say anything. I notice though, his jaw tenses and his eyes look me over, as if he is also unable to look away.
I should fear this stranger. He looks a decade older than me, but oh so much wiser.
However, I’m not scared. Not in the least.
“And if I stay outside,” I tell him. “I’ll freeze, so... I thought...”
“You want to come inside? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Yes,” I say. “Are you trying to make this difficult? I can’t feel my toes. It’s practically a blizzard out here.”
“I see that,” he says coolly. “Why are you alone? A woman like you shouldn’t be out in this weather by herself. Where’s your man?”
I scoff. “What? Is this some eighteenth-century vortex? My man? I don’t need a man to drive home.”
“You clearly need someone to tell you that driving in a snow storm is foolish.”
“Well, I don’t have a man, thank you very much. And maybe if I did, he would be driving with me. But that’s irrelevant.”
“Is it?” He raises an eyebrow, and that one look turns my knees to jelly and my core clenches in... desire?
No. I’m not letting this arrogant man get my panties all twisted.
But then pulls back his shoulders, and his entire height is revealed. He is more than a man— he’s a mountain man. And my panties are not twisted.
They are downright soaked.
And as he looks at me, I think he probably knows it.
Which is annoying, to say the least. “Ugh,” I groan. “What’s your deal? I’m clearly not a threat to you. You have a house. And I don’t want to freeze to death on your front steps.”
He stares down at me, our eyes lock, and I can’t see what he’s thinking at all. It’s like he has the power to cloak his feelings and it infuriates me. I wear my heart on my sleeve and my desire on my lips—the ones I can’t help but lick.
It’s like I’m dying of thirst and only he can quench my need.
“Are you actually considering letting me stay out in the cold?” I ask. “Is there someone else here I could talk to instead?”
He scoffs. “No. I’m all alone out here.” He runs a hand over his thick beard. “And what I’m wondering about is where I’ll put you up once you’ve come inside.”
I lift an eyebrow, though it isn’t fear that is covering me. It’s my curiosity that he has piqued.
“What are the options?” I ask, feeling a need pulsing between my legs... knowing just where I’d like him to put me.
It’s like he can sense my desire because, like the arrogant man he is, he smirks. Then shrugs, in the most infuriating way possible. Like he knows something I don’t.
And the truth is, I bet he does.
With a body like that, I can only imagine how many women he’s taken to bed.
When he pushes the door open wider, allowing me entrance, I exhale, knowing I won’t die out in the elements tonight.
He surprises me even more with what he says next, “Let’s start by getting you out of those wet clothes, then we can decide where you’ll sleep tonight.”