31 Days of Winter (39 page)

‘I’m going to do my best to be a gentleman,
Ellie,’ he advised as he approached the boathouse.

‘Ok,’ I managed to reply as I clung to him.
How
the hell were we meant to restrain ourselves in such close quarters?
This
was going to be hell. He crouched down so I could slither off his back and I
took a deep breath as he opened his door and indicated for me to go inside. I
tried not to look at his face. Maybe if I avoided eye contact, or any form of
touching I could do this. He closed the door and I skipped away from him as I
felt him reach to take my coat off for me. ‘Can I borrow your torch to look for
the candles?’ I asked as I shrugged it off and handed it back to him.

‘Sure.’ He passed it over and I shivered as our
fingers brushed on the exchange, then again as he passed me his torch. I unpacked
the bags he’d carried and moved around the small space setting them up, keeping
the distance between us. ‘Are you ok? You seem tense,’ he observed.

‘I’m fine. I just … I’m worried about our sleeping
arrangements. Do you have any matches, please?’

‘I’ll get them for you. Would you prefer I go and
sleep in the main house to give you some space?’

‘If it was going to be too cold for me, I can’t
let you do that. You’ll freeze with no heating,’ I reminded him as I watched
his silhouette in the kitchen, the log burner and his mini torch giving out the
only light.

‘I can double up with the duvets from your bed and
the guest room one.’

‘I’m not kicking you out of your own house,’ I
sighed. ‘Just promise not to make any inappropriate moves because … because I
…’ Since I knew how I felt about him, I found it hard to vocalise how badly he
affected me.

‘You want me,’ he stated confidently, taking away
my option to keep my feelings under wrap.

‘Whatever,’ I sighed and turned my back to him as
I stood by the fire.

‘There’s no need to be embarrassed about admitting
it, Ellie. I’ve already made it clear how much I want you, there’s nothing
wrong with two people having such intense chemistry and desiring each other.’

‘There is when there’s a permanent obstacle,’ I muttered,
full of frustration.
How the hell had I ended up in the middle of nowhere
with a guy that refused to reciprocate the sexual desire I had for him?
‘Inappropriate,’
I groaned as he pressed up behind me, wrapped his arms around me and nosed
through my hair.

‘I’m sorry. I know how hard I’m finding this, I
didn’t mean to make you feel the same.’

‘I know,’ I nodded, as I tried to regulate my
breathing. ‘But this sort of thing is what we need to avoid.’ I struggled to
get out of his hold, but he was too powerful for me. Every second of his body
pressed against mine melted my resolve.
You can’t go there, Ellie,
I
reminded myself,
not while he refuses to tell you where he goes and why he
thinks it will make you see him differently.

‘I should never have agreed to this booking,’ he
sighed as he kissed the side of my head and released me.

‘
You
agreed it?’ I asked.

‘Yes. I vet all the rentals, but we normally close
over the Christmas break. If I hadn’t agreed to those extra two weeks for you,
you’d already be home and we wouldn’t be in this situation.’

‘Why did you agree then?’ I asked as I snatched the
matches from him and moved away.

‘I don’t know,’ he sighed. ‘I guess I realised
that a single woman looking to be alone over Christmas was obviously running
away from something. I felt sorry for you and felt an immediate affinity with
you as well, and I think I …’ he sighed and shoved a hand through his hair.

‘You were lonely and thought it would be nice to
have some company?’

‘Yes,’ he confirmed and grabbed his torch and
disappeared towards his bathroom.

‘Shit,’ I muttered to myself. ‘This has the
potential for disaster written all over it.’ I lit just enough of the candles,
so we had enough light to see if I prepared some food later, then sat back on
the sofa, rapidly twitching my foot as I tried to put all sexual thoughts out
of my mind.

‘It’s still pretty dark in here,’ he observed as
he returned.

‘We don’t know when the power will be back, I
daren’t use all the candles just in case we have a few nights to get through.’

We just looked at each other through the dim glow
of the fire and candles and it was obvious that this was going to be as tough
for him as it was for me.

Ellie

I woke up and grimaced to
find myself wrapped in Dan’s arms again. He’d insisted that we could share his
bed and sleep at opposite sides and that he wouldn’t touch me. It had taken me
ages to get to sleep. I’d tried desperately not to let him hear how out of
control my breathing was to know that he was lying so close to me, close enough
to reach out and touch, knowing he probably wouldn’t be able to maintain that
self-control. From the way he’d kept shifting uncomfortably next to me and his
laboured breathing, he’d been feeling exactly the same. I’d fallen asleep
clinging to the edge of the mattress, but somehow I was now in the middle of
it, my face buried in his firm chest and his strong arms enveloping me. My
heart rate immediately spiked.

‘Good morning, Miss Baxter,’ he murmured against
the top of my head. I smiled, it was his happy tone.

‘Morning. How did this happen?’

‘No idea. Are you complaining?’

‘Yes,’ I whimpered. I heard him sigh, then he loosened
his grip and I quickly scooted away from him.
Don’t look in his eyes,
Ellie
,
I warned myself,
that’s how he’s fucked over a thousand women, he’s some kind
of sexual hypnotist
. I was so close to running my hands over his body and
trying to force him to take me. The memory of his fingers inside me, his tongue
working so expertly on me was just so fresh.

‘I’ll go and get showered then and leave you to
have a lie in while I get more logs sorted.’

‘Ok,’ I confirmed. I snuck a peak of him shuffling
down the bed towards to the ladder, and while my body sparked to see his broad
muscular shoulders and large biceps with his deep bronzed skin, I ignored it
and frowned as I noticed a nasty jagged scar on his lower back. I followed it
with my eyes to see it curled around his right hip, disappearing into the
waistband of the boxers he was still wearing.
How had I not seen that
before?
I realised it was because I’d not seen him virtually naked from
behind. I’d only seen his chest. I noticed other small scars all over the back
of his right shoulder and down the back of his arm. I quickly shut my eyes as
he turned to climb down the ladder.

‘Too late, saw you looking,’ he chuckled.

‘Go and put some clothes on, please,’ I moaned as
I buried my mortified face in the pillow.

‘You look good in my bed,’ he called back as I
heard him walking downstairs.
I feel good in it,
I thought,
exceedingly
good, especially when you’re in it too.
I rolled over to his side of the
mattress and grinned as I hauled the sheet up to my face and took a deep breath
of his scent. I must have fallen back asleep as he went out to chop more logs
for the wood burner and I woke with a start as I heard the front door close and
him walking through on the creaky floorboards. I stretched out as I listened to
the shower start downstairs and let out a frustrated sigh to think of him
naked, wet and soaped up just below me. The sooner they got the power back on
and I could put some distance between us the better. I heard Dan make a noise
and noticed a curl of steam drifting past my face and stuck my head over the
edge of the mattress to see where it was coming from. I had to clamp my hand
over my mouth to stop a groan of pleasure from escaping. There was a reasonably
large gap in the floorboards, affording me a clear view of Dan down below me,
and the sight didn’t disappoint. I’d imagined that seeing him completely naked
would be consolation enough for not getting to sleep with him, but I hadn’t
expected to get such a clear visual of him naked, wet and …
masturbating
.
My body ignited the second I saw him gripping and squeezing his large shaft,
his muscular thighs spread wide as he leaned back on the tiled wall. His head
was tipped back, eyes shut as his hand moved with urgency. His cock was simply
breath taking, thick, long and
solid.
He was bigger than Matt or Zac, as
I’d suspected, but it was even better in the flesh. No way should a specimen
like that have been inactive for three whole years. Well, obviously not
inactive in terms of him bringing himself off. I’d no idea watching a man doing
that could feel so erotic, it never had with Zac.

I was torn between watching him to completion, or
looking after my suddenly throbbing clit. I chose the former, I could
masturbate anytime, how many more chances would I have to see magnificent Dan
in all his glory? I shivered as I heard him groan and watched his hand squeeze
tighter as his strokes began to speed up, while his other hand reached down to
palm his balls. Unlike Zac who went for the smooth look, Dan was natural, his short
dark hair taking away nothing from his size. In fact, it would be seriously
scary if he waxed, it would look too big. Much as I wanted to keep my eyes on
the beast he was grappling, I had to look at that scar I’d seen earlier. It ran
down his hip and thigh and looked as if it had been a seriously nasty gash. I
tried to imagine what could have happened for him to have sustained that, but
was distracted again by another loud groan. His eyes were still closed, but his
jaw had dropped as he started to pant. I watched as his body tensed up and his
fist pumped faster and faster. I could have sworn I heard my name escape his
lips as streams of come erupted from him, spurting out and mingling with the
water that swirled down the drain. As he slowly finished himself off, he
groaned again, then opened his eyes and looked straight up through the gap in
the floorboards, locking eyes with my prying ones. I gasped and saw the hint of
a lazy smile creep onto his face as I flung myself back into the bed, mortified
to have been caught watching.
Shit! How was I going to face him now?
I
wondered as I covered my face with my hands.

‘Hungry?’ he called. I could hear the amusement in
his tone.

‘Yes,’ I called back, wondering if he was talking
about breakfast or sex. I’d be happy with either at this point, in fact fuck
breakfast, I was hungry for him. I didn’t even need to touch myself to know how
slick I was feeling. I needed a shower, desperately, preferably a cold one
without him spying on me from up here.

‘I’m good at bacon and egg sandwiches.’

‘Sounds great.’

‘You don’t fancy sausage?’ he replied, his tone
making it obvious he was teasing me.

‘No thanks,’ I called.

‘I thought you were partial to a nice sausage.’

‘Depends who’s offering.’

‘What if it were me? Now you know what I have to
offer, you don’t fancy it?’

‘
Dan!
Please behave,’ I sighed feeling my
cheeks flame.

‘So are you coming down, or would you like it in
bed?’

‘What?’ I uttered.

‘Your bacon and egg sandwich,’ he laughed.

‘I guess I’ll come down. Do you mind if I have a
shower while you cook?’

‘No, and at least you’ll know you’re safe from
my
inquisitive gaze while I’m down here,’ he called back. I cringed and felt my
cheeks burn even more. I couldn’t hide up here all day, I was actually really
hungry. We’d been so busy playing Backgammon by candle light last night, we
hadn’t really made a dent in the food we’d transported down from the house. I
sat up as I smelled the delicious aroma of coffee brewing, and crawled to the
end of the bed and climbed down the ladder, quickly pulling down my crumpled
t-shirt to try and hide my backside, still clad in my black lace knickers. I
caught Dan’s eye as he winked at me and I felt my cheeks flame. It was bad
enough facing him after knowing he’d seen me watching him, but he was standing
at the kitchen worktop in just his towel, his dark hair still wet and shoved
back off his forehead. I could feel the air between us crackling and rushed
past to the bathroom before I had a chance to rip his towel off and take him in
my mouth and suck him to completion again as I swallowed him down. Damn it, I
needed Brooke. I needed her to tell me that I had to stay away from him, in
eight days I’d be leaving and never seeing him again. I’d soon be able to try
and start forgetting about him when I was going out in London and meeting other
guys. I washed my hair under the warm water and knew Brooke would let me down even
if I could contact her. She’d tell me to fuck him, get him out of my system so
I wouldn’t always wonder “What if?” when I got home. I squeeze dried my hair
and dressed in my black skinny jeans and a boat neck jade jumper and padded out
barefoot to the smell and sound of the bacon sizzling.

‘Can I do anything?’ I asked as I looked at his
scar again while he stood at the hob.

‘No, I can handle it, thank you,’ he replied. I
couldn’t help myself and reached out with my index finger and traced the scar
on his back. I felt him tense and hiss through his teeth.

‘How did you get this?’

‘Car accident.’

‘Were you badly hurt?’

‘I got off lightly. Any sauce on your bread?’ His
voice had turned serious, indicating that this wasn’t a topic he wanted to
discuss.

‘No thank you, just some butter would be great.’

‘Were you alone?’ I couldn’t help myself asking.

‘You’ve had your quota of questions today, Ellie.
Here’s your coffee. Go sit.’

‘Do you mind if we sit outside?’ I asked. He
looked at me over his shoulder and frowned.

‘It’s still cold.’

‘You have blankets. It’s just so pretty, and if
the snow’s melting I’d like to take it all in before it’s gone. I’ll be leaving
soon and I don’t want to miss anything that will remind me of my trip.’

‘You really like it up here?’ He sounded
surprised.

‘It’s beautiful and I actually really like the
peace and quiet. I thought I’d miss all the buzz of London, but other than
Brooke I don’t miss it as much as I thought I would.’ The statement even
surprised me. He turned and handed me my sandwich and I made sure that I didn’t
touch his fingers as I took the plate. I headed out onto the veranda and put my
feet up on the wooden armchair, covering myself in one of the blankets. I
sipped my coffee, burning my mouth as I gulped too fast when Dan strode past
still only wearing his little towel. ‘Blanket?’ I offered holding the second
one out for him.

‘No, I’m good,’ he replied as he casually placed
an ankle up on his bare knee and I averted my eyes. ‘
Now
you’re
embarrassed?’ he chuckled.

‘Like you weren’t standing in that exact position
knowing I’d have a good view,’ I retorted as I took a bite of my sandwich and
narrowed my eyes at him.

‘Maybe,’ he smirked. ‘I think you should return
the favour tomorrow morning.’

‘Friends, remember,’ I objected.

‘You really think men and women can be friends?’

‘Yes, don’t you?’ I mumbled as I chewed.

‘No,’ he laughed. ‘Someone’s always thinking about
sex, usually the guy. The longer you’re friends with a woman the more
inevitable it becomes that sex will happen. Even if one of you, or both of you
are spoken for, at some stage you’re both going to be single, or just drunk and
curious.’

‘You make it sound like people have no control
over their sexual desires.’

‘Not when it’s in their faces all the time, no.’

‘I disagree, look at us.’

‘Yes, look at us. We’ve kissed a number of times,
been sexual with each other twice and now you’ve seen me masturbating twice.’

‘We haven’t been sexual with each other,’ I
reminded him. ‘You’ve been sexual with me, you wouldn’t let me reciprocate.’

‘Can we just eat and enjoy the view. I’m getting
hard again,’ he grumbled. I flicked a glance down at his towel. He wasn’t
wrong, he
was
hard. I focussed on eating and watching the water,
anything but looking at the tempting morsel sitting next to me.

‘The loch’s starting to thaw,’ I observed.

‘Yes. It’s not safe to walk across, but it’s still
too frozen at the edges for me to try the boat.’

‘You’re missing your thing in town again?’

‘Yes,’ he replied quickly and stood up. ‘Do you
need anything from the house? I’d like to go and spend the day working out.’

‘I could probably do with exercising too. Can I
join you?’ The thought of seeing him all hot and sweaty on a treadmill or
elliptical trainer heated me up instantly, but even without electricity to
power them, the frown that appeared on his face told me he wasn’t overly
enthused at the idea.

‘I’d prefer … I hope you don’t mind but …’ he
stalled and ran a hand over his mouth.

‘You want to go alone?’ I looked up at him
towering over me, his broad shoulders flexing as he cricked his neck.

‘Sorry, I’m just used to spending a lot of time
alone.’

‘I’m cramping your style. I can go and spend the
day up at the house.’

‘No, it’s too cold. I’ll stoke up the log burner
and you can relax inside doing your writing or facetiming Brooke or whatever.’

‘No electricity or Wi-Fi,’ I reminded him.