Protecting Rose (13 page)
He ran his hands through his hair and exhaled a long sigh of frustration. Somehow, when this was over, he had to convince her to take a chance on him. To see if they had what it took to forge a lasting relationship. Because his gut told him, they did.
He just hoped there wasn’t someone else waiting to claim her.
Rose woke up when the car came to a stop. A soft caress feathered across her cheek. She opened her eyes to a night sky, with very few stars to offer light.
“Wake up, sleeping beauty,” Nate whispered.
Sleepily, she smiled up at him, perfectly content just to gaze into the calm waters of his eyes. Until her mind began to clear. She jerked to an upright position at the realization her head rested in his lap.
Her eyes dropped to the hard bulge in his jeans. With a blush, she forced them away, only to have them drawn back down to his lap. Remembering the passion they’d shared earlier, her body tingled. The touch of his hands as he’d explored her, his mouth scorching her wherever he touched. Her breasts grew heavy, and her nipples tightened at the same time moisture pooled at the juncture of her thighs.
Nate’s rough chuckle reached her ears. “Rose, my control has its limits. You need to stop looking at me like that.”
She bit her lip and met his darkened gaze.
Nate ran his thumb over her bottom lip, before leaning down to soothe the spot she’d bitten with his own warm tongue. She closed her eyes, parted her lips, and welcomed his gentle exploration of her mouth. He kissed her tenderly and her heart swelled with longing. The taste and feel of him made her dizzy with desire. She gave a moan of protest when he removed the warmth of his lips from hers.
“You’re killing me here, babe.”
Rose opened her eyes and her breath caught. Nate watched her with his signature-dimpled smile.
“Come on, let’s get you settled in.” He leaned across her and opened the door.
Dazed from his kiss, she stumbled from the car and studied her surroundings. He’d brought her to an old white farmhouse with a large yard, shaded by about a dozen trees. A weathered red barn sat at the back of the property near the woods. “Where are we?”
“This is my parents’ property. We should be safe here for now,” Nate assured her. “By the time anyone figures out we survived the explosion, I’ll have you somewhere more secure.”
They walked up the steps of the old farmhouse. Nate reached around her and opened the door to flip on the light. Rose stepped inside a compact old-fashioned kitchen lined with built-in wood cupboards, adorned with beveled glass doors. A small table sat before a picture window that overlooked the backyard. Halfway through the kitchen to the left was an archway leading into a tiny living room filled with antique furnishings. A few steps further beyond that, a screened-in porch faced the road.
Nate laughed. “Well, what you see is what you get.”
He pointed to the back of the house. “There are two bedrooms and a bathroom through there. The bedrooms are
almost
big enough to hold the beds, but not quite. We had to remove the door on the smaller room to fit the queen-size bed into it. You can have the other room with the working door,” he teased.
Warmth filled her as she glanced around the quaint little house. “It’s cute. How old is the home?”
“It was built in the early 1900’s, although Tom added the sunroom in the late seventies. There’s an old one-room schoolhouse in the backyard. It’s in pretty sad shape, but one of these days, we plan to fix it up. I’ll show it to you tomorrow when it’s light out.”
Rose nodded. “That would be nice.”
She glanced at her watch. Only 9:00 and she wasn’t the least bit tired after her nap in the car. Her cheeks heated at the memory of waking up with her head cradled in his lap.
Nate chuckled. “What are you thinking about, Rose?”
Her cheeks grew warmer.
God,
What was she, sixteen? “Nothing,” she lied. “But I would like a bath. I feel pretty grubby.”
“I’d say a bath is in order for both of us.”
Rose noted the dirt and dust on Nate and figured she hadn’t fared much better. She pointed to a door at the end of the hall. “I take it that’s the bathroom?” Then realized she didn’t have anything clean to put on.
As always, Nate seemed to read her thoughts. “There’s a good chance we have some spare clothes somewhere. He turned and went into the no-door bedroom. “I’ll check in here, why don’t you check out the other room?”
Rose opened the door and entered a small room to see a wrought iron, four-poster bed in the center. An end table sat to the left of the bed and a tall chest of drawers rested against the wall on the right. It was a cute room with two small windows covered by eyelet curtains that matched the white eyelet bedcover on the antique bed.
Rose peered into the closet. It held only a few men’s shirts and a hunting jacket. She’d hoped to have better luck with the dresser and was disappointed to find it filled with sheets. The second drawer held nothing but blankets. The next drawer had a couple pairs of men’s jeans and sweatpants, all way too big for her. With a sinking feeling, Rose opened the fourth and last drawer.
She was pleasantly surprised to see a long white cotton nightgown she hoped would fit. Delighted with her find, she lifted it from the drawer. She turned around and bumped into Nate, who stood directly behind her. He reached out and grasped her elbows to steady her.
“I see you had better luck than me. The only things in the other room are some kids’ clothes and toys.”
She smelled Nate’s heady musky scent from where she stood with her nose near his chest, his hands on her arms. A wave of desire hit her. A shiver ran through her body and goose bumps rose up on her arms.
“Are you cold? I’ll start a fire while you bathe.” He ran his hands up and down her arms, creating friction and smoothing out the goose bumps. “It will be nice and toasty by the time you’re done.”
“I...I’m fine.” It seemed plenty hot for her.
“Okay.” He stepped aside so she could pass on her way to take her bath.
The room was small. The bed was big. When she slid past him toward the door in the confined space, their bodies touched. Her breasts met his chest in a slow, sensual glide causing her nipples to pearl through her blouse. He inhaled sharply. The sudden tension in his body was a mirror to hers.
When she turned to grab the door handle, Nate reached around her to hold it shut as heat radiated off him at her back. Warm cinnamon breath feathered across her face as he leaned forward to whisper in her ear. “You know, Rose, we could always conserve energy and share a bath.”
Images of her and Nate naked, in what she was sure would be a very small tub, flashed through her mind. She held the nightgown tightly against her chest and laughed. “Very funny,” she said with a soft snort.
After the way she’d acted back at the condominium, she couldn’t imagine he was serious. Or was he? He really could be such a pain in the ass sometimes. Unsure whether she should laugh, or invite him to join her. She turned the knob and pulled on the door. He immediately dropped his arm and stepped back to allow her to swing the door open and step into the hall. When she reached the bathroom, she glanced back over her shoulder.
Nate leaned up against the doorframe with his arms crossed over a muscular chest. A sexy smile covered his handsome face, and his eyes danced with devilment. “Have a nice bath, Rose,” he murmured with a wink.
Nate felt a little bad about teasing her, but it was either that or grab her like a caveman and kiss her senseless. The feel of her body when she brushed against him had thickened his blood, and he’d wanted her badly. Until he’d reminded himself he didn’t want a repeat performance of her earlier meltdown, and he especially didn’t want to be responsible for causing her any more pain. He was determined to be as patient as she needed him to be. No. He was determined to be even more patient than that. She needed to heal from her emotional wounds, as well as her physical ones, and he needed to keep his hands to himself. How hard could that be? He straightened, rolled his shoulders back, set his jaw, and headed outside.
Nate located the stack of firewood that he and his brother, Mike, had chopped down the previous summer and gathered an armful of logs to start a fire. The wood was well-aged, and he quickly had a fire burning in the stone fireplace. Just big enough to take the evening chill out of the air. He went to the kitchen to see if there was any food, although he didn’t expect to find much. In the morning, they would need to take a run into town to pick up supplies.
Just as expected, the refrigerator was nearly empty. A partial loaf of bread, a tub of butter, and one of those crazy jars of mixed peanut butter and jelly. Yuck.
He had no better luck with the freezer. All he found there was a couple cans of frozen orange juice and lemonade. The cupboards at least held a decent supply of canned foods and coffee. He was glad to see the coffee and even more thankful for the latte machine he’d brought up a few summers back.
He opened a can of chili and poured it into a pan to heat, then grabbed a can of lemonade from the freezer, setting it on the counter to thaw.
Nate walked to the bathroom and tapped the door. “Rose, toss me your clothes, and I’ll throw them in the washer.”
At the sound of splashing water, his body tightened. The thought of her naked and wet on the other side of the door slapped him. He imagined how her satin skin would glisten as the water beaded and ran down her sleek body, over her full breasts, and into the soft curly patch between her legs. Determined to wrestle control back from his baser instincts, he emptied his mind of the sensual image of Rose in all her naked glory.
The door cracked open, Rose’s wet hand appeared and she thrust her clothes through the opening and dropped them. Nate managed to catch them before they hit the floor. The door shut with a slam. He chuckled.
He rinsed off in the kitchen and put on a pair of sweatpants he’d found, before tossing their dirty clothes in the washer. Walking back over to the stove, he flipped the knob and started a fire under the pan of chili. By the time he heard the bathtub draining, he had two bowls of hot chili and a pitcher of cold lemonade ready on the coffee table in front of the fireplace.
When the bathroom door opened, he saw an angel standing before him. Nate was positive his sister hadn’t looked like a vision straight out of heaven when she’d worn the gown. What should have been a demur Victorian nightgown flowed down Rose’s sexy curves and hugged her luscious body in all the right places. Her long auburn hair lay in thick damp curls down to her breasts. Her skin flushed from the hot bath and her full lips rosy, as though she’d just been thoroughly kissed. She was both innocent and wanton at the same time. Her beauty sent his senses reeling.
The fact that her undergarments were in the washer and that she was naked under the thin cotton fabric of her gown had his blood pumping hot. He resisted the urge to grab her, to feel and taste every inch of her tempting body. To stake his claim. He gave a silent groan. It was going to be a very, very long night.
With difficulty, he forced his rioting emotions under control, determined to stay focused on her safety and emotional well-being. Now was not the time to act on his desires. Besides, she’d probably had just about enough of him for one night.
“Feel better?”
Rose pushed her damp hair away from her face, and glanced at the coffee table. “Yes, much better, thanks.” Her stomach growled.
“Come on over and eat.” He nodded toward the food. “It’s not much, but I was able to find some soup. Tomorrow we’ll take a run into town and stock up on some supplies.” He tried not to notice the oh-so-sexy sway of her hips under the nightgown when she moved. But it was a wasted effort.
She sat cross-legged on the floor opposite from him and leaned in to sniff the soup. The sweet smell of peaches hit his nose. “Mmm, smells good,” she said, looking at him from under her lashes.
