Mine - HelenKay Dimon Page 0,9

pretty hot and heavy hours in the sack. At least he hoped so for her sake. She deserved good sex. Hell, everyone did as far as he was concerned.

He didn’t buy into the whole idea of a strong woman automatically being cold in bed. That struck him as television bullshit nonsense. Weak didn’t interest him. She did, and he hoped like hell she liked it dirty because he did, and they would get there . . . eventually.

Before he could say anything else, she dropped her arms. Those long fingers went to the remaining buttons on the flannel shirt. In less than a second, she had the shirt open and off her shoulders. Dropping it on the floor, she reached for the hem of the tee and that slipped over her head next.

“There.” She stood with her arms out, wearing only a bra.

Full, high breasts. A collarbone he ached to kiss. He blocked it all even as his insides started to tighten in anticipation. “Your skin is red.”

“What?” She glanced down as a shiver overtook her.

The longer she stood there, the more her words slurred. What started as a slight hesitation in her voice outside and a haze over her eyes turned scary as she grew more disoriented now. The unusually brutal temperatures for this early in the winter, dipping well below freezing, the harsh wind and the thin layer of wet clothes combined to steal her body heat.

Normally, she’d be fine. She had the training and her time in the elements had been limited. But the drugs he’d used on her turned everything upside down. Robbed her of the ability to adjust. She’d been on a downhill slide from the second she stepped outside.

He should have hustled her back inside sooner. That was on him. His fuck-up.

Enough talking. “Damn it, get in there before you pass out on me.”

Giving her a choice hadn’t worked so far, so he didn’t try now. With a hand under her elbow, he half guided and half pushed her toward the bathroom. Thanks to the homemade off-the-grid water heater in there, she had a chance. He turned the handle so the shower came on and the water started to warm.

“Everything off.” When she just stood there with a dazed look on her face, he dropped the blanket on the corner of the makeshift sink and took over. “Lean on me.”

Dropping to a knee on the floor, he got her boots untied and off. Her hand landed on his shoulder as she struggled for balance. When he felt the chill pouring off her and seeping into him, he moved even faster. His hands brushed over her and his fingers flew. Tugged on the button at the top of her jeans and skimmed the material and her practical cotton briefs down her legs, revealing inch after inch of pinkish-red flesh.

He tested the water one more time before slipping the straps of her bra off her shoulders. The fact that she didn’t fight or insist she could handle it told him how bad off she was.

She glanced up at him with eyes clouded with a deadly haze. “That won’t—”

“In.” One hand at the base of her back, he shoved, not even trying to be gentle. He needed her under the water.

“Argh—” Her shout cut off and her mouth dropped open as the spray hit her skin.

She tried to turn away, to shift back, but he held her there. “Yeah, it’s going to sting.”

“This isn’t frostbite.”

“No.” Probably not even frostnip, but now wasn’t the time to talk technical terms.

She started shaking hard enough for her heels to thump against the floor of the old tub. “I’m still freezing.”

He could barely hear her as her jaw rattled and knew he’d fucked up this timing. Ignoring the cold and her body and every other signal that this had been a piss-poor idea, he stepped in next to her. The second his shoe hit the tub bottom, she turned. Her fingers curled into his wet shirt as she buried her face in his neck.

“There you go.” The position let him maneuver her closer to the spray. With his arms wrapped around her, he pushed her back, submerging them both in the spray. He rubbed his palms over her. Whispered into her hair. He didn’t even know what he said, but the mumbling had her clenched muscles relaxing and her body falling deeper against his.

Another few seconds and her body warmed. Then he hit the tipping point. When the touching went from