A Million Kisses or More (2 page)

She merely nodded, letting him drag her through the house and up the stairs to his bedroom. Thank god he remembered to make his bed that morning. And hopefully she was too cold to care about the few clothes that were lying on the floor. Pulling the covers back, he helped her onto the bed, took off her frozen robe, and then gently laid her back. Once she was settled, he tugged the rubber boots off her feet, admiring her pretty toes before he caught himself and mentally slammed his head against a wall. When he looked up, she was watching him with wide, worshipful eyes. His heart stilled in his chest as she murmured, “Thank you.”

Brushing the strands of silky hair from her face, he found he was unable to speak. Instead, he nodded his head as he tucked her in. Grabbing an extra blanket from the foot of the bed, he pulled it over her for added warmth before he stood up and said, “I’m just going to put some hot water on but I’ll be right back to check on you. Is that all right?”

She nodded, her eyelids heavy and he was afraid she’d fall asleep and never wake up. More gruffly than he meant to, he ordered her, “Don’t fall asleep.”

“I’m too cold to sleep,” she said with a tired smile.

“Well, I’ll be back in two minutes,” he said. “If you’ve fallen asleep, I’ll dump the hot water on your head.”

She chuckled and slowly pried her eyes open. “But then you’ll ruin your bed and I don’t think your wife would appreciate that.”

“I’m not married,” he said, though why he felt the need to correct her assumption he had no idea. It’s not like he had any intention of pursuing a relationship with a girl who locked herself out of the house on one of the coldest days they’ve had so far that fall. He turned and walked away before he could see her reaction, telling himself that he wasn’t interested in her. For one thing he was too busy to have a relationship with anyone and for another she was definitely too young.

*****

Ana Smithfield’s eyes hadn’t been lying when she looked up at the sound of the truck and she saw perhaps the most gorgeous man she had ever seen in her life. Too cold to ogle openly, she put her head down and watched him over the top of her arm. As he had strolled across the street, wearing an air of authority that did things to her insides that weren’t completely frozen, she could only stare. He had the blackest hair that looked sex-tousled and made one want to drag one’s fingers through it. In fact, it looked like he had been doing just that when he had appeared. His face was chiseled by a Renaissance master, all lovingly crafted planes and angles, softened only by a pair of luscious lips. There was a shadow of a beard that matched the shadows beneath his eyes, but the exhaustion made him look even more like a conquering hero.

Then there were his eyes: a deep, rich, chocolaty brown that she could have drowned in if she hadn’t been so cold. Weariness had bracketed his features but he had still come to her rescue, bringing her home like some lost puppy. Like that lost puppy, she had eagerly followed him.

Her heart had nearly faltered to a stop when he peeled off the heavy jacket he wore, revealing the broad, broad shoulders that could hold the weight of the world and the slender waist beneath a police uniform. There was just something about a man in uniform that made her forget the good sense that she had lived by all of her life. He demolished the rest when he tucked her into his bed and went to make her some tea. If only she wasn’t so cold she’d have been able to appreciate this stranger with kind eyes even more.

Since her aunt and uncle moved to Minnesota several years before, she had only visited in the summer so she had had no idea how freaking cold it got in the winter. Had she known, she might have reconsidered the offer to stay in their house while they were away because Minnesota in October was a far different world than Savannah in October. It was going to take some getting used to dressing in layers. She knew she had been a little rash to accept her aunt’s request to watch their house and their cat but after all of the times her aunt listened to her whine about her mom over the years, it was the least Ana could do. Still, it was a little strange that her aunt asked her to watch the cat because they usually took Angelico with them when they headed south for the winter.

At the time they had asked, it had seemed like a grand adventure: spending a few months in the outskirts of a small town and decompressing before she headed off to the yearlong internship that she had gotten way back when she was a junior in high school. The internship was the price she agreed to pay to have her college paid for, so it was totally worth it and she couldn’t complain at all, especially considering how accommodating they had been. When she called her contact at Madd and asked if she could start after the New Year, they had readily agreed, telling her that it would be no problem as long as she fulfilled the yearlong internship as she promised.

But all of that faded to the background and saw chocolate brown eyes staring down at her.

Of course her aunt had told her about her new neighbor, she had just failed to mention how utterly gorgeous he was. To be fair, her aunt was devoted to her husband and probably hadn’t even noticed how chocolaty brown her neighbor’s eyes were or how well he filled out his uniform. While he was off cooking up some water, Ana tried to remember everything her aunt had told her but her brain was still slushy.

“Hey, now,” his deep voice rumbled through her, doing more to warm her up than the blankets he had piled on top of her. The bed shifted as he sat down and she felt his hand on her face. “I told you not to fall asleep.”

“I’m not sleeping,” she protested, her words slurred. A shiver wracked her body and she frowned, “I’m just really, really cold.”

He was silent for a moment and when she managed to open an eye, he was looking away from her with deep concentration etched on his face. His jaw tensed as he started to unbutton his shirt and he murmured, “I promise I’m not going to hurt you but body heat is….”

“Yes,” she readily agreed, already imagining all of that masculine warmth that would soon be hers.

He chuckled as he pulled the shirt over his head without unbuttoning it all of the way, revealing the white t-shirt underneath. For a moment, he seemed to debate whether or not to remove it, too, and she held her breath until he took it off. Her breath caught in her throat as the lovely expanse of hard muscles and lightly haired skin was revealed. She continued to hold her breath as he stood up and unbuttoned the front of his work slacks.

Glancing at her, he must have seen the lust blazing in her eyes because he turned his back to her, giving her the amazing view of his perfect ass. He pushed the pants down his legs and the hopes that he didn’t wear underwear were dashed when a pair of black boxer briefs appeared. Before she could wonder if he’d take those off as well, he walked around the bed and slid between the covers.

The disappointment was short lived as she immediately wrapped her body around his, trying to take as much of his warmth as possible. He twitched but he didn’t pull away as he said, “Jesus, you’re cold.”

His arms wrapped around her and she thought she must have died and gone to heaven, they fit so perfectly together. But then she touched him with her feet and he nearly leapt out of his skin. She felt some guilt but not enough to pull her feet away from all of that wonderful heat. Instead, she offered a lame apology. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he bit out through gritted teeth, holding himself very still when he must have wanted to push her out of the bed. He tensed even more when she ran her cold toes along his calf, feeling the hard muscle and crisp hair. She flattened her palm against his stomach and fought the urge to rub him all over. If she weren’t so cold – and he wasn’t a complete stranger – she might have explored a little bit further, to see if the tuft of hair that she spied on his hard belly trailed all the way down to his penis or if it stopped before it got to the good parts. Then she might have curled her fingers around said penis to see just how big he was. But she wasn’t that bold and daring, at least not in real life. Her imagination, on the other hand, was a horny beast.

Obviously, she was suffering from prolonged exposure to the cold since she generally didn’t lust after complete strangers, no matter how gorgeous or heroic. And she didn’t climb into said stranger’s beds without speaking more than a handful of words. Luckily, she was too blissfully warm to think about the ramifications too much. Thank goodness he wasn’t married.

“Mmm, you’re so warm,” she managed, burrowing further against his hard body, finally starting to thaw out. Pressing her nose against his shoulder, she inhaled his scent, the smell of leather and steel, and she nearly purred.

“Sorry about the smell,” he murmured, his body relaxing as he started to drift off to sleep. The poor man was exhausted, especially if he could fall asleep with a stranger in his bed.

“You smell wonderful,” she whispered. She nudged her nose against him again, wondering if there was ever a more wonderful smell than warm, clean, lifesaving man.

He started to say something but it turned into a massive yawn and then he was fast asleep. With a smile, she pressed closer to him and closed her eyes, letting sleep take her. Her black haired stranger would warm her up and keep her safe. For the first time in perhaps forever, she felt completely safe with another human being that wasn’t her mother, but she wasn’t going to think about that.

*****

As a wall of heat practically blistered her back, Ana slowly drifted awake, wanting nothing more than to get closer to that heat source. As she came more fully awake, she remembered exactly where she was and why she was there. Strong arms were wrapped around her and if she wasn’t mistaken, a very well-endowed erection was nudging her bottom. There was a clock on the night stand flashing 1:07 p.m. and she was surprised to see she had slept for nearly three hours.

Unlike before, she was toasty warm and would have been content to spend the rest of the day in bed with…. Crap, she didn’t even know his name. Carefully, she extracted herself from his almost possessive embrace and his bed. Turning, she looked down at him, realizing he looked younger when he slept. The circles beneath his eyes were nearly gone but the beard was much darker. The man must have had to shave twice a day if he wanted to keep the stubble at bay. He frowned slightly until he found the pillow she had been using and wrapped his arms around it.

With a smile, she covered him up and pressed a soft kiss against this forehead. Since she had no idea where he kept her aunt’s spare key and it was a little chilly in his bedroom, she wandered over to his closet and grabbed one of his flannel shirts and a pair of his sweat pants. Once she was back at her aunt’s, she’d wash the borrowed clothes and return them with a homemade pie.

After she was dressed, she wondered what she could do to pass the time since she didn’t want to explore his house while he was asleep. Okay, she
did
want to explore but it would have been exceedingly rude, especially after he had been so very kind. She didn’t want him to hate her when she really, really wanted to get to know him better. For a single man, he wasn’t too messy. Sure, there were a few dirty clothes on the floor but mostly the room was uncluttered. A smile lit her face as she spied the book case and she knew how she was going to spend the next couple of hours until her rescuer woke up.

Scanning the titles, she nearly fainted when she saw her favorite series:
The Justice Kane Chronicles
. She had the books on her ereader and she had read the three books that had been released at least four times in the ten months since she got them. Her rescuer had them in paperback and there was something so visceral about reading a real book. Lovingly, she ran her fingers along the spines, wishing
she
had the paperback copies of her favorite series. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the budget for the books just yet. After her internship was over and she had a paying job, the first purchase she was going to make was going to be this series in paperback.

Grabbing the first book, she curled up on the chair that was by the window and opened the cover to the title page. She almost swallowed her tongue when she saw that it was signed. Her hero had a signed copy of
Justice Born
. Her aunt must have told him about the books, too, and he must have loved them enough to discover the author and get them signed. Lucky bastard. It only took a moment of deliberation to decide whether or not she should even be touching his books before she decided it was too much temptation. Making herself comfortable, she dug in, quickly losing herself in the world of Justice Kane, paranormal anti-hero detective with more than a few dark spots on his soul.

“I see you found my books.” The sleep rough voice pulled her out of the dark world she had been submerged in. Blinking, she looked up and found her rescuer looking at her from the warmth of his bed. He was completely unaware that his broad shoulders and chiseled chest was tempting her, especially after reading the scene of Justice tormenting a potential enemy with heated kisses and even more heated touches. It took her another moment to realize four hours had passed and she was more than half way through the story. At his nod, she looked down at the book in her hands and was pulled even further back into reality.

“Right,” she said, closing the book but using her finger as a bookmark. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” he said, scrubbing his fingers through his hair, his biceps bulging with the unconsciously sensual movement.

“I also borrowed some clothes,” she said, stating the obvious since her brain was drowning in a lustful haze. If her hero had ice blue eyes, then the merging of reality and fantasy would almost be complete. It would never be fully complete because her rescuer wasn’t an undead necromancer. Thankfully. She doubted Justice Kane would have been able to get her warm unless he cursed her to the fiery pits of Hell, as he was known to do.

His lips quirked up in a half smile as he took in her appearance. “I’ve noticed.”

Holding up the book, she tried to distract herself from his melted chocolate eyes and sinful smile and how much he resembled Justice Kane. “These are my absolute favorite books. My aunt gave me the ebooks for Christmas last year and I swear I devoured them in two days and then went back and read them all over.”