Opening the door, he brushed her hands away and patted her down himself, enjoying the process immensely.
“Don’t kill it,” she cried. “Just get it off me.”
“Hang on. I’m looking.” He shifted his fingers through her hair, over her arms, her waist, brushing her breasts before streaking down her legs and back up again, briefly cupping between. “Spider-free,” he promised.
“Are you sure?”
“Well . . .” Tongue in cheek, he searched her again, taking longer this time, noticing that when he stroked over her arms and neck, her breathing changed and her nipples went hard. So did he. But when he brought his hands up her legs and then between, she stopped dancing around and shoved at him, blowing a strand of hair from her face, looking furious and quite adorable with it. “You’re just using this as an excuse to feel me up.”
“And down,” he said agreeably.
She growled, but he lifted his hands. “You really are spider-free.”
“Thank you,” she said through her teeth.
He cocked his head. “That didn’t sound quite sincere.”
Her jaw was so tight it looked as if it could shatter. “Look, it’s freezing, all right? I don’t suppose you could move your big, damn, hulking frame out of the way. I want inside.”
“Maybe.” He waited until she looked at him. “The truth is, I want something, too, Breanne.”
She crossed her hands over her chest in an attempt to warm her body up, something he’d be happy to help her with. “Let me get this straight,” she said. “In order to let me into the house, you want something.”
“That’s right.”
A gust of wind blew in, topping her off with a layer of white powdery snow. Not him, though, because she’d been his wind barrier.
She shook the snow off. “Damn it, what?”
He didn’t suppose she’d let him lick the snow off her body one flake at a time, which was a shame because he knew how good she would taste. Playing it safe—for now—he went for his second choice. “You have to smile.”
She stared at him as if he’d grown a second head. If she only knew. “Are you insane?” she asked. “Just let me in.”
“Smile first.”
“I have nothing to smile about.”
“This morning.”
“Huh?”
“This morning,” he repeated. “It was pretty damn fine. You could smile about that.”
“Cooper—”
“Look, if smiling is too difficult, you can kiss me.”#p#分页标题#e#
She practically had an aneurism on the spot. “Kiss you?”
“As a thank-you.”
“For what?”
“For rescuing you.”
“You are insane,” she decided, tossing up her hands. “I’m trapped inside a house with an insane man.”
“Actually, you’re trapped outside,” he pointed out helpfully.
“Forget it! I opt to freeze to death.” Turning her back on him, she hunched her shoulders against the chill.
Ah, hell. He reached for her and put his hands on her arms, rubbing them up and down her chilled skin. “All right, Custer, you win. Come on, come inside.” Stepping backward over the threshold, he pulled her with him, then reached around her to shut the door. Because she had goose bumps—his fault for playing with her the way he had—he put his hands back on her arms. He didn’t know what it was, but he loved having his hands on her.
Lifting her head, she looked deep into his eyes, her own filled with a sadness that tugged at him. “You ever think that life just plain sucks?”
“Yeah.” He cupped her cold face in his warm hands. “But right now isn’t one of those times.”
A shuddery sigh escaped her, but he took it as a good sign when she let him slowly pull her against him. Tucking her frozen nose up into the crook of his neck, she sighed again as he ran his hands up and down her back. And then, because he was a very weak man, he let his hand fall lower with each stroke.
She didn’t object. In fact, she let out another breath, a hum of pleasure this time, and just like that, the embrace changed. Shifted. He was still holding her, touching her, but no longer for comfort. “Breanne,” he said very softly.
“I know.” Her lips moved against his throat. “God, this is crazy. I’m crazy.”
“No.” Another stroke of his hand down her back, slowly, curving his palm over the curve of her ass. Ah, man.
“Cooper?”
Don’t say stop. Please don’t. “Yeah?”
“I’m sorry you have to keep saving the stupid chick.”