“That’s a bit childish, don’t you think?” He quirked his lips.
“I don’t care.”
She looked adorable. More like the teenage Raven he’d remembered. “All right, I won’t talk about it.” At least not now. He wouldn’t put the subject to Raven. Instead, he’d have a talk with Fiona and Pike.
“Are you going to be okay staying here?” Raven asked looking around the place.
“I guess that would depend on if I can get the wood stove started.” He walked over to the black potbelly stove, knelt down, and opened it. “Oh, shit.” He slammed the door shut and put an arm out to keep her back.
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s something dead in there.”
“Dead? Like rotting?”
“Too cold to rot. No, just dead.”
“What is it?”
“It’s…a…” Damn, he didn’t want to tell her. “It’s a raven.”
She gasped. “No.”
“I’m afraid so, honey.”
“But…”
“It must have fallen down the stove pipe.”
“It would have been caught in there, starved to death, beating its wings against the cold metal sides.” She dropped her head against his chest, and he pulled her in closer. She had an affinity to her namesake.
He tried to reassure her. “I’m sure the fall killed it.”
She raised her head and looked up at him. “Do you think so?”
“I’m sure of it.” He caressed the side of her face, watching his fingers as they lightly touched her soft skin. She was so beautiful. Exotic almond eyes, honeyed skin that he wanted to run his lips over, mouth too wide and too full, lending her an air of seduction that he couldn’t resist. He wanted to kiss those lips, lose himself in her heat and drink from her mouth. He leaned closer, waiting for her to push him away.
She didn’t.
He lightly touched his lips to hers. She sighed into him. Had she wanted him to do this too? Had she been tormented by the thought of them together like he had? He deepened the kiss, slanting his head, drawing her in closer to his body, loving the feel of her against him. She was perfect. Perfect size as she fit against him, snuggled in his arms, her hips cradling his erection. He unzipped her coat and spread the edges apart, his hands running up and down her sides as he waited for her to slap them way.
She didn’t.
Why was she letting him touch her? One minute she wanted to see the last of him, and the next, she was allowing him to dream. To hope.
This was driving him crazy, and he’d never been far from crazy to begin with.
He lifted his mouth from hers. “What are you doing?”
Her face was flushed, and as the temperature inside the cabin was only a few degrees warmer than the single digits outside, it wasn’t from that. Which meant he’d caused the flush to her skin.
“What do you mean?”
“You let me kiss you. Kissed me back. Why?”
She moved out of his arms. “Curiosity, I guess.” She shrugged her shoulders as though what they had just done hadn’t meant anything.
He turned her around to face him. “Don’t give me that crap. Why did you kiss me back?”
“Why does it matter?” Her eyes turned hot.
He let go of her and stepped back, his bad leg getting caught up in an old, torn flannel shirt thrown on the floor. He shook it free and looked at Raven again, his heart pounding. “Because you matter.” He shook his head. “Don’t fool with me.”
She dropped her gaze from his. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let that happen, but…”
“But what?”
She glanced at him. “It’s hard. Being with you. Remembering what it used to be like.” She turned away.
He grabbed her again, made her face him. “You don’t get to say something like that and then turn away from me. You broke my heart, Raven. Don’t toy with the pieces.”
She sucked in a breath, studied him, her eyes wide, questioning. She reached up and cupped his face. “I wish…” She stopped and bit her lip as if to keep the words from being spoken.
“You wish?” he prompted, very much wanting to know what she had been about to say.
“I wish things could have been different. But they’re not.”
The pain wasn’t any less sharp having heard it from her before. He released her and stepped back. “You’d better go.”
She swallowed and looked around the cabin again. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to stay out here.” She indicated the mess scattered around them. “Besides, what if the person who did this decides to come back?”