Georgia gave a little groan as for the first time every inch of her naked body came into contact with every hard plane and muscle of his. Her nipples prickled with fire as they pressed against his chest, and her breath hitched and her heart battered against her ribs as his throbbing erection touched the intimate spot between her legs.
‘If you want to change your mind about this,’ Chance rasped, ‘do it now.’
Georgia shook her head vehemently, and lay back as he leaned over her to reach his bedside table. Before she had time for questions she was in his arms again, and his hands were on her breasts and the heat in her nipples exploded in twin points of flame as his clever, inciting fingers and grazing teeth drove her wild. His mouth returned to hers with a demand that heightened her scorching, throbbing pleasure as his fingers stroked the soft, hot petals that protected the secret part of her that until now had languished there unnoticed. Chance found it unerringly, his caress bringing her up off the bed with a gasping cry. He kissed her parted lips, then slid between her thighs in partial penetration, holding still, braced on his arms above her, until she relaxed a little. His breath tore through his chest as he forced himself to wait, then with a final thrust he was deep inside her, and Georgia sucked in a sharp, ragged breath at the lightning bolt of sensation. They lay still, savouring it for an instant, then his caressing hands coaxed her to move with him, inciting her into such hot response their bodies achieved a tumultuous rhythm that propelled them at last to a climax he reached first, and then he held her close until she exploded around him in wild delight.
Georgia lay dazed and still in Chance’s arms afterwards, or as still as it was possible to be while her heart thumped. She felt euphoric. Under Chance Warner’s expert tuition she had discovered the true joy of making love at last. She had even achieved her very first orgasm, and had fought to control a scream as she’d found out, at last, what other women—or at least Amy—raved about. She shook her head. If she made love with any other man there was no guarantee it would be a regular occurrence. It had only happened with Chance because she was in love with him. Had been from that first moment when she’d kissed him by mistake. Or had it been a mistake? Maybe some cosmic influence had sent her into his arms with a purpose that night.
‘Why the shake of the head, Georgie?’ he asked huskily.
Her train of thought braked to a halt. ‘Amazement at how good you are at this.’
‘You’re pretty damn wonderful yourself, Miss Smith.’ He kissed her neck in appreciation, and heaved a sigh. ‘I hate to move, but we just have to get some clothes on.’
She groaned. ‘You’re right. But I’m not looking forward to it. I don’t know where you threw my pyjamas, but they’ll be icy by now.’
He laughed into her neck. ‘Even in my desperation to get you naked I was clever enough to push them down the bed to keep warm.’
‘Clever and modest,’ she said, giggling.
‘Hold on.’ He got out of bed and searched for her pyjamas. ‘Out you get, then, but hurry up.’
Georgia slid out of bed, glad of the dark as Chance handed her pyjamas over. She struggled into them at top speed, then slid back into bed, straight into his waiting arms.
He kissed her briefly and held her close. ‘Now we sleep.’
Georgia’s former relationships had not included sleepovers. She was utterly positive she would never fall asleep with a man’s hard, warm body moulded to hers. But the various demands of the day, and the heavenly warmth Chance was giving out, soon combined to prove her wrong.
It was just getting light when she woke to an unfamiliar sound. Chance was snoring softly into her neck. She could see the room clearly, so it was definitely morning. She tried to move, but at her first wriggle an arm snaked round her waist and held her fast.
‘No, you don’t,’ said Chance, in a dark early-morning voice, and kissed her ear. ‘Good morning, Miss Smith. How did you sleep?’
‘Surprisingly well, in the circumstances.’
He pulled her round to face him, heavy-eyed, in need of a shave, and utterly irresistible to Georgia. Oh, Lord, she thought, hiding her face against his shoulder, she’d really got it bad. And she had no idea how he really felt about her, except that she turned him on physically.
‘Why surprisingly?’ he asked, kissing her hair.
‘I always sleep alone.’
‘Would you have preferred to sleep alone last night?’
She raised her head to scowl at him. ‘Since I wouldn’t have slept at all if I had, the answer’s obviously no.’
‘Are you always this prickly in the morning?’
‘Only when someone wakes me up by snoring in my ear.’ She grinned evilly at his look of outrage.
‘I don’t snore! Do I?’
‘Yes. But very musically.’ She blew him a kiss. ‘It was a small price to pay for keeping warm.’
He growled and pulled her close to kiss her hard, then to her disappointment let her go and got out of bed. ‘Much as I’d like to stay and debate the matter, I have an appointment with some dogs. But you stay put until I’ve got the fire going in the study. We’ll have breakfast in front of it this morning.’
‘I’ll cook something, if your gas burners will take a frying pan,’ she suggested.
He stopped on his way to the bathroom to give her a look which made her warm all over. ‘Does this mean you’ve forgiven me, Georgie?’
‘All things considered, I suppose I must have.’ Her smile brought him back to the bed to bend over and kiss her at such length it was obvious where it would have led if the dogs hadn’t been waiting.
‘I have to go,’ groaned Chance, straightening, and brushed a hand over her hair.
Minutes later, when he emerged, teeth chattering, from the bathroom, Georgia watched with appreciation as he exchanged his improvised night gear for boxers, thick moleskins, a wool shirt topped with a Shetland sweater, hiking socks and heavy shoes. He looked up to meet her eyes and grinned. ‘You were supposed to avert your eyes modestly.’
‘I could do that when you take them off,’ she suggested, and grinned back.
‘Can’t wait,’ he said thickly, and started towards her, then shook his head and made for the door. ‘You’re a dangerous woman! See you in half an hour.’
CHAPTER FIVE
WHEN Georgia reached the kitchen, wearing her warmest layers of clothes, she received a joyous welcome from Luther as well as Ruby.
‘You’re certainly a hit with my dogs,’ said Chance, watching.
‘And I much appreciate it,’ she said with truth, once the patting and stroking was over. ‘I wish I could have one of my own, but it’s not possible in my flat.’
‘Too small?’
‘That too, but in my building pets are forbidden anyway.’ She went over to the battered metal box on the draining board. ‘Is this the cooker?’
Chance raised the lid to display two burners. ‘Now you’re here I’ll put two pans of water to boil—one for tea, the other for eggs.’
Georgia went over to the windows to look out on an arctic landscape. ‘No sign of a thaw, then.’
Chance came to stand behind her, and slid his arms round her waist. ‘Are you so anxious to leave me?’
For answer she turned in his arms and kissed him, exulting in the tightening of his embrace as he returned the kiss with interest.
‘I’ll take that as a no,’ he said huskily, and kissed her again.
With snow outside and warmth inside in front of the study fire as they ate breakfast, Georgia felt utterly at peace with the world. Chance had found batteries which fitted his radio, and they were able to listen to music and news reports while they ate. The snow which covered most of Southern Britain, they learned, was due to turn to rain within the next forty-eight hours.
‘Good news in one way,’ said Georgia, ‘but does that mean more flooding?’
‘Quite possibly. But don’t worry. I’ll collect your belongings from the cottage as soon as I can hike down over the comm
on,’ Chance assured her. ‘Your car can wait until the roads are clear. You’ll just have to stay here with me until I’m absolutely sure it’s safe for you to travel.’
IT WAS A BOXING DAY TO REMEMBER. When the sun came out later they took the dogs and went down the drive to the main gates, to find the road outside covered with fresh snow and totally free from signs of traffic.
‘Not that I would expect much traffic today, anyway,’ said Chance. ‘I’d better do some shovelling. If the back courtyard is cleared it’s easier to haul in logs.’
‘I’ll help.’
He shook his head. ‘I’d rather you curled up by the fire—’
‘Nice and safe?’ she mocked, and punched him playfully on the arm. ‘I want to shovel. Out here with you,’ she added, looking up into his eyes.
Chance pulled her close and kissed her, much to Ruby’s excitement. ‘I suppose you think I’ll agree to anything if you look at me like that!’
‘Will you?’
‘Every time.’ He kissed her again, and pulled on the little dog’s lead. ‘Down, Ruby! She’ll have to go in, but Luther can stay outside with us.’
Ruby strongly disapproved of this arrangement. Once she was inside there was so much barking and yowling from the boot room it was audible outside in the garage Chance had converted from stables.
‘Ruby’s quiet at last,’ said Georgia as she pulled on the gloves he gave her.
‘Look at the window and you’ll see why!’
Georgia laughed when she saw Ruby watching them through the window from one of the countertops.
The day was bitterly cold, but Georgia soon grew warm as she shovelled and swept in her determination to help Chance. She was glad when at last he took away her shovel and broom.
‘That’s it. Time to pack it in,’ he said firmly.
Georgia nodded meekly as she stripped off her gloves. ‘OK, boss. Are you coming in now?’
‘I’ll just tidy up a bit first, and scatter some grit around. Why don’t you make a hot drink, and think about what we can eat for lunch?’
Georgia received a joyful welcome from Ruby when she went inside to kick off her boots. ‘Believe me, you were in the best place,’ she assured her, and surveyed her soaked jeans with resignation. The only place with any heat was the study. She told Ruby to stay, and hurried along the hall. In the study she stripped off the jeans and hung them over the back of a chair, then gave the fire a poke, added some logs and put the fire guard back, then ran upstairs to her room. She pulled on an old pair of denims, slapped moisturiser on her face, and went downstairs to see Chance backing the Ranger Rover into the yard. Wondering why, she surveyed his choice of canned soup.
‘Which would he like, Ruby? Wag twice for tomato.’
Ruby wagged a lot more than twice, and with a chuckle Georgia gave her a dog biscuit, then opened a couple of cans of soup and tipped them into a pan, ready to heat. Wondering why Chance was taking so long, she went over to the window. She tensed, her eyes narrowing ominously. He was talking on his car phone. So he’d had means to contact the outside world all along! He was probably on the phone to some female right now. After Toby, she’d had her fill of controlling men.
Eventually Chance strode into the kitchen, the smile on his face fading as he saw her face.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘You kept pretty quiet about the car phone.’
He frowned. ‘For a very simple reason, Georgia. Until I backed the car out of the garage to get at the logs I never gave it a thought.’
‘Who were you talking to?’ she enquired, barely covering her anger.
Chance stiffened. ‘There was a worried message from my father on it, so I spoke to him briefly and then returned a message from Tom Hutchings at Ridge Farm. Finally I rang about the power again, but got the same answer. Is there anything else you want to know? If not, hand over your phone and I’ll put it on charge in the car so you can talk to your mother.’
She eyed him uncertainly. ‘You really forgot you had a car phone?’
‘Yes,’ he said brusquely. ‘I have faults, but lying isn’t one of them. While I put your phone on charge perhaps you can finish lunch.’ He took the phone and strode out again.
Georgia lit the flame under the soup she had ready. She set the table, cut some bread, then turned with a polite little smile as Chance came in.
‘It’s ready.’
‘Excellent. I’m hungry.’ He took the bowl she filled for him and went over to the table, then held out her chair and waited for her to join him. ‘Wasn’t there enough soup?’ he demanded, eying her bowl. ‘You don’t have much.’
‘I’m not as hungry as I thought,’ she said brightly. ‘There’s plenty more if you want it.’
‘Good.’
Georgia found it hard to swallow any soup at all past the lump in her throat. How stupid was that?
‘You’re obviously too tired to eat, Georgia,’ he said, eyeing her. ‘Are your shoulders aching?’
‘A bit.’
‘I was a fool to allow you to help,’ he said bitterly.
Her head flew up. ‘Allow? I helped because I wanted to do something in return for your hospitality.’ Oh, Lord! That had come out all wrong.
‘The hospitality comes free of charge of any kind,’ Chance said through his teeth. He tossed his spoon down in the dish, splashing hot soup on the table. ‘Why the hell are you behaving like this? One minute we’re working together in complete harmony, the next you’re Miss Frigidaire. I honestly didn’t give the damned car phone a thought, if that’s the problem. There was no sinister reason for keeping it secret. Not that it matters much. The net result is the same. We wait until the power returns or a thaw sets in—whichever comes first. So what’s wrong?’
She reached to mop up the soup with her napkin. ‘Nothing.’
‘You could have fooled me,’ he said flatly, and got up to take the soup bowls. ‘Is there enough water in the pan to rinse these?’
‘Yes, but I’ll do it.’
‘No, you will not,’ he said in a tone that decided her against argument. ‘Read your book in front of the fire in the study.’
She turned on her heel and left the kitchen. She marched along the hall and up the stairs to her room to collect her book, and then went down to the study to poke the fire and add some logs. When they were blazing satisfactorily she curled up on the sofa, but after a minute or two gave up trying to read. She lay staring into the flames, knuckled sudden tears from her eyes, and slid down further, her head on the arm of the sofa, annoyed that she’d let her bad experience with Toby cause her to turn stroppy over the car phone episode. Maybe her first real experience of love—or lust, or whatever—had sent her hormones into meltdown.
She shot upright as Chance came in and handed her phone over.
‘You’ve been crying,’ he said softly. ‘Why?’
‘I don’t know. I’m tired, and a bit upset, I suppose. Thank you for this,’ she added politely.
He sat down beside her and took her hand. ‘Are you still angry with me, Georgie?’
The pet name sent her defences crashing. ‘I had no cause to be angry, and you had every right to turn cold on me. But it was a bit hard to take after—after last night.’
‘Cold! I feel anything but as far as you’re concerned, Miss Smith.’ He bent his head and kissed her in emphasis, then took her in his arms as he felt her lips quiver under his.
Georgia pulled away a little. ‘I assumed you were putting some woman’s mind at rest when I saw you talking on the car phone.’
‘And you were jealous?’ Chance laughed, and shifted her more comfortably in his arms. ‘I was putting my father’s mind at rest, I assure you. Now the wilderness years are over we’re on good terms these days, Dad and I.’
‘Were you such a bad boy, then?’ she asked.
He smiled. ‘I was the usual tearaway teenager—long hair, leather jacket, motorbike: all the trappings of the rebel. But never drugs. I liked a cigarette and a dr
ink as much as the rest of them when I went out on the town with the lads at the software company, but I steered clear of anything likely to affect my brain.’
‘Did you enjoy your work there?’
‘Immensely. But after I sold the famous fruit of said brain I found I didn’t want to work for a company any more. So I left and went freelance, invested my windfall, and studied ways to make it grow. I was a whiz at maths in school. Numbers fascinate me.’
Georgia frowned. ‘But don’t you miss working?’
‘You mean am I content to rest idle on my laurels for the rest of my life?’ he said wryly.
She flushed. ‘Yes, I suppose I do mean that.’
‘Toby obviously left out telling you of my interest in farming. Ridgeway land adjoins the farm run by Tom Hutchings and his wife. When I bought the house I met Tom in talks about boundaries and so on, and found he was struggling to keep going. He’s the fourth generation Hutchings to run the farm, but with fewer men wanting work as farm hands, and no sons of his own to help out, Tom and Nell were having a pretty lean time.’
Georgia’s eyes widened. ‘So you bought the farm?’
‘No. I bought into it. Or, to put it another way, I invested some money so Tom can do the modernisation needed to make the farm pay its way, and also offer higher wages to bring in experienced help. I lend a hand there myself on a part-time basis.’ Chance grinned at her astonishment. ‘I don’t get up at dawn to milk the cows. I keep to the arable side and some of the slog, like hedging and so on. But, more important to Tom, I see to the finances and research ways of cutting costs. As I said, I’m good with figures.’
‘So that’s why,’ she said, enlightened.
‘Why what?’
‘Why you look so fit even after a dose of flu. I wondered if you had a gym tucked away somewhere in the house.’
‘Don’t need one. Farming is damned hard work; so is keeping a garden this size in check.’ He preened outrageously. ‘You like my muscles, then?’
She laughed. ‘What’s not to like? The girls who spat geek insults at you should see you now!’
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