Devilment darkened his eyes. 'Sorry enough to cook my breakfast?' he mocked.
She smiled her relief at his first ever show of teasing around her. 'Yes,' she still smiled. 'Although I could help you with the logs first.'
He shook his head. 'There's no need, I'm almost through. Besides,' he drawled, 'you may not have noticed last night but there isn't a whole lot to do here.'
'Sorry?' She frowned her ignorance.
'As you've already pointed out,' he said dryly, 'we could be here several days, and although this may be an insult to your feminine pride, boredom could become a problem.'
Her smile faded as his humour was predictably followed by a caustic comment. But at least he wasn't treating her like an idiot now, someone he could humour about the real danger they were in. 'I saw some books in the cabin—'
'Do you like Westerns?' Kyle derided.
'Less and less,' she replied pointedly.
He chuckled softly, lines grooved beside his mouth. 'It isn't quite as they portray it in the movies, is it?'
'Not quite,' she agreed dryly. 'Although I didn't do too badly on my hero.' She knew she had said the wrong thing again as suspicion darkened his eyes, 'just think, it could have been Charlie who found me,' she tried to lighten his mood again, knowing she had only partially succeeded when his eyes remained flinty.
'You would probably have got more sympathy from Charlie,' he told her softly.
She didn't doubt it for a minute, the elderly man very much like a father-figure. But she doubted he would have been able to instil the confidence in her that Kyle did. They may dislike each other intensely but she didn't doubt for one moment Kyle's ability to get them both out of this. 'I'll settle for the hero I've got,' she said huskily.
Kyle looked less than pleased by this remark too. 'And I'll settle for my breakfast,' he rasped.
It was meant to be a verbal slap in the face, and it had the same effect as a physical one would have done. 'Coming up,' she muttered.
The pancakes she prepared did little to sweeten Kyle's mood, and he excused himself from the cabin as soon as he had finished eating. Unsure of exactly where he was going—he certainly didn't tell her—Shelby was left to her own devices for the morning. Meticulously clean and tidy in her own home she decided the cabin wouldn't hurt for being cleaned up a little.
She swept the floor, tidied the beds, dusted and cleaned every surface she could find. And for all the notice Kyle took of her efforts when he came back for his lunch she might as well have saved herself the trouble. He ate down the food she had prepared without saying a word.
'I'm beginning to feel like one of America's pioneer women,' she finally remarked lightly, only picking at her own food, stew as a staple diet for the next few days not something she relished.
Kyle looked up uninterestedly. 'Hm?'
She looked at him with widely innocent eyes. 'Well I believe it was quite normal then for the men not to talk to their women unless it was absolutely necessary to.'
His mouth tightened at the taunt. 'You aren't my woman. And I have nothing to say. This isn't London, Shelby, where people sit around all day making idle conversation in idle lives.'
She sighed, clearing away the plates to replace them with the tinned fruit they had for dessert. 'You could tell me what you did with your morning,' she prompted without rancour, knowing that his accusation about some people's idle conversation was true in some cases, although not in her own. She didn't have the time.
He shrugged. 'I took a look around the immediate area.'
She looked at him sharply. 'Why? You seem to know the cabin pretty well, I thought you would be familiar with its surroundings too.'
'I am,' he drawled. 'I'm also familiar with the fact that a storm like the one we had yesterday can change the landscape within hours. It can also make surrounding trees unsafe. Hell, the cold alone is enough to do that.'
She swallowed hard. 'And are there any, unsafe ones, I mean?'
'Not so far, no.'
'So far?' She watched him as he stood up to pull on his thick coat and gloves. 'You aren't going out again?' She couldn't hide her disappointment.
He gave her a look that clearly told her he disliked over-curious, clinging women. 'It will be dark early,' he nodded. 'And we could be in for another storm later.'
'Oh but—'
'I shouldn't be long,' he cut in firmly. 'And keep the fire going,' he instructed curtly before leaving.
Shelby glared after him with dislike. She wasn't stupid, had kept the fire going all morning in his absence, knew they had to keep it going, and not just because there was a shortage of matches. It had taken most of the previous night to get the cabin as warm as it was, and she was well aware of the fact that Kyle had been up several times in the night putting logs on the fire to keep it that way.
She felt more and more like one of those downtrodden women of the first American settlers as she cleared away the debris from their lunch, a spark of rebellion urging her to get out of the cabin once she had cleaned away, needing to get out into the air for a while.
The cold was very deceptive, and for the first few minutes of her walk she didn't even realise how cold it was, the air crisp and fresh, not damp as it would have been in England in the same weather.
She walked to keep the chill from her bones, always keeping the smoking chimney of the cabin in sight as she did so. Kyle would allow her no mercy if he had to come looking for her again! Not that he had given her much the first time.
But despite what he had said about checking the immediate area of the cabin she didn't find him, only the odd set of footprints that seemed to lead back into themselves. She had intended to join him, as he hadn't proffered the invitation himself, but as she couldn't even find him that was impossible. She wandered back to the cabin with despondent movements, going inside to warm herself, looking uninterestedly through the books on the shelf, finding them all to be Westerns as Kyle had warned they would be. Having had her fill of the 'modern cowboy' for the moment, she was loath to read about the even more ruthless exploits of the olden day ones.
Bored and listless she pulled on her anorak again, angry with Kyle for just leaving her to her own devices for the entire day. He could have spent some time with her, damn him!
The smooth beauty of the snow beyond the cabin beckoned her on her second walk out, crying out for the ice-cold beauty to be disturbed by human presence. Where the spark of mischief came from that urged her to build the snowman she didn't know. She hadn't made one since she was a very young child, and yet suddenly it was what she most wanted to do.
Once started she threw herself into the task with gusto, the snowman almost as tall as herself as she searched around for something to put on the top as the eyes, nose, and mouth of the face. In the end she went back to the cabin for splinters of wood, and was just putting the finishing touches to the mouth when she sensed she was no longer alone.
The hysterical images of bears and wolves that had so terrified her the previous day no longer even occurred to her, and she knew instantly who was behind her.
'True English spirit,' Kyle drawled derisively. 'We're stranded out here and you're building a snowman!'
She bent slowly to pick up a handful of snow, crushing it into the semblance of a ball shape as she turned to face him. 'And snowballs,' she warned as the snow left her glove-covered hand in aim for his face.
It was a direct hit, much to her delight, the surprised expression on Kyle's face as the melting snow slowly trickled down his face making her laugh as much as her satisfaction did.
'Why you little—!' Retaliation gleamed in his eyes as he bent to pick up some snow, his aim even better than hers had been as he caught her directly on the nose.
As with building the snowman it was years since she had thrown snowballs, her laugh light with happiness as they began to throw snow at each other in earnest.
Kyle's aim was so much better than hers, that within minutes she was liberally sprayed with snow, her hat having fallen
off during the exchange, her loosened hair gleaming brightly, it a little wet too now.
'Enough!' she gasped as yet another handful of snow caught her directly in the face, smiling as she walked over to him, her eyes gleaming with happiness as she fell against him. 'You win,' she was breathing heavily from the exertion.
Kyle looked down at her with admiring eyes, his hood pushed back to reveal his dark hair, his arm going about her shoulders in companionable enjoyment. 'We'll call it a draw,' he told her softly. 'After all, you struck the first blow.'
'Yes,' she was still breathing heavily, falling weakly to sit down in the snow. 'I think I must be out of condition,' she looked up at him beneath lowered lashes, mischief in the stormy green depths of her eyes.
'Here,' he held out his hand to her.
That was exactly what Shelby had been hoping he would do, the gleam of devilment deepening in her eyes as she took the proffered hand, and instead of allowing him to pull her to her feet pulled him off balance.
'Shelby…!' he had time to cry his surprise before he landed face-down in the snow at her side.
With an agility that hadn't been present in her movements a few seconds earlier she jumped to her feet, laughing gleefully as Kyle turned over to spit the snow from his mouth. 'Now I've struck the first and last blow,' she said with satisfaction, grinning at how funny he looked covered in snow, even the darkness of his hair sprinkled with it. 'How the mighty are fallen,' she taunted with relish.
He became suddenly still, his eyes narrowed, his mouth suddenly curving into a smile that was as dangerous as he was. 'This fight is far from over,' he warned softly.
Shelby felt the thrill of apprehension run through her, her eyes darkening in anticipation. 'Don't you like being defeated by a mere woman?' she challenged.
He looked up at her calmly. 'I'm not beaten yet.'
'You look it to me,' she raised auburn brows.
'Looks can sometimes be deceiving,' he drawled.
Even though he was still sitting firmly on the ground he seemed threatening, and the urge to show him that he didn't frighten her in the least had her bending down to gather up more snow, putting it down the back of his neck and running off before he could catch her.
'You're one very provoking woman!' he growled as he stood up, his movements unhurried as he followed her through the snow, gaining on her all the time.
'It was only a game, Kyle,' she pleaded as she looked out at him from behind the protection of a pine tree.
His eyes were dark with satisfaction. 'I know that,' he nodded. But still he came towards her, a look of determination to his strong mouth.
She moved to another tree further away. 'Then why do I get the distinct impression that you've stopped playing,' she asked nervously.
His teeth gleamed whitely against his darkly tanned skin. 'I'm still playing, Shelby, it's just that I've changed the rules a little.'
She swallowed hard. 'It was only a little harmless fun,' she protested at the retribution he promised.
'So will tanning your hide be!'
'Kyle…?'
His grin deepened at her nervousness, and although he was nothing like the grim-faced man she had come to expect he was still very dangerous.
'Kyle, I was only joking,' she told him desperately as she began to run once again.
'I'm not,' he followed at a much more leisurely pace, his long strides gaining on her all the time.
'No one has ever hit me,' she gasped her alarm at the prospect as she realised the walk in the heavy snow and building the snowman had indeed taken their toll on her, her legs feeling heavier by the second.
'Then it's about time someone did!' He made a lunge for her, catching her about the waist, the snow absorbing their fall, Shelby's struggles to be free ineffectual against Kyle's superior strength and weight.
Finally she lay still, her arms held captive above her head, her breasts rising and falling as she breathed her exhaustion. 'Would it do any good if I were to say I'm sorry?' she asked hopefully.
'It might,' he nodded.
'Then I am.'
Kyle shook his head. 'It doesn't help the fact that I have icy cold snow dripping down my back.'
Her eyes widened with indignation. 'But you said that if I apologised—'
'That it might do some good,' he acknowledged softly, easily turning her over so that she lay across his knees. 'It didn't,' he laughed as his hand came down painfully on her denim-clad bottom. 'But this will.'
Shelby's screams of outrage carried far and clear in the stillness of the day, but they had little real effect. Kyle not stopping the punishment until he was satisfied she had been suitably subdued.
She glared at him as he turned her over. 'Are you satisfied now?' she snapped.
His mouth quirked with humour at her indignation. 'It didn't really hurt.'
'Tell that to my bottom!' She angrily rubbed the pained part of her anatomy.
'I'd love to,' he drawled suggestively.
Colour darkened her cheeks. 'Kyle—'
'Dear God, but you're beautiful,' he groaned as his head swooped and his mouth claimed hers.
She was initially too surprised to object, and then as his lips infused warm life into her body she didn't want to, her arms going up about his neck as he cradled her against his chest, both of them forgetting their surroundings, the coldness of the snow they were sitting in, the fact that seconds ago they had been arguing as usual.
They certainly weren't arguing now, one of Kyle's hands capturing her chin so that he wasn't thwarted in his languorous plundering of her mouth, his lips moving across and into hers with slow eroticism, preparing her for the intimacy of his tongue probing between her teeth to the warm softness beneath, searching out every sensitive nuance of her mouth even as his thighs throbbing against her cried out for an even deeper possession.
Shelby's hair splayed out bright red as Kyle lay her back in the snow, her hat lying on the ground near the snowman, her body arching up into his as he moved to lie across her, her eyes dark with longing, the last hour seeming to wipe out all the unpleasantness between them.
'We pick the damndest places for this,' Kyle muttered before his mouth claimed hers again, fiercer this time, drawing her into him, blocking out all thought but the two of them in this ritual of lovemaking.
Shelby's hands were tangled in his hair as she willingly allowed him to lead her into the sensual abyss that had so long been denied her, his bitter rejection of her the previous evening not seeming to matter as he shuddered against her with a desire he couldn't hide.
In the circumstances it was a miracle that Shelby heard the overhead sound of the engine, lost as she was in a world where only the magic of Kyle's mouth and hands seemed to matter, her hips crushed against his much more powerful ones as he cupped her bottom into him.
But somehow she did hear the engine, only slightly at first, so distant she imagined she actually had a buzzing in her ears from the onslaught of passion that had engulfed them. But the noise became louder and louder, filling her head now, until her lids widened up at the sky to see a small red-and-white bird above them in the sky. Only it wasn't a bird, it was a plane!
'Kyle!' She pushed him away from her excitedly, all the time her gaze fixed on the small plane flying over them, too far away to make out their prone figures in the snow, surely?
Kyle was slower to react to outside stimulus, trying to pull her back into his arms, flames still flickering deeply in the depths of his grey eyes.
'Kyle, it's a plane!' She couldn't take her eyes off it as it began to circle lower, scrambling to her feet. 'It is a plane—isn't it?' she voiced uncertainly as Kyle made no effort to get up out of the snow.
He glanced up as the red-and-white bird dipped down above them. 'Yes, it's a plane—'
'God, it is, it is!' Shelby's face was alight with excitement as she began to stumble through the snow, waving her arms about frantically in an effort to attract the attention of the pilot.
She knew tha
t the people above may not even be looking for them, may be on a private flight, but if she could just make them see her perhaps they would realise the urgency of the situation down on the ground and report it to someone. She and Kyle were sure to be rescued then, and when they were——
'Oh!' She gave a pained gasp as she tripped over something in her path, her attention having all been up at the sky, falling heavily to the ground as her ankle twisted painfully beneath her. And to add to her misery the plane seemed to have resumed its course and was now disappearing into the grey sky over the mountains.
She could have cried at the futility she felt at that moment, falling back into the cold snow, tears glistening in the dark green despair of her eyes. For a few brief moments she had teetered on the brink of being rescued from this wilderness, and to have it taken from her again so cruelly seemed almost inhuman.
And from the way Kyle was casually strolling over to her, brushing the snow from his clothes, he didn't appear to be in the least perturbed that the one chance they had had of rescue the last two days had just literally flown off into the sunset!
CHAPTER FOUR
The undignified end to her plea for attention from the occupants of the plane, and now Kyle's near complacency on top of that, filled her with anger. 'Why didn't you try and do something to attract their attention?' she snapped.
Kyle looked down at her with amused eyes. 'Is that what you were trying to do?'
Their rapport as they played in the snow was forgotten as she glared at him, the passion of their kisses a few minutes ago banished to the far recesses of her mind. 'You know damn well I was!'
He shrugged. 'The pilot would never have seen you, no matter how much you waved your arms about.'
She flushed at the taunt. 'You could have tried, damn you,' she cursed herself inwardly as her voice broke emotionally, not wanting him to know how weak and utterly defeated she suddenly felt.
'I told you, there was no point,' he dismissed.
His ability to remain so calmly unmoved after such a moment of hope—no matter how remote!—made her want to scream. 'You might at least offer to help me up,' she rasped.
The Passionate Lover Page 5