31 Days of Winter (31 Days #1)

by C. J. Fallowfield

  ‘A little sore from the journey,’ I smiled. It wasn’t a total lie. The sound of his footsteps and my heels on the wood of the jetty was deafening in the virtual silence that surrounded us. All I could hear was the gentle breeze and the water of the loch licking at its stone borders. I looked up at the sky and gasped in amazement, I’d never seen so many stars.

  ‘Beautiful,’ he whispered, I nodded and looked over at him to see he was looking at me and not at the sky.

  ‘You don’t see stars like that in London,’ I commented quickly, thankful for the dark to spare my blushes.

  ‘London hides many things,’ he replied. I frowned, wondering what he meant. I heard the hoot of an owl in the distance and looked up again, feeling more free and unburdened than I had in the last twelve months. My hunk aside, this was going to be a perfect place to zone out and let my creativity flow with no distractions. I watched as he elegantly stepped down into a small open motor boat and deposited my case before holding out his hand and helping me in. ‘Come and sit here at the back with me, I forgot to put the wind breaker cover over the bow. You’ll perish in that outfit as we move across the water.’ He patted the small section of wood that was next to him and I twitched as our hips and thighs touched, the twitch turned to a gasp as he put his left arm around me and pulled me against his hard body. He started the engine and gripped the rudder with his right hand. ‘My body heat will help keep some warmth in. I hope you’ve packed some more appropriate clothing for your stay.’

  ‘I have, thank you.’ I was desperately trying not to lean in and feel his jumper against my cheek. He smelled of deep musky spice and laundry powder, so clean and fresh and I took the opportunity to look at his left hand, which was clutching my shoulder and smiled, no wedding ring. This twenty-eight day break was turning out to be amazing already. The boat skimmed across the small waves making their way across the loch, and I could see lights up ahead on the shoreline of the island. As we got closer I saw a very modern wood and stone two storey building, the entire front of which was glass. It seemed most of the lights were on as it was glowing and looked so inviting. ‘Who lives there?’ I asked as I nodded in that direction.

  ‘You,’ he laughed, as if I was stupid for asking.

  ‘What?’ I looked at him puzzled.

  ‘That’s the house you rented for the month.’

  ‘O God,’ I exclaimed as I looked up at him. ‘There’s been a horrible mix up, I rented a small white boathouse, I wouldn’t be able to afford a place like that.’

  ‘You weren’t told?’ he asked as he looked down at me.

  ‘Told what?’

  ‘The owner was going to continue renting out the boathouse, but decided that the house would get better rental income. He made the decision after you’d already made your payment, so he’s letting you have the house for the price of the boathouse. He really should have let you know.’

  ‘That’s really generous of him, but I can’t accept, that would be inappropriate as that house looks like it would be seriously expensive. I’m more than happy to stay in the boathouse.’

  ‘Then you’ll be sharing my bed,’ he smiled before looking back up at the water in front of us.

  ‘I ... I’m sorry, did you … I thought you just …’

  ‘I’m living in the boathouse, so I can service your needs while you stay.’

  ‘But that sort of care, it’s too much, I can’t afford that.’

  ‘All part of the service, I told you the owner was more than happy to accommodate you given you’d already paid.’

  ‘Wow,’ I huffed. This was turning out to be a real change in my fortunes. I felt my stomach flutter as he slowed the boat down and pulled up alongside the jetty and I looked at the quaint little house I’d fallen in love with online. I was slightly disappointed to know that I’d never fulfil my image of curling up on the large comfy sofa in front of the wood burner with my mulled wine and the small tree, but hell, if I got to live in the house I could see further up the shoreline I was good with that. It looked seriously swank. I accepted his hand as he helped me out of the boat and leaned over to grab my case.

  ‘Follow me and I’ll get you settled in and give you a guided tour of all the rooms and show you how the heat in the bedroom works.’

  ‘The. Heat. In. The. Bedroom?’ I virtually stuttered.

  ‘Hmmm,’ he agreed, his lips vibrating in a way that made me long for him to murmur like that between my thighs. ‘It takes some very gentle coaxing to get it from cold to scorching hot.’ He gave me a hint of a smile, those sexy lips just lifting in the corners. I gulped and looked down at my feet as my whole body screamed at me to jump on him and have wild jetty sex. I shivered with anticipation and he frowned and set my case down. I gulped again as he reached down and grabbed the hem of his sweater and lifted it straight up over his head. I clamped my lips shut to stop the moan of appreciation that bubbled up from my throat. He was wearing a white t-shirt underneath which lifted slightly as he pulled, giving me a sneak preview of what I’d already imagined he looked like under there. His flat stomach was seriously toned with that delicious dip over his hips and there was a slight smattering of dark hair trailing down his pelvis towards his jeans button. I felt my fingers flex at my side as they longed to reach out and run down that trail and follow to the pot of gold that lay at the end of it. ‘Take off your jacket and lift up your arms,’ he ordered.

  ‘Ok.’ I surprised myself by doing as I was told. He had a real authoritative air about him and it was like I had no option but to just do as I was told. I noticed his tongue flick across his full bottom lip as I pushed my shoulders back, forcing my breasts forward as I slid my jacket down my arms. My nipples were virtually stabbing his chest they were that pert. He held out his free hand and I passed him my jacket, which he draped over my case.

  ‘Arms,’ he barked. I lifted automatically and he stepped closer and started to pull his jumper over the top of them. I wanted to lean forward and bite that nipple that was showing through his t-shirt, it was right at mouth level, but his jumper made its way down my face and instead I breathed him in. It was the nicest smell of any man’s clothes I’d ever smelled, not that I went around sniffing men’s clothes deliberately, like some secret clothes sniffing pervert, but of any of the guys I’d dated, this scent just hit me right in my core. He tugged it and smoothed it down with his hands as I looked at his large biceps. He worked out, that much was obvious, I’d never seen anyone so male.

  ‘You’ll freeze,’ I whispered as he straightened up.

  ‘I’m hot enough,’ he smiled with another wink. The gulp I took that time emptied my mouth of all saliva leaving me parched, for water and him. He was hot enough.

  ‘Thank you.’

  ‘All part of the service, Miss Baxter. Come,’ he signalled to the rocky path that followed the shoreline with his head, but I staggered at his second request for me to “come” and he reached out and steadied me. He looked down at my heels and frowned. ‘You don’t get out of the city much, do you?’

  ‘That obvious?’

  ‘You’ll break your neck in those heels on this path and we can’t have that, not on your first day, what would you do for the remaining twenty-seven?’

  ‘I’d have you to call on to tend to my every need,’ I laughed.

  ‘Yes, but I think I’d prefer you without broken limbs. Here,’ he outstretched his left arm. ‘Hop up onto my hip and wrap your arms and legs around me.’

  ‘I can’t do that,’ I exclaimed.

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘It’s inappropriate and you’re also carrying my heavy case.’

  ‘This thing?’ he laughed as he picked it up and waved it about like a rag. ‘Trust me, I can manage the both of you.’

  ‘That still doesn’t address the appropriateness issue.’

  ‘You’d prefer to break something and spend your first week of your holiday in hospital?’

  ‘No, but …’

  ‘Very well,’ he interrupted. ‘
Either hop up or I’ll have no option but to throw you over my shoulder. Either way, it’s the only way you’re making it to that house.’

  ‘This is so far beyond appropriate, does the owner know that this is what you offer?’ I asked with a scowl. ‘It’s verging on sexual harassment, I could …’ I screamed as he interrupted me mid-flow and hoisted me up over his left shoulder and started to walk, with my suitcase in his right hand. ‘Put me down,’ I shrieked.

  ‘I will when we get there,’ he laughed. ‘You were saying it’s verging on sexual harassment and you could what?’

  ‘Sue you,’ I hissed.

  ‘Sue me for being chivalrous?’

  ‘Yes,’ I mumbled, aware how ridiculous that sounded, giving all he’d been was gentlemanly since we’d met.

  ‘Then maybe you should take that up with the owner, but I’m sure he’d prefer you arrived safely on a shoulder than break something and sue him for a personal accident claim.’

  I glowered at his back, did he touch up every guest that came to stay? But then my eyes and thoughts were drawn to his buttocks moving in his jeans with every stride. I don’t know what came over me but I moved my swinging palms and slid my fingers down into his pockets, cupping that firmness as he walked. I knew I didn’t imagine the sharp hiss of air that he took in through his teeth, or the firmer grasp of his left hand on my own backside. I figured tit for tat, he’d touched my arse, twice now, why shouldn’t I grab his? We stayed silent as he continued to walk effortlessly and I closed my eyes and enjoyed the rub of his hand on my bottom and the back of his shoulder creating friction against my aching nipples. I think I could come if he walked another mile, just like this.

  ‘So, the owner, how long have you known him?’ I eventually asked.

  ‘Forever.’

  ‘You’re good friends?’

  ‘The best of friends,’ he chuckled and I felt the smile from my upside down position.

  ‘Why doesn’t he live in that lovely house?’

  ‘He needed a time out to reassess his life, kind of like you’re doing now.’

  ‘And what about you? Why are you living in a small boathouse in the middle of nowhere, servicing tenants needs? Are you reassessing too?’

  ‘Yes,’ he replied quietly. I opened my mouth to ask more but noticed that the rocks under his feet had changed to smooth nicely stained decking boards.

  ‘We’re here?’

  ‘Yes Miss Baxter, you’re home.’

  ‘Home? You make it sound like I live here,’ I laughed as I heard the key in the door turn.

  ‘Well as day one is nearly up, for the next twenty-seven days you do. You’ve left your fiancé, who I assume you lived with, so it appears you are homeless except for this house, what else would you call it?’ he asked and I suddenly went dizzy and wobbled on my feet as they reconnected with the floor. I flexed my fingers which were stuck in a curved position from clutching his peachy bottom. I suddenly missed the body contact with him and closed my eyes for a second as he reached out and held my shoulders to stop me from swaying. ‘Come, the tour.’

  I reopened my eyes and looked around me and my mouth opened. This place was an architect’s dream. Exposed wood and metal struts in the roof, some large silver columns bracing the building from the lack of many internal walls. I stood in the middle of a wide walkway, an open plan modern galley kitchen in front of me, with an island unit. To the right was a full sized pool table, to the left a massive sofa laid out in a U shape around the burning open log fire, shielded with a grate and two armchairs either side. The walls on each side of the building were made of huge slabs of rock that climbed up to a mezzanine which ran around the edges of the building, with an open aspect in the centre all the way up to the roof. There was a chrome and oak staircase leading upstairs and I reached out and touched a silver pole that ran down from the roof to the ground floor, it was too thin to be a supporting strut.

  ‘What’s this?’ I asked.

  ‘Fireman’s pole,’ he smiled.

  ‘Why does the owner have a fireman’s pole in his house?’

  ‘He has a sense of humour Miss Baxter, and likes to make it down from the bedroom when he’s ravenous for food in the most expedient way possible.’ I looked at him and giggled and looked back up at it. ‘Go try it,’ he offered.

  ‘Seriously?’

  ‘Yes, I told you it’s your house for the next twenty-seven days.’

  I laughed again, a real school girl’s laugh, then bent down, pulled off my heels and ran barefoot for the stairs, taking them two at a time and heard his sexy laugh echo around the building. I barely registered the open plan bedroom as I ran to the gap in the glass balustrade and launched myself at the pole. I screamed with excitement as I started to zoom down, wrapping my legs around it as I fell, then the delighted scream turned to panic as the oak floorboards came hurtling up towards me and I squeezed my eyes shut. I landed in something hard, but soft at the same time, and gasped as I opened my eyes to find I was suspended in his arms, the pole firmly wedged against my clit adding to the sudden surge of sex hormones that flooded that area. His reflective green eyes bore deeply into mine and this time the look of lust in them was obvious. The heat of his breath caressing my lips as they parted slightly to take in some air, at the same time mine did. For a second I thought he was going to dip his head and kiss me, then he suddenly blinked and his eyes glazed over, like he’d just gone somewhere else for a moment. He set me down and quickly stepped back.

  ‘There’s an art to slowing down, please don’t use it again until I’ve the time to show you.’

  ‘You could show me now,’ I offered breathlessly as I unhooked my ankles, but kept my hands firmly gripping the smooth metal below them.

  ‘It’s getting late and you’ve had a long day. I think it would be best if I conclude the tour and leave you to settle in for the night.’

  ‘Ok,’ I nodded, disappointed. He suddenly seemed all business like, flirtation time was over. He led me to the kitchen and pointed out the crockery and utensils and he’d put milk, butter, bacon, eggs and cheese in the fridge, along with a fresh loaf of bread in the breadbin and supplies of tea. He pointed out the fancy coffee machine and showed me the capsules for it and advised me that if I felt up to it in the morning he’d take me to the nearest town to get my grocery supplies, or I could provide him with a list. He led me to a door set into the slate wall to the back of the kitchen and there was a downstairs cloak and utility room, all immaculate and very slick and modern, and showed me how to work the underfloor heating controls. The door on the left of the kitchen housed a cinema room with two reclining chairs and a huge wall of books, which I’d look forward to looking over later.

  As he gestured for me to go upstairs and followed behind me, I could really feel the change in him. The suggestive, flirty banter had gone and he seemed a little cold and factual, which hit me where it shouldn’t. He took me around to the right of the mezzanine, which was laid out as an office with a comfy leather recliner. The L shaped desk had a section that faced the large expanse of glass and I could only imagine the view as I sat there working in daylight and looked forward to seeing it tomorrow. Above the utility was a small double guest room with an en-suite shower room. Above the lounge was a stunning open plan bedroom which he steered me past and through a door at the rear where, over the cinema room, was a combined dressing room and bathroom. He advised that the range of cupboards on the right would be mine, but that the ones on the left unfortunately still housed some of the owners clothes and he’d appreciate my not prying.

  ‘I don’t have enough clothes to fill a quarter of the allocated space for me, so that’s more than fine,’ I smiled. I walked across the warm slate floor in my bare feet, underfloor heating was wonderful, and trailed my fingers around the edges of the solid stone carved egg shaped bath.

  ‘Bedroom?’ he asked and I felt my stomach contract again as he gestured to the door. It mirrored the size of the office, the bed was massive, it had to be a su
per king sized and faced the glass to take advantage of whatever views lay out there. Set in the stone wall to my right was a log burner, which was crackling away, with a small snuggler sofa for two in front of it and a thick black sheepskin rug. I walked over to the log burner and crouched down and looked through the window at the flickering orange and yellow, before looking back up at him towering over me.

  ‘You were going to show me how to control the heat,’ I reminded him, wondering where all of it in him had gone. I’d felt his attraction to me as strongly as mine was for him, yet somehow there was now a wall of ice between us. He showed me how the dial worked to increase or decrease the flow of air and pointed to the pile of logs up the side of the chimney breast.

  ‘You’ll have to let me know when you run out of logs.’

  ‘How do I contact you?’

  ‘Speed dial one on the phone. You saw how close I am so there’s no need to panic, if you need me I can be here in an instant. The island is uninhabited at the moment, other than the two of us and the birds, but I’d still be happier if you lock the door when I leave, but remove the key.’

  ‘Remove the key?’ I asked surprised.

  ‘Well if you were to break both legs attempting the fireman’s pole again, I’d need to open it from the outside to come in and help you.’ A faint smile crossed his lips again.

  ‘But how would you know if I’d broken both my legs, I wouldn’t be able to get to the phone.’ He just smiled again, turned and started walking down the stairs. I quickly followed him down and across to the front door.