Modern Romance December 2019 Books 5-8. Jane Porter

feel his eyes burning beneath wrap-around sunglasses—a necessary precaution when the sun was low and bright. Whether the sky would remain blue like this remained to be seen, but while it did…

      ‘Shot!’ She’d got him square on the head with a snowball.

      Shaking his unruly mop of black hair like an irritated wolf, Luc dug his shovel into the snow again and acted as if he hadn’t noticed.

      She tried again, and then again with mounting success, until, with a roar, he straightened up.

      ‘You don’t frighten me, Luc Da Silva,’ she assured him.

      ‘Then it’s time I did,’ he said, and in a couple of strides he was transformed from cool and aloof to the infuriating guy she remembered from her youth. Yanking her close, he plonked her down and dropped great handfuls of snow on her face, rubbing still more into her hair.

      ‘Don’t you—’

      ‘Dare?’ he suggested. ‘Dios, Stacey! You make me want to have you right here in the snow.’

      ‘I don’t see anyone stopping you…’

      With a husky exclamation, he tossed his gloves aside. ‘What are you doing to me?’

      ‘And you to me,’ she gasped as they began to fight with each other’s clothes.

      ‘Is this even possible?’ Thermals stood in their way.

      ‘Of course,’ Luc confirmed as he freed himself.

      Swinging her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist, he took her with a deep thrust. No foreplay, none needed. An exclamation of shocked delight flew from her throat. Nothing had ever felt this good. She was more than ready for him, and Luc was so caring, so careful of his size and her much smaller body. He held her as if she weighed nothing, and pounded into her until she could do no more than hang suspended in his arms. ‘So good… I need this…’

      ‘Me too,’ Lucas admitted in an edgy growl.

      ‘Harder! Faster!’ They were wild for each other. She couldn’t get enough. How could she ever live without this…without him?

      ‘Again,’ she insisted throatily when the first bout of pleasure started to fade. ‘I need more.’

      Luc laughed. ‘Me too,’ he assured her.

      ‘Yes!’ she hissed in triumph as he thrust rhythmically the way she liked.

      ‘How strong are you?’ she said some time later. ‘Don’t your arms ache?’

      ‘I hadn’t even thought about it. I was somewhat distracted.’

      ‘And now?’

      ‘And now…I want to have you in the snow.’

      Beneath a bright blue sky with snow hillocks all around them, they made love again, and this time when Luc pinned her arms above her head, they stared into each other’s eyes, and saw more than the fever of passion.

      ‘I guess we’d better get to work,’ he said reluctantly some time later.

      ‘I guess we better had,’ she agreed.

      Arranging their clothes took less than a few seconds, and soon they were attacking the snow with real gusto.

      ‘Something wrong?’ she asked Luc, shooting a glance his way when he stopped shovelling and leaned on the handle. ‘Have I exhausted you?’

      He huffed a laugh and gathered her close. ‘What do you think?’

      ‘I think you’re facing a decision between clearing the path, and visiting that sauna over there.’

      ‘Could be,’ he confirmed with a grin.

      ‘Let’s investigate. I don’t want to leave you in agony.’

      Planting their shovels, they ran to the sauna. Closing the door, they stripped off each other’s clothes. The small log cabin was already warm, but Luc raised the temperature even more, both with water on the embers and with his unique take on lovemaking on scorching wooden benches. ‘We have to be quick,’ he explained, laughing against her mouth.

      ‘I can be quick.’

      ‘When you want to,’ he agreed.

      ‘I like to make you work.’

      ‘I noticed.’

      His grin was infectious, a slash of strong white teeth against his deep tan and sharp black stubble. There was only one problem. Their enthusiasm combined with the extreme heat inside the sauna sent the logistics of sex haywire. ‘I’m sliding off you!’

      ‘Time to cool down,’ Luc agreed.

      Who knew they could be so close? There was a lot of laughter involved as he carried her outside and dumped her in the snow, where they proved conclusively that heating up before rolling in ice crystals was a great aphrodisiac. Luc’s strength and potency was glaring her in the face. His naked body, challenging the elements, had never looked more magnificent. ‘On top of me,’ he instructed, arranging her so she could mount him. ‘Can’t risk you catching cold.’

      ‘No chance of that!’ She gasped out her pleasure as he entered her in one thrust, and when she was quiet again and snuggled into his chest, she remarked groggily, ‘No wonder this caught on.’

      ‘Making love in the snow?’

      ‘The whole sauna thing.’ Had they ever been so close? she wondered.

      ‘Come on.’ Luc dragged her to her feet. ‘Before we both freeze. Heat. Clothes. Then back to work.’

      They talked as they worked, giving her hope that Luc might finally open up. He didn’t. Instead he directed a barrage of questions her way, so she told him about her life and friends in London, and the fact that she missed the farm. ‘I miss the horses terribly,’ she admitted. ‘And I miss Niahl, but he’s so busy these days.’ She stopped as a shadow crossed Luc’s face. Luc was so busy these days. This snowbound interlude was a rare break for him. That was what he’d been trying to tell her, that she shouldn’t expect anything beyond this, because he didn’t have the time. That was okay. On the personal front, she could deal with it. She’d have to. But where Luc was concerned, if she could unlock even just a little bit of his angst, her job was done, and so she asked the question: ‘How about you, Lucas?’

      ‘Me?’ His lips pressed down as he shrugged. ‘You can learn anything you want to know about me from the press.’

      ‘Can I?’ she said disbelievingly. ‘I can only learn what sensational journalism wants me to know, and I’d rather hear it from you.’

      ‘Hear what from me?’

      Okay. She got the message. This was going nowhere. If she pressed him he’d clam up even more. Why spoil the short time they had together?

      ‘No.’ Planting her shovel, she admitted, ‘Whatever I read in the press, I see you as amazing. Always have.’ She huffed a laugh. ‘Pity me.’

      ‘No faults?’ Luc enquired, spreading his arms wide.

      Stacey hummed as she pretended to consider this, but she was thinking, This is my chance to let Luc know I’m there for him.

      ‘You’re a little controlling, but only because responsibility came along in such a tragic way. However wild you were, there was no option but to rein in fast. Perhaps you overcompensated. Your parents’ death happened when others your age were free to do as they pleased, so I think it’s amazing that you not only built a business empire, but mended a family that had been so badly fractured.’

      What she didn’t add was her deeply held belief that Luc could have done with someone to mend him.

      He hummed and raised a brow. ‘I’m not sure I deserve that level of praise. You make me sound far more impressive than I am.’