As if to confirm his thoughts, she moved again, this time it seemed almost deliberate. The way the delicious curve of her buttocks, the small of her back, rubbed against his growing hardness was exquisite torture. He stifled a groan. Did she have the energy to tease him even now? His deepest instincts urged him to pull her against him, take her, enter her uniquely female warmth. To cup the breasts that lay almost under his hands, tease the nipples into hardness, make her ready to receive him. He bit down on his lip savagely and denied the instincts one by one. It nearly took more willpower then he possessed.
For long, tortured moments he held himself rigid against her, refusing to let the weakness take hold. He knew she was awake by the soft sound of her breathing, there was a slight shudder to it that had nothing to do with the dangers that had passed. He kept his arms still where they embraced her, his lips unmoving against the nape of her neck. It was only when he felt her struggle to turn that he released her with a shaky breath.
“Luke?” Her voice was soft, uncertain. She twisted until she was almost on her back, able to look over her shoulder at him, loose pale hair drifted about her face. Her cheeks were flooded with healthy color now, perhaps more than mere warmth could account for. The full curve of her lips were parted, her dark eyes focusing slowly on his. “What—what happened?”
The sensible nature of the question relieved the last of Luke’s worries. She was lucid again, and her skin was warm and dry. With greater speed than he had dared to expect, her body had accepted his warmth and begun its recovery. The new worries that rose in him now had nothing to do with her physical safety.
He struggled to form words. “You’ve been very ill, Joey. Hypothermia.” He broke off as she registered what he told her, the sweet oval of her face abruptly paling under the flush.”You had to be made warm as quickly as possible.” The flustered feeling that rose in him at the expression on her face made his voice harsh with chagrin. “Unfortunately the treatment in a case like this involves body-to-body contact for maximum warmth. Now that you’ve recovered somewhat, we can get you in dry clothes, and I’ll build up a fire.”
The practical list of tasks relieved the unaccustomed anxiety he felt as she watched him. He began to ease his way out of the sleeping bag, doing his best to ignore the soft slide of her body along his, when she stopped him with the lightest of touches. He froze halfway out of the bag.
“I don’t understand, Luke. How did this happen? How did I get hypothermia? I don’t remember any of it.” There was such genuine distress in her voice that Luke longed to take her into his arms again. Instead, he let his eyes focus on the cave entrance, where a growing darkness revealed the lateness of the hour.
“I’ll explain all that later, Joey,” he said gruffly. “Right now there are things that need to be done so that we’ll be comfortable here until morning.” He pulled himself from the sleeping bag and paused to tuck the edges of it about Joey, filling in the space he had left behind. She stared up at him.
“I remember a little snow.” Shaking her head, she seemed at last to consciously register his state of undress. Her eyes slid over him, widening at the appropriate place. Luke suppressed an entirely foreign desire to cover himself. But there was no castigation in her expression—quite the contrary. Luke had to look away again very quickly.
Turning his back, he pulled on the pants and shirt he had discarded earlier, aware of her gaze burning into him from behind. “I still don’t understand how I managed to get… why didn’t I see it coming? There should have been symptoms, some warning—”
Abruptly Luke whirled to face her. “You can blame that on me, Joey,” he almost snarled. He caught hold of himself and smoothed his features with deliberation. “I haven’t done a very good job as your guide. But I’ll make sure I don’t slip up again.”