CHASING TROUBLE

It would also give Caroline the time and privacy she needed to get into bed.

In truth, Nicholas wasn’t any more comfortable now with the idea of sharing a bedroom with Caroline either; those few minutes of awareness a short time ago told him that they weren’t as immune to each other as he would have wished. Her skin had felt as soft as velvet, and just as sensuous; the laughter in her eyes a few seconds ago had been warm and inviting. The promise of gently swaying hips as she left the room to go upstairs was an enticement he wasn’t sure he could resist once alone in a bedroom with her. What the hell was wrong with him? It wasn’t as if he was feeling sexually deprived. Admittedly, his most recent relationship had come to an end several months ago, but that certainly didn’t explain his awareness of Caroline and his heated thoughts about her. The cool, the distant, the stylish Caroline Anderson.

——–

“Will you please stop fidgeting and just go to sleep?”

Caroline instantly became still in the bed. “I can’t seem to get comfortable.” Nicholas’ presence in the room had Caroline on edge.

“Then maybe I got the better part of the deal after all,” he murmured with satisfaction. “This chair isn’t half bad.”

“Sadist!”

He laughed softly in the darkness. The only light in the room came from the damped down fire and the moonlight reflecting the pristine-white snow outside as it shone through the window. “Do you want to swap?” he offered irritably as Caroline began to fidget again.

“Then you wouldn’t be comfortable.”

“It wasn’t my impression earlier that you cared about my comfort.” Nicholas lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling. He did his damnedest to block out the memory of Caroline snuggled under the bedclothes when he’d come up to the room, her hair cascading across the pillow beneath her, her eyes dark and luminous as she’d looked across at him.

“I gave you one of the blankets.” Her tone was slightly indignant.

“One of them,” he conceded dryly. “It may have escaped your notice, Care, snuggled up cozily beneath the bedclothes as you are, but it’s damned cold in here in spite of the fire,”

Caroline sat up to punch her pillows into a more comfortable shape, inwardly aware that it wasn’t the bed that was uncomfortable but her. She was just so aware of Nicholas as he lounged in the chair a short distance away. She could hear the even tenor of his breathing. Could just feel his presence mere feet away. And she didn’t want to be aware of any of those things.

“Care, will you just go to sleep?”

You aren’t asleep either, despite claiming earlier that you were exhausted.”

“If you don’t settle down and go to sleep soon, then I’m going to come over there and join you!”

Caroline became very still, barely breathing, but at the same time was aware of the rapid beat of her heart. So loud that surely Nicholas must be able to hear it.

“I thought that might quieten you down.” Nicholas chuckled softly in the darkness.

She lay still, willing herself not to move, not to show by so much as a twitch that she was completely aware of him and the promise behind his words. What was wrong with her? He was her boss now and she wasn’t handling this very well. She was also aware that she was the one occupying the bed while Nicholas tried to make himself comfortable in the armchair. That he was the employer and she was the employee. She drew in a ragged breath, wanting desperately to invite him to share the bed, but fearing what might happen.

Caroline squeaked in panic as she suddenly became aware of Nicholas getting up to cross the room before standing ominously beside the bed.

“I’ve had enough of this,” he conceded as he moved to lie on the bed beside her.

She stared up at him with wide, apprehensive eyes. “Nicholas…”

“I’ve decided to just get this out of the way and then maybe we can both get some sleep!” he rasped purposefully.

‘This’ being to lower his head before his mouth claimed Caroline’s in a kiss that totally robbed her of breath. Of resistance.

Resistance? As soon as his lips found hers, parting them to deepen the kiss, his arms molding her body close to his despite the bedclothes that separated them, Caroline completely melted, both physically and emotionally.

He tasted so good; his lips felt so sure and purposeful against hers, his body hard and muscled as he half-lay across her, his weight exquisite as he pressed her down into the mattress and his hands roamed restlessly down the length of her body.

Caroline freed her arms, gasping slightly as her hands came into contact with the heated bareness of his shoulders and then lingered there.

Nicholas felt so warm and strong beneath her fingers, muscles rippling.

She couldn’t control her hands as they moved caressingly over that firmness, before exploring the curved planes of his back and down to his waist, and then lower still to caress the tense hardness of his bare buttocks.

Dear God, he was completely naked!

Caroline began to struggle, her hands moving to push against his chest even as she wrenched her mouth away from his. “What are you doing?” she gasped breathlessly.

That was far better than he had anticipated, and sleep was now the last thing on his mind! He moved back slightly to look down at her, easily able to discern the angry, dark glitter of her eyes. “I don’t know about you, but I’m unlikely to get any sleep at all now!” he acknowledged. “Unless, of course, you feel in the mood to finish what we just started…?” he prompted.

“No, I do not feel in the mood to finish what you just started!” Caroline snapped indignantly. And once again she pushed against his chest. “For your information, I was not expecting you to make a pass.”

She scooted to the side of the bed, as far away from him as it was possible to be without actually getting out of it. Her eyes had adjusted enough now in the dimness of the reflected light in the room to be able to see Nicholas in all his naked glory; he looked as good as she had imagined he would. His shoulders and chest were wide and powerful, his waist tapered, his thighs…He was aroused!