!
The snow swallowed her,
punched her and squeezed her, until she could barely breathe. The
icy material filled her nostrils and her mouth and…
Jaxie awoke to a
mind-numbing crash. Shivers rocked her. Her heart pounded wildly in
her ears and cold perspiration dampened her forehead.
I’m going to
die ! I’ll never see
Ewan again !
Lightning flashed at her
windows. Thunder crashed. Wind rattled her bedroom windows and rain
pelted the night-blackened panes.
Shit! A storm. Just a
freaking storm. She wasn’t buried under the snow. She was in bed.
Safe and sound.
It had been a nightmare.
Just a nightmare.
Relief poured through her
and she whipped the clammy, damp sheets off her. She slept nude.
Had since she’d moved out on her own. Ewan had liked that about
her. Had liked that there was nothing separating them in
bed.
Ewan. Why was she obsessing over a guy who wanted
nothing to do with her? He’d treated her like crap when she’d gone
over to say thanks, and now she’d just dreamed she’d never see him
again.
Was she a glutton for
punishment or what?
Oh, but he sure did know
how to make love to her. He could go for hours when he was in the
mood. And he’d been in the mood during most of their
relationship.
Another ear-splitting
crack of thunder directly overhead made her flinch.
Man, that was loud. But
storms didn’t bother her. She lived in a nice single-story bungalow
on the outskirts of town. Rachel lived right across the street.
Just thinking about her friend brought a shot of guilt through
her.
Poor Rachel. She’d been
through a bad period in her life with her mother dying, then her
dad falling ill and Rachel taking care of him. She admired her
friend for being such a dutiful daughter. She’d put her life on
hold to care for him. She loved her dad so much — Jaxie could see
it in the way she looked at him or whenever she spoke about
him.
Jaxie smiled as she
remembered the day she’d taken Rachel skiing. Aside from the
avalanche episode, it sure had been beautiful out there, with the
fresh mountain air blasting against her as she’d skied down the
side of the mountain. She knew within her heart that she’d go back
out there again. Sometime. She wouldn’t let a little avalanche keep
her down for long.
More lightning flashed in
the windows and thunder boomed. Her thoughts returned to
Ewan.
Damn! Why had she given
up on him? They’d been so good together. Sure, they’d had
arguments. Every couple argued. But Ewan had wanted a family and
she hadn’t. Not then. But lately she’d been thinking that
maybe…
She refocused her
attention to their nights together. He’d made her feel so
sexy.
The stirrings of arousal
swept through her as she thought about that kiss she’d experienced
in the helicopter. Or maybe the kiss had been CPR…Well, whatever it
had been, she preferred to think of Ewan’s lusciously warm lips
melting over her mouth as being a scorching kiss.
Jaxie closed her eyes and
slid her hands over her breasts, pretending it was Ewan touching
her. If she breathed in deeply enough, she could smell his scent
drifting through the air. His smell was probably on her clothing
from the day of the avalanche. She’d stashed the clothes in her
hamper in the nearby closet and hadn’t gotten around doing the
laundry yet.
Ewan always smelled so
good. Of the outdoors, pine and soap. Royce too had a sexy scent
about him. Before she’d been able to say her thanks to Ewan in the
rescue lunchroom, Royce had spied her first.
Something deep inside of
her pussy had sizzled with need as Royce had stalked toward her.
He’d looked as if he were a man on the prowl. He’d boxed her in at
the doorway, his thick muscular arms flexing inches from her face.
He’d been so close to her that she’d been able to see the gold
flecks in his seductive brown eyes and her senses had swirled as
she’d inhaled his unique mountain air scent.
Silently, she’d cursed
Royce for making her feel such unadulterated