She raised a single eyebrow. “Long.”
He nodded and cleared his throat. She closed the gap between them until she was less than a foot away. Being so near to him, she wanted to place her hand on his strong chest and melt into his arms. This was the first time in Nila’s life she thought of a man as a protector rather than a threat. She had not expected to feel this way. Thomas Everett was a means to an end, a necessary evil. That was what she had been telling herself over the interminable months of her journey and even longer, during lonely nights in her father’s house spent yearning for a different life.
Here and now, witness to the strength and magnetism Thomas exuded, she found her confidence shaken. Could she really keep emotions out of this?
Nevertheless, she found her voice. Nila lifted her head and peered up at him through thick lashes. “You have a magnificent home.”
He waved his hand dismissively. “I’m sure it is nothing compared to where you grew up.”
Nila looked around the comfortable study, noticing wooden train cars carved for one of the grandchildren stuck into the nooks of the bookshelves, the glass mugs left by the fireplace beside dog-eared volumes, and half-finished letters to friends on the desk, words that had nothing to do with business and were written out of concern and love. It was cozy. “You can have a house as big as the sky, but it is not home unless all that space is filled with love.”
“And you believe that is the case here?”
“It feels that way,” she said simply.
“And I take it your house wasn’t?”
“Whatever my house was, there’s one thing I know for certain.”
He leaned toward her curiously. “And what is that?”
“You cannot send me back, sir.”
He blinked in surprise. “Send you back?”
“I overheard you speaking with your father,” she explained, seeing no reason to hide it. Nila never imagined she would have difficulty influencing a man, but Thomas was somehow different, though it was difficult to pinpoint exactly how.
Then it dawned on her. Thomas Everett didn’t want anything from her. This was a problem she’d yet to encounter. Most men wanted something, and their desires tended to be easily determined.
“Yes, well, I am sorry about that,” he said on a genuine sigh. “You must understand I do not wish to be tied down to anyone, no matter how much the union would help the business.”
Nila looked down and rocked on her heels, causing her breasts inadvertently to brush against his chest. Gently, she rested her hand on his forearm. “I did not think you would find me so displeasing.”
Thomas’s mouth went to cotton, and he had visions of sweeping her into his arms and taking her right there on his father’s bearskin rug. He traced his fingers across the delicate line of her jaw. Her skin felt like velvet. “Nila, you are anything but displeasing.”
A thrill ran the length of her spine. She had plenty of practice sparring with men, subtly exuding authority in a sphere where she was supposed to be silent and subservient, but never once had she experienced this lightning crack of physical attraction—never had she dared to act upon that feeling, either.
Thomas was supposed to be her husband in a short time, his protestations notwithstanding, and in this wilderness, she was a million miles away from anyone who would scold her for lack of decorum. She enveloped his waist with her arms and stood on her tiptoes so their faces were mere inches apart.
“You’re freezing,” he said breathlessly.
In a husky whisper, she replied, “I can think of a few interesting ways to warm up.”
Unable to resist, Thomas lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers. She melted against him, the curves of her body fitting perfectly to his, like she was born to be in his arms. He rested his hand on the back of her neck, lifted her slightly off the ground, making her clutch him, and twine her leg through his.
Nila, caught off guard, was instantly swept away. She grabbed onto him as if she was adrift at sea and he was the only thing keeping her afloat. This was not a peck on the cheek welcoming her to the country. His lips were insistent on hers, and the soft scratching of his stubble on her face was intimate and endearing. His tongue nudged at her lips, urging them to part, and she was powerless to stop him, as a lady should. As he probed her mouth, a delicious warmth spread over her, and she gripped him tighter, her fingers lacing through his hair and urging him closer to her.
Thomas knew this shouldn’t continue. He had absolutely no intention of marrying this woman, no matter how alluring she was. However, that truth was brushed away when he tasted her sweet mouth and felt drunk on her body. During his many dalliances, he never felt so uncontrolled. With every dip of his tongue, he wanted more. Never had he so badly wanted to see a woman unclothed, to take the very core of her.
When one of Nila’s arms slid boldly down his back, over his bottom, and settled on the inside of his thigh, he became instantly hard. He knew Nila felt it, too, because she instinctively glued her hips to him and arched her back, urging him to fulfill his fantasies.
The plan was to seduce him, but Nila was no longer sure who the seducer was. All she knew was that she felt a pulsing inside her, and she was slick with the thought of his hands roaming her naked body. She rubbed herself against his erection, and he moaned.
Suddenly cognizant, he put two strong hands on her shoulders and lifted her away, putting her at arm’s length. Her head was fuzzy, and she had to shake herself to regain her composure.
Thomas was panting. “We cannot do this. It isn’t right if we don’t plan to marry.”
“I heard what your father said. I would not be the first woman you have taken advantage of,” she countered, her stare direct and challenging. She hoped he did not notice how frightened she was. That was her first kiss. She had never lain with a man before and felt clumsy in her seduction. If he noticed her reservations, she would no longer have the upper hand.
Her stormy eyes were both clouded with passion and determined. She seemed shaken by their kiss, as was he, but there was also something else there, something he couldn’t quite place. There was one thing he knew for sure. God, he wanted her. “This is a different situation.”
“How?” she demanded.
“Because you are different,” he exclaimed in exasperation but did not elaborate. “Martha is our main housekeeper. She will show you to your quarters.” He bristled as he walked away. She stood still, and he stopped at the doorway, muttered something to himself, and returned, shedding his greatcoat.
Standing before her again, he draped his coat over her shoulders. It swathed her, and she felt small under this blanket. Secure as well. His scent was on it, fresh and masculine. Nila never wanted to take it off.
Thomas gave her a half-smile. “I don’t want you to be cold.”
He was about to leave again when she called out, “One week.”
Again, he turned to face her, this time leaning against the wall casually and crossing his arms over his chest. Now in short sleeves, she could see the distinct outline of muscles, carved and straining against his plain white shirt. It was difficult to focus.
“Come again?” he asked.
“Give me one week before you send me away,” Nila repeated. “At that time, if you still refuse to marry me, I will leave quietly with no ill will.”
“Why would you offer such a thing?”
“I am to obey, first my father, now you,” she said softly. “It makes no difference that we are not yet married.”
Thomas could not be sure, but he thought he heard irony in her tone. “One week?”
“That is all I need.”
Thinking of their kiss, Thomas believed she was probably right. “Fine, then. One week. But I warn you, Nila, I am a stubborn man and not apt to change my mind.”
“I have no doubt of that, Thomas.”
“But?” he prompted.
She gave a little shrug. “I am a stubborn woman.”
Chapter Two
After kiss
ing Thomas, Nila thought she might never sleep again. However, as she began to unpack, the sheer exhaustion from her extensive travels hit her all at once, and she only managed to open her trunk before falling asleep on the soft bed, wrapped in Thomas’s coat. She awoke briefly as the sun was setting and slipped into a long silk chemise that felt like a second skin, before she crawled under the covers and was soon dreaming again.
Nila slept through dinner, and when she awoke, it was dark outside. The atmosphere was dense with nature’s wintery silence. In Delhi, the darkness was filled with human noises of shouting, cooking, fighting and traveling. She could get used to this more natural stillness. The moon glowed above the lake, its trail a pathway to the heavens, as if she could walk comfortably all the way to paradise.
It was even chillier in the house now, but Nila would be kidding herself if she thought she donned Thomas’s coat purely for warmth. The act of wearing it was intimate and reassuring.
She lit a candle and tiptoed barefoot through the hallways. The study where she had been received yesterday was for company. It was not the real office where business affairs were handled. Nila peeked into doorways, peering into five rooms that were thankfully unoccupied until she found what she was searching for. Papers were scattered across a gorgeous, polished cherry wood desk. Reports, charts, balance sheets, contact information, all haphazard to everyone but the person who organized them.
Nila felt a beat of excitement as she closed the door behind her and sat in the plush chair behind the desk. She began reading.
In his bedroom, Thomas rolled restlessly from one side of the bed to the other. In two hours, it would be daybreak, yet he hadn’t closed his eyes once. Sensory memories of his kiss with Nila were keeping him awake. He could sense her silky black hair on his neck, taste her honeyed lips on his tongue, and practically feel the outline of her body supple against his.
He cursed himself for this reaction. Of all the women on the planet, why was he having this primal response to the one who most directly threatened his future? Or did she? True, he had always seen marriage as a trap, but his older brothers told him he would feel differently when he met the right girl. He scoffed at such statements then but now worried they might be true.
Nila’s beauty was unparalleled, that was certain. She was exotic and serious, not the prettily packaged debutante he was used to ruining. After a while, all those silly ladies began to look and feel the same, but Nila had a pride about her and a mystery he could not quite comprehend. Every word she spoke was carefully chosen, and though she aimed for restraint, she wholly lost herself in their kiss as much as he had, Thomas was sure of that.
Earlier in the night, he snuck into Nila’s chambers and sat in a chair beside her bed, watching her sleep. With her guard down, she seemed so young and innocent, a creature flung into the wicked world to fend for herself without a protector or safe harbor. He thought of the courage it took to leave home, cross an unforgiving ocean and place all one’s hope in a stranger in a strange land. Without a doubt, he could not have done it, yet Nila was unafraid. Oddly, the thing she seemed most worried about was returning home.
Unable to rest, Thomas kicked off the covers and began pacing. Unlike his betrothed, he was hardly ever cold. His body was like a furnace, and he slept shirtless with a pair of loose trousers he sheared short so they hung only halfway down his thighs. This was also what he wore when taking a dip in the lake, if he wasn’t in the buff. With Nila around, going anywhere naked felt too dangerous.
Now Thomas was drawn to her room like she was a complement magnet, but when he pushed softly on her door and crept to her bed, he found it empty. Curious, he began searching the house and saw a flicker of candlelight in the office where he and his family kept documents that were too sensitive to leave at the shipbuilding yard. He found Nila sitting behind the desk, scouring the pages.
More surprised than angry, he shut the door behind him and asked, “What are you doing?”
She didn’t look up. “Your business has real potential for expansion, Thomas. The world is getting bigger. The demand for ocean worthy vessels and steamships to carry goods and people along the great rivers and across the grand lakes of America were growing by the minute.”
Thomas was so taken aback he nearly had to sit down. Nila Sarvani knew about the shipbuilding business? The only response he could think of was, “Steamboats haven’t shown to be terribly profitable.”
“They have been for Robert Fulton, and if you can manufacture quality boats in a hurry, your business will be profitable again within the year,” Nila surmised as she turned a page. “Of course, we are going to need to forge a relationship with an engine manufacturer since Everett Shipbuilding deals mostly with the raw lumber materials. I think it would be worth the investment to find an inventor or engineer who can modify a boiler so it will be less susceptible to explosion, but–”
“We?” he interrupted, still staring at her in shock.
Nila lifted her head slowly, her eyes dancing like flashing metal in the candlelight. She closed the ledger in front of her, and in a level tone, she said, “Thomas, your business is not failing because of the market or bad luck. It is failing due to lack of imagination in development and your father’s poor investing. I fear he may have an overly generous heart out of proportion to his wallet.”
He narrowed his eyes skeptically. “And you know all this from perusing our accounts for less than a day?”
“I suspected as much before I arrived, and these records have only confirmed it,” she said, resting her palms atop the desk. “If you do not wish to adapt along with technology and population growth, then become a lumber supplier. All the tools for such an enterprise are already in place. If you want to continue building boats, you must take some risks your family might not be comfortable with but will ultimately result in turning a sizeable profit.”
No woman had ever spoken to him so frankly or with such a depth of knowledge on any subject, especially one as complex as this. Not that he thought women were dim, only that most played a role and daren’t speak out of turn. Nila was not oblivious to this, but it seemed she simply did not care. He caught her in the act of investigating the status and future of Everett Shipbuilding, and she chose not to conceal the results.
Thomas crossed the room and stood in front of the desk, leaning forward with his knuckles resting on top of the papers. “If our business is in such dire straits, why would a successful man like your father send you here to build a partnership?”
She met his eyes with steel in her gaze. “My father is a merchant who trades whatever will fetch a price. He knows the status of your company and sent me here because he believes he can steal ships from you for a small fraction of what they are worth in your desperation to make a sale and your loyalty to me.” Nila said the words flatly, as if they were of no consequence. The truth in her statement stung like a hot poker. “He wants an armada of his own to be a physical representation of his wealth and prestige, and if you think he cares about ruining your business in the process and leaving his only daughter in the hands of a destitute family, you would be wrong.”
Nila was having difficulty concentrating. Thomas Everett stood before her, and she could not keep her eyes of his powerful chest, the tempting shape of his hips in the cutoff trousers that hung low at his waist. Her mouth was dry as she thought of him pressing her against the desk, both of them nude. It was almost impossible to talk business when there was such an appealing sight before her.
The revelation that she was sent here with the explicit intention of defrauding his family’s company and stealing their product caused a blanket of wrath to descend over Thomas. He slammed his fist against the table, and Nila jumped. He stomped around the desk menacingly with the intention of snatching the reports and stowing them away from her prying eyes. Swiftly, he closed the gap between them, and Nila scrambled out of the chair, backing against the wall in the corner, holding her hands out in front of her defensively.
Thoma
s stilled, his hand hovering over the papers on the desk, papers that suddenly seemed absurdly unimportant. The fear in her eyes and the realization that he was what she was so terrified of cooled his temper immediately. The coat she was wearing—his coat—fell off her shoulders in her frenzy to escape, and she wore only a purple silk chemise so thin he could see her breasts beneath it. The fabric melted to her body like warm butter, hugging her curvy waist and graceful legs. She was the most beautiful sight he ever beheld, and he felt a familiar stirring. He wanted her. He wanted her for her beauty the moment he saw her. The intricacies of her character, her intelligence and determination only made him want her more.
“Stay back,” she warned, her voice clear but shaking.
He held up his hands in a submissive gesture and moved cautiously forward. “Nila, I—”
“Do not take another step toward me!” she interrupted. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she could not stop one from cutting a path down her flawless cheek, yet she stood her ground. “I’ll scream so loud, God help you, all of Canada will come running to my aid.”
He stopped moving and said as gently as possible, “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Her chin jutted out obstinately. “I’ve seen that type of anger before. Do not pretend you weren’t going to hit me. It’s beneath you, and I am not stupid.” Her words snagged on emotion, and her entire body began to shudder. “I swore when I came here that I would never let a man hurt me again. Fighting back against my father was never an option. He would just as soon kill me as look at me. But you...I will never go back to those days. Do you understand me?”
The thought of her being beaten made his blood boil and simultaneously broke his heart. If he ever met her father, his first introduction would be to Thomas’s fist. “I want you to listen to me carefully. I would never lay a hand on you that wasn’t invited. I would never hurt you. Nila, I will never, ever hit you.”
She lowered her hands but still trembled. There was no good reason to believe him, but Nila did. She found his words sincere and realized she felt safe with him since the moment they met. He had not crossed to her side of the desk with the intention of harming her. If anything, he was stunned she would even think that. Looking down at herself, she was embarrassed by her reaction and suddenly aware that she was practically as naked as he was.
Frozen: A Winter Romance Anthology Page 29
