“I suppose I am technically,” answered Chloe as she thought of Paul, a man she had never met. “But, I don’t think you can be both married and engaged.”
“I see.” Everest backed farther away from her. His eyes glowed with a fiery light.
“There is one more thing,” Chloe said as he pulled away from her. Her lips still ached from his kisses and her loins trembled with such intensity that she was shocked by her own wantonness. “I told Grandpa we were married and he told a waitress named Gladys. I think that she told the rest of the town. I didn’t mean for that to happen, but it was the only way I could get Grandpa to take me up here.”
Everest groaned, suddenly glad to have another reason to be angry with her. It would keep him from pulling another man’s woman into his arms.
“I’m sorry.” Chloe made a move to touch him, hoping he would kiss her again. Lowly, she murmured, “I’ll do whatever it takes to make it right.”
“I’ll talk to him. You’ve done enough.” He jerked away from her hand, sore at having to deny his passion. He knew he would have to service himself if he were to ever get to sleep that night. “Grandpa is in the spare room. You can have my bed. I’ll sleep in here.”
Chloe began to protest, but was cut off by his hard frown.
“I’ll not have you accusing me again of being a bad host.” Everest turned his cool gaze toward her, effectively ending the conversation. “I’ll go over and sign your papers first thing in the morning. I trust you brought me a copy of everything.”
“Yes... fine... perfect,” Chloe stuttered in response.
“Good.” He ushered her to his bedroom, saying, “There’s a shirt on that chair if you need something to sleep in. No one will bother you here so feel free to make yourself comfortable.”
Chloe nodded in understanding. As he shut the door behind her with a heavy thud, she sighed in frustration. What just happened?
Crossing over to the chair, she lifted his shirt from the top of a neatly folded pile of fresh laundry. Unable to resist, she pressed the shirt to her nose and breathed deeply of its earthy scent. Gliding the shirt down her throat, she lightly ran the cloth over her swollen breasts to the throbbing ache of her lower stomach. Her body burned, stinging with a fierce need to be fulfilled. She shivered uncontrollably.
Stripping quickly out of her clothing, she crawled into his bed wearing only her bra and panties. His scent overwhelmed her as she lay in his blankets, hugging his shirt to her chest. The smell only tortured her more until her loins melted with an insistent fire. Knowing she would never fall asleep with such torments flowing in her veins, she quietly lowered her hand over her flat stomach to reach inside her lacy panties.
Taking his shirt, she bit into the soft material to keep from crying out. With painstakingly slow movements so the bed would not squeak, she stroked her fire until the throbbing transformed into trembling liberation. Muffling her cry into his shirt, her eyes closed and she saw Everest’s handsome face thrusting before her. Her lips moved, remembering his hot kisses. Her hips jerked in bittersweet release, aching in denial of full gratification.
With a cry, she pulled the shirt from her lips and ran it to cover her stomach. Holding her breath, her body ached for Everest’s hold, but she refused to seek him out. She didn’t know what was happening between them and she wasn’t planning on staying around long enough to find out.
Chapter Ten
Chloe had a hard time sleeping in his home. The outside was too quiet compared to the noisy lullaby of the city streets. The only consistent sound she could detect was the faint hum of insects and not too many of those. Sometime in the night hours she thought she heard a howling wolf outside the bedroom window. She’d been convinced for about an hour that it was going to get into the house and eat her.
Everest’s kiss had left her with a longing so intense that it shook her to the core. The large bed smelled of his virile mountain scent, of outdoors and fresh air, of pine trees and snow banks. She wished that he had continued to touch her, knowing that it was better he hadn’t. How could she allow this man to get involved with her crazy life? How could he understand the circumstances around her impending marriage to Paul? She didn’t even understand it at times.
Morning came slowly and she was up shortly after dawn. Her head swam with the haze of little sleep and she could feel her frustrated emotions surfacing. Remembering Everest’s remark about her ill-chosen attire, she dug through her bags until she found a pullover sweater and a pair of blue jeans. The outfit was more suited for the territory. Putting her dress shoes into one of the suitcases, she pulled out a pair of hiking boots. She had just bought them for the trip and they felt uncomfortably stiff against her feet.
Pulling her hair back into a makeshift bun she wished she could take a shower. She imagined she could still smell his aroma on her body and tried to cover the memory by spraying a strong perfume on her clothes. Then, out of spite, she sprayed a few squirts on his bed, hoping it would torture him in the nights to come, just as his scent had tortured her. She applied a small amount of makeup and made his bed.
Everest’s bedroom was as sparsely decorated as the rest of his home. All the furniture was made of wood and looked to be of fine craftsmanship. The walls, the ceiling, the floors—all of it was wood. The home was too large to call a cabin and too woodsy to call a mansion. Chloe decided she thought it was more like a one-man lodge.
Tiredly, Chloe wondered if it was too early to leave the bedroom. She couldn’t hear anyone stirring. Finally, after little debate she decided she would try to make some coffee. Under the circumstances, she hardly doubted Everest would mind her poking around the kitchen.
She pulled open the door to the bedroom and made her way into the living room directly outside of it. She had expected to see Everest asleep on the floor but was surprised to find that he was already gone and his blankets were neatly folded on a chair. The neatness was something she was quickly coming to associate with the mountain man. His house was immaculate.
Across the room a light shone from the kitchen, so she made her way to it. Inside the kitchen was empty. The coffeepot was half full and a clean cup was set beside it. She took the hint and helped herself. The coffee was plain but good. It was not of the exotic flavors she had grown used to in New York. She sighed. Things were so much simpler in the mountains.
After peeking outside, she saw that she was alone in the house. Both the jeep and Everest’s old pickup were gone. Taking her time, she slowly wandered about his home. The layout was quite simple. There was the living room where they had sat in front of the fireplace, a small den, a large bathroom, the kitchen and the two bedrooms. Everything was beautifully unrefined. There was also a locked room off the kitchen. Chloe wondered why a man living alone in the mountains would feel the need to lock anything.
Hearing an engine roaring outside she rushed to the window. It was Everest in his pickup. Chloe went to the front door and held it open. Snow had begun to fall, blanketing the front porch like little diamonds. She shivered as the cool breeze filtered through the holes in her knit sweater.
Everest climbed out of the truck. Chloe felt her breath catch. He stared at her for a brief moment before jogging to the door. She stepped out of his way. He stopped to stomp his feet on the porch, shaking the snow off of his boots. She backed up and watched as he closed the door behind him.
“Where’s Grandpa?” Chloe asked lightly, belying the twittering of her stomach and the fact that she was unnerved being completely alone with him.
“I think you’d better sit down.” Everest motioned to the fireplace as he took off his coat. He detected the heavy scent of her perfume on the air. The smell was out of place in his rugged home and his gut automatically stiffened in pleasure. He ignored his body’s unsubtle hinting and refused to let the scent affect him.
“Why?” Chloe did as his suggested. “What’s happening?”
“Grandpa is gone.” Everest said, bending to throw another log on the fire. “H
e left early this morning.”
“Then how am I to get back to Miner’s Cove? He said he’d take me.” Chloe eyed Everest in disbelief. “He is coming back, right?”
“Well, eventually he will.” Everest shook his head and gave a short laugh. “I am afraid you’re going to be my guest for a short while.”
“What do you mean? Why can’t you take me back?” Chloe breathed in growing fear. “I can’t stay here. I have a deadline. I have to get married.”
“Did you forget? You are married.” Everest kept his expression blank. His throat tightened bitterly. “Don’t you think he’ll wait for you?”
“This is insane. I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing at, but I won’t be a part of it. I want to go back to Miner’s Cove now.” Chloe grew suddenly afraid. She prayed that he wasn’t one of the stalking fans she had always feared. “Either you take me or I’ll walk.”
Everest laughed at her determination. “Unless you know a way to fly over several hundred feet of unsteady snow, I would say you’re not going anywhere. Besides, an untried city girl like you would be dead within ten minutes in those elements.”
“You can’t keep me here. I have friends, very powerful ones. They know where I am. They’ll not let you get away with kidnapping me.” Chloe stood and began to back away from him. His laughter cut her off. His eyes flashed with mirth.
“I don’t want you here anymore than you want to be here, lady.” Everest leaned back on the chair and crossed his arms. “Believe me, if there were a way to get you out of here, I would do it. If I thought I could make it, I’d throw you over the snow bank.”
“Then why are you trying to trap me here?” Chloe asked, unsure. His firm lips made her tremble. She might not remember their night of shared passion, but her body seemed to just fine.
“I am not trying to trap you.” Everest shook his head in amusement. “Are all writers as dramatic as you are?”
“I am not dramatic,” Chloe huffed. “What would you have me think? You come back alone saying that I can’t leave. You have yet to give me a decent explanation as to why.”
“If you would calm down long enough to have a simple conversation, I could tell you.” Everest’s calm grated her nerves. Despite the inconvenience of her presence, he found her confused rage intriguing. He chuckled to himself, thinking he must indeed be getting bored living all by himself. This woman came attached to more problems than he wanted to deal with.
Chloe moved back to the chair, afraid that she was being irrational. The man before her threw her off guard. His very nearness rattled her brain. She wanted him, of that she was very certain. But even though he was her husband, she knew she couldn’t have him. She didn’t know him and he didn’t know her. It took all of her willpower to look calm. “Please, tell me what’s going on.”
Everest smiled at her obvious self-control.
“It would seem that Grandpa has got it into his head that we are married.” He raised a sarcastic eyebrow. “I forget who told him.”
Chloe said nothing. She gave a guilt-ridden glance to the floor.
“He takes marriage very seriously and for some reason thinks that we are perfect together.” Everest’s features remained blank.
“What?” Chloe sat back in shock. Secretly, she was pleased by the compliment. “Did he say that?”
“No, he wrote it,” Everest dug a hand into his pocket, “in a note he left early this morning. Would you like me to read it?”
Chloe nodded, unable to answer. She ignored the paper, unable to focus on anything but the subtle movements of his firm lips.
“To my dear grandchildren,” Everest cleared his throat. “By the way, Grandpa is also my actual grandfather. And Gladys, the meddling waitress, is his wife.”
“Naturally, why wouldn’t she be?” Chloe nodded again through her bewilderment. She wondered if his entire family was in the habit of disappearing and leaving notes.
“Anyway,” Everest continued. “To my dear grandchildren. It does my old heart good to see two young people find each other in such an unrelenting world. I would hate to think that you didn’t give your marriage the best shot it deserved. So in the spirit of meddling grandparents everywhere, I am taking it upon myself to get involved. Should you like, you would discover that an avalanche occurred shortly after my crossing Old Miner’s Pass this same morning. You will also find that I have borrowed the mattress from the spare room. Good luck, see you in a few months. If in that time you find you are still not suitable for one another, I will gladly stand aside. But, until then, Grandpa. Oh, and we would like some great-grandkids if you have nothing better to do this winter.”
Chloe shook her head. “That’s impossible. How could he know an avalanche was going to start? He told me they were unpredictable.”
“Grandpa is a trained observer of avalanches. He can tell when they are close to happening and we did have some wild storms the last couple of weeks.” Everest folded the note and slipped it back into his pocket.
“He can predict the exact time?” Chloe asked disbelieving.
“No,” Everest answered.
“Then we can still make it.” Chloe’s eyes turned hopeful.
“No.”
“But you just said that Grandpa can’t tell.” Chloe stood, growing completely frustrated at his nonchalant attitude. “Come on, let’s go.”
“That’s where I went this morning.” Everest sighed. Then, standing, he yawned. “I need some coffee.”
Chloe followed him as he went to the kitchen. “Then you saw it?”
“Yes. I saw it.” Everest grabbed a clean cup from the cabinet and poured himself a drink. Everest sighed, before continuing, “Do you remember passing a white clearing of snow that was devoid of trees?”
“Where there was an avalanche a couple years back?” Chloe waited for his nod. “Grandpa pointed it out yesterday.”
“That was Old Miner’s Pass. My guess is that Grandpa shot his rifle up at the snow and encouraged another avalanche.” Everest took a drink.
Chloe stared at him in disbelief. He acted as if this kind of behavior was normal. Maybe it was here in the mountains, but not where she was from. “You’re telling me he purposely snowed us in? Anything could happen to us. We could die up here. What if there were people in that pass?”
“There’s no one except us within several miles of that pass.” Everest saw her mounting fear and resisted the urge to comfort her. He had to remind himself that married to him or not, she belonged to another man. And Everest was not the kind of person to stand in the way of such things. “We have plenty of supplies to last us. He made sure of that yesterday, unless you plan on dying from boredom.”
Chloe considered that for a moment. “Can I at least use your telephone to call my lawyer and editor? I have many obligations. I can’t just disappear.”
“Don’t have one,” Everest answered. He took a sip of coffee. “If people need to get a hold of me they call Grandpa and he gets me the message.”
“Of course, why would you have a phone?” Chloe muttered under her heated breath. “It’s only the twenty-first century.”
Everest pretended not to hear her.
“What about a two-way radio or a telegraph?” Chloe questioned sharply. “Or perchance a smoke stack I can use to signal the surrounding tribes?”
“I do have a two-way radio, but it won’t work after an avalanche. There is no way of communicating to the outside world. Besides, the only person who can receive messages from it is Grandpa.” Everest smiled ruefully at her wit. “And I don’t think he’ll answer me right away.”
“Naturally.” Chloe sighed. Then with a gleam in her eye, she said, “Wait, I have my cell phone.”
Everest laughed and shook his head. “Won’t work.”
Chloe grinned shrewdly at that. Her tone was a bit gloating, as she declared, “It bounces off of a satellite. It will work.”
“Feel free to try. It’ll give you something to do.” Everest set his cup in t
he sink and rinsed it out. “But the signal first goes to a tower and then a satellite. There are no towers around here. And, before you ask, the cable lines will be down so there will be no working place to plug in a modem to send emails. We are effectively cut off from the rest of the world.”
“How about the smoke signal?” Chloe mumbled, as she sunk wearily into a chair. She glared at him as he shook his head to her rhetorical question. “Then I’m trapped here.”
“Only for a few months, worst case three. I am sure your fiancé will wait for you.” Everest didn’t know why the idea of her with another man aggravated him. “It really isn’t so bad. Hey, maybe you’ll be able to get some work done without any distractions.”
“Yeah, he’ll wait.” Chloe laid her head on the table. Paul would wait, but in two months it would be too late. Her father’s will was clear. It stipulated that she had to be married by her thirtieth birthday. That was in four weeks. “Any chance we could be out of here in four weeks?”
“A slim one,” Everest answered. Suddenly, he grew edgy at the notion of her staying with him. This was going to be the longest winter of his life. Walking to the kitchen door her turned to her. “Make yourself at home. Food is in the pantry. I’m going to chop some firewood and bring it to the porch.”
Chloe nodded her head without looking up. Her blue eyes glared into the grains of the hard wood table. What was she going to do?
Chapter Eleven
It was a long and boring day for Chloe. Everest spent most of the morning outside cutting firewood. She watched him for only a moment before forcing herself to turn away. He was too damned sexy swinging his thick arms over his head with the ax. Then he had disappeared into one of the outer sheds. Around noon, he came in for a sandwich and then left again. The worst part was, he did all of this with hardly a word to her.
Chloe didn’t know what to do. She was bored out of her mind and the only thing she could think of involved Everest. Cursing her dirty mind, she tried to keep herself busy.
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