Lily moved a step closer to him as she peered warily into the darkness of the woods. "Are there wild animals out here?"
"I"ve heard the rabbits roam around in packs."
"Very funny."
Jonas could feel rather than see her glare. "The deer have vicious tempers too."
"Ha-b.l.o.o.d.y-ha."
Jonas gave another chuckle. "There are no wild animals here, City Girl. The most dangerous thing you"ll find in this forest is the savage who lives here."
Jonas was dangerous, as far as Lily was concerned. To her emotions and her self-control. "You"re enjoying yourself, aren"t you?"
"Immensely."
She snorted. "Why did you tell me not to veer off the track?"
"Because we"re going along the edge of a valley for part of the walk, and I would hate for you to slip on the snow and fall down it. I"ve been known to turn into that savage if I"m not fed when I"m hungry, and having to rescue you would delay dinner even further." Jonas set off at a brisk pace.
Lily took his warning to heart, one of her hands grasping hold of the back of his coat as the two of them set off along the track Jonas had worn over time to his house.
Jonas didn"t bother using a flashlight to guide their way through the woods. He knew the way blindfolded. Besides which, it wasn"t as dark as Lily seemed to think it was, once your eyes became accustomed to the dappled silver light of the moon and stars overhead.
This remoteness was one of the things that had appealed to Jonas when he looked for a property in England five years ago. Somewhere he could call home when he was here, but also a place that could be locked up and left for months at a time, if necessary. And sometimes, in his job, it became necessary. But it was always there, waiting for him, a haven of peace and solitude to return to after whatever mission he had been on.
Except he wasn"t returning alone this time, and he doubted there would be much peace involved either.
"This is incredible." Lily"s eyes glowed as she looked about the home she had a.s.sumed would be a log cabin but was in fact more like a one-level mansion, albeit one fashioned completely out of wood.
From the outside, it was a huge, sprawling building, surrounded on all sides by a wooden deck and the thick forest beyond. Inside was even more of a surprise. The lights all came on with the flick of a switch, for one thing.
It felt warmer as soon as they walked inside, and Jonas had already put a match to the log fire laid ready and waiting in the hearth, its cheery crackle and the warmth of the flames adding to the comfort of the huge, open-plan living area.
There appeared to be several bedrooms and bathrooms down a hallway to the right, and the country-style kitchen was all mellow oak cupboards, with copper pans hanging over the worktable in the center of that area. The furnishings in the main part of the house were simplistic, even rustic, but obviously expensive and bought for comfort rather than fashion.
The polished wooden floors were covered in brightly colored rugs, with several framed and professionally taken photographs adorning the walls. Lily had always admired Finn Devlin"s work, and these ones of the American prairie were no exception.
"Who are you?" The house itself was impressive, even more so considering it had been built out here, in the middle of nowhere. But the fixtures and fittings were obviously top of the range, and those Finn Devlin originals were worth a small fortune.
"Jonas Grayfeather." Jonas folded his arms across the ma.s.sive width of his chest as he eyed her guardedly.
Lily"s own gaze challenged. "That isn"t what I meant, and you know it."
He shrugged. "Private security is a lucrative business."
She knew that from the company her brothers owned and ran, but this, the extensive private woodland and this house, the obvious wealth of the furnishings inside, were so much more than that. Besides which, Jonas didn"t own Grayson Security; he was an employee there. So where had all this wealth come from?
"You don"t rob banks on the side, do you?" she prompted warily.
Jonas grinned. "No."
Which, Lily guessed, was as far as she was going to get on the subject of Jonas"s obvious wealth. "Can we get a signal here for my cell phone and laptop?"
"We can." Jonas straightened. "But I would rather you didn"t use either of them for now."
She frowned. "Why not?"
"Because if someone has the right software and the ability, a cell phone and laptop connection can both be traced."
"I doubt my stalker has either of those things."
"We don"t know that. We don"t know anything about the cowardly little f.u.c.ker," Jonas added fiercely. "But we will," he a.s.sured her, expression grim.
"I don"t see how..."
"Slow but sure progress. I pa.s.sed the envelopes on to staff at Grayson Security, and they"ve already established from the postmarks that three of the last six letters were posted within the same area in London."
"Why didn"t you tell me that earlier?"
"Because so far today, there hasn"t been time to do anything more than stay one step ahead of the b.a.s.t.a.r.d."
He had a point. "What area?"
"Clapham."
"And the rest of them?"
"Random locations about the city."
Which meant they were basically no further forward. "I need to call the hospital to see how Evan is."
"As you aren"t family, I very much doubt they will tell you, but you can use the landline for that." He indicated the phone on the wall in the kitchen area as he slipped off the leather duster and hung it on the coat stand beside the front door. "I want you to keep your cell phone switched off, and remove the battery too. And absolutely no contact with anyone on your laptop or any other device you might have."
"How am I supposed to keep in touch with Giles? To know when the theater will be opening again?" Once again Lily found herself distracted by the play of muscles across the width of Jonas"s back beneath the dark T-shirt he wore, along with the pleasure of looking at the tautness of his backside in faded denims.
"As I said, use the landline. It"s totally secure."
Of course it was. "How about my brothers? Do they know where I am?"
"I"ve given the police this telephone number where you can be reached, if necessary. But your brothers and I all agreed it was for the best if they knew only that you were still in England rather than the exact location, and that I would be the one to report back to them on a regular basis."
"I didn"t agree."
Jonas gave a distracted shrug as he strode through to the kitchen area. "If you think you can find your own way out of here, then go for it." His expression was unconcerned as he began to take food out of the fridge.
Because he knew there was no way Lily would be able to walk herself back out of here tonight, that she would become completely lost within minutes of losing sight of this house. Which meant she was completely alone in the middle of this forest, with a man she barely knew.
But a man whose slightest touch stripped her of any vestige of self-control.
Chapter 7.
"Why don"t you go and unpack or maybe take a relaxing shower while I cook dinner?" Jonas suggested as he saw the haunted expression in Lily"s eyes. "You can use the first bedroom and adjoining bathroom on the right down the hallway."
She seemed to shake off some of that melancholy as she straightened the defeated slump of her shoulders. "This house has indoor plumbing as well as electricity." It was a statement, not a question.
He shrugged. "It"s a little remote, I admit-" He raised questioning brows as Lily snorted. "Okay, it"s a lot remote," he conceded. "But the water is pumped up from a well, I have a generator for the electricity, and there"s a septic tank. There"s also a plentiful supply of logs to keep the fire burning indefinitely, if we should lose power for any reason."
"And is that likely to happen?"
"Not unless it snows again. And maybe not even then."
She grimaced. "Okay, I"ll go and take a shower. If you"re sure you don"t need any help with cooking dinner?"
"I"m good, thanks."
Lily picked up her bag and made her way down the hallway to the bedroom Jonas had said would be hers for the duration of her stay here.
The first thing she did was to pull the soft green velvet curtains across the window. There was just something unnerving about being surrounded by nothing but trees. Trees that someone could use to hide behind as they looked inside the house, and at the same time would stop Lily from being able to see them.
She really was a city girl.
The bedroom was as rustic but tastefully furnished as the rest of the house, with several brightly colored oil paintings of mountains and woodlands adorning the walls. The bed was a st.u.r.dy oak frame, the mattress covered with a dark maroon throw and several pillows, and there was plenty of room for her clothes in the dressing table and chest of drawers made of the same mellow oak. A walk-in closet took up the same amount of s.p.a.ce as the adjoining bathroom fitted out in black-and-white marble tiles. She discovered that the shower unit was big enough for three people, rather than one, once she had undressed and stepped beneath the hot and invigorating spray of the power shower.
Or big enough for one Jonas.
Her nipples tingled and hardened to rigid peaks as she imagined watching a naked Jonas standing inside this shower cubicle. The hot rivulets of water pouring down on him, slicking that glossy blue-black hair back from his face before cascading onto those bronzed shoulders and chest, and then on down the muscular flatness of his abdomen.
Would his c.o.c.k be in proportion to the rest of his overlarge body? It had certainly felt that way earlier tonight in her kitchen.
Thinking about the size of Jonas"s c.o.c.k was enough to send the heat coursing to her core. Lily gave a low groan as she felt the swelling of her nether lips and the slickness there that owed nothing to the shower water and everything to her own arousal. Having his mouth on her there earlier had been- I have to stop this. Now.
She and Jonas could be alone here for several days, and she would never survive if she allowed herself to be in this constant state of arousal for all that time. And Jonas had given no indication that he ever intended them continuing where they had left off earlier tonight.
Did she have time to ease some of the s.e.xual frustration that had been coursing through her veins since they were interrupted earlier- No!
What she needed to do right now was wash, dry herself off, dress, and rejoin Jonas in the kitchen.
And then get through what was left of the evening with him.
Except Jonas was nowhere to be found when Lily returned to the kitchen. All the curtains were drawn across the windows in the sitting room and kitchen, the lights still on, two places set at the breakfast bar, and more logs added to the roaring fire, and she could smell something mouthwatering cooking on top of the range, but there was no sign of Jonas himself.
Had something happened to him while she was in the bathroom?
Could someone-her stalker-have followed them out of the city, and deep into this woodland, miles from anywhere?
Miles from help if Jonas had been caught unawares and was now lying unconscious-or dead-somewhere.
Lily felt the tears sting her eyes even as she knew she didn"t have the time to dwell on what might have happened to Jonas.
Her panic deepened at the thought of her stalker being somewhere outside-or worse, in the house with her-that panic blocking her throat, and making it difficult for her to breathe as she looked around desperately for something she might use as a weapon.
The fire poker!
She rushed across the room and grabbed it, familiarizing herself with its length and weight as she turned determinedly. She was not a victim, and she refused to become one. If her stalker wanted a fight, then she would give him one. No way was she going down without- Lily tensed down into a crouch behind the breakfast bar as she heard the back door opening, her heart beating loudly in her chest as she tracked the intruder"s movements by sound alone.
The back door closing again.
The soft tread of footsteps across the kitchen.
If she waited until he was level with the end of the breakfast bar, she would be able to jump up and surprise him, maybe even get in a blow or two before he- "Jesus Christ, woman, what the h.e.l.l do you think you"re doing?" Jonas managed to drop the logs he was carrying and curve his upper body back in time to avoid being hit by the poker Lily was wielding. But he was still close enough to feel the movement of air caused by what would have been a deadly blow if the poker had made contact with his skull, as it had obviously been intended to do. He was lucky to have only suffered bruising from the half-dozen logs falling on his booted feet. "Give me that." He scowled as he wrestled the poker out of her hand and placed it on the work top. "What the h.e.l.l- Lily...?" He looked down at her incredulously as she threw herself into his arms.
"You weren"t here- I thought my stalker had found us- That you were dead- I- Oh G.o.d, Jonas!" The tears began to fall as Lily pressed her face against his chest, her arms clinging tightly about his waist.
Considering what she had been through today, Jonas thought the tears were probably long overdue. And more than justified. Most women he knew-and quite a lot of men too-would have been screaming hysterically long before this.
Jonas let her continue to cry for several minutes, just enjoying the feel of her in his arms and pressed against him, as he breathed in the lemon perfume of her hair.
Until the smell of burning meat told him their steaks were overcooking. "I"ll be right back," he a.s.sured her as he pulled Lily"s arms gently but firmly from about his waist before moving to take the grill pan off the heat and lift the lid. The steaks were a little overdone for his taste, but right now, he was so hungry, he would have eaten the meat raw. "I only went outside to get some more logs," he explained as he returned to where Lily now looked a little shamefaced.
The logs that were now scattered about their feet, Lily acknowledged with an awkward grimace. She really had let her imagination run away with her a few minutes ago. Of course no one had followed them here. Jonas would have made sure of that. And she had just made a complete idiot of herself by attempting to hit him over the head with the poker.
"I"m so sorry." She avoided meeting Jonas"s gaze as she went down on her haunches and began to gather up the logs. "I really thought... Never mind what I thought." She gave a self-disgusted shake of her head as she rose to her feet and carried the logs across the room before dropping them into the half-full basket beside the fire. "I hope I haven"t made you spoil dinner too." She ran her hands down her denim-clad thighs.
"Come over here."
Lily glanced to where Jonas now stood near the window, before quickly looking away again. "I really am sorry-"
"Stop apologizing and get over here," he repeated impatiently.
A frown creased her brow as she slowly crossed the room to where he pulled back the curtains from over the large bay window. "I may have made an idiot of myself just now, Jonas, but that doesn"t mean you can boss me- Oh my G.o.d..." Lily stared out the window in wonder as she saw the thick but delicate snowflakes falling outside, the ground already covered in a soft white carpet.
"It started a couple of minutes after you went to take your shower." Jonas spoke softly beside her. "Beautiful, isn"t it?"
It was, yes. Magical, in fact.
It was also potentially hazardous to the two of them being able to get out of here when the time came.
Lily frowned. "This is why you went outside to get more logs..."
"It isn"t going to be a problem, Lily," he rea.s.sured her. "I have plenty of food in the freezer, a shed full of logs, several gallons of gas to keep the generator going, and the well is so far below ground, it never freezes. I was snowed in here for almost a month last year with no-" Jonas broke off as he realized, by Lily"s horrified expression, that it wasn"t what she wanted to hear. No doubt the thought of being alone here with him for a month was the reason for that horrified expression.
Jonas wasn"t too thrilled at the idea of sharing his s.p.a.ce for that amount of time either. He was used to living alone. He liked living alone.