Winter Heat by Dawn Halliday Read Free Book Online

risk it. And your clothes—”
    “—are completely dry,” she announced, smugly victorious. She yanked her stockings from the ceiling and pulled them on.
    Sighing in resignation, he went to bank the fire. By the time he finished, she’d secured her stockings and dropped her shift over her head. Clearly she’d had much practice in dressing before others, for he only caught a glimpse of pale flesh as the plaid fell to the floor and the shift covered her nakedness. She retrieved the plaid and wrapped it around her body, finishing by fastening it with the borrowed pin. Then she strode to the trunk and removed the too-large men’s leather boots.
    Once she’d finished lacing the boots on as tightly as possible, she rose and smiled at him. “Are you ready, then?”
    Logan opened the door and turned his face up into the gently falling snow, allowing the coldness to collide with the heat boiling through him.
    Closing his eyes, he prayed for temperance.

    The place where Logan had found her looked different in daylight, but from the recesses of her mind, Maggie dredged up the memory of the small, sheer rock bluff that she’d believed would shelter her from the storm.
    She stared at the outcropping and shook her head in disbelief. “I must have been mad to think I’d be safe here.”
    Logan stood a few steps away from her, carrying the shovel he’d found leaning on the outside wall of the cottage. “The cold addled your head.”
    She wrapped her arms around her body, and Logan turned to her. His expression was guarded. Shuttered. “But you’re safe now.”
    The realization struck her like a brick in the stomach. If it hadn’t been for him, she would have died in the snow. She hadn’t truly believed it until this moment. She blinked hard. “Thank you.”
    He shook his head, and a muscle pulsed in his jaw. “I lost your brooch.”
    “But you saved me.” She gave him a tremulous smile. “I suppose that’s more important.”
    She was human, after all. She’d never felt so vulnerable as she did at this moment, staring at the place she might have died if not for the stranger standing nearby.
    She studied Logan’s stiff, hardened features, tight lips, and dark eyes. He wasn’t a stranger anymore. He’d saved her life. He’d suffered war, capture, injury, grief, and imprisonment in the past few weeks, but he’d rescued her from certain death and made certain she recovered from her ordeal. All along he’d listened to her. He’d treated her with respect.
    She trusted him.
    As she stared at him, she realized she was shaking. It was a deep shiver that originated in her bones.
    Logan released a harsh breath, dropped the shovel, and in two long strides, he stood in front of her. Reaching out, he pulled her tightly against his warm, hard body.
    She couldn’t resist his touch anymore. She didn’t want to. His powerful embrace was so welcome, so comforting. She wanted to crawl right into his heat and stay there.
    Pressing his lips to the top of her head, he murmured, “You’re more important than anything, Maggie.”
    She stiffened in shock. His words sucked the breath from her, leaving her unable to speak.
    Abruptly, he pulled away, taking a step back. A light flush darkened his cheeks, and he cleared his throat. “We should search. Do you remember where you dropped it?”
    “No,” she murmured, suddenly unable to meet his eyes. “Do you remember where you saw it?”
    “I was distracted. I forgot it completely once I saw you,” he replied.
    “All right. You take the area near the rocks; I’ll look here.”
    Maggie knelt down and began to sift through snow until her fingers were red and numb with cold. She clomped back and forth in the too-l arge boots, combing the entire area before the bluff. Then she found a stick and dug. After an hour had passed, clouds muted the dull remains of sunlight, and the snow came down in thick flurries. She could hardly see beyond the ridge. Frustrated, she straightened and