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‘So it’s helped?’
She looked up, her eyes wide and shining, and smiled at him. Ben felt the moment he lost himself as a dull ache in his chest.
‘It’s helped a lot,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’
It was too late, now, he realised. He’d been hers since the moment he saw her again in Chester. Maybe longer. Maybe since that night in the library. It didn’t matter. None of it mattered any more. He just had to have her.
Stepping forward, he raised his hands to her cold face, his body moving into her space as she fell back to rest against the castle wall.
‘We should get going.’
Sharp white teeth bit down on her lip again after she spoke, and Ben almost groaned at the sight.
‘I know.’ But he didn’t move away.
‘Kiss me,’ she said, anyway, and he lowered his mouth to hers, the wind whipping round them, cold and icy and utterly unimportant in the moment.
Her lips were soft and sweet under his as he teased them open, drinking in the taste and the feel of her. Luce’s arms wrapped around his waist, her hands firm against his back, pulling him in deeper, closer, even as he pressed his body against hers, the softness of her curves driving him wild.
As the first cold drops hit the back of his neck, Ben pulled his mouth away, his hands tugging her body into the warmth and safety of his arms. Luce rubbed her cheek against his coat and he kissed the top of her head.
‘We need to get out of here,’ he said, and she moved away, leaving him cold and bereft.
She blinked up at him and snowflakes landed on her lashes. ‘It’s snowing again.’
‘And it’s going to get heavier. But, more importantly, I need to get you somewhere more private than a ruined public castle.’ He took a breath. ‘So—Cardiff or the cottage?’
Luce’s lips quirked up in a naughty smile, and the expression was so utterly unexpected that Ben bit back a laugh.
‘Whichever is closer,’ she said, and he grabbed her hand as they ran for the exit.
Finally, Ben thought, as the car doors slammed behind them and he set a course back to the cottage. Finally something was looking up.
* * *
The journey back to the cottage seemed to take twice as long as the trip to the castle had done, and that was only due in part to the increasingly heavy snowfall. It seemed worse even than the drive from Chester had been. Cardiff would have to wait another day, apparently, but somehow the thought bothered her far less now. She couldn’t have left without having this, having him, just once.
Ben drove steadily through the worsening weather, taking bends and dips in his stride. Luce kept her hands clenched against her knees, more to stop herself touching him than from fear of the drive.
‘You okay?’ he asked finally, just as the sky went from grey to black and Luce made out a sign welcoming them to the Brecon Beacons National Park through the falling snow.
‘I’m fine,’ she said.
‘Really?’
No. I want you to pull over so I can ravish you in the back seat. Luce felt her eyes widen at the very thought. Not a very Dr Lucinda Myles type desire at all.
‘You’re not over-thinking this?’
She looked up at Ben as he spoke. His eyes were still firmly on the road, his arms braced tight to the wheel. He looked as if every muscle in his body was taut. Was that because of the weather? Or because he was resisting a similar urge to hers?
Luce gave herself one moment to believe it was the latter, then realised she still hadn’t answered his question. With a soft laugh she said, ‘Honestly, Ben, I’m barely thinking at all right now.’
She was watching, so she saw him blow out a long breath, saw his shoulders sink, his body start to relax. Had he really been that worried about her?
‘I’m not going to fall apart because you kissed me, you know,’ she said, forehead furrowed with the effort of trying to figure out what he was thinking.
His mouth slipped into a half-smile. ‘Yeah, but I might if I don’t get to do it again soon.’
The heat that pooled in her belly seemed hotter, more desperate at his words than it had been even in the castle. Back there she’d told herself it was the location, the romanticism of the castle and its history. But here, when he should be focused on the road, he was still thinking about kissing her.
‘Are we nearly there yet?’ She could hear the wanting in her own voice, and Ben obviously did, too. He glanced over at her, just for a moment, surprise on his face.
‘Nearly,’ he answered, his voice low and full of promise.
Luce was almost certain that the rest of the journey took considerably less time than it should have done. But he had to slow down again as they reached the twisting path up to the cottage itself, and Luce gripped the edge of her seat as the car slipped and slid over the still falling snow. Not going to be fun trying to get back through this to Cardiff, even tomorrow.
