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They had arrived at the house. Travis opened the back of the estate car and the three dogs bounded out, Harvey appear¬ing extremely pleased with himself. The two females had ob¬viously fully accepted him and he was delighted with the canine company.
The rain was coming down in a sheet now, the summer storm suddenly ferocious, and despite it only being a few steps to the front door Beth was dripping water by the time he was standing in the hall. Travis disappeared into the down-stairs cloakroom and reappeared with a fluffy towel. 'Here.' He handed it to her, raking back his own wet hair, careless of tie shower of droplets. 'I'll put some coffee on, or perhaps you'd prefer a glass of wine?'
She would, actually. She needed something stronger than coffee after seeing Travis damp and sexy, his shirt moulded to his muscled chest and his five o'clock shadow accentuat¬ing his virile maleness. 'Wine, please,' she managed shakily.
'Good choice.' He grinned at her and a thousand nerve-endings responded in an orchestra of pure sensation.
Once in the massive kitchen, Beth perched herself on a stool and tried to pretend she was calm and collected as rain hurled itself against the window and thunder rolled ominously overhead. She had never been at her best in a storm but with the three dogs as cool as cucumbers and Travis utterly relaxed and at ease she would rather die than admit to the jitters. Nevertheless, as a particularly savage slash of lightning forked across the sky, she felt herself flinch and immediately the piercing grey eyes were on her face. 'OK?' Travis said mildly.
Beth nodded. 'Fine. It just made me jump, that's all.'
'Summer storms are always the worst. Atmospherics and all that.'
She opened her mouth to agree with him but the words were never voiced as the most tremendous bang she had ever heard shook the windows. She screamed—she couldn't help it—but as the dogs had leapt to their feet and were barking madly her scream was lost in the general melee.
Travis had reached her and taken her into his arms in the next moment, his voice soothing as he murmured, 'It's OK, don't panic. I think it's hit something outside, not the house.'
'But it was so loud.' She found she was shaking.
He pushed her back down on the stool and walked to the window, staring out into the wild afternoon as the rain streamed down the glass. 'It's one of the oak trees, by the look of it,' he said after a moment or two. 'Lightning's sliced it in two.'
Beth joined him at the window and as her hand came to her mouth she looked with fascinated horror at what was virtually half a huge tree lying across the lawn, the topmost branches stretched out almost to the house walls. 'Poor thing,' die whispered, her eyes moving to the splintered remains just visible through the deluge. 'It won't recover, will it?'
'It's a major branch, admittedly, that tree forked in two from the trunk, but you'd be amazed at the resilience of nature. Till get a good tree surgeon in and with a bit of tic it might rally. Even with the cruellest of blows you don't have to lie down and play dead.'
He wasn't talking about the oak tree any more. Beth stared at him as he turned and looked down into her pale face before folding her into him again.
His kisses were drugging and sweet, his large hands pow¬erfully gentle and wonderfully experienced as he began to shape her. Beth was aware of the heat of his fingers through die thin material of the dress, the sensual onslaught slow and lazy but enchantingly erotic.
His tongue rippled along her teeth—Beth shivered. His hands worked magic on her silky skin—she arched helplessly. He let his mouth ease its way to her cheeks, her ears, her throat, his kisses gathering in intensity until they were hot and intoxicating. He was evoking aching pleasure wherever his mouth and hands touched but he took his time, sizzling into the damp scented shadows of her collarbone as e murmured her name in a smoky voice that sent tremors flooding down to her toes.
The taste, the smell of him spun in her head and she found she couldn't get close enough to him, little whimpers coming from her throat as she clung to the broad width of his shoul¬ders. The desire he was evoking was like a fire inside her, spreading dangerously, and she had no thought of pulling away or trying to stop the spell he'd woven around them. This was a different world, a different universe, and every¬thing else had melted away.
When he gathered her up and began to carry her she knew where they were heading and made no effort to stop him. She could hardly believe it therefore when, instead of making for the stairs as she had imagined, he carried her through to the sprawling oak-beamed sitting room and sat down with her on his lap in one of the deep sofas. But then he was kissing her again and Beth ceased to think. She didn't care where they were as long as he kept holding her.
