Finally on the verge of feeling what it would be like to touch him, what his taste would be, what passion he could invoke, Sage almost took his mouth with hers. But before she lost complete control, her hands, almost of their own accord, scooped up another large mound of snow, which she dumped right in his face, leaving him sputtering. He released her in his attempt to clear his air passages.
She twisted off his body and was attempting to rise to her feet when he snaked his arms around her again and she landed in his lap.
“Let me go,” she said, but a giggle burst free. She couldn’t help it. She hadn’t roughhoused in the snow since she was a little girl, and though it was freezing out, she was having more fun than she could remember having in years.
“Not until I get my payback,” he said, and she found herself on her back, the snow making a crater around her body. Her ears grew numb with cold.
“Okay, okay, you win,” she cried as snow melted and slid into her ear canal. “It’s cold as sin out here!”
“I could douse you like you just did to me.” One of his hands pinned her arms above her head while the other gathered a huge handful of snow.
“No, no, no! You win!” She closed her eyes and waited for impact. Payback was terrible, but she knew she deserved it.
When nothing happened, she cracked her eyes open and looked up. With the fire that was burning in his gaze, she was amazed there was any snow at all left around them. It should have all turned into steam.
“I have to taste you.”
He bent down, and Sage thought about resistance for all of half a second. The moment his lips touched hers, she was lost in a pool of heat and desire so strong she didn’t recognize the feelings.
His lips demanded that hers part, and she complied, opening herself to him, tilting her head, squirming beneath his strong, solid, hot body. Oh, this was a first kiss to end all kisses. This man wasn’t messing around. When he released her hands, she grabbed his head, holding him to her, wanting more.
When his hand slipped up her side and rested on her shoulder, she pushed against him. Just a little lower, she thought. His tongue sank into her mouth, tasted her thoroughly before retreating, leaving her wanting more.
“Sage,” he whispered as he pulled back.
She moaned her disapproval, wanting this to go on, needing him to continue heating her from the inside out.
“Sage, you’re going to get frostbite.”
His head was too far away. That was her only thought. She needed him to lean down again. Passion burned in his eyes, and to judge from the hardness she could feel pressing against her core, he was also rather excited about their kiss—so why was he pulling back?
It took a few seconds, but once the freezing snow registered in her brain and the fog of passion began to clear, Sage realized what he was saying. Her back was numb where she’d been cushioned against the white powder.
Spence had a thick layer of snow in his hair, and as her vision went past him, she noticed that the stuff was falling down even harder than it had been a few minutes before.
“Oh,” she whispered, her mouth opening, making it easy for snowflakes to fall inside.
“Let’s get you indoors. We’re not dressed for this. We can always finish in the on-call room.” He stood up, grabbed her hand, and hoisted her to her feet.
She moved slowly beside him as they neared the doors. Once inside, as a welcome blast of heat hit her, she was racked with uncontrollable tremors. Her scrubs were soaked, and she was glad that he’d come to his senses. She certainly hadn’t been worried about hypothermia.
“I need to change,” she said through chattering teeth.
He walked next to her. “Why don’t I assist you?”
“I don’t think so. We’re at work, Dr. Whitman.” She took off down the hall, thankful no one was around. And more than thankful that he’d allowed her to go. She just needed five minutes. That was all.
Sure. Five minutes was really going to help her fight her attraction to Spence, especially when he seemed to have her in his sights for the foreseeable future. While her brain was telling her this was not what she wanted, her body was screaming that it was well past time to take a chance and feel the heat of a lover—to feel the passion so many others had experienced.
With a shake to clear her clouded head, she changed clothes, then hid in dark corners of the hospital for the rest of her shift. If she was lucky, she’d get away without further run-ins with her hot boss.
Of course, when had she ever been that lucky?
Sage sneaked around the corner and peeked out. The coast was clear. She’d managed to avoid Spence through the end of her shift—no trauma patients, no one needing her to keep her on the clock beyond her scheduled time.
Now she just had to get out of this building and safely home. After zipping down the hall, she craned her neck to look around the final corner and smiled when there was no sign of Spence anywhere. She was home free.
Once through the outside door, Sage took a step back at the force of the snow blowing toward her. It had been coming down hard less than an hour ago, but right now it looked like a blizzard. The wind had picked up and the snow was pelting her.
But there was no way she’d admit defeat. Determined to make it home on her own, she figured it would take her two hours to make the fifteen-mile trip. Where was a snowmobile when you needed one?
She had to keep her head down as she trudged to the employee parking lot. When she spotted her car, she nearly cried. About eight inches of snow were piled up on the thing, and there was no sign of a road anywhere. Was she really going to let her pride compromise her safety?