Page 73 of An Unholy Affair
‘I’m very glad you didn’t.’ Jack pushed the spindle back through the hole and held it in place so she could reattach the handle on her side.
She tied her robe tighter around her, then opened the door. ‘Thank you. I’ll—’
‘Fucking hell, you’re blue!’
‘I’m f-fine—’
‘Has the boiler gone again?’
She nodded, her teeth clacking inside her head.
He held out his hands, as if wanting to rub her warm, then froze. ‘What about the electric shower?’
‘Stopped w-working.’
‘Jesus, Eveline!’
Heat was radiating off him. All she wanted to do was curl up in his arms.
‘Do you have a hot water bottle? What can I do to help?’
‘Can you h-hug me, please? I’m so c-cold.’
He hesitated for a second, then drew her in, wrapping his arms around her and holding her against the hard heat of his chest. The effect of finally being near warmth caused her to relax a fraction, and the shivers became shakes.
‘Eveline, I’m not a doctor, but you feel dangerously cold. Which bedroom is yours? We need to get you under some covers.’
‘D-don’t leave me.’
‘I’m not going to, sweet—’ He sighed. ‘Just point me in the right direction.’
She shuffled with him to her bedroom and he threw back the bedcovers.
‘C-can you keep hugging me p-please?’
He nodded and climbed in after her, tucking the duvet behind her, then pulling her against him, his hands rubbing up and down her back.
God, the only man I thought I’d ever have in my bed was my husband, but Jack made it clear he doesn’t want me or children. Why did you send him to me now? To stop me from dying from hypothermia?
Eveline had never felt so cold before, and was shivering violently, but flashes of awareness punctuated the pain that had sunk through to her bones.
Jack shifted his legs. ‘Put your feet on mine. If I can’t get you warm, we need to get you somewhere with a hot bath.’
‘I’ll be f-fine,’ she managed, moving her bare feet to find his.
He huffed across the top of her hair. ‘Bloody hell. I’ve met warmer ice blocks.’
She laughed through her shivers. ‘The p-pigs got out again, so I h-had to mend the fence. That’s why I’m so ch-chilly.’
‘Ah yes, I saw two lumps of mud inside the back door that were vaguely shoe-shaped. I take it you didn’t have time to get your wellies?’
She shook her head.
He sighed and held her tighter.
Closing her eyes, Eveline sank into Jack’s warmth. As the chills slowly subsided, they were replaced with a slow-growing heat that moved languorously down inside her body to pool deep in her abdomen.
What’s happening?
