A Touch of Spring (5 page)

She got a quick impression of the two men still rolling on the floor, but now Andy was on top. Masculine grunts and curses were loud in the silence of the mountain.

She put her head down and charged at Frida, shoving her backwards into the car, away from the door, and pinning her against the wall. The Swiss woman hit the wall with a satisfying thump and yelped.

Roz brought her leg up and kneed the hand which held the gun, knocking it to the floor.

Now let's see how tough you are, bitch.

All the fear and rage of the past two days welled up, giving Roz the strength of two women as she kicked and pounded at Frida.

“Tie me up, would you?” Thump.

“Threaten Andy, would you?” Kick.

“Drag me up a mountain?” Head-butt.

“Toss me out of a cable car? Yeah right.” Punch.

The silence behind her distracted her. Roz looked around and saw that Andy was there, grinning like a proud parent, while Gorev lay unconscious at his feet.

“Would you like to give me a hand here?” she snapped.

He grinned, displaying a dimple in his lean cheek. Really, was the man totally perfect?

“Are you kidding? You look like you’re doing just fine.”

And she was, she realised. There was something about working together like this that just felt so right.

“Don't just stand there, pick up the gun and tie her up,” she told him.

He saluted her, without a trace of mockery. “Yes, ma'am.”

In economical movements, he tied up both of the conspirators. “Now we can enjoy the view on the way down.”

And he kissed her.

She had a moment where she wanted to protest, then forgot it. Who cared about the stupid view?

Roz stared at the walls of the interview room in Zermatt police station. They had gone around in circles for hours. Did she know where the painting was? Why had Gorev kidnapped her? What did she know about the theft? Her hands hurt, her head ached and she was still without boots.

A kindly police woman had given her a pair of heavy woollen socks. She poked her toe through the fabric of one of them and decided that she needed a pedicure.

Beside her, Andy shifted in his chair. “Let me get this straight. You know that my … that Roz has nothing to do with the theft but she’s still a suspect?”

Inspector Jelk sighed. “Unfortunately, she is the best lead we have at this time. Vadim Gorev and his accomplice are refusing to answer any questions. The other man involved in the theft was killed in the avalanche and we still have no idea where the painting is.”

Andy leaned across the table. “If you have evidence against Roz, then charge her. Otherwise, we’re leaving.”

Roz shook her head. There was too much testosterone in this room. For long moments, the two men stared at each other then Inspector Jelk shrugged. “Very well, but don’t leave Zermatt.”

Andy helped her to her feet. When he opened the door, the aroma of fresh coffee made her stomach growl. She couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten. “Feed me now or lose me forever.”

“Poor baby. Don’t worry, I’ve got everything covered.”

She shuffled along the corridor beside him. Yeah, she was really looking forward to seeing that.

Outside the station a horse-drawn carriage was waiting. Roz perked up. This beat walking in socks.

For the first time in hours, Andy smiled. Hooking his arms beneath her knees, he lifted her up. “May I serve my lady?”

Roz could think of a dozen ways in which he could serve her. Most of them were definitely x-rated. Despite the fact that Andy was unshaven and a little battered around the edges, a fizzle of lust exploded in her abdomen. “You may.”

She giggled as he carried her across the icy path and deposited her in the carriage before climbing in beside her.

“First things first.” From beneath the seat Andy produced a fur rug and wrapped it around her. The warmth was amazing.

Roz could have kissed him. “What’s next? Please say food.”

Andy reached into his pocket and pulled out a small tissue-wrapped parcel. “I went to the hospital yesterday. The nurse said that she had to take it off you when you were having your MRI scan.”

Roz carefully unwrapped the tiny parcel to reveal a rose-gold wedding band. Imagines flooded her, as swift and merciless as a tidal wave. Music. Andy holding her while people around them cheered. Her wedding day.

Andy slipped the ring onto her finger. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her hair. “I can’t have you wandering around Switzerland, not knowing who you belong to.”

A trickle of tears threatened to turn into a torrent and she buried her face in his chest. Memories rushed to the surface like bubbles in a champagne glass. Riding out with him in a meadow on a warm day. Andy dressed in chain mail and carrying a sword? She would have to ask him about that one later.

Oh sweet god. Roz lifted her head and gasped, “Emma? Poppy?”

“Hush, they’re both fine.”

“But how could I have forgotten…” She faltered when she saw the bright gleam of tears in his eyes. Andy McTavish was crying.

“When I heard you were caught up in the avalanche, I thought I’d lost you. I got to the site, but they told me that they’d already taken people to the hospital and that two skiers were dead.”

“I rang everyone I could think of, trying to get information. You have no idea what state I was in by the time I found you. And then you didn’t remember me.”

Roz scrambled onto his lap and captured his face between her hands. His tanned cheeks were cold. The urge to rip every stitch of clothing from him so that she could touch his bare skin was overwhelming. Instead, she settled for a hungry, lingering kiss.

Andy pushed her away gently. “Naughty Mrs. McTavish. Not here. We have a ways to go yet.”

“Gornergrat railway,” he told the driver.

On the way, Roz nibbled her way through the supply of energy bars he always kept in his pockets, but she was still starving and when they joined a group of eager hikers at Riffelberg.

Bloody man of mystery. Andy had refused to tell her where they were going and had extracted a promise that she wouldn’t ask any of the others. A hike? They were on a very belated honeymoon and he wanted to take her hiking? But when she scowled at him, Andy just laughed.

He adjusted his backpack and handed her a pair of ski-poles to help her on her way.

“You’ll love it,” Andy said with a grin. “Come on, it’s only ten minutes from here.”

They followed the group through the crisp white snow. The air was clean and cold and despite her craving for a little luxury, Roz began to cheer up a little. They were together. Nothing else mattered.

Up ahead, she heard a woman’s delighted laughter, and the enticing aroma of mulled wine drifting on the icy air made her mouth water.

“Welcome, everyone.”

The stark whiteness of the ice village contrasted with the slate-grey mountain peak in the distance. A burst of laughter escaped her. Only Andy would remember that she had a childhood fantasy about being a snow angel. “You got me an igloo?”

A blond man smiled as he approached them. “Your accommodation is this way.”

The entrance was set into a bank of hard-packed snow. Inside was a series of rooms that Roz itched to explore. The interior was covered in ice carvings; birds, fish, mountains and tiny villages. In the centre of one room, a platform of ice was covered with sheepskins, furs and sleeping bags. The wall behind was decorated with the giant wings of an eagle.

“Food first,” Andy announced.

On a covered tray, a selection of cured meat, bread cubes and salad leaves awaited and a pot of fondue bubbled. Roz devoured it eagerly and afterwards lay back on the sheepskin rugs to stare at the round ceiling. The room was cold but not freezing and with food inside her she was beautifully warm. “I think I’ve died and gone to heaven,” she murmured happily.

“You haven’t seen the best bit yet.” Andy pulled her to her feet and down a flight of stairs.

Wisps of steam escaped from a bubbling whirlpool. In one corner, a bottle of champagne sat in a wooden bucket, flanked by two glasses. He had thought of everything.

“Do you need help getting out of those clothes?”

Roz flexed her fingers. The movement was a little easier and the warm water would probably help. “I can manage. Why don’t you go first?”

Without taking his eyes from hers, Andy shed his clothing quickly. Roz wanted to whistle. How could one man be so edible? He stepped into the warm water.

Andy disappeared beneath the surface and rose again, shaking the water from his hair before turning his attention to her. “Is there a problem, Mrs. McTavish?”

“No. I was just admiring the view of your ass.”

Roz pinned her hair into a neat twist. She fumbled with the zips and fastenings on her clothes before laying them on top of his. She followed Andy into the pool and lowered herself quickly, keeping her head above water to keep her hair dry.

“Jesus.” Andy brushed a stray curl away from her face, uncovering the bruises on her cheekbone and temple. He tilted her head, his touch infinitely gentle. “Gorev?”

Roz nodded. She didn’t want to think about that now. Not when she had found Andy again.

His mouth formed a thin hard line. “Stand up. I want to see the rest.”

“It’s bloody freezing,” she protested. But his uncompromising expression drove her to her feet. Roz shivered as he examined her for damage, checking her arms and legs for bruises. “I will kill him. I will break every bone in his body.”

She was damned if she would allow Gorev to intrude on their honeymoon. He had hurt her enough. “You can do that tomorrow. Tonight, you get to kiss me better.”

The anger faded from Andy’s face to be replaced with something else. He pulled her into his arms, wrapping her in a warm cocoon of male flesh and bubbling water. “Yes, ma’am.”

Roz closed her eyes, listening to the slow thud of his heartbeat against her ear. She was home.

“No sleeping yet. I have plans for you tonight.”

Roz sat up. Andy’s ‘plans’ were usually inventive and deliciously naughty. She watched as he opened the champagne and poured two glasses.

“It’s a little bit late, but happy honeymoon.”

The bubbles tickled her nose and the contrast between cold air and warm water made her hum with pleasure. She closed her eyes. As honeymoons went, this was pretty perfect, except that it had been sexless. There was one way to remedy that. Setting her glass down on the tray, she moved slowly through the water, hunting her prey.

Andy backed away until he hit the edge of the pool. “I do believe you’ve cornered me.”

Roz slid her palms over his chest. Sometimes it was hard to believe that he was all hers. She cupped his face in her hands and teased him with a lingering kiss. Andy’s searching hands explored every inch of her skin. He pinched her aching nipples until she squirmed, before travelling south to squeeze the rounded globes of her ass and draw her flush against him.

Fire and ice. The elemental force of desire. She felt it every time she was with Andy and could never imagine being with anyone else. His hard erection pressed against her belly and his mouth closed over hers in a hard demanding kiss that took her breath away.

When they drew apart, they were both shaking and it wasn’t from the cold. “Bed. Before we freeze.”

They scrambled out of the pool and dried off quickly. “Race you,” she said.

Roz fled up the steps and climbed into her sleeping bag and lay giggling on the pile of sheepskin rugs. Despite the cold, it was cosy.

Andy tugged at the edge of her bag. “Get out of there. I’m going to zip them together.”

Within minutes, he had extinguished most of the lamps and they were tucked up side by side, staring at the ice carvings. Outside, the wind whistled around the snowy slopes. It was like being in another world, another time. There was nothing but her and the man lying beside her. It was wild, primitive and strangely erotic.

She wiggled against Andy, needing to be skin to skin with him.

His first kiss was gentle, a slow tentative exploration. She flicked her tongue lazily against his and was rewarded with a groan. Greedily, she deepened the kiss, answering his hunger with her own. He stoked her back and thighs, learning her again. It felt as if they had been apart for months rather than nights. “I missed you, even when I couldn’t remember who you were.”

Andy’s low laugh echoed around the room. “I did my best to remind you. Several times. But I’m not sure if I approve of you making out with a man you didn’t know.”

Roz pinched Andy hard and he yelped.

His eyes narrowed, promising retribution. “Temper, temper, Mrs McTavish. I think you need a reminder about who’s in charge.”

She put her hand on his chest, holding him. “What was all that Frau Campbell stuff about? You have no idea how much I worried about that.”

He shrugged. “Haven’t you noticed how difficult the Swiss find it to say McTavish? They started called us Herr and Frau Campbell in the hotel because they could pronounce it.”

Andy rolled, pinning her beneath him and he insinuated his leg between her thighs, holding them apart. Bracing his weight on one arm, he trailed a path between her breasts with his index finger and traced slow circles around her abdomen.

Desire unfurled like a sail, swelling until it reached every nerve ending. Why had he stopped? Roz arched her hips, seeking more of those tantalising touches. She murmured impatiently.

The infuriating circling of his fingertips continued, moving closer to her aching core, but not close enough.

“Are you wet for me?” he whispered.

Andy knew exactly what he was doing. He was going to drive her to distraction. Turn her into a mindless writhing thing. Despite the flood of sensation, Roz forced herself to lie still. “Why don’t you find out?”

The suddenness of his invasion made her gasp. Oh God, that felt so good. The slow, pumping finger was joined by a second one. She arched against him, seeking more pressure but he turned his attention to her clit. The sensual torture continued, dragging her close to the edge, but never enough to let her fly. Her soft moans echoed around the icy chamber. She tossed her head from side to side, her face brushing against the fur beneath her. Andy was going to kill her.

If she didn’t kill him first.

Taking him by surprise, she grasped a handful of his hair, raised her face to his and nipped him on the mouth. “Now, God damn you.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Andy nudged her thighs further apart and thrust home.

She felt stuffed, impaled by him. How could she have waited this long to have this? Within the confines of the sleeping bag, Roz locked her thighs around his, holding him in place. His chest moved slickly against hers, the soft hair brushing against her nipples. She raked her nails along his back, pleased when he groaned. Roz wanted to torture him as much as he had tortured her.