Feeling deeply unsettled by her attraction for the larger-than-life man walking so close to her, Maia was grateful when Cole opened a side door to the main house, and they were in the snow room. Jackets were hung on the walls, and boots lined the floor. Both men removed their shoes, and Maia did the same. It was cool in the room, but far warmer than outside.
The inside of the house was so warm she felt the blast of heat on her cold skin. The entryway was tiled, but warm on their feet. She looked up at the archways and high ceilings, her breath catching. “Good grief. You live here? This is a modern-day miracle.”
Cole and Jase exchanged a long look. Jase cleared his throat. “I’ll find you some warm clothes.” He hurried off while Cole pulled a blanket from the back of one of the deep, oversized couches and wrapped it around her. “How about I make you something hot to drink, and I’ll cook tonight.” He glanced out the series of glass windows making up the front of the house. The snow was steady with no letup. “I think you’re going to be here a few days, and you’ll get the chance to make Jase your famous pizza another time. Right now you need to warm up.”
Maia couldn’t argue with him. She was shivering uncontrollably. “I’d love a hot shower.” Just the idea sounded like ecstasy.
The thought of Maia naked in the shower was enough to give Cole heart failure. “Sure.” His voice was husky and she gave him a sharp glance. He put his hand over his heart. “You’re killing me.”
“Good. It’s about time someone did. All those women come way too easy for you. It isn’t good for you, you know.”
“What? Women? You make me sound like a gigolo. There haven’t been all that many.” Why was he defending himself? It was her smile, the way it lit her eyes, the way her soft mouth curved. Inwardly he groaned. His mouth tightened. His jaw hardened. Why did he have to be so intrigued by everything she said and did?
Maia pinned him with her gaze, a small smirk escaping over his reaction. “There were that many women. Point me toward the shower and the bathroom had better have a really good lock on the door. I did mention I’m proficient in several forms of martial arts, didn’t I?”
“I knew we were compatible. So am I.”
She heaved an exaggerated sigh. “Of course you are. What was I thinking?”
chapter
5
MAIA THREW OFF the goose-down quilt and sat up. It was impossible to go to sleep. She was so tired she wanted to scream in frustration, but the house seemed to whisper to her. Evil, haunting whispers she couldn’t ignore. The pain in the house ran deep, was soaked into the walls and floors and ceilings. She pressed her hands over her ears, trying to drown out the whispers and finally gave up, leaping from the bed. It wasn’t because she was psychic that she could feel the pain radiating out off the walls, it was because it was so intense anyone would have felt it.
The blizzard had to stop soon, or she would be going out of her mind in this place. Maia wandered through the spacious hall and down the curving staircase. The front of the house was mainly glass, and the snow reflected light from every source, illuminating the interior of the house with soft silver light. The house was beautiful, but it was a cold beauty, almost cruel. It gave her the creeps. Shivering, she made her way toward the kitchen. Something to warm her up might help her sleep. If it weren’t so cold, she would go out to her Land Cruiser and sleep there.
“What are you doing up?”
Maia whirled around, her heart in her throat. Cole Steele was sprawled out on the overlarge couch, long legs stretched out in front of him and a bottle of Jack Daniel’s on the table. Her gaze jumped from the bottle to his face. In that one, unguarded moment, she caught a glimpse of a man ravaged by pain, by unspeakable horror, and she knew the truth. Jase had not been the only one to be abused. Cole had suffered the same torment as Jase, and it explained a lot about the man he had become. Wary. Dangerous. Solitary. It was a miracle that he had come back to take care of his half brother.
Cole wrapped his hand around the neck of the bottle, his gaze all at once hot as it drifted with too much interest over her body. “I asked why you were still up.” There was a dark sensuality that called to everything feminine in her.
“Ghosts live in this house, but you already know that, don’t you?”
His fingers tightened around the bottle. Without taking his eyes off her, he lifted it to his mouth and took a drink. His shirt was open, leaving the heavy muscles of his chest bare. There was rage in his eyes. Too many memories and none of them good. “Yes,” he answered abruptly, studying her over the rim of the bottle. “When they get to be too much, I drown them. Do you want to join me?”