“We did it,” he said. “We’re in the cabin. I made a fire. See? You need to get out of those wet clothes so you can get warm.”
Her eyes fluttered open. She didn’t seem to recognize him. Worry descended at the sight of her dilated pupils. Her core body temperature was dangerously low. She was in no condition to undress. If her heart rate and oxygen intake slowed…
“I’m going to get you out of those clothes, okay?”
“Gotta…sleep.” Her words slurred.
“Not right now.” Reaching behind her, he lifted her to a sitting position and glanced down at her clothes. She was still wearing the tattered black wool suit jacket and slacks. A white blouse. She was soaked to the skin.
Propping her against his right arm and shoulder, he used his left to unbutton the jacket. Mattie was like a rag doll in his arms as he worked the jacket from her body and tossed it to the floor. The blouse clung to her like skin. Beneath it, he discerned the lace of her bra and the swell of her breasts. His fingers shook as he began unbuttoning the blouse.
“Wha’r you doing?” Mattie thrashed and brushed at his hands.
Cutter didn’t stop. “You’ve got hypothermia,” he said firmly. “These wet clothes need to go so your body can warm up.”
He tried not to look when her blouse fell open. But his gaze was irresistibly drawn to the swell of her generous breasts encased in lace and cotton, a flat belly and the kind of curves a man liked to sink his hands into.
She slapped at his hand. “Please. Don’t.”
Cutter caught her wrist. “Easy,” he said. “I have to do this. Then we’ll put you next to the fire, okay?”
The mention of the fire seemed to calm her. Cutter quickly removed her blouse. He tried not to touch her skin as he undid her slacks. Tried even harder not to look as he peeled the material down her long, shapely legs. But while Sean Cutter was a MIDNIGHT agent first and foremost, he was also a man.
The memory of the way her body had felt against his assailed him. The softness of her mouth. The warmth of her breath against his cheek. Not even hypothermia could keep the blood from rushing hotly to his groin….
How could he be so damn attracted to the woman he’d been hired to take back? A woman who’d betrayed her country?
Annoyed with himself, Cutter ground his teeth. Quickly, and as impersonally as possible, he removed her shoes, then her slacks. Her bra and panties were wet as well, but there was no way he was going to remove them. Covering her with the blanket, he then dragged the bunk closer to the fire so she would get maximum heat.
He hung her clothes over the back of a chair and set it next to the hearth for quick drying, then set to work removing his own wet clothing. He had begun to shiver, which was a good sign. His body was coming to life, trying to warm itself and raise his body temperature back to a normal level. But even with the fire blazing, the temperature inside the cabin was below freez ing. If they were going to recover enough to walk out of there under their own power, he was going to have to do a hell of a lot better.
Aside from the fire, the next best source of warmth was body heat. As much as he didn’t want to think about crawling onto that cot with Mattie Logan when they were wearing nothing more than underwear, he knew it was the smartest thing to do. Not only for him, but for her. Her body temperature was dangerously low. Warming too quickly could shunt cold blood from the surface of the body to the internal organs, causing shock. Body heat was the perfect solution.
Shivering uncontrollably, he lifted the blanket from Mattie. She was lying curled on her side. Trying not to notice her beauty, he bent and touched her shoulder with the back of his fingers. Her skin was cold to the touch, but her lips were no longer blue. He checked her pulse, found it slow. Too slow, he thought.
Decision made, he climbed onto the cot and lay down behind her with his body spooning hers. Pulling the blanket over both of them, he wrapped his arm around her torso. He willed himself not to think of her in inappropriate terms, but his body had no such reservations. The mattress smelled moldy, but it was the scent of rosemary and lemon that filled his nostrils as he drifted into a dreamless sleep.
Chapter Seven
Mattie woke to blessed warmth and the sensation of a muscular male body snugged up against hers. Her first thought was that she’d just wakened from a very bad dream. She was back in her condo in D.C. She’d finally slept with Daniel. But none of those things explained why every part of her body ached. Or why the wind was howling and snow was battering the windows with the force of tiny missiles.