All she could see was dark and icy water.

Daire kept a firm hold around Cee Cee’s wrist and another around his bag, kicking his feet and propelling them toward the surface. She kicked next to him, her white-blond hair billowing out all around and small bubbles emerging from her mouth. The sea fought them, black and alive, trying to shove them back down.

Finally, they burst through the surface, and he sucked in air, his lungs burning.

Cee Cee coughed next to him, jerking her arm free to tread water. A wave crashed over her head, and she emerged sputtering.

He looked around, trying to see past the battering waves. “I think this way.” He was disoriented, but he’d seen the outline of an island as they were going down.

She nodded and started to swim through waves behind him.

He kept a brisk pace, trying to fight the sea’s chill. Energy poured out of him. He paused and waited until Cee Cee stopped. Her skin had frozen, and her lips had turned blue. A human would be dead. Icicles formed on her eyelashes. “We’re almost there,” he said.

She nodded.

He turned, keeping her partially in sight, and continued swimming. An outcropping finally came into view, and relief flushed through him. Minutes later, they crawled across sharp rocks to a barren land. Chunks of ice so dense as to glow a light blue dotted the landscape, leading to a full glacier between two mountains. Outcroppings of rock protected the small cove somewhat.

Cee Cee sat on the ground, her arms around her knees, her body shaking violently, her teeth smashing together.

He yanked open the bag, hoping it was as weatherproof as advertised. He felt inside. Thank goodness. Yanking out a satellite phone, he quickly dialed his brother with frozen fingers.

“Daire?” Adam asked.

“My helicopter went down outside the Franz Josef Land islands, and I don’t know which one. Lock on the phone and send rescue.” He clipped out the words, wanting to get warmth into Cee Cee. She was freezing in front of his eyes, but they needed help.

“Hold on,” Adam said.

Daire reached down and hauled Cee Cee up, tugging her wet clothes over her head. She struggled, shoving against him. Then he drew a heavy sweater from the bag and yanked it down over her body. The sound she made, pleasure and pain, warmed him right up.

“Daire?” Adam asked.

“Go.” Daire studied the nearly frozen woman in front of him. Did he have the strength to start a fire?

“I’m still in Russia researching the planekite mining, and there’s a blizzard going on. As soon as possible, I’ll pick you up. Might be first light tomorrow. Be ready.” Adam’s voice roughened. “Are you hurt?”

“No. Just get here. Bring clothes for me and for a petite woman. And food.” Daire clicked off before Adam could ask any questions and then yanked a waterproof tent from the go-bag.

Cee Cee’s lips trembled in the parody of a smile. “Aren’t you prepared?” Her teeth chattered as she spoke.

“Always.” He unfolded the tent and quickly hammered it into place against the nearest rocks, and then he grabbed a rolled-up sleeping bag to toss inside. “I keep an escape helicopter on a remote island north of the Arctic Circle.” Testing the ties of the tent, he nodded. “A go-bag for bad weather seemed like a good idea. Just in case.” The current situation was by no means the worst he’d ever been in, although he’d never had a small blonde to worry about before. He held open the flap. “Take off the jeans and get in.”

She glanced down at her wet jeans and boots before shivering. Surprisingly, she didn’t argue but shrugged out of the wet clothing and then hightailed it inside.

The wind pierced him, and snow began to fall. He sucked in air and tried to force fire to the surface.

Nothing.

He shivered. Wet clothes weren’t going to help. His hands shook as he kicked out of his jeans and placed them right inside the tent before toeing off his boots and socks. His limbs were heavy, and his head pounded. Being naked was the last of his worries. Without a word, he opened the flap and crawled inside to find Cee Cee in the bag. She’d unzipped it and tossed open the side.

“Get in,” she said, her voice cracking.

He climbed in and zipped up behind him. The wind moved the top of the tent back and forth. Her scent wafted lightly around him along with the smell of salt and ocean. “I can’t make fire, but if we sleep, we’ll both heal.” The woman felt like one long piece of ice. Trying to be gentle, he turned her back to his front and spooned around her. “Body heat will have to do.”

She trembled, shivers rubbing her skin against his. Even through the wool sweater, she felt cold.

He rubbed her arms and tucked his knees up and under hers. “Sleep will help.” Not that there was a choice for him. After fighting, being injured, helping Cee Cee to heal, and then crashing a helicopter into the freezing sea, his body was done. So he tucked his nose into her wet hair, took a deep breath, and let himself fall.

Even sleeping, his subconscious kept track of the woman in his arms and the storm berating the tent, but he went under deep enough to allow his body to heal, resting for several hours.

A strong gust of wind whipped across the tent, and he came fully awake with a jerk. No light permeated the darkness, so it wasn’t dawn as of yet. He’d slept for the rest of the day and then a good portion of the night. Heat surrounded him in the tight sleeping bag. As his mind settled, his body kicked alive. Smooth, soft hands were caressing very lightly across his chest and down his abs, soothing each one as if counting them.

Cee Cee faced him, one smooth thigh between his legs, her hands exploring.

Desire, desperate and hot, burned through him. “What are you doing?” His voice was beyond rough.

She lifted her head, her soft and now dry hair brushing across the bristles of his whiskers. “I didn’t mean to awaken you.”

That voice. That sexy, hoarse, fuck me voice. His cock sprang hard as steel. “Yet you did,” he rumbled.

She finished counting the last rib, her small hand so close to his dick, he stopped breathing. “You’re just so hard and ripped, I wanted to feel.”

The sweetness in the confession competed with the feminine need in her tone.

He shut his eyes and tried to breathe evenly. Almost on its own volition, his hand caressed down her torso to pure heat. So smooth and inviting. Her moan lit him on fire. She was wet and ready . . . and in about two seconds, he was going to lose all control. So he removed his hand. “Cee Cee? Either move away from me or say yes.”

Quiet ticked.

Her palm flattened across his abs, the touch firm. “It has been a while, Enforcer. But yes.”

At the word, he finally did exactly what he’d craved since first seeing her across the bar. Grabbing her hair, he plundered her mouth, rolling them over and shoving himself inside her with one hard thrust.

Chapter 9

Cee Cee gasped, her body arching up into the solid concrete of Daire’s. Pain and an incredible pleasure rippled through her. Thank goodness she’d been ready. Her nails dug into his chest.

He reached down and tore the sweater over her head, his mouth absolutely conquering hers. Hard and deep, he kissed her like he owned her, giving no quarter. Hot and male, with a fierceness too late to tame. Finally, he lifted his head, allowing her to breathe.

She filled her lungs, overwhelmed. Yeah, she’d wondered. Wondered if she could really do this—if she could have sex now. Apparently she could. God, he felt good. Muscle, toned and deadly, filled her palms as she caressed up his chest and down the rigid contours of his arms. His cock pulsed inside her, awakening nerves she’d forgotten existed. “So much for foreplay,” she murmured, her lips tingling and swelling from the hard kiss.