Blaze of Winter: A Loveswept Contemporary Romance by Elisabeth Barrett Page A

and he took the opportunity to plunder, slipping his tongue between her lips and gently stroking. He tasted like mint, cool and sweet.
    She was tall, but Theo towered over her, putting her slightly off-balance. Instinctively, she slid her own arms around his waist, and at her simple touch, he groaned. Her eyes slid shut of their own accord and she forgot why she was fighting her undeniable attraction to him. Sensation coursed through her and for the first time in a very long while, Avery’s mind stopped whirring, focusing only on Theo and the way their bodies were pressed together so intimately.
    And my God, he felt good—his big hands holding her securely, his tender mouth coaxing her higher. At that moment, she would have agreed to tell him anything, so long as he kept his mouth on hers.
    Then a door slammed loudly, and the spell was broken. Avery blinked, then pushed away from him. Reluctantly, he let her go. “Did you hear that?” she asked, jerking her head toward the back of the Inn.
    Theo nodded. “Do you leave the back door unlocked, too?”
    She shook her head. Though the front door was typically left open, the back door was usually locked. “Aunt Kate?” she called out. No one else should be in the Inn at this time ofnight. When no one answered, she said, “I’m going to see what it was,” and briskly strode to the door.
    He grabbed her arm. “Like hell you are. Stay here. I’m going.”
    Incredulously, she looked at his hand, then up at his face. “No way. I’m responsible for this place while Kate’s out. I’ll go.”
    Theo set his lips in a straight line. “Fine. We’ll go together. But let me take the lead.” He swept her behind him and then moved purposefully down the corridor, through the kitchen and down the back passage, flicking on lights as he walked. Before Avery had time to wonder how he knew his way through the Inn, he’d flung open the back door and stepped out onto the porch into the cold night. He scanned the grounds, which were dimly illuminated by a floodlight on the roof. She peered around his broad back, trying to see what was out there.
    The back of the Inn faced a gravel parking lot and driveway, most of which was covered with half an inch of snow. Her own small car was parked there, blanketed with white. Beyond the lot was a small expanse of lawn. Ashumet Avenue was to the left, but there was a heavily wooded area to the right.
    Theo pointed out two sets of footprints, which were rapidly being covered with fresh snow. “Someone was here.” One of the benefits of the Inn’s seclusion was the relative privacy it afforded its guests, but now Avery was beginning to realize the downside.
    “Some one ?” A small pit formed in her stomach.
    “Same footprints. One set up. One set back.” He squinted into the night. “Whoever it was is gone now.” He turned back to the door and bent down to examine the lock. “Look,” he said, pointing at the door frame. “Jimmied and then picked.”
    “How can you tell?” she asked, bending to get a good look.
    “See here? There are scratches on the outside frame, but no scrapes inside. Whoever did this tried to pry the door open before picking the lock. Why didn’t you throw the dead bolt?”
    She shrugged. “Aunt Kate never does, so I didn’t see the point.”
    He stood, holding out his hand to help her up. Ignoring it, she straightened without assistance. “Maybe you should start using it, and locking both doors,” he said, shutting the door and sliding the dead bolt home. “For safety.”
    “If you’re worried about safety, rest assured that your room has three locks on it, including a chain and a dead bolt,” she said stiffly, coming to the unpleasant realization that this might not be the first time someone had broken in. In fact, that might explain the missing food items and the moved furniture, but she didn’t want to mention that to Theo.
    He gave her a look. “It’s not my safety I’m worried about.”
    “I