Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

Belle could have sworn there hadn't been an opening…

Well, there was one there now, so it must have been there before too. Openings in solid rock didn't just suddenly appear. They took years to form.

She'd been exhausted by the time she found the cave the day before, she reasoned, and her fingers had already been numb from the extreme cold, despite her wearing gloves. She must have somehow missed this opening.

Not that she would have attempted to go through it once the light on her cell phone died. For all she knew, there could be a sheer drop on the other side.

Obviously, there wasn't, or Lachlan wouldn't have been able to step into the cave and find her, but she'd had no way of knowing that last night.

Which reminded her… "I hope I haven't inconvenienced too many people by them having to go out looking for me in this foul weather."

"There's only me," Lachlan told her. "And inconvenienced is the last thing I'm feeling," he assured gruffly.

Belle tried once again to pull her hand from inside his much larger one, but failed to release herself when his fingers tightened about hers. Not enough to hurt, just enough to prevent her from pulling free.

The first touch of Lachlan's hand had made her feel as if she'd received an electric shock. One that sent heat roiling through her whole body.

That heat had dulled slightly now, but there was still an underlying hum to her senses that made her totally aware of everything about this man.

Most especially what she could describe as an animal magnetism. It held her completely captive and had caused that uncharacteristic arousal.

She kept her gaze lowered, her physical response making it difficult for her to meet the hungry intensity she'd seen in those icy gray eyes.

Hungry, as if this man wanted to eat her?

Or hungry in that he felt the same physical draw toward her as she did toward him?

Of course he wasn't feeling either of those things, she inwardly snorted.

For one thing, he definitely didn't look like a cannibal.

He was also at least fourteen or fifteen years older than her. Which probably meant he also saw her as an irresponsible child for having wandered alone up the mountain, rather than as the practical and sensible woman she really was.

He was dressed casually, but Belle was familiar enough with wearing cheap clothing to know that Lachlin's jacket was made of butter-soft leather and his T-shirt and jeans were also designer label. His feet were so big, she was sure he must have his boots custom-made.

Indicating a wealth that suggested he could be the local lord of the manor, or the laird, which was the Scottish equivalent.

Belle frowned as she recalled his previous comment. "Did none of the McGregor family bother to look for me when I didn't return to the house yesterday evening?"

He shrugged those wide shoulders. "It was dark and late by the time they realized you were missing. Ben and his father went out for a few hours this morning, but when they found no sign of you and the blizzard worsened, they called off their search." His eyes narrowed. "They didn't come out again because Ben seemed to be of the opinion you weren't enjoying yourself and that you had probably just taken a train back to London."

She recoiled in surprise. "Without first saying goodbye or thank you?"

Lachlan grimaced. "Ben thought it likely, yes."

Probably because Ben, annoyed with her for rejecting him the night before, couldn't be bothered to carry on looking for her.

Bastard!

Ever since someone broke into her room before Christmas, Belle had taken to carrying her most precious belongings around with her in her backpack. Not that she had many of those, but habit meant she'd brought her backpack up the mountain with her yesterday. The one she still gripped tightly against her.

It not only contained everything she'd brought with her to Scotland, toiletries, and several changes of clothes, but also what she considered to be the most important of Sister Agnes's journals.

Which, she now realized, would have left nothing in the bedroom she'd occupied at the McGregors' house to indicate she was coming back.

But Ben must have known she wouldn't just up and leave without thanking his parents for their hospitality.

Whatever Ben might have thought happened to her, he could have at least tried to check on her by calling her. Yes, she'd had no reception up the mountain, and her cell would probably have already been out of power by the time he maybe thought of doing it. But the fact he couldn't reach her might perhaps have alerted him to the fact that something was wrong. Somehow, she doubted he had even tried.

She scowled. "Are the trains even running right now?"

"Probably not." Lachlan shrugged.

"Then how the hell did they think— Never mind," she dismissed irritably.

"Was Ben right about you not enjoying yourself?" he probed.

Belle winced. "I don't drink alcohol, and the Hogmanay celebrations were very noisy and went on for a long time."

His eyebrows rose. "You didn't want to spend the New Year with your family?"

She shrugged. "I don't have any family."

"None at all?"

"No." Belle frowned slightly when she again briefly thought she saw that blaze of fire deep in the depth of Lachlan Drake's eerily pale eyes.

Maybe because, she realized belatedly, she was telling this man far too much about herself. Most worryingly, she had revealed that she was completely alone in the world.

Not a good idea, Belle, she remonstrated with herself.

Lachlan already knew the McGregors believed she had traveled back to London without so much as saying thank you for allowing them to stay with them. Now, she'd also told Lachlan she didn't have any family who would miss her if she didn't return.

No doubt, the other occupants of the house she shared would notice her absence when they returned after the holidays. But then Ben would probably laugh and say she'd probably moved out because he'd made a move on her and been rejected.

Maybe someone on the university faculty might notice her absence when she didn't return to her classes after the holidays. But even then, attending classes wasn't compulsory, and if she continued being absent, they would probably just think she'd dropped out of the course.

It would be a little strange, considering she was fast approaching her final semester of a three-year course, but she'd seen other students leave when the reality of the final exams loomed. Admittedly, most of those students had been like Ben and rarely attended classes anyway. Belle was the opposite, and attended and made copious notes at every lecture.

But that didn't mean she couldn't have still decided to leave.

Even the manager of the coffee shop where she worked part-time would only complain when she didn't turn up for her shift in a couple of days. But he probably had a list of hopeful students just waiting to take her place. London was a transient place, coffee shop employees even more so, and those part-time jobs were always highly sought after by students who were as without funds as Belle was.

She looked at Lachlan Drake from beneath her lashes. There was a dangerous edge to this man, an underlying restlessness she sensed was there, despite his unnatural stillness.

The way he barely seemed to be breathing and was totally unmoving, that pale gray gaze concentrated solely on her, was almost supernatural, Belle realized with a shiver.

"You're cold," Lachlan immediately noticed that shiver, even if he misunderstood the reason for it. "I need to get you off the mountain and into the warmth of our house, where we can get some hot broth into you."

"Our house?" Belle eyed him warily.

He nodded. "I share a house with my two brothers, Hunter and Ranulf."

Good God, there were three of them!

Were the other two as intensely brooding and panty-meltingly handsome as Lachlan?

"Ranulf is more brooding than I am," Lachlan provided dryly, immediately alerting Belle to the fact her brain was so muddled, she must have spoken those words out loud. "Hunter is less so, but probably still more than you're used to. We're a stoic breed up here in the Highlands." He grinned, revealing very white and straight teeth. "But, as their brother, I can't answer as to whether or not Hunter and Ranulf are panty-meltingly handsome," he added with amusement.

Oh dear God…

"I apologize." Belle felt the heat of her embarrassment burning her cheeks. "I'm not usually rude, especially to someone I just met. The cold must have frozen the polite part of my brain."

He sobered. "Which is why I need to get you somewhere warm as quickly as possible. Would you like me to carry you?"

"Hell, no! I mean… No. Thank you." Belle's cheeks burned with embarrassment at her knee-jerk reaction to being carried in this man's strong arms.

It was bad enough that she was still totally aware of him through their joined hands, but being carried by him, held against that powerful-looking chest, would be a complete overload to her already aroused senses.

"I'm sure I can manage," she assured.

"Then perhaps I can carry your backpack for you?—"

"No!" Her fingers tightened on the bag. "No," she repeated less aggressively. "Thank you."

Lachlan eyed her quizzically for several seconds before nodding. "Here, let me at least help you with this," he offered when her cold fingers meant she struggled to put one of the straps of the bag over the shoulder. "Tell me if it gets too heavy and you change your mind." He continued to hold Belle's other hand firmly in his as he turned and slipped through the gap in the cave wall.

After the briefest of hesitations, but knowing she had no real choice if she wanted to get off this mountain, Belle followed him.