Once every so often in the cold of winter, Mother Nature would put on a show, with the snow-covered mountains of Aspen serving as its stage. As soon as the sun began to set in the west, twilight would strike and turn the eastern skies into an evolving landscape of brilliant hues –the alpenglow would change from gold to violet, the earth’s shadow would transition from the faintest to the brightest of blue, while the belt of Venus would start off with the palest streak of lavender and finish off with the richest shade of purple.

As the heavens only revealed this dance of color and light for ten minutes or so, it made for a rare and breathtaking sight. Isla knew this for a fact, but somehow she ended up finding Sean’s gorgeous profile more fascinating.

How can this man be her lover, she found herself wondering. Even now, memories of the two hours they had spent locked in her hotel room were enough to have flurries of sexual giddiness stir in the pit of her stomach. It was as he had promised, with Sean teaching her multiple pleasurable things to do with her mouth, and with Isla loving every second of it.

He hadn’t even taken her virginity yet, Isla thought glumly, and already he had her so obsessed with sex she was terrified she might end up tying him to her bed if nothing were to happen anytime soon.

Sean Northwood was simply perfect, the kind of man who could have any woman he wanted. It didn’t make sense that he would be attracted to someone like her, but he was. The way he looked at her, kissed her, touched her – everything about it made his desire for her undeniable, and she found this so utterly incredulous that her arm was likely to end up bruised with how she kept pinching herself –

“You’re gonna make me melt with the way you’re staring so hard, sugar.”

Sean watched her blink in surprise, as if only realizing she had been staring at him. A moment later, and a saucy smile broke over her face. “Sorry about that, but you’re just too good-looking, you know?”

Her tone was light, but her eyes were disarmingly honest, and Sean was enchanted. A shy wallflower had its appeal, but that kind of woman would likely have trouble with how people constantly surrounded Sean. A bold seductress could also be exciting, but as this type also tended to be controlling, such women would have preferred to have Sean always at her beck and call.

Thankfully, Isla appeared to be neither. Although her lack of experience gave her every reason to make a scene about how things happened so fast between them, she had instead acted completely without artifice upon waking in his arms. And when they set out together afterwards, she had neither fussed over him the way most women did following their first night with Sean nor had she expected to monopolize his attention. She had not made a big deal over the way his arm remained curled around her waist while they walked, and she had been able to hold her own easily when he had to excuse himself to take a call at reception.

When he had returned to her side, it was to see her enjoying what looked like a fun and friendly conversation with a white-haired businessman and a female hotel employee working for maintenance. It was a curious mix to say the least, but it didn’t surprise him. He had noticed early on that Isla had a way with people – and it was exactly what a man like him needed.

Sean’s charm offensive was both his mask and his weapon; he used it ruthlessly to get what he wanted in business, but he also used it to keep himself out of any romantic entanglements. People would always surround him precisely because Sean wanted it that way – and it was this that women eventually had problems accepting. Or at least most women did…except for Isla.

“I think I’m the one in danger of melting now.”

Isla throwing his words back at him in an amused voice had Sean grunting in disgruntlement. It was not like him to stare at a woman, but then again – Isla was different, and it was perhaps time to accept this.

“Guess I can’t help it either,” he said finally. “You’re pretty as a pie supper, you know?”

Isla had to smile. Pie supper, huh? She supposed she should start getting familiar with such words, if she really meant to marry Sean.

The thought had her crouching down and giving the huskies a quick rub on their heads, just so she could prevent Sean from looking at her face, which Isla was sure looked foolish and dreamy at the moment. Before coming here, she hadn’t really allowed herself to think of what life as a mail-order bride would be, fearing it would make her chicken out before she could even meet her prospective bridegroom.

Now that she had, however…

Her stomach acted up. Sexual giddiness again, she thought ruefully, which didn’t seem to care about making itself felt at the right time and place. She only had to look at Sean, and that was it. She wanted him. –

And she could have him, Isla realized with a silent gulp, because they would be man and wife soon.

The thought had Isla burying her face in the snowy mass of their fur. She would be Mrs. Sean Northwood soon. Her heart skipped a beat. They would live under one roof, sleep in one bed, and share a life together –

“Care to tell me what that gorgeous smile is for?”

Sean’s voice suddenly sounded too close, and Isla’s eyes flew open, just in time to see Sean crouching down right next to her.

Isla hastily wiped said gorgeous smile off her lips. “Umm...” She hastily racked her mind for a plausible-sounding alibi. “I’m, umm, thinking this dog sled ride is incredibly magical.”

“Happy to hear that, ma’am.” Sean offered her a hand as he spoke, and Isla let him pull her up to his feet. “Does it mean you’re no longer going to report the tour operator to PETA?”

“ Very funny.” Isla made a face at the crack. “It’s my first time, so of course I was worried they were being mistreated and forced to take on passengers.”

Worried was putting it mildly, Sean thought in amusement, recalling how adamant Isla had been, saying she wouldn’t put a single foot inside the sled until she saw the facilities where the dogs were being kept.

“And now?” he asked. “Are you still worried?”

“I’d be silly to,” she admitted with a wry smile. The moment the huskies had torn down the snowy winding trail, she had realized right away the dogs were having as much fun as she was – maybe even more. There was nothing they loved more than running, and the weight of their passengers hadn’t even seemed to register on them. All they wanted was to stretch their limbs and lope through the wild, and even now, despite the fact that their quick break for twilight viewing was also meant to give the dogs a short respite, it was clear by the way their paws padded restlessly on the snow that the huskies were raring to have another go at the trail.

He tipped her chin up, and his gaze narrowed at the way faint lines continued to mar her forehead. “Something is still bothering you.”

“Just something I have to deal with,” she hedged.

“Maybe I can help you with it.”

Forcing herself to pull away from his touch, she said gruffly, “I don’t think so.”

“Give me a try,” Sean coaxed.

She wrinkled her nose. “You’re just going to laugh at me.”

“Try me,” he repeated.

“Okay, fine---” She took a deep breath. “I think you’re too attractive, and I’m worried it’s going to make me fall for you while I’m on the rebound.”

Sean blinked. Had she just complained…about his looks?

She saw his lips start to twitch, and she sighed. “See? I told you it would make you laugh.”

“No,” he immediately protested. “I’m not laughing.”

“Your eyes are.” She planted her hands on her hips. “But I’m being completely serious here, you know. So work with me.”

“How?” he asked in genuine bemusement.

“I don’t know.” She threw her hands up in the air. “It’s your face. Can’t you think of something to make yourself less attractive until I’m no longer emotionally vulnerable?”

Sean coughed. It was that – or give in to the hilarity of the situation. But then he saw the peeved look that Isla shot him – one which clearly blamed him for being “too attractive” – and this time he could no longer help it, his dark laughter ringing out in the still, cold air.

His redheaded goddess was a lunatic, and he was equally insane for finding her crazy thoughts cute instead of a very valid reason to put her in a straitjacket.

Isla let out a squeak of surprise as a pair of strong arms suddenly encircled her waist, and she was forced to clutch his shoulders as Sean hauled her up in his arms princess-style, with her legs left dangling in the air. What in the world –

Isla leaned back unthinkingly, and a forlorn sigh escaped her as she found herself staring at Sean’s devilishly handsome face. “You really are too good looking, Sean.” It had already been bad enough the first time she caught a glimpse of him at the lobby, but now that he had also introduced her to the pleasure of his touch –

An image, a vivid memory, flashed in her mind – Sean thrusting his tongue inside of her pussy – and her breath quickened.

Oh dear Lord.

If things continued at this rate, she’d be his willing sex slave before sunrise.

There had to be something she could do to make him less attractive.

Right?

Sean raised a brow when a thoughtful expression crossed Isla’s face as she slowly reached for him. “Isla?”

She started mussing his hair like he was her long-lost pet.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Her hands didn’t stop moving as she answered him in absent-minded fashion, “Making you ugly.”

“I see.”

A look of frustration flitted over her features, and her hands stilled. “It’s not working.”

“I’m sorry for that,” Sean felt obliged to say.

“You’re forgiven,” Isla answered vaguely while reaching for him again.

She then started furiously rubbing his eyebrows, and Sean’s lips compressed together in an effort to contain his amusement. “Is this another, err, method?”

“Do you know how much women spend just to have the perfect shape and thickness for their eyebrows?” she asked in the same vague tone. “It’s just not fair that yours are naturally flawless---”

“What the---” Sean sputtered when he felt her actually try plucking his eyebrows with her bare fingers. “Will you stop that?”

“But why?” Isla glowered. “You said you wanted to help me.”

“Getting rid of my brows will help you?” he choked out.

“It’s the key to your aesthetic deterioration, yes.”

Sean struggled not to laugh his head off. Aesthetic deterioration? What a delightfully cheeky mouth his redheaded witch had –

“Please, Sean?”

But right now, he’d be more delighted to give her mouth another reason to be busy with –

“Even one would do. So how about it? Left or---mmph.”

And so Sean crushed her mouth under his.

It was supposed to be a quick, sweet kiss, a way for him to enjoy her lips one last time and for its memory to last him during the ride back to the hotel. That was what it was supposed to be, but Isla being Isla, she ruined his plans without even trying.

She only had to laugh against his lips, the sound so intoxicatingly provocative, and Sean forgot all about his good intentions. He kissed her harder, and she moaned even as she kissed him back with equal abandon, her tongue dancing boldly with his while her body shifted in his hold: her arms going around his neck as her legs wrapped around his waist. The new position had her breasts rubbing against his chest, his erection nudging against her belly, and it was the last straw. He lost his mind after that, his fingers biting into the softness of her bottom as he started grinding his cock against her pussy.

“Ahem.” Their musher had returned, the older man wearing a knowing smirk as he took the reins of the ten Alaskan huskies under his command.

Sanity returned in a flash, and the two of them sprang apart like opposite ends of a magnet.

Fuck. Half of Sean’s mind was still lost in sexual frustration as he stared at Isla. He had always taken pride of his ability to control himself sexually, but there was just something about this woman…

“Ready to go, boss?”

Sean didn’t take his gaze away from Isla as he answered, “Give us five minutes.”

The musher walked away, having been in the business long enough to do what needed to be done without being told. If his rich clients wanted privacy for a quickie, then he was going to be blind, deaf, and dumb for as long as needed.

As soon as they were alone, Sean said gruffly, “Come here.”

She moved towards him without a single protest, and the way she so easily slipped into his arms made his jaw harden. Everything about her fitted so perfectly with him, it was almost as if Isla Bouchard was made to melt in his arms.

Which was crazy, of course, Sean thought grimly.

Looking down at her, he asked, “Are you alright?”

She might not be as adept as he was at reading between the lines, but this one she understood perfectly well, and Isla answered frankly, “No. I’m not.”

A crooked smile unfolded over his lips. “That bad, huh?”

“It’s extremely bad,” she said so feelingly it had Sean chuckling. He had never imagined he’d hear her speak of her future with him like it was the end of the world.

“Tell me what the problem is,” he invited, “and we’ll work from there.”

“I don’t even know where to start.” Isla struggled to resist the urge to start biting her nails, which had been a childhood habit of hers. “What’s happening right now isn’t what I envisioned at all when I agreed to marry you.” She had signed up to be a mail-order bride because she had wanted to be in complete control of her future. She had wanted a marriage where love wasn’t involved, a marriage where she never had to worry about being hurt or betrayed.

But that no longer seemed possible.

Sean always seemed to know what she was thinking without her saying a word while Jonathan, whom she had grown up with, had often complained about how little he understood her.

Sean had only to look at her, and she was ready to do his every bidding – in and out of bed. Jonathan, whom she had been dating for years, had never so as much made her toes curl.

All the signs pointed to a dangerous road, a road whose name she couldn’t allow herself to think of, a road two complete strangers could never travel on –

And yet…

Biting her lip, she looked up at Sean, saying hesitantly, “I need to ask you something.”

Sean cocked his head to the side, his gaze intent on hers. “Go on.”

“The way it is between us – is it normal? Have you ever felt the same way with other---” Isla saw Sean frown, and despite everything, she had to smile, knowing exactly what he found distasteful, albeit erroneously so. “Simmer down, cowboy,” she said in gentle teasing. “I’m not asking about your past because I’m trying to compete with any of your exes or because I feel I have a right to ask. I’m asking because I only have Jonathan to compare to---”

Understanding dawned, and Sean grimaced at how quickly he had jumped to the wrong conclusions about her. “I owe you an apology.”

“You’re forgiven.”

Sean frowned. It was her second time to say such words, and in both cases she had appeared to actually mean it. “You forgive too easily, darlin’.”

“Are you actually mad that I’ve forgiven you?”

Isla’s green eyes laughed at him as she spoke, and Sean had a hard time keeping himself from smiling. “You should look after your own interests more is all I’m saying, ma’am.”

“To err is human, to forgive divine,” she quoted piously.

Sean snorted. “Or so people who don’t have the guts to fight for themselves say.”

She choked back a laugh. “How surprisingly cynical.”

“Not cynical,” Sean murmured, “but just practical and logical.”

Her smile faded. “That’s the problem here, isn’t it?” They had only known each other for less than a day, and yet it felt like he was the other half of her soul and she had known him her whole life. “The way you make me feel doesn’t make sense---”

A finger on her lips stilled her from saying the rest.

“Don’t go there, darlin’,” Sean said quietly. “You’re smarter than that.”

Her heart squeezed. If she was as smart as he said, then why did she feel so foolishly hurt by his words?

“Sexual chemistry is the answer you’re looking for – that’s all there is to it, Isla.”

Sean’s finger left her lips, but Isla no longer wanted to speak.

“And as for Swanson never being able to make you wet---”

Isla choked. Must he always put things in the worst way possible?

A rakish grin slashed his lips. “Shall I take your silence as yes?”

“You don’t really think I’d answer that, do you?” she asked dryly.

“Why shouldn’t you?” he countered. “It’s not as if you owe the man loyalty---”

“I know that---”

“Or are you unwilling to say anything bad about him because you still love the man?” Sean raised a brow at Isla. “Is that how it is?”

For several moments, Isla could only gaze at him in rapt fascination. Oh wow. How perfectly expressionless his beautiful face was, and his voice was the very definition of coolness.

“Umm…maybe I’m reading you the wrong way, but are you – jealous?”