by Em Petrova
“Look at me.” His softly spoken command rang out, sending vibrations like the strike of a gong through her body.
Slowly, she inched around, her back at the sink and chest heaving at how close he really stood. Boots touching hers. His huge frame hovering over her.
“Harris.” Her whisper came out as a plea, but a plea for what?
A knock on the door had her ducking out from between Harris and the sink edge. She put ten steps between them.
Harris sliced a glance her way and barked, “Come in!”
She expected to see one of his teammates coming to share information with him, and was shocked to see Paul enter the cabin.
“Paul.”
As if Harris didn’t have crutches or a cast impeding him, he planted himself in front of her, rushing so fast that she didn’t notice until he blocked her view of Paul.
She scuttled out from around him. “Were you looking for me? I was just dropping off supplies for the cabin and checking on Lieutenant Lipton.”
He issued a low growl and moved in front of her once more.
“What are you doing?” she whispered at his broad spine and sidestepped to approach Paul.
“I saw your truck and thought I’d stop to check on you. After what happened yesterday…” Being the fatherly figure he was to her, he looked her over. “Bruised up a bit, but all right?”
Harris cleared his throat—loudly—and entered the conversation without being invited. “Did you try to block her from the man who hurt her?”
“Harris!” she exclaimed. “Of course Paul did. It’s our job to defend each other as much as the visitors to the park.”
Paul eyed him, a hint of amusement at the corner of his hard lips. “We did what we had to do, Lieutenant. Same as you and your team do.”
She could almost feel the tension inside Harris hitting her like waves against a shore during a storm. She started to reach a hand toward him to calm him down but realized Paul might see and take her touch as something more.
“I’m fine, as you can see. Thank you for checking in—”
“Doesn’t look as if you’re wearing any bruises,” Harris accused Paul.
Her coworker drew up to his full height and the men stared at each other. Okay, this was getting out of control.
“I’ll be going into town this afternoon to that shop that has the homemade oatmeal cookies you love, Paul. Want me to pick you up some?”
Both men stared at her. They knew what she was doing by distracting them. As if by some unspoken agreement, both men stood down. Harris planted his crutches on the floor and stepped back, while Paul moved to the door.
“I’ll grab those cookies for you, Paul,” she called as he closed the door.
As soon as she heard his footsteps leave the steps out front, she whirled to Harris. “What the hell was that?”
His brow lifted. “I didn’t realize a woman like you swears.”
Flustered, she sputtered and waved a hand in the air. “What does that have to do with anything? And what do you mean a woman like me?”
“Just that you’re so good and open and pure. You talk to plants, for Christ’s sake.”
Shaking her head, she fought for balance. This man threw her overboard with every word and look he gave her. “Why were you challenging Paul? I don’t need you acting as some kind of big, muscled bodyguard!”
“I don’t know him.”
“So that means you don’t trust him?”
“No.”
“Why don’t you trust anyone?”
“Why do you trust everyone?”
“I work with him. He’s a friend and acts the same as a father to our group. Or grandfather. He’s harmless, and you treated him as though he was going to attack me.”
“He never would have attacked you,” he said in a low voice that made her think that he didn’t believe Paul was harmless so much as he believed in his own skills to protect her.
As if she needed protection.
Frustration forced heat into her cheeks, and she knew she must be flushed. As if she needed more heat in her body, when Harris’s closeness did the job.
Her gaze landed on the box near the fireplace, and she escaped out from under his heavy, hazel stare before she did something rash—like kiss him just to lift the scowl from his handsome face.
“You wanna get out of here?” Her question startled even her.
Harris’s eyes widened. “Hell yeah.”
She grabbed the box of carvings and carried it to the door, twitching her head for him to follow. Outside, she shot a cautious glance around before heading to her truck. There, she placed the box in the back seat and watched Harris make his way down the few steps to the truck.
“This isn’t your ranger vehicle.”
“No. I’m off-duty. It’s my truck.”
“I didn’t take you for a Ram kinda girl.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? I’m an Alaskan girl, and you need power and good tires.” She almost asked if he needed help getting in but knew she’d insult him. She jumped behind the wheel and waited for him to slam his door.
As they drove, she told him what she’d seen with the team, how they had the canine force out searching for more explosives.
He nodded. “Penn told me. I offered to go with them, but he said I’d serve the team better by healing fast.” His words came out almost as a growl.
“He’s right. Did you learn anything from the articles or files?” She took a road out of the park and hit a back road that led to a small tourist stop-off.
“I can’t share anything with you, Jenna.”
With him seated beside her, crutches tossed into the back carelessly, she had a chance to study him. In the background, her CB radio noise sounded with occasional talk from the other rangers.
“Where are we going, anyway?”
“To sell the carvings. I wanted to make sure you know what I get for them, in case you want the cash.”
He folded his arms. “I don’t.”
“Well, it’s still your right to full disclosure. I don’t operate any other way.”
“I can see that about you.”
“Where are you, Moon Shadow? I need your report on last night’s incident,” Paul said through the radio.
Throwing Harris a look, she grabbed the radio. “I’ll come into the station in an hour or so.”
After she replaced the radio in its holder, she noted deep furrows along Harris’s forehead, making him appear meaner, tougher and altogether hotter.
“I want answers about that too,” he said in a dark tone.
Her insides gripped, leaving a twisted trail of heat. Her heart pattered too fast, and she became all too aware of how much strength emanated from the man.
They passed a pharmacy, and she gasped and pointed to the moose standing in the landscaping, munching on a bush. “They’re pests here at times,” she told Harris.
“Looks as though he’s just trimming the bush.”
Her cheeks scorched at how that sounded coming off his lips.
He chuckled. “Calm down, Jenna. That isn’t what I mean.”
His explanation made her blush worse, and she felt sweat dampen her throat. Thank God they arrived at the shop before she burst into flames.
They took the carvings into the shop and sold them for forty dollars apiece, which shocked her almost as much as Harris. When they took the cash and returned to the truck, he met her stare.
“I didn’t realize they’d go for that much.”
“We have a nice little chunk of cash.”
“What do you wanna do with it? Go out to eat?”
“I was thinking of stopping at a supermarket.”
“For more steak?”
“You’ll see.”
Minutes later, they exited the store with several bags containing food and warm socks.
“Who are these for?” Harris asked when they got back into the truck.
“A friend of mine in need.” She studied his face for si
gns of him rejecting her plan.
“Okay. I’m glad to help in my small way.”
She popped open the console and pulled out some lollipops, offering one to Harris. He gave her an odd look before saying, “No thanks.”
She popped one into her mouth. “Paul got me hooked on sucking lollipops while I drive. He started because he quit smoking, and I have no excuse other than I like them.”
Harris stared at her until she wiggled in her seat but said nothing.
On their way back to the cabin, a storm crashed down on them. The raw power of the lightning streaking across the sky kept her enthralled as she navigated the back roads to the cabin. They sat out front for a while, waiting for the torrential downpour to stop, but it showed no sign of letting up. Waves struck the truck, causing it to shudder with the force.
“I don’t think I’ll make it to the station to give my report. I’d better radio in.” After she did, she peered up at the sky hoping to see a break soon. “Doesn’t seem to be letting up, does it?” she asked Harris.
“Do you want to brave the rain?” he asked.
“Do you? I was going to head home. My shift was over before I came to see you.”
Her words hung between, a loaded weapon and a game of Russian roulette but with hearts on the line. Which one of them would fall? It’d be her, for sure—Harris didn’t even like her.
“It’s pouring, and it doesn’t look as though this storm’s letting up,” he said, looking through the blurred windshield. He turned his head to pierce her in his deep stare. “Stay here another night.”
Lipton slumped in the desk chair and massaged his thumb and forefinger into his eye sockets. The silence of the cabin surrounded him. Not even the crackle of the fire or shifting of logs sounded.
He wasn’t tired and yet his body told him to go to bed. It’d been a long-ass day, but neither his mind nor body were occupied. Down time wasn’t his thing.
Neither were cute little fairy nymphs who tasered grown-ass men.
Despite the things he told himself about Jenna, he still wanted to kiss her. When he spotted that bruise on her cheek, he’d come close to cupping her face. He’d pulled his hand back short of touching her, and good thing too. If he’d cradled her face, felt those curls against his fingers, he might have lost his head.
His chest tightened from the thoughts whirling on high speed through his geared-up mind.
The division of Homeland Security he worked for, called OFFAT for Operation Freedom Flag Alaska Tundra, had sent him little information since the initial dump of files, and he’d pored over everything in a short time.
However, he couldn’t stop thinking about the climbing gear Jenna mentioned that went missing six months earlier. Why hadn’t that been investigated further? His mind kept returning to the puzzle, and he needed to look into it if the park rangers weren’t.
Tired of sitting and needing to move, he grabbed the crutches and paced to the kitchen window and stared out at the fading light of day.
He was the first to admit he made a horrible patient. The only challenge he’d found had been carving, and at least he could claim the silly occupation that passed his time had earned some money, which would do some good to Jenna’s friend.
Jenna. Son of a bitch, why couldn’t he quit thinking about the woman for more than a few minutes? What made him ask her to stay at the cabin for a second night? He must relish the burn of wanting a woman and not being able to have her.
“Fucking masochist,” he muttered under his breath.
Then he heard it—a low grumbling noise.
Cocking his head, he threw out his senses. There it was again—louder this time.
He placed a hand on his weapon along his spine and picked his way quietly through the cabin. The only exit was through the front door, but that didn’t mean someone hadn’t forced their way through a small window. Though he’d like to see the person who got past him.
With a healthy dose of adrenaline in his bloodstream, he moved toward the bedrooms—first his, peeking through the open door and seeing nothing. At Jenna’s closed door, he paused.
The noise grew louder, like the growl of a wild animal.
He whipped open the door and scanned the room in the same instant. His gaze roamed from wall to wall, taking note of Jenna’s curled form on the bed before he stepped into the space.
She sat up and groaned.
His balls clenched at the sexy little sound.
Shoving her curls off her face, she peered at him through sleep-slitted eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“I heard a noise.”
She groaned again and this time dropped her face into her palm. “I was snoring, wasn’t I?”
Snoring? Hell, now that he thought of it, the sound might be a snore.
He stumped on his crutches to the bed and pulled back the covers. She gasped at the invasive action, but he had to make sure.
“Since a wolverine isn’t in bed with you, that must be it.”
“Ugh!” She whipped her pillow over her face in the cutest move he’d ever seen. She was the cutest thing he’d ever seen.
Chuckling out of sheer surprise, he sank to the edge of the bed. His weight caused her to roll toward him. When she bumped into him, she tried to brace herself so they weren’t touching. With the pillow half covering her face, she said, “I need a second pillow to prop myself up or I snore.”
Staring at her, he came to the realization that his heart was pounding and his cock was growing. She was wearing his shirt again, and damn if that didn’t have him fully hard and aching.
She shifted the pillow and cocked an eye at him. “Well, say something!”
“How can you be so cute?” His voice pitched low.
She froze. He didn’t even think she was breathing—hell, he knew he wasn’t.
For a moment, he thought she wouldn’t respond at all, but she lowered the pillow from her face and stared up at him. His chest gave a hard flex at the sight of those beautiful green-and-gold-flecked eyes. When he looked at her mouth, he saw the redness was gone. He would have bet his trigger finger that she had a lollipop habit, and he’d been right. Seeing her suck on the cherry candy had just about stolen his goddamn control.
His gaze traveled down her neck to her soft, full breasts stretching his black shirt. When she moved to prop herself on one arm, he spotted the bruises she sported.
He captured her wrist and gently turned her hand over. “Tell me about this.”
“Harris,” she started.
“I have to know,” he grated out.
Her eyelids fluttered. “Why?”
“Because it’s what I do. I protect people—you said that yourself, and until you did, I never saw it that way.”
“The man who did this is in jail,” she told him for the second time.
“That isn’t what I asked you.”
With a sigh, she moved over on the bed, making room for him to lie beside her.
This was a bad idea—a very bad idea.
Lipton didn’t do intimacy like this, either. He banged women up against a wall or bent over a table. He didn’t lie next to one.
His heart hammered as he lay down facing her. Then she began to talk.
Chapter Six
When Jenna began relating events, she didn’t realize how cathartic it would be. Maybe because she had yet to give her official report to her boss on the matter, she had yet to purge it from her system. Lying here with Harris Lipton did that.
“As park rangers, we’ve all faced rowdy, uncooperative people who don’t want to take our direction. This guy was the same. He had a two-week trip to the park planned, and I don’t blame him for getting ugly when we told him he had to leave.”
This close, she realized Harris’s eyes weren’t the hard feature she once believed. The depths held a buttery warm toffee softness, and each eye was framed by thick dark lashes, longer than her own.
“Being disappointed that your vacation’s cut short is no reason to assault a wom
an.”
“Or anybody,” she corrected.
“You’re right. You’re far from the weaker sex, Jenna. But fact is, he did hurt you.”
“Not much. He got hold of my arm and forced me to the ground.”
He searched her eyes, but she could tell he didn’t really see her, but saw the scene playing out in his head.
“Where was Paul at the time?”
“Standing over us, trying to get him off me. He struck the guy with a baton, and he turned on Paul.”
“What happened after that?”
She sighed. While she was happy to forget the rest of the incident, she could see Harris had some need to analyze the altercation blow by blow.
“The guy released me.” She didn’t tell Harris that his heavy hiking boot had been cocked back, prepared to deliver a kick to her. “As soon as he turned on Paul, I grabbed my taser and got him in the side.”
“You shot from the ground?”
She nodded, and a curl dipped into her eye. His gaze followed it, and then traveled lower to her mouth.
Awareness zipped into her veins. Could he possibly enjoy looking at her as much as she did him? Maybe he didn’t dislike her as much as she once thought…and her attraction might not be so one-sided.
“It sounds as if you did everything right.”
She chuckled at his admission. “I was trained to handle things such as this, I told you. Plus, I have three years of experience.”
He raised a hand to her face. When he lightly brushed the curl away, she hardly felt his touch on the surface. Deep in her soul was another thing.
Her body came alive, her breaths rushing faster, her pulse pounding. Under his shirt she wore, her nipples pinched into hard, aching buds, and that same heat clutched at her lower belly, to slip between her thighs. A throb began in her pussy, giving her the urge to squeeze her legs together—to hold in the pleasure-ache—but she was afraid he’d see.
A shiver rippled through her, followed by another.
When he lowered his hand, she missed his touch, even if it was nothing. Nothing like she wanted—like Harris rolling her onto her back, hovering over her and his mouth working over hers. His big palm covering her breast, rubbing at her nipple until she cried out. The rustle of clothes as they stripped and he slipped his cock between her legs…