Chapter 4
“Slacking off again today?” Ryan Dalton joked as Mack stepped into the ranger’s station the next day.
Mack chuckled, observing his friend who’d just turned away from the computer. “Some of us have to save the world. We can’t all be desk jockeys, like you.” In reality, Ryan was a former Navy SEAL and not a man to mess with under any circumstances. He was also ethical and concerned about the mountain. If there was a haunted look about the man’s eyes at times, Mack assumed it was because of the missing Cynthia. Before the pretty bar owner had abruptly departed for Florida, Mack would have sworn that there was something going on between Cynthia and Ryan. But Mack wasn’t the kind of man to intrude where he wasn’t needed. If Ryan needed Mack’s help, he’d be there. Otherwise, Mack would keep his nose out of his friend’s business.
Ryan chuckled at Mack’s latest insult and stood up, coming over to the counter that separated the three desks of the rangers from the tourists who came into the station for information on trails and hiking, camping or other mountain activities.
Crossing his massive arms over his equally massive chest, he shook his head at Mack. “What the hell are you doing in here? Ready to get lost in the woods again? Let me know which direction you’re heading so I can track you when you don’t come back.”
“Like you’d come looking for me,” Mack retorted. “You’d leave me to the mountain lions.”
Ryan shook his head. “Nah. They’d try to eat you and I don’t believe in poisoning the wildlife.”
Good one, Mack chuckled, but didn’t say anything out loud. “What’s going on?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Caught a couple of poachers last week. Two idiots got trapped down in a canyon over on the west side, two nights ago. You know how much I hate repelling down a sheer cliff in the dark,” Ryan grumbled, then shrugged dismissively. “All the normal stuff.”
“Good. Nothing unusual in my area either. But…” Mack trailed off, shaking his head.
“What? Another bad feeling?” Ryan asked. Ryan leaned against the counter, watching Mack intently.
Mack thought about it and nodded. “Yeah. Something is going on.”
“What are you seeing?” Ryan demanded.
“That’s just it. I’m not seeing anything out of the norm.”
Ryan nodded, understanding completely. As lawmen, they knew to trust each other, even if it was a gut instinct whispering that something wasn’t right. Usually, a gut reaction was the mind’s way of translating something that they were seeing but hadn’t registered yet. They knew something was off. Or it could be something more metaphysical, like a negative vibe in the atmosphere that law officers sensed. Ryan and Mack had been working together and had seen too much over the years to dismiss feelings like that. It might be nothing, but why not be extra careful for a bit and keep their eyes open for something suspicious.
“I’ll be on alert. Just…” Ryan stopped when the door to the station opened.
Mack turned to find the adorable brunette stepping through the doorway, her amazing backend encased in jeans this time. Pity, he thought, remembering what the view had been like when she wore leggings.
“What are you doing here?” Eve demanded belligerently, glaring at him from the doorway, obviously unwilling to step deeper into the room.
“Making friends and spreading joy everywhere you go, I see,” Ryan muttered behind him.
Mack pulled his eyes away from Eve for a moment to glare at his friend before turning back to Eve. “What are you doing here?” he challenged. That’s when he noticed the tight tee-shirt that hugged her breasts lovingly. And the hiking boots. “Oh hell no!” he grumbled.
That got Eve’s hackles up and her spine stiffened as she straightened her shoulders. Her height jumped a whole half an inch as outrage fired up her temper. Damn, she was sexy when she tried to be tall. But her tiny frame just…well, no way could she pull it off. She was just too petite. Damn, he liked her! Too much!
“I’m here to speak with the nice park ranger. Not you!”
He let his eyes move up and down her figure, enjoying her outrage as much as the view. “Go ahead. I’m not stopping you.”
She eyed him furiously, and glanced pleadingly behind him at Ryan. Mack could feel his friend’s amusement growing.
“You’re in my way.”
Mack took a step back. A small step.
She realized that he wasn’t moving any further and huffed a bit as she moved to the counter. Forcing a smile, Eve turned to the handsome man with dark brown hair and laughing eyes.
“What can I do for you?” he asked.
Eve liked his voice. But…no sparks. Nothing at all. Even as she realized this, she could feel Mack’s heat next to her, knew that he was staring at her. And where! Because she knew, she turned her head to glare at him. Sure enough, he had to quickly lift his eyes from her denim clad bottom. Unfortunately, he was unrepentant at being caught. In fact, the man only cocked a dark eyebrow as if to say, “What?”
Huffing furiously, Eve turned to the nice ranger. “I was told to get hiking maps here and to check in with you before setting off.”
The ranger nodded. “Much appreciated,” he reach for a brochure out of a drawer behind the counter. “We have…”
“No!” Mack protested.
Eve frowned at him, startled by his vehemence. “No?”
Mack shook his head. “You’re not going hiking, Eve. You don’t…”
“Of course I’m going hiking. I’m in Colorado and I’m going to do everything one does when one is in Colorado. Including hiking.”
“No! It’s too dangerous.”
She stared at him, her mouth hanging open slightly. She snapped it closed and turned to look at the park ranger, who looked just as confused. When she turned to glare at Mack, she poked him in the chest. “I’m going hiking. I’ve never been in the Rockies before. I have two days off and I’m going to experience nature!”
There was a slight rumbling from the ranger. She turned to include him in her glare, but he lifted his hands in surrender. “I’m not in this argument,” he announced.
She swung her focus back to Mack. “I’m…”
“Do you have water?”
She beamed. “Yes! I have a water bottle ready to go!” she answered with a tone that implied, “HA! I know what I’m doing!”
“How many water bottles?”
Huh? “One. Why would I…”
“How long are you planning to hike?”
“I don’t know. A few hours?”
“You need a bottle for every hour that you’ll be out.”
Eve was silent for a long moment as she absorbed this. “Okay, fine. I’ll get more water.”
“And a GPS?”
She turned to the ranger, but his eyebrows were up as well, waiting for her answer. “I…um…don’t have a GPS. I planned to stick to the trail.”
“You need a GPS, Eve. The trails are well marked but…”
“My phone!” she exclaimed triumphantly. “There’s a GPS on my phone!” and she lifted it into the air, almost dancing with excitement.
“Food?”
Okay, that one stumped her. “I have a sandwich,” she told him, but as soon as she said the word, Eve knew that a sandwich wasn’t good enough.
“Protein bars,” Mack snapped. With a groan, he shook his head. “I’m coming with you,” he announced. He turned to Ryan. “I know my way. No map necessary.”
Eve shook her head. “No. I don’t want to go with you, Mack. You’re not a fun hiking partner.”
The ranger interrupted. “Actually, besides me, Mack is one of the best in the area. You want a good hike with amazing views, then go with Mack.” He smiled and Eve thought again that he was handsome. “And I guarantee that you won’t get lost. Mack could find his way out of just about anywhere on this mountain,” he assured her.
“I think I’d rather…”
“No, Eve. You want to take pictures,” he tilted his
head towards the camera gear that she’d slung over one shoulder, “I’ll take you to places that aren’t on the map.” He didn’t wait for her response, but put a hand to the small of her back. “Let’s go,” he said with a heavy sigh.
Eve was already out the door before she realized that she was simply going along with him. “I’m not going with you!” she snapped and spun away from him so that she was headed back inside the ranger station.
“Eve, stop!” he laughed, impressed with her maneuver. “I promise, I’ll be good. And you’ll love the place I have in mind.”
She eyed him warily. “What if I want to go out on a regular trail?”
“Then I’ll go with you to make sure you’re safe.”
She huffed a bit more, her fist swinging onto her hip. “So, really, there’s no way to get rid of you today.”
Mack only laughed and moved closer. “Not really. Not if you’re going hiking.”
She stared at him, mentally debating back and forth. “I can figure…”
“Eve, do you have any idea how many people get lost in the woods every year? And most of them are experienced hikers. So, I’m coming with you.”
With that, he walked over to his truck and pulled open the passenger door. “Come on. You’ll love this place.”
She hesitated for another moment, then sighed. “Fine!” she snapped, moving towards the door. “But this had better be the best place to take pictures,” she warned before climbing into the seat.
He slammed the door closed and walked around to the driver’s side of the vehicle. But as he opened his door, he saw Ryan step out of the station, leaning against the porch railing.
“Not one word,” he warned his friend.
Ryan held up his hands. “I didn’t say anything.”
Mack continued to glare at his friend as he pulled himself into the driver’s seat. Backing out of the ranger’s station, he focused on driving through the streets, then up to the trail head, all the while contemplating hours alone with Eve. It was going to be hell. And heaven, he thought, thinking about watching her walk up the trails. He could walk behind her, enjoy the view. Yeah, his day off had just gotten much better.
“Ready?” he asked, turning off the engine.
He watched as she looked around, assessing the site. “This is it? This is where we’re going to walk?”
“This is the beginning,” he said, walking to the back of his truck for supplies. He stuffed several protein bars into a backpack and several more bottles of water. He checked the pockets of the backpack for the other essentials, then nodded as he threw the pack over his back. “Let’s go.”
She turned and headed for the trail, eager to get started. “Shouldn’t you go first?”
“No. You’re short. You won’t be able to see anything if I go first.”
That made sense, she thought, so she headed out.
The first thing she noticed was the peacefulness. It wasn’t quiet, exactly. There were birds and…wind? The wind sounded nice, she realized. There was also an odd rustling sound in the dry underbrush and a soft breeze.
“This is nice,” she said, almost whispering because she didn’t want to make any artificial noises.
“The sounds are one of the secret pleasures of hiking through the woods. You need to watch where you’re walking, but try to look up as much as possible. Otherwise, hiking isn’t as interesting.”
She scanned the area ahead of her, noting the roots above the ground, the rocks, and other potential tripping hazards. Then looked to the right and left, then up and down again. “Nice,” she whispered.
Mack walked behind her, enjoying the view of both the forest and her butt. She set a relatively good pace, although much slower than he was used to. He didn’t mind though. The slower pace was to be expected with her shorter legs and inexperience, and it did allow him to notice things around him that he wouldn’t normally pay attention to during his hikes. In general, he was as much about the destination as the trip.
As they walked, he made sure she continued to drink water. They stopped about midway to have lunch and she asked him questions about the forest, the animals, and trees. He couldn’t tell if she was genuinely interested or just asking for general knowledge.
He moved off when she pulled her camera out, snapping pictures of the upward trail as well as below, but giving her time to enjoy the break as well. He had to give her credit for being in better shape than some of the hikers that came out to the woods. She was slow but steady, setting a pace she could handle easily.
“Ready?” he asked, turning back to where she was snapping pictures.
“Ready!” she replied, smiling and putting her camera away.
They hiked for another hour before reaching the area he wanted to show her. It wasn’t very high, relatively speaking. But after veering off the trail, he led her towards one of his favorite places, a landing that not many people knew about.
“Okay, we’re here,” he announced, and stepped back to let her enjoy the view.
Eve was quiet for a long moment as she looked out at the view of the mountains in the distance. They were at the edge of a boulder, so there weren’t any trees to block the view of the range ahead. Some of the peaks were shorter, so they had trees covering the summit. But in the distance, there were others that had bare summits because the air was too thin for trees to grow. And even further out, the snowcapped peaks shimmered in the afternoon sunshine. The danger was there, but from this distance, they just looked fanciful.
For a long time, she just stood there, drinking in the view. He liked that about her. Mack understood her awe. She got it. Eve understood.
Sitting down, she absorbed everything. Normally, Mack would be looking in the same direction, appreciating the beauty of the mountains and the forest. But this time, he found a rock where he could watch Eve.
Damn, she was beautiful. Her glossy curls danced in the breeze and her eyes glowed as she looked out at the beauty of his mountains. “Thank you,” she said, turning to smile up at him.
She pulled out her camera and started snapping pictures. Different angles, different heights, and she moved around the small area to get a shot on top of the boulder looking down. Mack watched her, wondering what she was doing. She snapped pictures for about twenty minutes and he suspected that she’d taken probably three hundred photos. The mountains hadn’t changed. The sun barely shifted. So what was different about one photo from another?
He wasn’t sure, but since she occasionally went down on her knees, sometimes even laying flat to get a specific angle, he didn’t care. He enjoyed watching her. Mack especially loved it when she bent low so that her tee-shirt gaped a bit, giving him a glimpse of cleavage. She wasn’t heavy up top, but what she had was absolutely perfect!
He’d looked away for several moments, trying to get his body back under control. So he was surprised to find, when he looked back at her, she was snapping at him.
With a growl, Mack stood up. She continued to snap pictures as he shook his head. “Enough!” he gently took her camera away, then reached down to take her hand, pulling her onto her feet. But she was lighter than he’d anticipated and he overestimated the amount of force needed. So, she bounced off his chest.
He shifted his grip quickly, wrapping an arm around her back, pulling her against him. It was an instinctive move to keep her from falling backwards, but when he realized what he was doing, he didn’t back away.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her gaze darting from his eyes to his mouth and back again. Her lips softened, her eyes dilated. The pulse at the base of her neck sped up and he could feel her whole body press slightly against his.
“Eve…,” he stopped. He wasn’t sure what he’d intended to say. But when her hand slid up his chest, he was lost. That small bit of friction was all it took. Lowering his head, he meant to kiss her gently. Just a taste. That’s all he needed, he told himself. Another taste would definitely confirm to him what she was like and he could walk away.
But the small taste wasn’t enough. Brushing his lips against hers back and forth, he felt her nails dig into his arms. Deepening the kiss as he pulled her closer, lifting her up to better align his body to her softer one.
Over and over, he kissed her, deepening the kiss as his hands explored her lush curves, cupping the bottom he’d been admiring all day. She tasted better than anything. And Eve felt…incredible! She was all soft curves and whispering sighs, gasps of pleasure and trembling desire.
For a split second, he considered lowering her down to the rock, stripping her naked and making love to her right here, surrounded by the beauty of his mountains.
But this was Eve! Eve of the never ending body and the always traveling mindset. This was the woman who was going to leave as soon as her friend’s mother recovered from pneumonia.
As much as he wanted to make love to her, Mack knew his limitations. From a very young age, he’d known what he’d wanted. And visiting Brant and Reid in Denver, he now knew what he wanted for his future, which wasn’t the pain that making love to Eve would give him when she drove out of town in a week or two.
So instead of stripping her bare and discovering her secrets, he pulled back. Slowly, needing just one more taste. One more kiss. Pulling away from her was brutal, but nothing like what it would feel like if he enjoyed her body more thoroughly, then had to watch as she drove away.
He watched her eyes flutter open as a smile formed on her swollen lips.
Slowly, he released her, holding her steady until he was sure she could stand alone. But even as he thought that, he wondered who was going to hold him up because that kiss had rocked his world!
“We’d better head back,” he told her, looking into the sky so that he wouldn’t look at her swollen lips and convince himself that he needed another taste. Dangerous territory, he told himself.
“Right,” Eve said and looked around, picking up her camera case. She checked all of the lenses, ensured that the case was closed tightly and looked around for anything she might have dropped on the ground. Leave only footprints and take only memories. Never leave anything in the wilderness that wasn’t there before, she thought.
Taming Mack (Sinful Nights Book 3) Page 4