When she drifted away, Kyle’s head tilted. “Who’s Al?”
“I said that out loud?” Damn. “My youngest sister.” She was losing her mind. And what if she really hadn’t astral projected to the First Realm? Did her imagination transport her to fantasyland? Maybe this whole doll thing was her soul searching for answers that simply weren’t there. Then she’d have to admit she fabricated Tim’s manifestations. She would be forced to side with the authorities that Tim committed suicide.
The premise of those thoughts meant the trip to Jackson was worthless but also meeting Kyle held no special meaning. Everything that had happened so far, she’d blown completely out of proportion. The physical attraction between them was human pheromones at work. No.
She wouldn’t allow confusion to rule. This man in front of her was real. And Tim wouldn’t have killed himself. Those statements were true, absolute, genuine, and irrefutable.
“Ah, what were you thinking about or am I prying?”
“Nothing.” Like she’d share where her mind wandered. “Nothing at all.”
Kyle guided her to sit and lowered himself beside her. “Your husband?”
“I don’t know what I would’ve done without my family’s support and my work to keep me busy.”
His hand rubbed her back. “Family is important, especially when you lose a loved one.” The comforting strokes eased her chaotic thoughts and his words of encouragement alleviated the turmoil.
Annie barked, pranced over and sat on both of their laps.
The cold water seeped into her clothes and she frowned. “We need to teach you some manners.”
“Since we’re wet, let’s head back.” He scooted Annie off, and he helped her to stand.
****
At the hotel, Shelby slid from the bench seat landing steady on both feet while Annie bounded from the back of Kyle’s truck trailing behind her.
Kyle rounded the front of Jalopy. “I would have helped you.”
“Oh, that’s okay.” She walked to her door then fished for her keycard in her purse, while Kyle waited beside her.
Shelby stilled and glanced at him. Her eyebrows rose in question.
“I want to make sure you get in safely.”
Shelby inserted her card in the slot. “Thanks.”
Kyle crossed the threshold first and Shelby followed. His hand stopped her at the doorway.
“Why are you so…You have a penchant for safety?”
He ignored her question. “Let me check things out.”
Annie bolted past and hopped on the bed.
“No, get down, you’re wet.” Kyle snapped his finger and thumb, then pointed.
Annie hopped off, circled several times before she plopped on the floor with a huff.
“Good girl.” Kyle’s voice softened.
He entered the bathroom. The click of the shower door unfastened then closed. He made his way back to her. “Everything is fine.”
“No robbers or ghosts?” She doubted he’d take her seriously.
“Ghosts?” Kyle chuckled and stopped in front of her standing toe to toe.
Hearing his mirth, she locked her knees. His strong but gentle hand cradled her cheek. She tilted her head and pressed against his palm soaking in his strength and tenderness.
Kyle’s body tightened under her touch. He hovered over her ear, his breath danced through her hair. Desire laced with warm moisture cascaded down her neck to land at her feminine juncture. “I’d like to kiss you again.”
An intense heat generated low in her belly creating a need, a craving. “I’d like that.”
“Hmm,” Kyle murmured, closing the distance. He cupped each side of her jawline with both hands, whispering his lips across hers then maneuvered to add several inches between them. His hooded eyes spoke volumes, he wanted more and so did she.
She feathered a kiss on his palm. As she inclined away from him, she relished the hunger and yearned to satisfy him. Kyle gathered her in his arms, parted her mouth and she opened. As new lovers on an exploration, she stroked and he caressed in return.
A low moan reverberated in his throat as she pulled on his shoulders to get closer. Her mind reeled with the consequences of what she wanted. His erotic touch woke her body from hibernation, hot passion streamed through her veins. She had refused all relationships since her husband’s death. Now, she wanted this man. Her hands slid to his back drawing his chest to rub her achy breasts.
The pressure from his muscular abs against her firm nipples added to the fire that burned deep in her belly. Erupting low, the heated cauldron churned, simmering down to her feminine nub. She hefted her left leg around his hip massaging her apex. Her strict moral codes and standards had vanished. In all honesty, her promise to Tim was still secure in her mind.
She undulated at Kyle’s side, aching to have him. All at once, the spewing steam bubbled in all directions. The potent force detonated sending a storm of passion she’d gladly dance in.
Chapter Five
He angled to her throat and Shelby eased her head back, her climax just out of reach. His sweet kisses journeyed to her jaw. His tongue trailed moisture to the thin skin behind her ear.
He whispered, “You taste like honey on a spring day.”
Shelby opened to refute his comment, but gasped as his mouth wandered to her earlobe. He nipped the soft skin with his teeth then soothed it with his lips before he released her and traveled to her neck.
She guided his palm to her breast; the lacy bra abraded her nipples adding to his erotic caress. She arched. Her hands roamed down his sinewy chest to his flat abdomen. His muscles tensed under her fingertips. But she didn’t stop, slowly, drifting down to his midsection. The outline of his shaft sent shivers of anticipation to her nipples.
Kyle moaned. “You’re not ready and I can wait.”
“Mmm?”
He gently steered her backward. “Look at me.”
Her eyes adjusted, latching onto his.
“I literally ache to have you and believe me I can tell you want me. But earlier today, you were still thinking of your husband…I don’t want to be his stand-in. When we join, I’d prefer it’d be my name on your lips.”
She blinked long. The heat of humiliation flooded her cheeks. She cleared her throat. “I understand.” Trying for lucidity, she straightened her top and attempted to disentangle her thoughts.
This was the first time she’d have let a man take her to bed since her soul mate. She’d rejected plenty, but it had been at the beginning, not after heavy petting, primed and ready for sex. Rejection was a bitch.
Although she couldn’t explain the attraction she had for Kyle, ultimately, he was right. She had no business making love to a man she hardly knew. “Thank you for a wonderful day.” She twisted the handle, opened the door and gave him room to leave.
He cocked his head to the side. “Shelby?”
Unable to face his censure, she took a giant step backward and focused on his boots. “No, Kyle, you’re absolutely right.”
Kyle answered her retreat by advancing, leaving an arm’s length between them. “I’d like to see you tomorrow.”
She shouldn’t. When they kissed, sparks ignited an explosion. The chemistry between them would blow up a lab and burn the building down. After the fire, all that would remain would be the charred pyre of her remains. “I’m sorry, but I…”
He shifted his weight to his left foot. “Can I see you again?”
She inhaled and pegged him with a stern gaze. “Please go. It’s for the best.”
His lips thinned into a straight line, then he spun and left. Her focus tracked each strike of his boot heels, replaying Kyle’s conversation.
No way had she used him as a stand in for her husband. What had prompted all the memories of the funeral earlier?
Maybe the trigger had been while Kyle skipped the stones across the water and Annie frolicked beside him, she had laughed, enjoying the moment. Something she hadn’t experienced in a while. It was th
en she’d flipped back in time. This wasn’t about Tim. This was about letting herself be happy and live.
Although Kyle had been the first man since her husband who brought her libido back to life, she’d never once believed Kyle to be Tim. With the heat in her belly still percolating, there was no disguising her desire for the Wyoming cowboy. Given another minute, she would’ve climaxed right there against him.
She closed the door. Kyle had pushed her away. The reason he gave was understandable, but the crux of the matter, he’d refused her intimate invitation. When she had brought his palm to her breast and she touched the outline of his erection, he had stopped cold. Embarrassed again, her stomach lurched. “Dear God, what am I doing?”
Tears ran unchecked down her cheeks. She sniffled. A moan escaped, rendering a horrible sound, even to her ears. She knew one man, okay, spirit, who wanted her around.
She strode to her backpack, retrieved the doll, and relaxed on top of the bed. Leaning against the headboard, her hands shook anticipating the familiar hum, the vibration to escape this world.
Neither appeared. “I need you. Why aren’t you letting me in?”
After several hours, nothing happened. Frustration stormed through her veins. “Damn you and damn your First Realm.”
Annie nudged her hand with her nose. “Hey, pretty girl. I’m all right, just discouraged. You and I are alike, waiting for answers. Maybe if no one claims you, we’ll have each other.” She laid the doll on the nightstand and curled on her side waiting for sleep.
The next morning, Shelby tried once more to astral project without success. Disappointed again, she attempted to summon Tim’s presence and failed. What was happening? Confused and disillusioned, she packed her bags. Maybe she’d have better luck in Texas, because she wasn’t giving up. Or was it possible none of this really happened?
Had she journeyed to another plane? Was the passage to the First Realm and talking to her husband’s spirit a product of her vivid imagination? Strife settled into the pit of her stomach, and her muscles involuntarily tightened. She plopped one of her suitcases on the floor to keep the hotel door open and returned to the bed to close the other.
****
Annie wagged her tail at the threshold while Kyle scratched her ears. His gaze fixed on the bag holding the door ajar. Kyle kicked himself mentally. Damn he’d screwed up, but he had to stop last night. It took everything he had not to take what Shelby offered, and what he craved. He’d wanted more than a roll between the sheets, demanded more of himself, especially for this beautiful woman and their budding relationship.
She was stubborn to a fault. He admired her tenaciousness and questioned if that same trait would keep her away? The knight in shining armor defending her virtue blew up in his face, but he liked challenges and she was worth fighting for…He paused. She was different than the women who sparked his interest.
Usually he preferred petite women. When he held her close, her tall, lithe frame conformed to every nook and cranny of his six-four body. In the back of his passion-hazed mind, he considered having her as a significant part of his life. Fire burned through his veins and his blood pumped, tightening his groin. Her scent drove him wild. Every place she touched him, galvanized his skin with a scorching desire for more…Oh yeah, she was definitely worth the fight.
He’d determined she had some skeletons in her closet and for that matter, so did he. His life had a few bumps and bruises along the way. Didn’t everyone? But there had to be more than what she was telling him.
A bad feeling roiled in his gut. He gave Annie one last pat and knocked. “Shelby?”
“Come in.”
He stepped into her room and a noise caught his attention. A doll vibrated on the table. “What are you doing with Ten-Blue-Sun?”
Shelby stared like a deer caught in head lights at the wooden figurine. “What am I doing? What the hell is she doing and how do you know about her?”
“Answer my question.”
Shelby gaped at the fetish as Ten-Blue-Sun shimmied across the surface on its own accord. “When you answer mine.”
The yellow eyes of the figurine glowed and her long black bangs waved in the air as though a brisk wind whipped through the room.
She pointed. “She’s made out of wood. How can this be happening?”
“Semme’ Mugua.” The doll stilled. “Wahatehwe Tsoap.” Her bangs leveled. “Bahaitee Dabai.” The glowing stopped. “For the last time, how are you in possession of Ten-Blue-Sun?”
Why and how did Shelby have this particular Kachina doll? The reappearance had enormous consequences for his step-mom and blood-brother’s tribe. He never imagined it would be in his lifetime. Who in the hell was this woman?
Shelby had more skeletons in her closet than she’d let on, and this by no means was a small one. She had in her possession the very key to winning a war that had been talked about for generations. Whose side was she on?
He refused to believe a lady from Texas, taking a holiday in Jackson Hole would be the catalyst against his people. She was here for research…Jesus…had he been blind to her true nature, and missed her motives?
Shelby hadn’t moved. She stood shell-shocked, still staring at the damn doll, no one can act that well, can they? He’d hear her out, then make his decisions based on her replies.
She spun to face him. “What did you say?”
In two steps, Kyle towered over Shelby using his bulk as intimidation. “Who are you and how did you get her?”
****
Speechless and confused, Shelby deciphered which parts to tell Kyle. His anger surprised her and the doll had come to life when he stepped through the doorway. Explanation for the vibrations would have been easy…well maybe, but not the saffron glow or the movement of her bangs. Whatever chant he used, he’d halted her. “You think I’ve given you a false name?”
“She’s not a fake.” He slipped his hand on her shoulder and guided her to the bed. “Sit for a minute.” He leaned against the table and folded his arms across his chest. “Where did you get her?”
Funny how circumstances dictated false truths, but what part to leave out? Their meeting may not have been by chance, but she couldn’t believe Kyle would harm her. His penchant for safety conveyed otherwise or had he afforded her protection for another reason?
Automatically converting to her business voice and demeanor, she distanced her emotions. Truth. “My husband.” Distortion. “You already know I’m a writer and I’m researching Kachina doll customs for my book.”
“How did your husband get her?”
He expected her to answer all of his questions, but he wasn’t reciprocating. “I don’t understand your interest.”
He sighed. “Let’s just say, I’m familiar with her attributes.”
No crap. The doll must have recognized him. Had he astral projected to the First Realm? Was that part of Ten-Blue-Sun’s power? “Will you share with me what you know?”
He unfolded his arms and his hands curled around the edge of the table. “Why don’t we grab something to eat and we can talk there.”
Eat? Was he crazy? “No, thank you, I’m not hungry.”
“Okay, how about coffee?”
Shelby stood. “I was about to leave.”
Kyle straightened. “I thought you wanted me to tell you what I know.”
Oh, he was slick all right, but she could handle this. He wanted to reposition for an offensive and she’d be stupid to go on the defensive. She wanted every tidbit of data she could get her hands on, but how to parry? Humor. “If you show me yours, I’ll show you mine.”
He grinned. “Perhaps I’ve been too harsh. Ten-Blue-Sun is rife with symbolism. She’s a tenacious warrior and a powerful medicine woman. Her bangs represent the life bringer’s souls she guides, she directs paths, helps conquer evil on Mother Earth, a great healer, and follows the spirit guides in the First Realm and beyond.”
Shelby gasped. “You know about the other world?”
He raised his
hand to stop her. “Ah, now your turn.”
“You didn’t tell me anything new.” But he knew of the First Realm. What other information did he have? “Tell me something I don’t know.”
His chest swelled with air, and he rose to his full height. “This fetish has powers. Exactly how did your husband find Ten-Blue-Sun and what are you doing with her?”
Rational thoughts clamored around in her brain, bouncing inside her head, coherent signals never making it to her mouth. Damn. “Me…doing? You’re the one—”
“Shelby, I’m surmising you’re in possession of stolen property, and I could have you arrested with one phone call.”
Reasoning broke through. “You think I’m a thief? Please do call the authorities because I’d rather deal with them.”
“I’ve given you every opportunity to tell me.” He slid his cell from his jean jacket pocket. “You’ve given me no other alternative.”
She had a hunch he would be able to help her and knew more than he let on. This wooden figure represented something beyond what she understood. Kyle seemed to be in the know. She needed answers. Right now, she figured the truth would be the best approach. “My husband was the director of the archaeological department for the university. His responsibilities included but certainly weren’t limited to the inventory of their digs. I discovered a key belonging to his safety deposit box and found her there.”
Kyle let a long whoosh of air escape. “Do you think he stole it?”
Her hands whipped to her hips standing against the accusation. “No, absolutely not. I believe someone murdered him for this doll.”
Kyle’s eyebrows rose. “Why?”
Oh, because Tim told me in The First Realm and by the way, I met She-Who-Smiles and One-Who-Soars-With-Eagles too. It would be easier for Kyle to believe she was a thief rather than to give credence to a far-fetched place and a story even she had questioned ten minutes ago, claiming she lost her mind.
Her best bet was to keep with the facts. “According to Tim’s journals, he found the doll without documentation. Tim figured Ten-Blue-Sun had been stolen and he hid her until he could ascertain the rightful owner. That’s all I know.”
Walking Into Her Heart (A First Realm Novel) Page 5