“Calm down, Tiger,” Gunner’s voice whispered in her ear.
She stilled. Was her mind playing tricks on her?
“I’m here,” his voice was soothing, barely a whisper in her ear. “I’m going to release you, but I need you to be quiet, okay?”
Ivy nodded, her heart pounding so hard, she was pretty sure he could feel it. Especially since his muscular arm was pressed against her breasts.
Slowly, he released the tension over her mouth and she relaxed, but the moment her mouth was free, she twisted around, looking at him over her shoulder. When his arms loosened as well, she turned around and threw herself into his arms, just as she’d seen Daisy do so many times before, but now it was her arms around him! It was her chest against his hard, masculine one and she grabbed his head, kissing him like she’d done so many times in her dreams and fantasies.
When his lips covered hers, she knew that she’d died and gone to heaven. He tasted even better than she’d imagined! His hands were strong, demanding, and she loved every moment. No, she was no longer in a jungle. She was in Gunner’s arms and he was kissing her!
A bird chirping off in the distance broke through the haze of lust and Gunner pulled back. Both of them were breathing heavily as he looked down into Ivy’s beautiful green eyes. How many times had he seen those eyes? Angry, frustrated, determined…every emotion he could think of, but never had he seen the desire like this. It was like green fire that singed him from the inside out.
The chirping sounded again and he pulled back again. She started to open her mouth but he shook his head, silently telling her to remain silent.
Taking her hand, he led her away from the compound. Thankfully, Ivy understood the need for silence. The jungle noises were loud, but anything that wasn’t normal would be heard over the gentle sounds of birds chirping and wind blowing. So, she carefully stepped over the jungle leaves that littered the ground, stepping only where Gunner stepped and watching the surrounding areas for problems.
When they were sufficiently far enough away, he turned. Pinning her against the nearest tree, he bent to kiss her again; softer this time, but no less demanding. This time, he was in charge and he didn’t relent until she was just as fully engaged as he was.
When he lifted his head this time, her lips were soft and full, almost bruised from the kiss. “What the hell are you doing here, honey?” he demanded quietly, running rough fingers through her hair. She looked hot, exhausted and just as painfully beautiful as always. But now she also looked kissed. By him! Hell, his body was on high alert, ready to take her right here in the rotting vegetation.
Thankfully, his team was around, although he wasn’t sure exactly where. They knew how to remain hidden when they needed to, which was good. He needed some sort of hold on his lust right now. When he made love to Ivy, he wanted absolute privacy. And a bed. Hell yeah!
Another chirping sound, indicating that one of his team members was close enough that he could see what was going on.
With a groan, he lifted her chin with a finger so that he could see into her pretty eyes.
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Excerpt from “Caught”, Coming June 15, 2018
Marilee’s story in The Lottery Winners Series
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(Again – there’s a bit of a buildup in this story prior to this scene, but this is the first interaction between Emmerson and Marilee and I thought it was cute.)
Emmerson parked his brown, sheriff’s SUV right behind the small Miata, wondering where the owner was. Scanning the area, he didn’t see anyone, but this was a pretty isolated area of the woods. Why would anyone be out here?
Looking around again, he narrowed his eyes as he stepped out of the SUV. Something wasn’t right. He never knew how to define this instinct, but Emerson always got a feeling when something wasn’t quite right. The sensation had saved his life too many times in the past for him to ignore it, so he stood beside the vehicle and remained silent. Just listening. It was hard for humans to remain still for very long and eventually, they moved and he’d hear it.
No sound.
But…someone was out here. Emerson might not be able to see them, but he could feel their presence.
Eventually, he’d know these woods like the back of his hand. He needed to get out and start exploring the areas, the pathways, driving the dirt and gravel roads so that he knew where one ended and started. He’d need to drive them in all types of weather so he’d know when to check the roads for stranded vehicles or other, more nefarious activities. He’d walk around and explore off the pathways, know where the dips and caves might enable someone to hide, either themselves or their goods. He’d work with the forest rangers and get to know the terrain, how to spot things that shouldn’t be in the woods.
At the moment, however, he was blind to the possibilities and had to rely on his instincts. Not for the first time, he wondered if there was something more scientific to his instincts. Sharks and wild animals survived because of their ability to “feel” or “hear” a heartbeat. Emerson wondered if humans might also have that sense. Because he could often just “feel” the presence of another human being.
Like right now.
The woods were thick and he could hear the birds chirping. Something, probably a squirrel or rabbit, was burrowing through the dried leaves littering the ground. Since it was November, the leaves had already fallen, which made it easier to see through the trees. It should be colder right now, but the east coast was enjoying a warmer than normal autumn.
There! Off to his right, there was a flash of color where there should be just greys and browns. It almost seemed like an open area, like a small field.
For some reason, Emerson just knew that the flash of color was the woman! Adrenaline shot through his body and anticipation thrummed through his veins.
In his mind, he pictured the cute brunette he’d seen three weeks ago, but so far, he hadn’t found her.
After seeing her in that sandwich shop window, he’d flown back to New York and resigned his job, accepted all the ribbing from his team and packed up his condo, which, thank fully, sold quickly. A week ago, he’d driven everything out here to LowPoint, Kentucky and accepted the keys to the brand new Sheriff’s SUV and the keys to the sheriff’s office. His new office currently had nothing in it other than boxes filled with old files from the previous sheriff and some old, beaten up desks and chairs. No one had worked in this town as a law officer for about thirty years, ever since the coal company had closed up shop and most of the residents had moved out of town to greener pastures.
“It’s her.” he muttered, a sense of rightness soothing over him as he looked at the beautiful brunette sitting on a blanket with her eyes closed. She looked so peaceful, he was hesitant to disturb her, but he wasn’t going to release this opportunity.
Moving through the streets and buildings of New York quietly was one thing. So far, he hadn’t mastered the art of moving through dried leaves and broken branches yet. He noticed that she was sitting in the middle of a blanket with headphones in her ears. Whatever she was listening to must be intense, because the sound of his footsteps didn’t break through to her consciousness.
Bending down, he crouched right beside her just watching, waiting for her to realize that there was someone close to her. The pretty woman had her eyes closed and her face turned up towards the sunshine, but was unaware of him next to her. His irritation escalated when she continued to remain oblivious to his presence. Didn’t she know that she should be aware of her surroundings at all times? Was she waiting to be attacked?
He pulled the headphone connector out of her cell phone and heard the words, “Your weight does not define you,” the voice said, sounding louder than he would have expected.
The horrified expression on the curvy woman’s face caused a chuckle to burst from him. Unfortunately, that only seemed to amplify her anger.
“How dare you!” she snapped and grabbed th
e cell phone. But not before, “You are a beautiful, wonderful person!” was spoken from the same voice while her fingers scrambled to shut off the recording.
“Why the hell are you listening to this crap?” he asked, watching her carefully and trying to understand. She thought she was overweight? That was insane! Emmerson had only seen her from a distance, but up close, she was even more shockingly beautiful. Her blue eyes went perfectly with her pale skin…well, normally pale skin. It was quite pink at the moment. Still gorgeous, but…
The woman stood up and huffed a bit, her anger obvious. “You’re the new sheriff, aren’t you?” she asked, stepping back and shoving her cell phone into her purse. With jerky movements, she reached down and grabbed the blanket she’d spread out over the tall grass.
“Yes.”
“And you’ve come out here to disturb me because…?” she asked, leaving the question open since she obviously had no idea about the answer.
“I saw your car parked on the side of the road. I walked out here to make sure you were okay.”
Marilee snapped the blanket, trying to knock off the rest of the leaves. “As you can see, I’m perfectly fine. You may go now.”
He laughed softly, leaning one of those massive shoulders against a tree. “I can?” he teased. “You’ll allow me to go?”
Marilee ignored his sarcasm, wanting to shove him off of the tree so that he’d fall on his butt. Yeah, she’d love to see him as humiliated as she currently was. She came all the way out here to be alone, to listen to her positive thinking tapes by herself. She’d never told Daisy or Ivy about her latest effort to gain a bit more self-confidence. Her two friends had confidence in spades but Marilee struggled, wishing she could lose weight or just…less…of everything! She knew neither Daisy nor Ivy would ever laugh at her, but they’d tell her that she didn’t need any help, that she was pretty and blah blah blah.
She didn’t believe it, but she was trying! And if this…jerk would just leave her alone, she could get right back to it. Well, not here, of course. Her favorite spot in the woods was ruined now that he’d found her and…and that he’d heard the words that she’d prayed no one would ever know she needed to hear.
She’d never come back here. No way! Her sunshine filled spot in the woods was ruined and, as she looked up at the amusement in his eyes, she realized that he was laughing at her.
After stuffing the big blanket into her tote bag, she turned to glare up at him. Not that her furious expression was making an impact. The man seemed immune to her anger, the amusement only increasing as he looked down at her.
“Why are you even here?” she demanded.
He shrugged. “Just doing my duty to protect and serve, ma’am,” he teased, tilting his sheriff’s hat ever so slightly. Marilee gritted her teeth at his mocking gesture, wanting to figure out how to wipe that smug smile off of his face. He was laughing at her and she hated him. His big, huge, muscular body was laughing at the wimpy, curvy woman and she hated him with an instant, intense hatred unlike anything she’d ever felt for any human being.
“No, what are you doing here in LowPoint? Aren’t you some big-shot police officer from New York City? Why are you here? What’s the allure of LowPoint to someone with your experience?” She challenged, daring him to make fun of her precious town and all of its residents. “Are you just here as a joke? To bring back funny stories to your SWAT team members back home?”
He shook his head. “I think you’re town is cute, Marilee.”
Her eyes narrowed at his use of her name. “How do you know who I am?” she demanded. The fact that he knew her name scared her. For years, she, Daisy, Ivy and Tony had hidden their wealth after winning the lottery. The danger of people knowing their net worth, which was up in the hundreds of millions of dollars, was scary. Their lawyer and manager, Jason Rayburn, had warned them never to reveal their wealth to anyone.
“I looked up most of the residents in town. You’re Marilee Markson, owner of ‘The Crystal Shoppe’ located in the middle of Main Street. You’re the owner of the store, but you also locate and buy all of the store’s merchandise. The manager, Mara Simmons, runs the day to day operations with several others who help out on a part time basis. You also have a warehouse over at the end of Church Street run by a guy by the name of Charlie who manages your online sales, ensuring that everything ordered through your website, which is fascinating, by the way, is shipped out expeditiously. You have a very good online presence with extremely high customer satisfaction.”
Marilee was stunned by all of that information. Most people just assumed she was one of the workers for the store. They didn’t know that she owned the store. The fact that this man knew…she wasn’t sure how to react.
She snapped her mouth closed, irritated that it had been hanging open, making her look like a dope. “So you’re spying on all of us?” she asked, trying not to let the panic show.
He pushed away from the tree and stepped closer to her, all amusement gone from his rough, but oddly attractive features. “No. Not spying. I need to know who is who in order to get things done, Marilee.” He reached out and took the blanket from her. “I don’t mean to scare you. That was never my intention.”
He took her arm and she trembled as his strong fingers led her back to her car.
Thoughts whirled through her mind, some of them not very appropriate since she’d just met the man. But one thing kept flashing into her head; he had very strong hands.
Pushing that aside, not wanting him to think she was any crazier than his current impression, she pulled away so that his hand dropped from her arm.
“Why would you take the top job in such a small town?” she demanded as soon as they reached her car. She had her keys out, ready to speed away because she didn’t like him touching her. She felt…strange when his hands had been holding her arm and she didn’t like it one little bit!
“It was a good career move,” he told her and plucked her keys from her hand, then moved to the back of her car to store the heavy blanket in the trunk.
Marilee watched…she wasn’t watching his butt, she told herself sternly. Although…it was nice, very nice!
When he turned back to her, she lifted her eyes up to his rugged features. “So we’re just a stepping stone for you. Great. Well, I’m sure LowPoint residents will bore you quickly and you’ll move on to your next ‘career move’.” With that, she plucked her keys and stepped into her car, revving the engine to get away as quickly as possible.
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Tempted (The Lottery Winners Book 2) Page 15