by B. J Daniels
“Clancy!” Jake screamed her name, a cry of fear and anguish, hope and despair. He stumbled past the bike to stare down the mountainside. The wind howled in the pines; rain bit into his skin, hard as stones. He bent down, saw the tracks where she’d slid down the mountainside and practically threw himself down the slope after her.
* * *
CLANCY THOUGHT SHE HEARD the high-pitched whine of the bike fade. But she stayed wedged beneath the log, afraid to move. Had he really left? How could she be sure?
In the end, it was thoughts of Jake that made her slowly edge out of her hiding place. The wind whipped the pines, making them groan. The rain splattered down, wet and cold, promising a torrent shortly. She looked up, half expecting to see the biker standing on the log above her, his body in silhouette, his face as black as the shield he’d hidden behind earlier.
But no one waited on the log.
Had he really gone? And more important, who was he? Why did he want to harm her?
Clancy pulled herself to her feet. Her body throbbed with so many pains she couldn’t isolate one from another. Her right hip ached with a dull throb where she vaguely remembered hitting it on something as she tumbled down the mountainside. The rain stung her skin, but she hardly noticed. She thought she heard her name on the wind. She thought she heard Jake’s voice because she’d wished it so.
* * *
JAKE’S HEART THREATENED to burst from his chest as he slipped and fell his way down the mountainside. He didn’t even realize he’d screamed her name until he heard her call out to him and look up. He saw her just below him.
Her face was covered with a mixture of dirt and blood, her clothes were torn and stained, her hair a nest of weeds and decomposed wood. He thought she’d never looked more beautiful.
“Clancy?” His voice came out a whisper and was quickly carried away by the wind. “Clancy.”
He stumbled down to her, grabbed her and pulled her into his arms. “Oh, baby. Are you all right?”
He felt her nod against his chest as she tightened her hold on him. Relief washed over him, making him weak. The rain began to fall in sheets, drenching him and everything it touched.
“He tried to kill me again,” she said, her words muffled against his chest. “The man on the dirt bike. This time you believe me, don’t you?”
He pulled back to look into her face. Words stuck in his throat. “Yes,” he whispered. “I believe you.” He swept her up into his arms and took her to the closest shelter—his lodge.
* * *
CLANCY COULDN’T STOP shivering as Jake kicked open the door and carried her up the stairs, straight to his room and the shower. She leaned against him as he got the water going, refusing to give up the warmth of his body or breach the bond between them even for a moment.
He turned and, without breaking contact, pulled her into the shower with him. The warm water felt wonderful, but not as wonderful as Jake as he drew her to him. He cupped her face in his hands. His mouth dropped to hers, taking her as his own, possessing her in that single kiss in the same way he’d possessed her heart for more than a decade.
His lips lingered on hers, savoring her, seducing her with his lips, his tongue, his breath. He drew back. She looked up at him, breathless from the kiss, from the look in his eyes. “Jake,” she whispered, a plea.
Slowly, his gaze on hers, he unbuttoned her shirt, opening her bare skin to the warm water and the fire of his touch. She leaned into the spray and him, letting the water wash away the dirt and blood, letting Jake wash away the years of hurt.
He caught his breath as her shirt dropped from her shoulders to the shower floor. His gaze alone hardened her nipples, making them ache with longing. He reached to unhook her bra, freeing her breasts to his gaze, to his touch, to his mouth and the rough, wet feel of his tongue.
Warmth sprinted from her hardened nipple through her body, making her weak. She ached for the feel of his skin on hers as she hurriedly unbuttoned his shirt, pushing aside the wet cloth to brush her palms across the solid wet heat of his flesh.
With a groan, he stripped off her jeans and panties and dragged her to him. Her pulse matched the thunder outside as he backed her up against the shower wall, trapping her there, her body now at his mercy. She surrendered as he devoured her swollen breasts, sucking her nipples red and hard. Then his mouth trailed down her belly to her open thighs, where he consumed her with the same kind of desperate need. She buried her fingers in his hair, arching against his mouth, as a hot current raced through her. There was no need for words; for once, they completely understood each other. There were no walls. No fences. Nothing to keep their hearts from running free.
“Jake,” she whispered as she unbuttoned his jeans. A plea. A promise.
Jake stepped out of his wet jeans and lifted her, hip to hip. He breathed her name, husky with desire. “Clancy.” Not a question. An affirmation. He thrust her against the shower wall, his gaze locking with hers. She gasped as he filled her so completely, and with each drive, he took her spiraling up, the water pounding them as the rain beat down on the skylight overhead. As the thunder rumbled and lightning lit the sky, he took her higher and higher, further and further, until they both soared like hawks over the island.
Jake said nothing as he pulled her into his arms. She buried her face in his shoulder, hugging him tightly, grazing his skin with a kiss. He placed a hand on the back of her blond head and gazed down at her. So small. So strong. So beautiful. He should have been surprised by his feelings for her. But instead he was more surprised by her feelings for him. After everything he’d done to her, she still loved him.
She leaned back to look up into his eyes. Then she picked up the bar of soap and gently glided it over his skin, lathering his shoulders, his chest, his belly.
He watched her eyes, still dark with pleasure, and he knew he had to have her again. One time would never still the need inside him. He doubted a hundred thousand would.
He took the soap from her and slowly slid it over her, from the pounding pulse at the hollow of her neck, over her luscious, full, rounded breasts, down to the hollow of her stomach, to the silken V of her thighs.
She groaned softly, her eyes darkening as her hands trailed over his skin.
He pulled her to him, their bodies slick and slippery. He buried himself in her again, losing himself in her body, in her eyes, in her.
* * *
CLANCY CAME OUT of the bathroom, her wet hair curled at her neck, her skin pink and bare except for the towel wrapped around her. Jake tossed another log on the fire and closed the screen.
“Do you want to go home and get something on your scrapes and scratches?” he asked as he closed the distance between them. “You must hurt all over from your fall.”
She shook her head. Thunder boomed overhead, rattling the windows. Rain streaked the glass and pounded the deck. “I’ve never felt this wonderful.”
He laughed as he swept her up and carried her to his bed. Before he joined her, he picked up the cell phone and dialed Clancy’s number. Kiki answered on the first ring.
“Clancy’s fine,” Jake said. “She’ll be back in the morning. Go home.” He hung up and pulled Clancy into his arms. They lay together watching the storm rage outside, the fire crackle and glow inside until they fell asleep, spooned together in the middle of the bed.
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING, Clancy woke to find Jake propped up on one elbow, looking down at her. He smiled as he brushed hair back from her forehead and planted a kiss between her eyes, then dropped to place one on her lips.
She lay on her back, watching his face. When she’d first opened her eyes she’d caught him frowning down at her. She’d gone to sleep happier than she could ever remember being. Now she felt as if an elephant had just sat on her chest. “What is it?”
He seemed surprised by her question, then his smile faded. “You really don’t miss anything, do you?” He trailed a finger across her shoulder.
She could almost hea
r the wheels turning in his head as she sat up, pulling the sheet over her bare breasts and leaned against the headboard, bracing herself. Outside, the storm had let up. The lake lay slate gray and flat. Water dripped from the eaves. In the distance, Clancy could see a slit of blue sky on the horizon.
Jake pulled himself up and leaned back against the wall next to the bed so he could face her. “Clancy, I’ve never been closer to anyone than I am to you.”
She feared what was coming. She promised herself she wouldn’t cry. “Why don’t you just say it. This was a mistake.”
She started to get up but he grabbed her arm and kept her on the bed.
“No, dammit, I’m trying to tell you that making love to you has made me realize that now more than ever, I want—I need to know—”
She knew the words before he said them.
“The truth. I have to know, Clancy. For my sanity’s sake. For…our sake.”
She stared at him. For a few hours she’d forgotten why he’d come back to Montana. Didn’t he say he’d get the truth out of her at any cost? “Is that why you made love to me?” she asked. She shoved him away and got out of bed, anger soothing the dagger of hurt that was stuck in her heart. “Is that what this was all about? You thought if you got me naked and in a weakened enamored state, maybe I’d break down and confess everything?” She remembered her clothes were still on the shower floor, soaking wet.
“No! Dammit. You’re not listening to me.”
“Oh, I hear you just fine, Jake.” She jerked a pair of jeans from Jake’s closet. From the few items of clothing he’d brought, he obviously hadn’t planned to stay long. Just get the truth out of her—whatever it took, even seducing her. Then he’d be gone back to Galveston. Oh, what a fool she’d been. Did she really think making love meant anything to him? Just a means to an end.
The jeans were way too big, but that didn’t stop her. She tugged them on, grimacing at her aches and pains. Just hours ago, she’d felt nothing but pleasure in Jake’s arms. But this morning, her sore body reminded her painfully that some things hadn’t changed. Making love with Jake had solved nothing.
“Dammit, you’re wrong,” Jake said, flying out of the bed to tower over her. “You think last night was just part of my plan?”
She looked up at him. “Don’t tell me it didn’t cross your mind.”
His gaze slithered off. “I’ll admit it did cross my mind but—”
“That’s what I thought.” She shoved her way past him to the closet and jerked one of his shirts from the hanger.
“Listen to me, woman. I used to imagine making love with you.” He took her bare shoulders and drew her around to face him. “Nothing in my imagination would ever come close to actually being with you.”
“Now, if I’d just quit lying to you, everything would be perfect, right?” She shucked his hands from her shoulders and tried to get the shirt on without him seeing how hard she was shaking. She didn’t want him to see how much he’d hurt her. She didn’t even want to admit it to herself.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Jake demanded, stomping around to face her in all his nakedness.
She pushed past him. “Leave mc alone, Hawkins.”
“I can’t stand this between us. Can’t you understand that, Clancy?”
She angrily thrust one arm into a sleeve, then the other, making him have to step back to keep from getting slugged. “Nothing I can say or do will ever convince you.”
“You can’t just stomp off. Not now.” She stepped back when he reached for her. He raked a hand through his hair and let out a frustrated curse. “Are you forgetting that someone tried to kill you?”
She fumbled with the buttons, not caring which holes they went in. “No, Jake, something like that doesn’t exactly slip your mind, especially when I’d been telling you someone was after me all along and you didn’t believe me.” She stuffed her feet into her wet sandals and headed for the door.
“Just a minute, you aren’t leaving like this. Let me get dressed. You took off by yourself yesterday and look where it got you.”
She turned to see him hopping on one foot as he tried to pull on a pair of jeans. He looked so flustered, so much like the boy she’d fallen in love with. She cursed the emotions that drew her to him, the heart that threatened to break at just the sight of him. “Damn you, Hawkins. There are worse things than having a crazed killer after you. Like having a crazed ex-boyfriend who pretends to want to help you. Especially one you’ve been in love with your entire life.” She turned and left, slamming the door on the way out.
* * *
“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?” Aunt Kiki demanded the moment Clancy slammed into the lodge. “Are you all righ—” She glanced from Clancy’s flushed, scraped and scratched face to Jake’s shirt, improperly buttoned with one tail hanging lower than the other. Clancy had to hold up the much too-large jeans with one hand.
“I’m fine,” Clancy snapped, sweeping past her, feeling like a teenager caught necking. “Someone on a dirt bike tried to kill me. Other than that—” She turned and walked to her aunt, whose eyes widened in obvious disapproval at this inappropriate display of emotion. “And someone brought Jake Hawkins back into my life. If the guy on the bike doesn’t get me, Jake will convince the state to hang me instead of just send me to prison. Other than that, I’m just fine. Didn’t Jake tell you to go home?”
Kiki looked highly offended, but then she often did. “I don’t take orders from Mr. Hawkins. And believe me, this—” she waved a hand at Clancy’s postcoital condition “—isn’t what I had in mind when I hired him.”
It gave Clancy some satisfaction to see how displeased her aunt was over Clancy’s liaison with Jake Hawkins. “Sometime you’ll have to tell me just what it was you did have in mind when you hired him. In the meantime, I will just continue to assume that you’ve lost your mind.”
Clancy turned and, with all the dignity she could muster, limped toward the stairs, her body hurting with each step.
“By the way,” Kiki said behind her, “your lawyer called. It seems he fell while looking for you and broke his leg. He’s at the hospital but said he plans to be home later. You might want to call him. That’s if you are still interested in not going to prison.”
“Actually, prison is looking better all the time,” Clancy said without turning around.
She heard her aunt sniff in disapproval, then leave quietly. Always the Talbott, she thought, thankful that she had enough Jones in her to rant and rave and show some good, honest emotion.
Clancy started up the stairs, changed her mind and went back to lock all the doors. The last person she wanted to see again was Jake Hawkins. She’d much prefer Dex Westfall’s ghost.
As Clancy climbed the stairs, she concentrated on the pain from her fall instead of the warmth inside her where Jake had been. Her skin still simmered from where his skin had touched hers. She used anger as a salve. What had she thought? That once they made love, Jake would realize she couldn’t have possibly lied? That she was a woman who would never betray her man? That he’d been wrong? Oh, sure. A man as stubborn, intractable and incorrigible as Jake Hawkins? Fat chance.
* * *
JAKE TOOK A FEW frustrating minutes to try to find a shirt, then gave up and went after Clancy, realizing that all he’d done in the three days since he’d hit Montana was chase this woman and he was getting damned tired of it.
He threw open his front door to find Kiki poised under the dripping eave ready to knock. It didn’t take a genius to see that she was madder than an old wet hen. She glanced at his bare chest with distaste. She was lucky he hadn’t come to the door stark naked. He almost wished he had just for the shock value, although he doubted much could shake up Kiki.
“What?” he demanded. Before she could speak, he added, “Whatever it is, I don’t have time for it.”
“Perhaps we misunderstood each other, Mr. Hawkins,” she said, her look darker than the storm that had passed through. “I hired you to help my
niece, not seduce her.”
He bit back a nasty retort and tried not to bite off her head. “It’s none of your business who Clancy…sleeps with or doesn’t.” In his case, it would be “doesn’t” in the future, he was sure, but he wasn’t about to tell her that.
Kiki narrowed her gaze at him. “Please don’t be offended, but you’re not right for my niece. She deserves better than some…private investigator. Her mother married poorly. I won’t let that happen to Clancy. I hope that’s clear enough for you.”
“Marrying your niece isn’t even an option,” Jake snapped.
Kiki’s look would have frozen boiling water. “How nice to hear. Do you know who killed Dex Westfall yet, Mr. Hawkins?”
“No, as a matter of fact, I don’t. If I could keep your niece from disappearing every time I turn around, I might be able to find out.”
“See if you can do that.” With a haughty flip of her head, she turned and headed for her boat.
Furious, he slammed out of his lodge and stalked the distance to Clancy’s. Some private investigator. The nerve of that woman. He’d marry anyone he damned well pleased. As he stormed up Clancy’s steps, he wasn’t sure who he was the most angry with. Kiki. Clancy. Or himself.
He’d blown it, plain and simple. The case. But mostly Clancy. And, he realized with a start, he didn’t give a damn about anything else. But she was right; what the hell was he doing making love to her when he still thought she was a liar and possibly a murderer?
Because I’m in love with her! He felt like he’d been struck by lightning. You’re in love with a liar and a possible murderer? He stood for a moment, trying to get his bearings. He’d prove she was neither, dammit. He’d prove it to himself and then. And then what would he do? Throw himself at her mercy? Good luck.
But first he had to get back into her good graces somehow. It wasn’t going to be easy. But for once, he thought he knew what to do.