by Tanya Jolie
She saw the determination in his dark eyes, and it made something burn inside her. Without thinking she moved closer and touched her mouth to his, kissing him with all the fear and hope and need inside her.
When Jonah didn’t respond, she pulled away and ducked her head, utterly humiliated now. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to – forget that I did that.”
Jonah caught her before she rolled away and pushed her onto her back, his hands pinning her to the mattress as he kissed her, his mouth hard and hungry.
By the time he lifted his head Caroline was gasping, and he looked all over her face before he said, “Now kiss me again.” When she started to protest, he nipped her bottom lip. “I like how you taste. Your lips are so soft, too. Maybe I should tie you up again so I can kiss you all I want.”
“Jonah.” Caroline felt her face burn. “You don’t want this. It’s just, I don’t know – the stress of the situation.”
He glanced down. When she followed his gaze, she saw his penis had grown swollen and thick. “Looks like I’m pretty good at faking it when I’m stressed. How about you?”
She’d been wet since the moment she’d seen his big, gorgeous body. “You don’t even know me,” she whispered.
“I know you taste like strawberries.” He brushed the hair back from her eyes as he dipped his mouth to hers and slowly licked her lips. “You’re not involved or married, are you?”
“No.” She twisted her lips. “I’ve always been so busy. I thought I’d have more time – what about you?”
“I’ve got something going now,” he said, startling her. “There’s this pretty girl who’s a geologist, and surveys mountains and explores caves. I’m trying to get to know her a bit better.”
“Jonah.” He was going to break her heart. “You really don’t know me.”
“I know you’re beautiful and brave, and you can fly like a bird, too.” He touched his forehead to hers. “I want to fly with you tonight, Caroline. Take me with you this time.”
Chapter Three
For a quiet man who didn’t write poetry, Jonah Boone knew all the right words to get to a woman’s heart. Caroline wrapped her arms around his neck and drew his mouth down to hers to kiss him again. This time he answered her passion with his own, stroking her tongue with his and gathering her up in his strong arms as he rolled on top of her.
The delicious weight of him pressing her down made Caroline twine her legs over his to hold him there. He kissed his way from her bottom lip to her collarbone, and then filled his hand with her breast.
“Look at you.” He caressed her hard nipple, and ducked his head to stroke it with it tongue. “You’re like velvet.” He suckled her tenderly, and when she made a low sound he lifted his mouth from her. “I could do this all night, you know.”
“I hope you don’t, ah, limit yourself to just that.” When Caroline felt the nudge of his penis between her thighs she arched her hips, rubbing herself against him. “Jonah, please.”
“You want me right now?” He propped himself up and reached down between them, guiding himself to her.
“Yes.” As he slowly stroked her damp folds with the bulbous dome, Caroline gasped. He felt so good she curled her hands on his shoulders, and said, “I can’t wait.”
“Good. Me either.” He made a low sound as he pressed in, his jaw tightening as he breached her. “Oh, that’s it, that’s my sweet girl. You’re like honey inside, Caroline.”
The more he pumped into her, the more pleasure she felt pour through her, until at last he filled her. When she felt his body hair against her throbbing folds, she pressed her hot face against his chest. She tightened around him, and beneath her cheek felt the rumble of his groan.
Jonah kissed her mouth and her cheekbone and her ear. “You keep doing that,” he muttered, “and I’ll go wild on you, girl.”
“Then go wild on me, boy.” Caroline arched her back to rub her puckered nipples against him, and then clenched around his thick shaft again. “I want that. I want everything, Jonah.”
He went still, and then he drew out and plowed into her, his muscles coiling as he fucked her harder. Caroline held on, meeting his thrusts as he dragged out and pushed in, over and over, her own body straining. Sweat soon slicked their skins, and Jonah’s mouth ravished hers as he clamped a shaking hand over her breast.
“Don’t hold back.” He kissed her again and drove deeper. “Coming for you, Caroline. Coming now.”
That sensual promise sent bright hot streaks of delight through her, pushing her over the edge with him. Her head filled with a humming darkness as they came together, his shaft swelling and pulsing inside her fluttering softness. The climax took Caroline apart and remade her all at once, and when he tried to roll away, she clutched him to her.
“Don’t you dare.” She kissed his damp neck as the aftershocks shook them both, stirring him and softening her around him. “Jonah, is it always like that for you?”
He shook his head, and then nodded. “Starting tonight it is.”
Tears stung Caroline’s eyes. “Tonight may be all we ever have.”
“Then we should make it count.” Jonah touched his mouth to hers, kissing her with tender, lingering absorption. “Can you go again?”
Caroline nodded, and gasped as she felt him swelling inside her. “How can you . . . do that . . . so fast?”
“You make me hard, girl.” He thrust gently inside her. “And I make you wet, don’t I?” When she nodded, he drew out of her. Once he’d shifted away and stood, he pulled her to the side of the bed.
Caroline rolled onto her belly, arching her hips into his hands as he brought his slick penis head to her. “Yes. All you have to do is touch me. Jonah.”
He made a low, shaky sound as he pressed in, filling her so slowly that she pushed back to impale herself on him. “Easy, sweetness. I’m going to take care of it, right now.”
This time he took her tenderly, stroking more than thrusting, his body comforting as much as it was arousing. Caroline moaned as his hands rubbed her back and hips, and then slipped under her to caress her breasts.
“Jonah, oh, please.” The sweet dance of their bodies and constant caress of his hands made Caroline shake all over.
“There, now you feel it again, don’t you? That’s what I want. You give that to me, Caroline.” He pumped deeper, his shaft like a silk-wrapped spike in her, his fingers squeezing her aching mounds. “Come on my cock again. Come all over me.”
The pleasure shattered her this time, harder and hotter than before, and dimly she felt him shuddering and jerking. Then he flooded her with his cream, smooth and warm, and she curled her fists into the sheets.
All her life she’d wanted this – wanted a lover like him – and now she was going to lose him in a few hours. It made Caroline want to scream.
“We best get situated for when they come for us in the morning.” Slowly he drew out of her, and retrieved the cords to tie her wrists together. “Are you a gambling woman, Caroline?”
“Sometimes.” Willing herself not to weep, she lifted her bound hands to slip them over the railing, which he fitted back into place. “Why?”
“Back home, I’ve got a great bed. I special-ordered it from this place in Helena. Feels like you’re sleeping on a cloud.” He switched off the light and retrieved the cover from the door. Once he draped it over them, he looped the cord around his own wrists, tightening the knot with his teeth. “I bet when you try it, you’ll love it so much you’ll want to spend a week in it, with me.”
She closed her eyes tightly. “And if I don’t?”
“Well, then,” he said, replacing his railing, “I guess I’ll get your name tattooed on my ass.”
She didn’t want to laugh, but the sound burst from her lips, and then she couldn’t stop. Not even when she began sobbing.
“Hey.” Jonah wrapped his leg over hers to scoot her closer. “Don’t cry. I’m here. We’ll get out of this, I promise.”
He meant it, too. He would d
ie trying to save her, Caroline realized, and his courage made her feel ashamed for being so weak. She turned her face to dry her tears on her pillow, and then nodded. “All right.”
#
After making love to Caroline, Jonah could have slept for three days. Instead he allowed himself only three hours. When he woke again, he held his slumbering lady close. With silent, methodical deliberation he thought through everything he might do to save them both.
He aimed to keep Caroline alive. A nobler man would have considered sacrificing himself to do that, but Jonah wanted the chance to live, too. He suspected now that loving and looking after Caroline was all he’d ever ask of life again.
In the thin gray light of dawn, Andy Travers came in. He dropped their clothes on the bed before he untied Caroline.
“Here. I found these in the hall closet.” He tossed some jeans and a jacket on top of Caroline’s dress. “Don’t want you to freeze on the trail, gal. When you come out you can use the bathroom, and then we’re leaving.”
Caroline’s hands shook as she released Jonah. Once they’d dressed, she hugged herself with her arms. “I dreamt we were sleeping in your bed last night. You’re right, it’s pretty awesome.”
“The real thing’s even better.” Jonah smoothed down her tousled hair before he took her hand. “Keep close to me today. When our chance comes, it’ll be quick.”
As they walked out of the room, Jonah felt glad he’d taken good care of Merlin yesterday. With the hay and the meltwater trough in the little barn, the big gray would survive. It wouldn’t be long before Jonah’s brothers came looking for him. Ethan knew his habits, and when he didn’t radio in he’d ride out to the cottage and find Merlin. Somehow Jonah had to keep Caroline alive until nightfall.
After they used the bathroom, Don Travers tossed a water bottle and a granola bar to each of them. “You’ll have to eat breakfast while we’re hiking up to the ridge. Let’s go.”
Jonah stayed glued to Caroline’s side while they marched up the ridge trail. The Travers brothers followed, with Don barking for them to hurry up whenever their pace slowed under a quick trot. Caroline seemed to be handling it, but after twenty minutes she halted and glanced back at Don.
“I need to take a break,” she said, her words puffing out white in the frigid air.
The big man, who now huffed as if out of breath, pointed to the ground before he and his brother went lean against a flat-topped boulder beside the trail.
Jonah knew Caroline wasn’t so tired that she needed to stop, and put his arm around her. “You all right?”
“I think so.” She hugged him, and as she did whispered quickly, “I’m going to take them into the caves. I have an idea.”
Jonah nodded slightly as he rubbed her back, and then released her.
“Give her the map, Andy,” Don said, and when his brother came over to hand it to Caroline added, “We’re almost to the top. Where is it?”
“Not on the surface,” she told him, and opened the map to point out a particularly marking. “This is the entrance to a cave system I’ve surveyed. Some of these old tunnels have collapsed, but I know a way to get to where they buried the gold, here.” She pointed to another spot.
Jonah watched Travers scowl before he said, “She’s telling the truth. My brothers and I have played in those caves since we were kids.” It was a lie – he’d hated the dark, tight spaces from the first time he’d followed Chris into them – but it seemed to convince the brothers.
“Then I guess we don’t need you anymore,” Don said, hefting the shotgun and aiming the barrel at Jonah’s chest.
Chapter Four
“You do if you want that to carry out the gold,” Caroline told him, pretending a calm she didn’t feel. “One bar weighs twenty-five pounds, and I’m exhausted. When we find it, how much do you think you and Andy can carry? Three bars? Four?”
“We’ll make trips.” Don sounded surly, but his brows drew together.
“Donny, it’s three miles to the van from here,” his brother whined. “I can’t catch my breath as it is. Shit, we can make them do all the work.”
Don gave Jonah a long, narrow look before he slowly lowered the shotgun. “Fine,” he told her. “Break’s over. Get moving.”
Her heart pounding madly, Caroline held onto Jonah’s hand after he helped her up, and moved quickly along the trail. Behind them she could hear the brothers panting as they struggled to keep up with them. She knew that because both men had no experience with climbing in thin mountain air, they’d soon be even more winded – something that she needed for her getaway plan.
“When I say tattoo,” she murmured to him, “Grab my hand and follow me.”
“What are you whispering about to him?” Andy demanded.
“Some safety tips for when we get inside,” she lied. “Have either of you ever gone caving, Mr. Travers?”
“What do you think, bitch?” Don snapped.
“Well, then I should tell you, too. Once we’re inside, stay close, and don’t touch anything. The structure is very unstable. Displacing even one small rock can bring down a roof on our heads.” Caroline stopped and pulled aside some brush to reveal the cave mouth. “We’ll need those flashlights you brought now.”
Don pulled two small LED torches out of his jacket and handed her one. “You go in first.”
Caroline switched on her flashlight and led the men into the cave entry, the narrow dimensions of which required them to move in single-file for a hundred yards. At the end of the passage the cave expanded into a larger chamber, which sparkled wherever her flashlight beamed.
“I need the map,” she told Andy. When he handed it to her, she pretended to study it for a moment. “All right, we’ll need to take the tunnel on the left there.”
As she and Jonah moved toward it, Caroline felt his tension. She saw sweat had broken out on his brow and upper lip. Lines of strain now bracketed his eyes and mouth, too.
Suddenly she understood. “Oh, damn. You’re claustrophobic.”
“A touch.” He put his hand under her elbow. “We close?”
She nodded. “Be ready.”
Halfway down the tunnel Caroline switched off her flashlight and stopped, shaking it as if it had gone off on its own. “Don, these batteries just died. Give me yours so I don’t walk into a wall.”
“Damn it, Andy, I told you to change them.” The big man passed her his flashlight.
“Tattoo,” Caroline said, and when Jonah grabbed her hand switched off Don’s torch, plunging them into complete darkness.
She pulled Jonah along with her down the tunnel and into a side passage, cringing as she heard the echoes of the Travers brothers shouting furiously and running after them.
“Right turn,” she said, hauling Jonah around a corner and through a cluster of towering stalagmites. “Another left coming up.”
“You can see in the dark?” Jonah demanded as he hurried along with her.
She knew he was afraid, but loved him for trusting her enough to guide him through the darkness.
“After spending three months surveying the system, I can walk it with my eyes closed. Duck.” She bent down to avoid a low-hanging stalactite. A shotgun blast exploded behind them, making her cringe. “They’re coming. Run.”
As they fled, she guided Jonah through the tunnels and out into a small cave where sunlight sparkled on a small pile of snow. She climbed onto a boulder next to it, and reached up. Once she grabbed the edge of the hole in the cave roof, Jonah boosted her up. She strained to hoist herself out, then rolled over. Bracing herself, she reached down for his hand to pull him through.
“It won’t take them long to find their way out,” she said, glancing at the hole. “We need a place to hide.”
Jonah pulled her into his arms and kissed her quickly. “I’ve got one.” He then surveyed the grove of snowy evergreens around them before he took her arm. “This way.”
#
Caroline was shivering with cold by the time Jonah
reached his grandmother’s cabin. Once inside he bolted the door and grabbed the quilt off his old camp bed and wrapped it around her.
“I know you’re cold, but I need you to keep watch for them for a minute,” he said, and she nodded and took position by the window.
He went over to the storage chest and rifled through it until he found his spare radio. The battery light flashed as soon as he switched it on and called for Ethan, but luckily his oldest brother answered right away.
Jonah quickly explained the situation with the Travers brothers. “We’re at the cabin, but they’ll be coming. Call the sheriff and get up here, soon as you can.”
“My bow’s in the shed,” Ethan said. “Arrows in the tool cabinet. Stay alive, Jo.”
Jonah switched off the radio to save the low battery and joined Caroline. “I have to go out back for a minute. Any sign?”
“Nothing,” she said, and then followed him to the back door. “I’m coming with you.”
Jonah understood how she felt; he didn’t want to let her out of his sight, either. “Okay.” He pulled the quilt up over her bright hair. “But if this goes south, any time, you run down the path behind the shed to the river. Follow it north. There’s a rancher named Hastings about two miles from here.”
Caroline nodded. After taking a long look from the door, Jonah led her out to the shed. She glanced at the looming, blackened tower of the old cabin’s hearth and chimney beside the shed and frowned. “What’s that?”
“The first cabin my great-granddad built up here got struck by lightning and caught fire,” he said as he pried open the shed’s frozen door. “That’s all that survived.”
Caroline surveyed it again with a frown. “Why did he leave it standing?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “My grandmother always said it was good luck. Maybe she thought it would keep lightning from striking twice.”
Inside Jonah took down from the wall rack his brother’s compound hunting bow, and strapped on the quiver of arrows he’d left in the cabinet. He also took out a breaker bar and handed it to Caroline. “They get past me, you use this on the back of the neck or a knee. Hard as you can hit, and then run for the river.”