by Kit Tunstall
“I’m sorry,” she replied breathlessly, turning the pages back to their original position. “The sketchbook was open and the pictures were so beautiful.” She rose and turned to face the speaker. “I just…” She stopped cold, her mouth open.
Standing before her, larger than life, was a flannel-clad God.
Tall herself, Lindy felt dwarfed by his presence. Her gaze slowly traveled the length of his six-foot-six-inch frame. Dressed in hiking boots and worn, faded jeans, with a tucked-in, dark blue flannel shirt, his clothing only served to emphasize the hard-muscled body beneath. His sleeves were rolled up to just below the elbow, and his forearms—lightly sprinkled with dark hair, and wrapped with a few prominent veins—were well-defined. His hands were large, the fingers long and tapered and his skin was dark, not just tan, but brown, a rich, deep color that radiated warmth.
Lindy’s heart actually fluttered when her gaze reached his face. The planes and hollows were precisely sculpted, on the verge of being hawklike, yet softened by an unknown ancestor. His face was framed by black hair pulled severely back and bound by a leather tie. His eyes were dark, almost black, two pools of coffee that should have promised heat and stimulation, but now were hard and cold. His full lips were taut, his ire thinning them.
A dark brow rose. “You just…what?” he asked sarcastically.
Lindy blinked at his tone, attraction suddenly replaced by rising irritation. “Look, I’m sorry. No, I don’t normally snoop through other people’s belongings, but the book was out and open. I have to assume if it was private it wouldn’t have been left where anyone could see it. Can we start over? I’m Lindy Timberlane.” She stepped forward and held out her hand.
It was rudely ignored. “I know who you are, Miss Timberlane, and I may as well tell you that I don’t approve of your being here.” The irritable hunk moved passed her and leaned down to gather his papers.
Lindy couldn’t help following the fluid movement of his body, her eyes widening at the sight of his hard, tight ass and how it moved under the taut fabric of his jeans when he bent over. She quickly snapped her eyes upward as he straightened and turned, pausing for a moment to study her. She felt her cheeks slowly begin to heat.
Those exquisite lips tightened again and sparks lit the depths of his dark eyes. “We’re doing serious work here. We’re not here to guide some wealthy dilettante on a camping trip.”
“I am not a wealthy dilettante! I work for a living, Mister…?”
“Kutter, Rafe Kutter.”
“Mr. Kutter. I didn’t donate money to curry any special favors. I didn’t ask to come—I was invited.”
“Yes, I know. And it was an invitation that was issued in spite of my disapproval. I was outvoted by the rest of the team. They seem to believe that your favor needs to be curried or the gravy train will halt.”
Lindy gaped at him in disbelief. “Has anyone ever told you how obnoxious you are?”
Rafe opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted.
“I see you’ve met Rafe, and discovered what a charming fellow he can be.”
The two combatants turned to face the speaker. A smiling woman of medium height with short, brown hair made her way to the pair of them. She held out her hand to Lindy, her blue eyes sparkling with amusement. “Hi, I’m Nancy Walden.”
Despite her disgruntlement, Lindy made an effort to cordially greet the newcomer. She smiled wryly as she shook Nancy’s hand. “Hi, I’m Lindy Timberlane, and yes, Mr. Kutter and I were just getting acquainted.”
Nancy laughed delightedly. “You’re being quite diplomatic, Lindy. I’m assuming from the battle lines I could see being drawn that he’s made you aware of his objections to your being invited, but don’t worry, his bark is worse than his bite.”
A small grudging smile played over Rafe’s lips. “You shouldn’t minimize the danger Miss Timberlane is in, Nancy.” He turned his gaze to Lindy. “I can be quite dangerous.”
Meeting his gaze, Lindy could swear she saw a brief amber glow in the depths of his dark eyes. It sent a tingling shiver down her spine. “I’m no coward, Mr. Kutter.”
Rafe studied her thoughtfully. “That remains to be seen.” He gave them both a quick nod. “Ladies.”
Lindy watched him walk out the front door, then turned to Nancy who was looking at her with a speculative gleam in her eyes. “Is he always so…abrasive?”
Nancy smiled. “Somewhat… He likes you.”
“What? How could you possibly think that?” Lindy asked incredulously. “You saw what just happened between us.”
“Yes, I did, and I know Rafe well enough to know that if you weren’t having an effect on him he’d be polite, accept your presence gracefully, and you’d leave here thinking he was a well-mannered, diligent professional. But you’ve seen a part of the real man—that’s something he normally doesn’t share with strangers.” Nancy cocked her head curiously. “I could sparks flying from across the room. Am I wrong?”
Lindy blushed. “I’ll admit he’s far from unattractive, but his personality needs a lot of work.”
Nancy smiled. “Well, you’re going to be here for a while. I think the work could be worthwhile.”
Lindy frowned slightly, perturbed by the conversation and her reaction to it. She felt in some ways that she should be offended by Nancy’s delving into such a personal matter, and yet there was something about the woman that made her feel immediately at ease with her. It was like having a bull session with an old friend.
“I don’t want to sound impertinent, but may I ask why you’re so interested in Mr. Kutter’s love life?” she asked.
“For the simple reason that he doesn’t have one. Rafe is too solitary and he’s becoming too serious. He’s a good man and I don’t like the thought of him being alone.”
“Surely, he has women friends. I can’t imagine that a man who looks like that doesn’t have scores of women throwing themselves at him.”
“While that’s certainly true, he doesn’t bother to catch any of them, not even for a quick roll in the hay.”
“Have you considered the fact that he may be gay?” Lindy asked seriously.
Nancy smiled softly and shook her head. “No, I’m sure he’s not. My brother, who is gay, was here with us for a few weeks. He was very attracted to Rafe, and told me it was such a waste that he was straight. Jeremy would know—his gaydar works with pinpoint accuracy.”
Lindy chuckled. “That sounds like my best friend, Rob.”
“Maybe we should introduce the two of them.”
“That’s a distinct possibility.”
The two of them smiled at each other in perfect accord.
*
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Couldn’t I go with someone else?”
Lindy and Rafe looked at each other, neither surprised at the sentiments they’d just expressed.
“Now hold on, you two,” David replied mildly and turned to Lindy. “Your biggest reason for coming was to see the bears, correct?” Lindy nodded and he turned to Rafe. “Rafe, you’re the one who spends the greatest amount of time observing the bears. It’s only logical that Lindy go out with you.” At Rafe’s raised brow, David’s lips quirked with a small smile. “You are, after all, our expert on Ursus arctos.”
“I’m not going to debate that point,” Rafe replied, honestly acknowledging David’s praise of his abilities. “I just think Ms. Timberlane would be more comfortable in someone else’s company.”
“You got that right,” Lindy muttered under her breath.
Rafe gave her a penetrating glare while Nancy and the others looked on with amusement.
“Be that as it may,” David said, his lips twitching with a suppressed smile. “I’d feel we were doing you a disservice by not providing you with the very best we have to offer, which in this case is Rafe.”
Lindy received this unwelcome news in silence, her dinner suddenly feeling like a rock weighing down her stomach. The team was seated around t
he large dining table finishing off the evening meal. Lindy had pitched in to help fix the meal while meeting the rest of the team.
Sandy DiAngelo sat to her left and was a petite soft-spoken woman with big brown eyes and long hair, which she wore in a ponytail. Next to her was her husband, Paul, a tall and wiry man with a dry sense of humor and eyes that sparkled with mischief. At the moment they were focused on Lindy, the twinkle more than apparent as he watched her second skirmish with Rafe unfold.
She had been enjoying the meal. The company was pleasant, the conversation casual, relaxed and teasing at times. She’d even managed to ignore Rafe for the most part, though his size and good looks demanded attention in spite of his sometimes surly attitude. The fact that he’d been shooting frequent and enigmatic looks her way during the evening did little to endear him to her. His unwarranted attention made her feel prickly. Like an unruly and resentful child, she wanted nothing more than to stick her tongue out at him.
Now a pregnant silence filled the room as they stared at each other. Despite the mild hostility she felt toward him, Rafe had also managed to stir something else inside her, an unwilling attraction that caused heat to rise inside, heat that spread and caused a melting sensation that flowed, settling between her thighs.
Reflexively, she tightened her thighs against the sudden crazy need to spread them wide and invite him inside. She felt herself moisten and silently cursed her body’s betrayal. A fleeting vision of herself straddling Rafe, slowly riding him, filled her inner vision. An involuntary spasm quivered through her pussy and she drew in a sharp, shallow breath as she struggled to keep her expression impassive.
Something in her eyes transmitted a message. Rafe’s eyes widened slightly, his pupils enlarging, the dark pools seeming to soften and invite. Everyone else in the room disappeared. Lindy leaned forward, a helpless, infinitesimal movement as she was drawn toward the sensual promise in those two mesmerizing orbs.
In the space of seconds a raging inferno erupted before her eyes and she felt herself drawn into the flames. Her skin reacted to the heat, a gossamer thin sweat breaking out. Rafe’s nostrils flared and she could swear he was taking in her scent. A flash of light again lit his eyes, a solar flare that was suddenly, ruthlessly crushed. Rafe had once more erected an icy barrier between them, and she drew back, shivering with the cold.
He stood abruptly, towering over her. “I leave at first light, be ready or I go without you.”
Lindy watched him walk away for the second time. “I suppose I should get used to that,” she commented, taking a deep, calming breath while wondering if anyone had noticed what had just passed between the two of them.
“Give him time, he’ll loosen up. Eventually,” Paul quipped.
She gave him a disbelieving look, one eyebrow raised.
“Scout’s honor.” He smiled, giving her a little salute.
Sandy laughed. “Paul, dear, you were never a boy scout.”
“Is it my fault there was no local troop? My mother did try to get me into the Brownies.”
Good-natured laughter met Paul’s facetious confession and Lindy rose with her plate, taking it to the sink. Not too surprising was the fact that her knees felt a bit weak. Determined to ignore it, she began to gather the dirty dishes, fully prepared to wash them, before Nancy shooed her out.
“If you’re going with Rafe, I suggest you go get some sleep. He wasn’t joking about leaving at daybreak,” Nancy commented softly as they stood side by side in front of the sink. A quiet conversation was taking place between the three left at the table, giving Nancy and Lindy privacy.
“I didn’t think he was. I sincerely doubt the man could tell a joke, even if he wanted to.”
Nancy grinned. “I’ve known Rafe since he was a baby. He inherited his stoicism from his father. I swear that man seldom cracked a smile. His mother was also a wildlife biologist and we worked together before her death. She was a joyous soul, she was full-blooded Native American Shoshone. I never saw a person so at home with nature and wild things. She passed those traits on to Rafe. Believe it or not, he used to laugh.” Nancy’s smile faded away. “When she was killed, the joy just bled out of that boy. Of course, Rafe’s father being the way he was didn’t help. He withdrew into himself and left Rafe pretty much on his own. It’s a hard thing for a boy of twelve to lose the care and guidance of his father, especially with his mother gone.”
Lindy bit her lip as she felt her heart twist in sympathy. “How did his mother die?”
“She was shot by a poacher.”
“What?”
“Even though this is federal land and protected, poachers still come in trying to bag a trophy they can brag about to their friends. The bear, moose, elk—they’re all at risk. We do the best we can and work in concert with the park rangers, but there’s a lot of territory out there. It’s impossible to keep watch everywhere. Mary liked to camp out and did it quite frequently on her own. One night she surprised a couple of poachers who’d just shot a moose. When Rafe found her that morning she was barely alive. The poachers got away. We don’t know if she was shot deliberately or by accident, but they left in hurry. They didn’t even bother to take their trophy.” Nancy’s eyes were filled with unshed tears.
Lindy swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. “I promise I’ll try to get along with Rafe.”
“I’m sorry, Lindy, I shouldn’t have dumped that on you. I just wanted you to know that Rafe has his reasons for being the way he is. And…there’s something I want you to do for me.”
“What’s that?”
“Don’t back down, don’t let this knowledge make you go soft on him. Whether because of his looks or his size, Rafe is used to getting deferential treatment from others, if they agree with him or not. Your willingness to stand up to him is just what he needs, something to make him take a new look at what’s around him. Shake him up.”
Lindy smiled. “All right, I promise to continue being a pain in his ass. And what a magnificent ass it is,” she quipped, then slapped a hand over her mouth, her cheeks flushing hotly.
Nancy burst out laughing. “Don’t tell David I said so, but I happen to agree with you!”
Chapter Two
Rafe lay naked on his bed, the covers crumpled and thrown back from his restless movements. Through the open window he could hear a soft breeze whispering through the pines. Normally that sound soothed and served to ease him into sleep, but not tonight. Tonight his thoughts were filled with a tall, feisty blonde who not only sported a smart mouth, but the sexiest mouth he’d ever seen. A mouth he had a definite craving to taste.
He grumbled a resentful curse under his breath. Why did she have to come here? He’d more or less managed to sublimate his need for sex, relying on masturbation to ease his urges. But now, here was temptation thrust right under his nose with a strength and pull the likes of which he’d never experienced.
The woman riled not only his temper, but his libido, and he was honest enough to admit that his resentment was based on his unwilling attraction. He had secrets to keep, secrets that wouldn’t stand the fine examination that came with intimacy. But damn, he thought to himself, I’m so tired of being alone.
Rafe shook his head and sighed, wondering for the millionth time how his mother had gotten the courage to reveal her “gift” to his father. A melancholy sadness filled him as he thought of his parents. As sudden and tragic as his mother’s death had been, his father’s had been, if not worse, just as bad. A slow death, years spent mourning the loss of a beloved wife.
His gaze came to rest on the framed picture that graced his bedside table, his parents standing together, smiling at each other, with a younger version of himself standing in front of them. His dad was a big, tall and powerfully built man with dark curly hair, deep brown eyes and gleaming dark brown skin. His mother was also tall, with long, flowing black hair and cleanly sculpted features. In the photo, her brown eyes were glowing with love as she looked at her husband. Rafe could easily see,
while looking at his own image, that his physical characteristics were clearly a blend of his African and Native American heritages.
He rolled to his back, muscles shifting smoothly under rich cocoa-brown skin. He sighed again, thinking of his father and grateful for the fact that his resentment had turned to understanding and forgiveness. After his mother’s death, his father had done the best he could. Rafe had finally come to terms with that fact.
His thoughts again wandered, coming to rest once more on Lindy Timberlane. “Lindy,” he whispered softly, testing the name on his lips.
He breathed deeply, her remembered scent sending a jolt through him. He wondered if she had any idea just how damn good she smelled. Hers was an elusive aroma, one that teased his senses and tickled his palate until he was sure he could taste her. Attuned to the memory, his breath came a little faster, his heart beat a little harder, and his groin tightened, his cock beginning to firm and grow.
Rafe trailed a hand over the rippled muscles of his abs and downward until long, tapered fingers wrapped around his burgeoning erection. He groaned softly and closed his eyes, seeing Lindy as she sat at the dining table, watching that indefinable something blossom in her eyes as they’d stared at each other. Something he now knew was desire. His eyes sprang open and he stared sightlessly into the darkness of his room, oblivious to the familiar shadows, his hand beginning a slow stroking motion up and down the thick, hard, satin-skinned length of his cock.
Desire. She felt it too. It was the irresistible something that pulled them toward each other. He’d bet his life on it. A slow grin spread over his face, a grin that turned to a grimace of pleasure and another breathy groan as his fingers closed a bit tighter and stroked a bit faster. Perhaps the chore of guiding her around wouldn’t be quite as onerous as he thought. Perhaps it was time to make a change, to take some chances.
His inner vision again pictured Lindy. He found it impossible to resist her lush, full figure and the way she held herself so tall and proud. The flash of fire in her grass-green eyes as she stood up to him, both excited and challenged him. And again, her lips, plump and freshly ripe, came to mind—and in his imagination they opened and welcomed his thick, throbbing length, closing over the weeping, plum-shaped head and sliding down as her tongue bathed and massaged the highly sensitive underside of his eager erection.