by Barb Han
“I’m right here.”
“You’re not getting off that easily, buster. You know all about my situation. Now it’s your turn. Talk.”
“You don’t want to know what I was thinking.”
Her violet eyes widened as she sat up. “Why not? Does it have to do with me?”
Katherine was brave and caring. Even when she was afraid, she faced it. She hadn’t asked for his help. In fact, she’d been leery of accepting any aid. Every step of the way, she thought of others, not considering herself during this entire ordeal. When they were both hurt, she wanted to attend to his wounds first. The guilt she carried was a heavy weight on her back. She didn’t use tears as a weapon. No, she refused to cry. She held everything on her shoulders and rarely let him in. When he really thought about it, the comparison to Cissy didn’t hold water.
Katherine was nothing like Cissy.
He didn’t have any plans to tell Katherine how much she occupied his thoughts.
“Maybe I should drive. You haven’t slept in a couple of days now. All the adrenaline must be wearing off, too. I’m sure your body’s as worn down as mine,” she said. “Probably more so since you haven’t so much as closed your eyes since this whole ordeal started.”
“I’m fine.”
“Still, I’d feel much better if you got some rest. You have dark circles under your eyes. Let me take the wheel for a while.”
“I appreciate your concern.” She had no idea how much he meant those words.
The back of her hand came up to press against the stubble on his face. Desire pounded him, tensing his muscles and demanding release. A dull ache formed at his temples.
No way was he acting on it in the car.
Maybe soon...
“Besides, we have to ditch the sport utility,” he said.
She moved to the backseat. He noticed her taut legs and sweet round behind as she climbed over.
“Here, the least I can do is rub your shoulders.”
She worked his tense muscles. Having her hands on him created the opposite effect she desired. Instead of relaxing, his body went rigid. His need for her surged, causing his neck muscles to become more tense.
He glanced in the rearview mirror in time to see her frown.
“You’re so tense. That can’t be good.”
A grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. She had no idea the effect she was having on him. “You touch me much more like that and I can’t be held responsible for my actions.”
Her eyes widened as reality dawned on her.
Was that a smile he just saw cross her features?
* * *
“I DIDN’T MEAN to create an issue for you,” Katherine said, quashing the self-satisfied smirk trying to force its way to the surface. She enjoyed the fact a man so strong, so powerful, reacted so intensely to her lightest touch.
“Well you have,” he said with a killer grin.
Damn he was sexy.
Katherine forced her gaze away from him and climbed into the front seat.
The sexually charged air hung thickly between them, sending her body to crackling embers. Had she ever felt this way for a man before?
No. Never.
And a tiny piece of her couldn’t help but wonder if she’d ever feel this way again. Or if she’d live long enough to see where it could go. Noah. Baby. She prayed he had the life-saving medicine he needed by now.
“This looks like a good place to ditch the SUV,” he said, pulling into a corn field.
“Then what?”
“We walk from here. Unless we get lucky and find an ATV.”
About the last thing Katherine felt was lucky. “What are the chances of that happening?”
“Pretty good actually. When you know where to look.” There came that devilish smile again.
It sent Katherine’s heart pounding and her thighs burning to have him nestled against her. She sighed. More inappropriate thoughts. They were becoming more difficult to contain. Caleb was one powerful man. His presence had a way of electrifying her senses and causing her to want. She knew better. Her body wanted nothing more than to get into bed with him and allow his strong physical presence to cover her, warm her and protect her.
Her logical mind knew to rail against those primal feminine urges.
She opened the door, but Caleb was already there. He took Max, and let him run free.
“We’ll be okay for a minute. Let me check that ankle before you try to walk on it.”
He closed his hand around her ankle and she ignored the fires he lit there, focusing instead on the little dog.
Max piddled on a nearby cornstalk and scurried back to Caleb’s feet.
Smart dog. He seemed to know on instinct who the alpha male was.
She took in a deep breath to clear her mind but only managed to breathe in his scent. He was outdoors and masculinity and sex personified. Bad idea.
Katherine gripped her purse. “How terrible is it?”
“Are you in pain?”
“A little.” She blocked out the true wound. The cavern that couldn’t be filled in her chest if anything happened to Noah...or if she couldn’t be with Caleb. Her ankle was nothing in comparison to those hurts. “I’ll be able to walk on it.”
“It’s pretty swollen. I’d hate to make it worse.”
“Not much choice.” She smiled. “We can’t hide out in a cornfield forever.”
“I was trying to decide if I should let you walk or carry you.”
“Oh, don’t do that.” The very thought of his hands on her sent a sensual chill up her back. The feeling of his arms wrapped around her would be nice. No doubt about it. But if her body was pressed to his, he’d read every bit of physical reaction she had to him. That couldn’t possibly help matters.
Katherine squared her shoulders. “No can do, captain. I’m ready and willing to walk the plank.”
Her attempt at humor fell flat. Can’t blame a girl for trying. Where had that come from? She was becoming delirious. It would do her good to focus. Walking, painful as it would be, would also keep her on track and feeling alive.
Noah’s kidnapping came crashing down on Katherine’s thoughts.
I won’t let you down, baby.
“You mind staying here while I look for transportation?” Caleb asked, breaking through.
“Not at all.” She took out a bottle of water and sipped before pouring a little in her curled hand for Max. “Besides, I have company.”
Max ignored the water and followed Caleb as he walked away, leaving the water to run off her palm.
Two-timing little puff ball.
Not that she could blame the dog, really. If she had a choice between being protected by her or Caleb, she’d choose the hunky guy with sex appeal to spare, too.
With Caleb by her side, they’d deflected bullets and escaped crazy killers, and yet he’d managed to keep them both alive. If she had money to put on a horse, that Thoroughbred would be named Caleb Snow.
Katherine opened her bag. The pic of Leann with baby Noah she’d taken from the apartment stared up at her. A lump formed in her throat, making it difficult to swallow. She wanted to cry. To feel the sweet release of tears. To liberate all the bottled-up feelings swelling in her chest and let everything go. Nothing came.
Katherine was the emotional equivalent of a drought.
* * *
CALEB’S LUCK IMPROVED considerably when he located the ATV at the edge of the field. He roared up with it, enjoying the feeling of making Katherine smile. She looked from Max to Caleb. The little dog had perched its front paws on the steering column and wagged his tail as soon as Katherine came into view.
What could Caleb say? The dog had good taste.
He helped her onto the back and secured her arms around his
midsection.
Fifteen minutes into the ride, the ATV stalled. “Out of gas.” Going on foot from here would frustrate anyone who was able to follow their tracks.
“Me, too,” she said with a brilliant smile. The kind of smile that made a man think she possessed all the stars in the heavens and they reflected like stardust from her face. Wasn’t like him to wax poetic.
He made a crutch for her out of a thick tree branch, urging her to put her weight on him as Max tagged along behind, keeping pace.
“Where are we headed?” Katherine asked as they pushed deeper into the woods.
“There’s an old building at the back of my property. It’s the original homestead. Not much more than a couple of rooms. Been empty for years. No one ever goes there. Hell, few people even know it exists it’s so far to the edge of my property. I like it that way, too. I keep a few basic supplies, blankets and such, in the place in case I get out here riding fences and don’t want to come back.”
“What could you possibly have to hide from? The world? Why? You have a beautiful ranch. Your life looks perfect to me.”
Not exactly. There was no one like her waiting for him when he came home every night.
His adrenaline had faded, and he was running out of juice. Especially with the way his mind kept wandering to thoughts of her. What he’d like to do to her.
The rest of the long walk was quiet.
Relief flooded him as the building came into view. A few more steps and he could get Katherine off her bad leg.
He opened the door, and put a thick blanket on top of the wood platform he’d frequently used as a bed. The place had gotten a fair amount of use when Cissy had left. Plenty of times, Caleb hadn’t wanted to be inside the main house. She’d disappeared in such a hurry she hadn’t packed. Her things were left in the bedroom. Savannah’s toys littered the grounds. Reminders of his life with them had been everywhere. They’d been like land mines to Caleb. Each one had detonated a memory...brought out the hollow feeling in his chest. He hadn’t been able to look at the color purple again without seeing Savannah’s stuffed hippo. It went with her everywhere, tucked under her arm. When she’d watch TV, the hippo was her pillow.
“At least tell me why you have so many things out here. And I don’t believe it’s just in case you get restless. I’m sure there are plenty of places you could find to soothe yourself.” Her violet eyes tore through him.
“My ex had a little girl. They both left. It broke my heart.”
“I’m sorry. She wasn’t yours?”
He shook his head, stuffing regret down somewhere deep. “No.”
“What happened?”
“When they left, it felt like my heart had been ripped from my chest.”
She covered his heart with her hand, connecting to the pain he felt.
“Thought I would suffocate inside the house for how empty it felt. Like the air was in a vacuum and I couldn’t breathe.”
“You must’ve loved her.”
He nodded. “I’d take my horse, Dawn, out after supper. At times, I couldn’t bring myself to go back inside, so I would come here. Guess everyone worried. Matt followed me one night. Margaret probably made him. So, he knows about this place, too.”
“Anyone else aware of this place?”
“Me and Matt. Now you.”
He settled her onto the blanket and tended to her cuts. He didn’t have ice in any of the supplies. There was no electricity at the place. But he’d bought a compression sock at the big-box store and that should help with the swelling. He slipped off her sandal and slid the sock around her foot and up her silky calf. “This should help.”
He didn’t immediately move his hand. It felt so natural to touch her.
Max circled around a few times before curling up in a ball next to Katherine.
“He lost a lot today. He’s probably exhausted,” she said.
“So are you.” He patted the little puff ball’s head.
“I can’t help but worry about Noah. I’d close my eyes but I’m afraid of the images my mind will conjure up.” The corners of her mouth turned down.
The picture of her when he’d first seen her, all chestnut hair and cherry lips, scared and alone, invaded his thoughts. Her misery was his. He wanted to kiss away her pain. Since he knew he’d never stop there, he went to the small kerosene stove instead and heated water. Margaret had slipped some herbal bags in with his supplies. More of her healing tea no doubt. Caleb was a coffee man, but he was glad for what she’d done. It might provide Katherine with the comfort she needed to relax.
“What’s this?” she asked when he handed her a tin cup full of steaming brew.
“Margaret said something about it calming the mind.”
“You didn’t sleep much after your ex-girlfriend left, did you?” The question caught him off guard.
He shook his head. “I was in bad shape for a while.”
He’d rebounded faster than he believed possible thanks to the love and support he received from his second family. Margaret and Matt had been beside him every step of the way until the pain had faded.
He could recall very little about Cissy in detail. He couldn’t for the life of him remember what she smelled like, and yet the spring flower bouquet with a hint of vanilla, Katherine’s scent, was etched in his memory. Vivid. If she disappeared right then and he never saw her again, he would remember how she smelled for the rest of his life. “I’m better now.”
The sound of branches cracking stopped him.
Glancing around, he realized he had nothing to use as a weapon out there. He’d ditched his rifle long ago when he’d run out of ammunition at Katherine’s house.
He moved to Katherine and covered her with his body, pulling dusty blankets on top of them to hide.
Even after the outside noise stopped, Caleb held his breath. Matt might have figured out the hint from their earlier phone call, and he could’ve brought the sheriff with him for all his good intentions. Or it could be an animal.
Katherine lay beneath him, her soft warm body rising and falling with every breath she took, pressing against him. The memory of the way they’d met etched in his thoughts. The way her body felt underneath him. A perfect fit. Her face was so close; he wouldn’t have to move far to skim his lips across her jawline, or the base of her throat where he could see her pulse throb. It wouldn’t take much movement to lift his chin and kiss her. But he realized he wanted so much more than her kiss.
More than her body.
He wanted all of her. Mind. Body. Soul—if there was such a thing.
Before any of that could happen, he wanted to be able to trust her.
He needed to know that if he opened his heart, she wouldn’t stamp her heels all over it and walk away.
The tricky part? To find out, he had to go out on a limb and give the very thing he avoided...trust. Both his father and Cissy had done a number on him in that department. Since history was the best predictor of the future, believing in someone again felt about as easy as skinning a live rattlesnake with a hairbrush.
He wished like hell he’d told Katherine how he’d felt about her when he’d had the chance.
If he could get beyond the pain of his past, could he have a real future with her?
Or would she leave just like the others?
Chapter Eleven
The door to the homestead creaked open slowly. “Caleb, you in here?”
Caleb recognized Matt’s voice immediately. He threw the covers off and stood. “Come inside and shut the door.”
Worry lines bracketed his friend’s mouth. “Damn, I’ve been worried.”
Relief eased Caleb’s tense muscles. “I didn’t think you’d caught on to my hint on the phone.”
“It took me a while. Then it finally clicked.”
“You tell me. People are coming out of the woodwork looking for you. Margaret’s beside herself with worry.”
“No doubt they’ve been expecting me to come home.”
Matt nodded.
“What kind of people have been showing up?”
“The marshal for one. He’s been checking in every few hours. I didn’t tell him you’d made contact, but he seems to know.”
“The line must be tapped.”
“I guessed as much.”
“Speaking of which, you didn’t bring your phone with you, did you?”
Matt shook his head. “Figured if they could get to one, they could get to another. Left it in the barn just in case. Sneaked out the back.”
“Good thinking. Kane’s men followed our movements with the ones we had. I had to ditch them.”
“No wonder I kept rolling into voice mail every time I called.”
“Who else has been by the ranch?”
“The men in suits have stopped by several times.” His lips formed a grim line. “They’re staying in town at the Dovetail Inn.”
“Did you tell the marshal about them?”
Matt nodded. “He said to ignore them. Truth is I don’t know what or who to believe anymore.” His gaze traveled from Caleb to Katherine.
“I do,” Caleb said firmly. He sensed this whole ordeal would be coming to a head soon, and a big piece of him dreaded the day he would part company with Katherine. It was selfish. He should want everything to be behind them and for normal life to return. Except that she’d imprinted him in ways he could never have imagined a woman could. Being forced to live without her sounded worse than a death sentence. His heart said she wouldn’t walk out, but logic forced him to look at his history.
Then again, if the men with guns had their way, he might not live long enough to miss her. And he would. From somewhere deep inside where a little bit of light still lived within him.
“Either way, I can connect with the marshal if you want to go into the program we talked about.” Matt shot another weary glance toward Katherine.