Silver Tongue (a PowerUp! story)

by Marie Harte

  “Whatever. He’s a McKay, and they can’t be trusted.”

  “You sound like a bad movie. Gimme a break, Dane. This isn’t the Hatfields and the McCoys! It’s a new millennium. That stupid feud started with the McKays over a hundred years ago over water rights. Now it’s all governed. It’s not like they can steal what they don’t have rights to.”

  “You are so naive.” Dane let out a sigh. Hungry, he tucked into the food. But Karen wasn’t finished.

  “I invited Doug to Sunday dinner next week.”

  The sudden silence in the kitchen grew oppressive. Dane felt Karen staring at him, and he slowly tore his gaze from his steak, no longer hungry. “Uninvite him.”

  “No.”

  His sister never used to talk to him like this. Outright defiance? Going against his wishes without care? “This is Kitty’s doing.”

  “She’s my friend. Deal with it.” Karen threw him a disgusted look. “This isn’t a phase, Dane. I’m not dating Doug to provoke you. I’m not rebelling.” She grew quiet. “Dane, I love him. Doug proposed to me last night. The only reason I’m not wearing his ring is that we wanted to wait and share this news together with our families.”

  He felt the same way after he’d been shot—lying on the ground, out of control, confused, torn. “Yeah? Well, what does his family think of this mess?”

  She lifted her chin. “His parents like me. They’re excited about it.”

  “Yeah, excited to get their hands on the ranch,” he muttered.

  Her eyes welled with tears. “You’re so mean. Can’t you be happy for me?” She turned and left the kitchen, her soft sobs cutting him to the quick.

  Dane grimaced and pushed his plate away, his appetite gone. Then he left the house and headed for the small shed out back he’d converted into a workshop. With new insulation and a heating system, it gave him the space and solitude he needed to work. And his mini greenhouse kept his clay moist enough that new projects wouldn’t dry out, something he especially needed, since Central Oregon was so damn dry.

  As he settled himself by the stand holding his newest lump of clay, he realized he still hadn’t decided what to do with it. His process, like many artists, was his own. Dane liked to hold the stuff, pound and smooth it, touch it, and close his eyes. He became lost in the feel of his medium. And then he’d let inspiration take him and make something special out of the clay.

  He had a fondness for animals, and his horses and wolves had been major hot-ticket items. He’d always been into creating things, ever since he’d been a kid. But his adult life had been spent in the military. He hadn’t tinkered with clay in years, just rough sketches to keep his mind sharp. To speed his healing process, counselors had suggested he find an outlet for his aggression. He’d turned back to what had once been a hobby, and surprise, surprise, people liked what he made. They paid for his work.

  A point of pride and embarrassment, because what he crafted came from the heart—a shriveled-up organ, according to his sister.

  He sighed and gripped the clay hard. As the moist stuff squashed under his hands, he started to mold it. Into what, he wasn’t sure yet, but he had a picture in mind that wouldn’t quit. He stared at it, seeing in the gray stuff a woman’s form, robust and strong. Curvy, feminine. Sweet, yet tough.

  All too easily he imagined her on her hands and knees crawling to him. Calling him Master, looking so damn fine in a leather halter and collar. Maybe some heels too. Then he’d strip her bare and just stare at her feminine perfection, open and waiting for him. Sexy yet vulnerable, smooth and tough. Her contradictions fascinated him, and without thinking, he let his muse take over.

  He lost track of time, toiling over the table, when Karen suddenly appeared.

  “Avoiding me?” she asked lightly.

  “I could say the same.” He started the cleanup and grabbed a water bottle and bags off his prep table, then sprayed the inside of two plastic bags and wrapped them around the clay to keep it malleable. He taped the bottom of his project closed and put it into his mini greenhouse, where he stored his works in progress.

  “What are you working on?”

  He shrugged. “Just fiddling around.” He washed his hands at the sink and dried them, then turned to face her. While he’d worked, he’d emptied his mind of everything but that goddamn woman at the gym. Not her, exactly, he told himself, but her form. Man, he wanted to get his hands on the real thing with a hunger that unnerved him.

  But now that reality intruded once more, he considered his sister with a keen eye. She looked as if she’d just stopped crying, and though he tried to tell himself to suck it up and ignore her weepy emotion, he couldn’t.

  “Shit. Come here.” He held out his arms, and she walked eagerly into his hug. Taking after their mother, she had a much slighter build, and her small stature made him even more protective. “Karen, I just want what’s best for you. I want you to be safe, and I want you to be loved for you, not because some jerk is trying to use you.”

  She said something muffled against his chest.

  “What?”

  She pulled back. “I said he’s not a jerk. He really doesn’t want the land, Dane. Doug works in town. We’d live away from the ranch. And if you’re that concerned about it, just take over my half of things. I’ll prove to you he doesn’t want me for the ranch.”

  “Hell, no. The ranch is half yours.”

  “I don’t want it. I never wanted it.”

  He blinked at her. “What?”

  “It’s a legacy that’s caused nothing but heartache for years.” She clutched his forearms with dainty fingers. “Would you please just give Doug a chance? I promise you, he’s not a greedy backstabber. Really. Ask anyone.” Her eyes brightened. “Ask Kitty.”

  “I did.”

  “Oh. So what did she say?”

  “Your BFF said he’s a decent guy.”

  Karen flushed and stepped back, breaking the connection. “I’m not in high school any more, doofus. I’m twenty-six years old. Best friend forever, please. Kitty’s a nice woman, and I enjoy her company.” She paused. “And it’s not like I can live here forever.”

  “Why not?” He didn’t like the thought of her leaving. More change he didn’t want or need.

  “Because someday I’ll get married and have kids. And someday you will too. What’s the big deal about me moving out, anyway? I mean, it’s not like you’ve been home for more than a month at most the past fifteen years. Before the shooting, I mean.”

  “Seventeen years,” he corrected absently. “Well, I… Damn.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Look, I want you to be happy.”

  “Do you?” She met his gaze, determined.

  “Yeah, I do. I’m just not sure this guy will do that for you. And what about this Kitty chick? How well do you really know her?” He decided to voice his suspicion about her. “I’m wondering how tight she and McKay really are. Maybe she’s selling him to you because she’ll get an eventual piece of the ranch. McKay never made a move on you before now, and he’s supposedly been into you for years?” He didn’t believe what Karen had told him, that Doug had always harbored a secret crush.

  To Dane’s surprise, she laughed at him. “Kitty and Doug? Really?” She laughed some more. “I’ve seen all kinds of guys hitting on her. If she wanted Doug, she’d have him.”

  “And this is the guy you want? A man who’d kiss up to that redhead if she crooked her finger?”

  Karen groaned. “You’re so stubborn. I was exaggerating. Well, not about the guys wanting Kitty part. But Doug loves me. Can’t you give him a chance?”

  “Fine. For you, I will.” A thought occurred, and he ran with it. “You want him here next Sunday? Then you get Kitty here as well. I have more questions for her. And I want to see the two of them together. If there’s something going on between them, I’ll know.”

  “God, you’re a pain.” She squealed with delight and hugged him hard. “But I love you. I’ll tell Doug. And I know Kitty will come. That’s
if you didn’t insult her too badly at the gym.”

  “Me? Insult a woman? Please.”

  She snorted. “You’d do just about anything for family. I love you for it, but it also makes you blind at times.” Then she gave him a sly smile. “But you’re not that blind. I know you have a thing for redheads. Kitty’s pretty, isn’t she?”

  “Brat.”

  She left before he could snag her into a headlock. As he stared after her, he replayed her words in his mind. Kitty, pretty? Sexy, gorgeous, mouthwatering, maybe. Pretty didn’t do her justice. And now he had a reason to see her again. He smiled and left his workspace, suddenly hungry for the dinner he hadn’t managed to finish.

  Chapter Three

  Kitty must have lost her mind. Only Karen’s desperate plea had convinced her to attend a dinner with the man who unnerved the hell out of her. Why else would she spend one second more in that Neanderthal’s company? Dane hadn’t taken his gaze from her since she’d entered the family home and accepted a glass of wine from Karen.

  Karen, Doug, Dane, and Kitty sat at the table waiting for Dane to pass the first course of beef. He just sat there, staring at her with suspicion. “So.” His deep voice gave her the shivers, and she had to force herself not to flinch.

  “So,” she said back at him without cracking a smile. She hated that he looked even better to her today than he had over a week ago. The man had done nothing more than touch her cheek with one finger, and she couldn’t stop thinking about that caress.

  “It’s like a western duel,” Karen whispered, overloud. “My money’s on Kitty.”

  Doug nodded. “Oh yeah.”

  “You’re already on thin ice, McKay,” Dane reminded him.

  Karen sighed. “Isn’t it just great to be here, Kitty?”

  Kitty saw Doug try to hide a smile. She felt his support reaching out to wrap around Karen, and Kitty smiled at them.

  “So how close are you two?” Dane asked bluntly, no doubt misreading her pleasure.

  “Who? Me and Karen?” She deliberately misunderstood.

  “No, you and loverboy.”

  Karen flushed. “Dane, really.”

  Doug moved to answer, but Kitty beat him to it. “You mean, besides the fact that I’m carrying his baby?”

  The entire table went quiet. Dane stared at her in shock, and then Doug and Karen burst out laughing.

  Kitty grinned at the look on Dane’s face. “I told you. I met Doug and Karen almost at the same time, while I was working at the gym. I’m not sleeping with him. I like him. He and Karen are perfect for each other, and if you’d take your head out of your ass, you’d see that.” She sighed. “Can I enjoy my dinner now?”

  Dane scowled, and Kitty wondered why she’d thought to try to change his mind. Clearly he didn’t trust Doug or her.

  “If I sound suspicious, it’s because the McKays have been trying to take this ranch for over a hundred years,” Dane justified.

  Doug groaned. “When are you going to let that go?”

  “That’s Dad talking.” Karen shook her head and turned to Kitty. “Like I told you, our ranches border on the west. Dane is wrapped up in family rivalries, but the younger McKays aren’t like their parents and grandparents.”

  Doug wrapped an arm around Karen’s shoulders—which made Dane scowl even harder—and said, “I have two brothers, and we all work at the new brewery. I’m telling you, Dane, we don’t want your land. No offense, but it’s a lot of friggin’ work. My dad is actually thinking about selling. He and Mom just want to have enough to retire and wait for grandkids.”

  The loving look he shot Karen made Kitty’s heart swell. So pure, that emotion.

  “Karen and I talked about it. Why don’t you take Karen’s portion of the land and keep it? I really don’t want it. I just want your sister to agree to marry me.” Doug pulled out a small black box, opened it, and held it toward Karen. “I love you, honey. Will you marry me?”

  Karen’s eyes grew wide as she stared from Doug to the ring. “Yes. Yes!” Excitement, hope, and joy lit her from the inside out, and that burst of emotion streaked through Kitty and left her breathless as she tried to regroup. She’d been on guard all night, trying to sense Dane while keeping herself sharp. She’d been easing Karen’s and Doug’s fears about Dane, and this jolt of pure joy would have put her on her butt if she hadn’t already been sitting.

  “Hell.” Dane threw down his napkin. “You really want to get married?”

  He sounded a lot less hostile than he’d been earlier, and Kitty took a good hard look at him. She still sensed no emotion, but she’d swear the anger that normally sat heavily on his shoulders when near her or Doug had lessened.

  “I really do.” Karen had yet to take her gaze from her new fiancé. The pair kissed. Kitty rose and joined the happy couple, leaning down to give them a hug. She enjoyed the congratulations, thriving on the positive energy around her. Maybe a little too much, because she grew light-headed and staggered back into Dane’s hard grip.

  “Too much to drink?” he murmured.

  “N-no. Sorry. Just—”

  He steadied her, then stepped around her to drag Karen to her feet and hug the breath out of her. Dane released her and turned to Doug, who stood with a wary look on his face. “You hurt her, I hurt you.” No mistaking the menace in his words.

  Doug swallowed hard. But to be fair, he nodded. “Got it.” He held out his hand, and everyone waited.

  Then Dane gripped his hand and shook once. He let go, no hard grip or grandstanding, which Kitty thought he might have attempted. She sat back down and enjoyed the rest of the meal and conversation, most of which revolved around plans for the wedding. Dane stayed quiet, but he didn’t seem to be brooding. She felt his gaze on her throughout the dinner, though. When the meal wound down, Kitty excused herself to go use the restroom, needing to get out from under Dane’s intensity and not from any real need to use the facilities.

  Located down the hallway away from the festivities, the nicely sized powder room gave her space and distance from the overload of emotion she’d just left. Finally, a chance to breathe. Kitty spent a few moments combing her fingers through her hair and smoothing down her skirt and blouse. She opened the door to leave and ran smack into Dane.

  He edged her back inside the room and shut and locked the door behind him.

  “Um, Dane?”

  “Well, well. Pretty pleased with yourself, aren’t you?” He backed her against the wall by the window.

  She tried to go around him, but he stopped her by caging her with his hands planted on the wall on either side of her head. He smelled so good, a hint of cologne that couldn’t mask the aggressive male standing so close. All that trouble and danger reflected in eyes so dark they looked black.

  Kitty shivered, wishing her body wouldn’t turn on every time this guy stood too close. She had to clear her throat to make her voice work. “I’m happy for Karen and Doug. And if you really loved your sister, you’d be happy too.”

  One minute he stood glaring down at her, the next his mouth pressed against hers as he kissed her senseless.

  She couldn’t breathe, lost in his electric touch. Chemistry didn’t begin to describe her connection to this man. Heat seemed to bleed through his body into hers. His firm lips and warm breath stirred her carnal need for more. And as he stroked her with his tongue, her nipples scraped against the inside of her bra, desperate for attention.

  He pulled back to rasp, “Who said I’m not happy?”

  His mouth returned to hers, and before she knew it, she’d wrapped her hands around his neck to drag him closer. His chest brushed her breasts, and she moaned, wishing he’d kiss them too. When Dane began thrusting his tongue inside her mouth with a clear echo of what he’d rather be doing with his cock, he pushed her way past her comfort zone.

  This kind of arousal couldn’t be normal. Good God, but Kitty wanted to climb him like a pole. To reach between them and take that hard cock out of his pants, then slide down his f
rame and suck him until he came. She wanted him to order her around, to take charge and master her with an obsession bordering on desperation.

  So not normal, considering Kitty hadn’t dated in over a year, and not one of her casual acquaintances had been bossy or demanding—because she couldn’t take the chance she’d succumb. None of her exes had made her want so much. And none of them had ever made her want to give up control so badly.

  Her pathetic need to be subservient to a man, especially one like Dane, shamed her.

  She would have pulled away when he removed a hand from the wall and cupped her breast. She gasped as he left her mouth to kiss his way across her jaw to her neck. He pinched her nipple, and the burn had her wet and aching for more. This man wouldn’t let her walk away, and damn him, but she needed that.

  “Christ, that’s good. Yeah.” He murmured something more, and she thought she heard Doug’s name mentioned, but his fingers started moving again, and she lost all train of thought.

  Dane sucked her neck and toyed with her navel. “Spread your legs,” he ordered in a thick voice.

  She could no more deny him than she could stop her heart from racing. He was her fantasy made flesh. She widened her stance and felt both of his hands on her thighs pushing her skirt up. His callused palms scorched her, teasing as they lifted her skirt up to expose her naked flank.

  “Fuck. A thong?” He groaned and slid one hand over her ass while the other disappeared under the front of her panties.

  “W-we have to s-stop.” She didn’t know how she managed to speak let alone think. But Dane didn’t seem to listen. Not that she really wanted him to.

  His finger found her wet clit and rubbed. He slid over her slippery skin while he kissed her, pulling her thong away from her ass while he caressed her skin. He edged closer to her pussy. And before she knew it, he slid a finger inside her.

  “You’re tight. And fucking hot.” He pulled back to look into her face. “Come for me. All over my hand.”

  “N-no. Oh, Dane.” She felt drugged, unable to comprehend why she’d let a man she wasn’t sure she even liked touch her so intimately.