Legend Hunter

by Jennifer Mckenzie

  He lifted his head and loomed over her. Their eyes met and she wondered if he saw the overwhelming need in hers that she read in his. For a moment, she experienced an odd sensation of joy, satisfaction, and feminine power she’d never had, never acknowledged anyway. Then, her thoughts scattered. His hard length pressed along her waiting entrance, and she arched to try and find completion. He smiled and avoided plunging inside her as his mouth continued to torment her by capturing her nipples, biting her neck and pressing hot kisses behind her ear.

  “Please, Ben.” Her voice was hoarse.

  He only murmured words she couldn’t quite catch and ran his tongue along her jaw line as his fingers stroked her aching flesh between her legs. When he took possession of her lips, she clung to him and moaned. She couldn’t take any more. Pleasure, so intense, so fucking amazing, washed through her.

  As his fingers shifted to thrust inside her, she thought she’d fly apart. His mouth muffled her scream as she clenched around his hand. In a rhythm of passion and desperation, she bucked against his hand and wrapped her tongue around his. “Oh God! Oh God!”

  “Not God. Just me,” he whispered, his voice hoarse. “Jesus, Kiera. I can’t get enough of you.”

  Beyond reason, she broke the kiss and pushed his shoulder until he backed away. Puzzlement turned to desire when she gripped his shoulders and shoved him onto the bed and switched their positions. Now, it was her turn to torture him.

  His deep groans fed her need as she used her tongue to taste every inch of his skin. She reveled in the way his muscles clenched, becoming taut and hard like the rest of him. He tasted so good, so perfect, she didn’t want to stop. She nibbled on his areola and reveled in the jerk of his body. He arched to slide inside her and she backed away. Her half-lidded gaze met his and she smiled as she continued to trace a trail of fire down his body. His breath was quick and shallow as she reached his erect flesh and took it in her mouth. The taste of him flooded her senses. Perfect. He was fucking perfect.

  “Kiera!” The need in his tone spurred her to stroke his length with her tongue and he growled as his hands dug into her scalp. He shoved her head away and lifted her by the shoulders to straddle him. “Do it, Kiera.” He demanded and grabbed a handful of hair to press her head to his for a desperate kiss.

  One thrust and she was on fire. By the second, her whole body exploded and went crazy. She sat up, broke their kiss and arched backwards in an agony of pleasure. The position drove him deeper and her muscles contracted again and again as he increased the pace. It was raw and violent, yet sweet. Something about the way his fingers dug into her thighs and the desperate thrusts of his hips betrayed so much more than just sex, just fucking. She’d never thought about “making love” and how it might be different. Ben showed her exactly how different, how fantastic, it could be.

  Just when she thought she didn’t have another convulsion in her, his release sent her reeling. Stars danced on the inside of her eyelids and she collapsed on top of him. Never the same. Nothing would ever be the same again.

  Tears stained her cheeks and she didn’t know when that had happened. He was still deep inside her and she didn’t want to move. He still pulsed and each time he did, she shivered. It was more than erotic. It was more than great sex. It was the kind of connection two people have when they complete each other.

  And it scared her to death.

  With her head on his shoulder, still connected in the most intimate way, she wondered if he had the same feeling. He cared about her, but that might not translate into the kind of intensity she had for him.

  Why couldn’t she, even in the privacy of her own mind, admit she loved him? Passionately, without reason, without pride, she loved him. The thought made her stir restlessly against him and he tightened his hold.

  “Don’t move,” he murmured as he stroked her hair with a gentle hand. “Just stay.”

  Tears pricked her eyes as those last two words rolled over her soul. No one had reached her. For so many years, she’d been numb, cold, untouchable. Now, this man, this Legend Hunter, held her heart in his hands. Would he leave? Did he want her to go with him?

  Even as she tried to tell herself it was just sex and not to make any more of it than it was, her heart cried out against it. It had to be more to him, didn’t it? And how old are you? Fifteen? Sex doesn’t mean love, Kiera McConnel.

  He leaned back and stared at her. “You’re tense. Why?”

  As she gazed into his chocolate brown eyes, her throat went dry. She chickened out. “I…think I need to get a drink.”

  But when she tried to move, his arms banded like iron around her. “No. What is it, Kiera?”

  “Ben—”

  There was a loud knock on the door and she scrambled away from Ben, breaking their physical connection. It was so cold without him and all she wanted to do was crawl back into his arms. The knock sounded again.

  “Kiera!” Jeremy’s voice shouted through the door. “Wake up!”

  Dressed in a hurry, Kiera threaded her fingers through her hair and shot an uneasy glance at Ben. He, too, got dressed, but his face was thoughtful and withdrawn. She fled the bedroom, actually grateful for the interruption.

  She flung open the door and faced her best friend. The smell of sex was certainly on her, and Ben’s frame filling the bedroom door left no doubt to what had happened here. Jeremy’s eyebrows rose, but he didn’t say anything. “I was hoping to find Ben here. Sit down you two. We have a problem.”

  Kiera frowned. “What now?”

  “Amanda has been threatened.” Jeremy dropped the bomb and collapsed in a chair.

  “Threatened how?” Kiera asked.

  “Someone took a potshot at her SUV. She was shooting a story and somebody put a bullet in the camera. It missed her by about two feet.” The Sheriff kept his gaze on his boots and Kiera couldn’t read the expression on his face.

  “Why tell us?” Ben inquired.

  Jeremy’s head snapped up. “Because she won’t tell me why. I know there’s something going on, but she won’t tell me anything. Just like the time I caught her stealing police files. She had the same damn look on her face.” He glared at Ben and Kiera. “But she told you. I know she did.”

  Ben and Kiera exchanged a glance. Kiera took a deep breath. “I’ll tell you. Amanda may kill me later, but I’ll tell you.” Ben stood up from his chair and put a hand on her shoulder. The silent support was a comfort. “Amanda is Beth Lauder’s sister. Beth committed suicide ten years ago and Amanda found her. She blames my father for Beth’s death.” As she should. “She stole those files because they were about Beth’s fraudulent Bigfoot tracks. She’s trying to prove her sister is innocent.”

  “Why the hell didn’t she tell me?”

  “You’d better ask her that,” Kiera said slowly.

  “I will. And I’m also checking that story out.” He got to his feet. “Anything else I should know? I’ve about had it with everyone’s secrets.” Kiera winced at the bitterness in Jeremy’s tone.

  “Yeah. I’d better tell you about my dad’s safe deposit box.” She sighed. “Sit down, Jeremy.”

  It took her twenty minutes to tell Jeremy everything; what she’d seen on the mountain, her father’s letters, and what she’d caught her father doing that fateful day. By the time she was done, tears held back for years fell and Ben placed his hands on her shoulders.

  Jeremy didn’t say much. His dark features were pulled taut on his face and he seemed older, harder. “I knew things were tough with your father, Kiera, but I always figured he just pissed you off because you were a teenager.”

  “That’s what everyone thought. I let them.” She shrugged and Ben’s fingers tightened. She didn’t want to admit it, but it was reassuring, his fingers on her skin.

  “So, Amanda is Beth’s sister and she’s here to get revenge,” Jeremy said slowly.

  “I think so. Dad was dead by the time she got here. I was the next in line.” Kiera shrugged. “But I told her about the pic
ture. She knows Dad faked the photograph and used Beth’s picture to do it. Her sister was innocent.”

  Her friend nodded and the hesitation she noted in him was agonizingly familiar. He loved Amanda, but probably wondered how they’d ever get past all their issues. She definitely knew that feeling. “Jeremy, she loves you. I’m certain of it.”

  With a jerk, Jeremy surged to his feet. “She won’t talk to me, Kiera. She won’t trust me. How is that love?”

  Her eyes closed and she could feel Ben’s stare on her face. “She’s not perfect, Jeremy. You can walk away or stick with her regardless of what happens. That’s up to you.” And you, Ben.

  Jeremy flung up his hands in frustration. “I can’t fly blind. Someone wants to kill her, and she’s keeping secrets that may get her killed.”

  Kiera smiled. “Go talk to her.” She handed him the letters. “Show her these. Let her know that my father thought Beth was killed.”

  As he took the stack from her hand, Jeremy shot a glance at Ben. “Is he going to be here?” There were several questions wrapped up in that one sentence.

  She held her friend’s gaze with a steady one of her own. “Yes.”

  Ben kissed the back of her hand. God, she loved him and it was going to kill her if he left. Maybe he wouldn’t. Maybe he would. But she was going to take the time given to her. No more numbness. No more hiding.

  “Be careful.” Jeremy’s brows knitted over his eyes. “If someone is out to kill Amanda, they may want you dead as well.”

  “I’ll be fine, Jeremy.” She stood up and hugged him. “Go talk to Amanda. And don’t be stupid. You love her. You’d better tell her.” Hypocrite, she called herself as Jeremy left.

  “Do you think that’s true?” Ben asked her.

  “What?”

  “That if you love someone, you should tell them?”

  “Yes. I do.” She closed her eyes. Everything in her wanted to tell him, but she couldn’t find the words. Those three irrevocable, fateful words. She gritted her teeth.

  “In that case,” he said and he turned her to face him. “I love you.”

  Her eyes widened and her stomach dropped to her toes. “What?”

  “I love you, Kiera McConnel.” He wasn’t smiling. He wasn’t joking. “I felt drawn to a little girl with pain in her eyes and I came here to find you. You’d better tell me now if I don’t have a chance.”

  “I can’t believe it.” She stammered.

  He swiveled on his feet and turned his back. “I know. It’s ridiculous. I’m a legend hunter. You hate them. Everything I do causes you pain. I’m a freak and—”

  She stopped him by stepping in front of him. “I love you, too. I love you so much it scares the shit out of me. I love you until my toes ache. I—”

  He interrupted her by kissing the life out of her. There was a bittersweet passion in their collision. Kiera felt all her bitterness and anguish melt away under the heat of his mouth. That she was loved by him was incredible. That her love was returned was a miracle. She couldn’t grasp it, but it didn’t matter. He loved her. That’s all that mattered.

  Chapter Sixteen

  A phone was ringing. Ben’s eyes were glued shut but he pried them open. He vaguely remembered he’d woken up at least three times in the night. Twice to touch Kiera until she awoke and they made love and once because she woke him up. The sensation of her mouth on his—

  But the phone was ringing. And it was intruding on his erotic and pleasant thoughts. He fumbled toward the sound and found the offender. “Hello?” He croaked.

  “Well, well, well. So Kiera is sleeping with you. I wondered.” An unfamiliar voice came over the line and Ben woke up enough to realize this was Kiera’s phone and he’d just answered it.

  “Who is this?”

  A laugh grated his ears. “Who I am doesn’t matter. But you tell Kiera to back off or she’ll wind up dead.” The connection was severed.

  “Hello? Hello?” Ben slammed the phone down.

  “Who was it?” Kiera’s sleepy face momentarily distracted him. He wanted nothing more than to stay in that bed and prove the words he’d said to her the night before. But it was more important now that they discover the truth.

  “Someone who wants you dead, my love. And I’m not going to allow that to happen.” He planted his feet on the floor. “We need to talk to the Sheriff. You have to have protection. You have to—”

  “Ben.” Her soft voice stopped him. “We’ll go see Jeremy.” She stretched and gave him a fabulous view of her body. “But first we’re going to take a shower together.”

  That was an expression he wanted to see on her face for the rest of their lives. He beat her to the shower, but she was on her knees in front of him before he had the water turned on. He groaned. She was way too good with that sinful mouth of hers.

  As the water pounded his back, he lifted her to her feet and then higher until her hips rested on his hips. In this position, he thrust inside her. Home. She was home to him. He kissed her tenderly and ignored her impatient movements. He slowed his pace, refusing to hurry, touching every inch of her luscious body. He worshipped her. She was his refuge and he wanted it to go on forever.

  But when she splintered and convulsed around him, her clenched muscles wrenched away his control and he exploded with a hoarse cry. He kissed her face, her eyelids, her neck. She meant so much to him and now, he had to keep her safe.

  Somehow, they managed to get showered and dressed without falling into bed again, though it was tough. He was insatiable with her. Her spoken love for him released a flood of emotion in him that was both terrifying and electrifying.

  He was sure everyone at the Sheriff’s headquarters could tell they were lovers. They were all busy, however. Something was up. He and Kiera exchanged a glance.

  Jeremy strode out of his office, frazzled and distracted.

  “What happened, Jeremy?” Kiera demanded.

  “I can’t find Amanda.” Jeremy bit his lip.

  Ben sympathized with Jeremy. When Kiera had been snatched, Ben had felt like someone had kicked him in the solar plexus. “When?”

  “Last night. I came home and she was gone.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I thought—”

  “You thought she’d left because she was pissed at you.” Kiera finished for him.

  Jeremy nodded. “Then, we got the phone call. A voice told me he has Amanda and is going to sacrifice her to Bigfoot,” Jeremy’s lips tightened. “Somebody has a screw loose but I couldn’t trace the call or place the voice.”

  “Male voice, laughs like a hyena?” Ben inquired.

  “How did you know?” Jeremy frowned at him.

  “Because your kidnapper called and threatened Kiera. That’s why we’re here.”

  “Shit.” Jeremy closed his eyes. “I don’t understand what’s going on. Why Amanda?”

  “Did you show her the letters?” Kiera asked him.

  Jeremy shook his head. “No. I never got the chance. She was gone when I got home.” He opened a drawer and handed her the letters. “I made copies and put them in the file.”

  “Well, it sounds like whoever has Amanda took her back up to Fanning Creek.” Ben grasped Kiera’s hand. The panic he’d experienced when she’d gone missing came back to him with a vengeance. The Sheriff must be feeling the same way.

  Sheriff Covey grabbed a portable radio and handed it to Ben. “We’ll take Brad and go up there.” He stared at Kiera. “And this time, we’ll go armed.”

  Kiera nodded. “We’ll get packed.”

  “What about Gavin?” Ben asked.

  “I’ll set one of my men to watch him. It’s all I can do at this point.” He unlocked one of the cabinets and removed a shotgun.

  “When do you want to leave?” Kiera asked him.

  “Meet us there in two hours.”

  “That will put us on that trail at night, Jeremy.” Kiera’s brow had two worry lines.

  “I know it. We’ll have to get moving.” He gripped Kiera�
�s arm. “We’re losing time and Amanda’s life may depend on what we find up there.”

  Kiera nodded. “Okay.”

  She and Ben rushed back to her cabin and packed for a third trip up the mountain.

  “I don’t like this.” Ben frowned. She was barely recovered from their last experience. Now the Sheriff wanted to drag her up there again. “That’s tough terrain and you’re not one hundred percent.”

  “I can make it.”

  “That isn’t the point. You might make it, but what will it do to you?”

  Her eyes pleaded with him. “We have to go. I think Amanda went up there.”

  “By herself?” Ben scoffed. “I doubt that.”

  Kiera shook her head. “No. I think somebody took her up there. Someone she thought she could trust.” Ben noted her eyes glazed over. He wrapped her in a hug.

  “You’re thinking someone kidnapped her like John kidnapped you?”

  “Yes.” She nuzzled her head on his chest.

  “We’ll find her, Kiera.”

  “She wouldn’t leave,” she said earnestly. “Even if she was mad at Jeremy, she wouldn’t just leave like that. Not unless she had a good reason.”

  “I guess we’ll find out.”

  Two hours later, they arrived at the now familiar trailhead and found the Sheriff’s SUV parked behind a black SUV. Amanda’s SUV.

  There were four of them. Jeremy, Deputy Brad Milner, Ben, and Kiera hefted their gear and hiked up the trail. Weak, she wasn’t sure she could do it. Her legs were rubbery and her breath came in gasps. Twice Ben made Jeremy halt so she could catch her breath. He didn’t say a word. She appreciated that.

  “You want to say ‘I told you so,’ go ahead,” she gasped out, her hands on her knees as she bent at the waist.

  “I said my piece. There’s no turning back now. We might as well get there.”

  “Amanda’s up there.” Kiera straightened her back. “I think she’s in trouble.”

  Ben stroked her cheek. “I think you’re right.”

  By the time they reached the first campsite, Kiera was wrecked and it was pitch black. There was no moon and the trail was difficult to see, but somehow with Ben’s guidance, she’d made it.