She dipped her head and the glasses slipped just slightly but enough to bring every librarian and school teacher fantasy he had rushing to mind.
“And did you know that Alaska is home to three million lakes.” She looked at some book on the counter.
Rone crooked a grin, but not that she saw with her attention on the pages. What a peculiar woman. Cherry said her sister was a little nerdy, more so than herself as a linguist teacher, but he never imagined nerdy would be so damn edible. “Do you do that a lot?” he asked, taking his mug from her hands, careful not to touch her finger.
He’d watched her at the bar last night talking with everybody that approached her with a gentle ease and a book sticking out of her back pocket. He’d been curious about it then but forgot to ask when the night kicked into overdrive and beer slinging took precedence. What had her so worked up now?
He drew near and mentally shoved down the fire that torched his insides the closer he came.
“What?” she shrugged sheepishly flipping page after page propped on one foot as she sipped at her coffee. “Facts intrigue me.”
He chuckled. “This explains a lot. How long have you had this?” He tapped the cover with “Everything You Didn’t Know You Didn’t Know About Alaska” printed on the front.
“A couple of weeks.” She shrugged and snatched the already well-worn book from his hands before tucking it away in a drawer by the refrigerator. The small kitchenette didn’t offer much in the way of anything elegant and fancy but it did okay in the day to day needs of sustenance.
“Come. Take a seat and I’ll whip us up some eggs and bacon.”
Her nose scrunched. “Sorry. Not really a scrambled eggs kinda girl. And bacon makes me sick.”
What? He turned, already pulling out pots and pans from under the counter and mentally taking stock on what he needed to grab from his apartment. Or he could take her over there. “Tell me you are lying. Those are words that have caused wars. I’m sure of it. You’re kidding?”
The blue of her eyes darkened, and he immediately regretted teasing her as she shook her head. “Not even in the slightest.” She bit at her lip before she continued. “It was the last food my dad made us girls.” Her face shut down.
She didn’t offer more and he didn’t push. But still, something deep down drove him to want more from her, know more of what made his curious med student tick. But one thing his past taught him was patience, and he had that in spades.
He rounded the counter and took the coffee mug from her hand and set his down beside hers.
He was faced with two options. Kiss away the sadness dulling her eyes which would lead down a path he couldn’t risk.
Or…
He tipped her chin up, dark circles under her eyes. They stole away the kind woman he met yesterday and that was a crime in and of itself.
“Then what kind of girl are you, Sabine.”
She lifted a shoulder. “Donuts. Coffee. Sometimes a bagel. Anything sweet and fast on the lips.” She did that damn nose crunch again, and her glasses slipped. “Anything I can eat on the run and not have to use a fork with. A curse of not having much time for myself lately or at all really since starting school.”
Rone tore a hand through his hair and weighed the options. Settled, he reached out as she stepped around the stools pushed up against the island counter. “I think I have something that can cure the Alaskan blues and give us a nice chance to talk.”
“Unless you have a glazed donut tucked away somewhere, I highly doubt it. And talk about what?”
“Work of course.” He snatched a coat and scarf from the coat rack situated next to the door before walking back to her.” We have a lot of orders coming in and we’ll need to work out a schedule. Thought you wouldn’t mind helping me.” With a gentle nudge, he turned her around and helped her into the coat before he set to work on wrapping the scarf around her neck.
“Not at all. I’d love to. Would be a good distraction from...” Her words suddenly trailed off to silence.
“Distraction from what,” he coaxed.
“Nothing. Just school.” She shrugged, not meeting his gaze with hers. His little angel was hiding something, and she made teasing the truth from her pretty pouty lips a temptation he wouldn’t refuse.
He paused and considered his guest from a corner of his eyes. “Ready?”
“Where are we going?”
“Trust me, you’ll love it.”
She stiffened beneath his gaze.
Anger welled inside at whatever put the weary look in her eye. No one needed to go through life fearing everything or second-guessing when and how someone could hurt them. “If it helps, your sister loves what I am about to show you and...” he glanced at the clock on the microwave above the stove, “we have exactly one hour before we are interrupted.”
Part of her relaxed at the mention of her sister as the tension eased from her eyes and he motioned for her to turn around. Curiosity had her following. “What can we do in an hour?”
He knew the question came out before she fully thought of it but he loved the way her lips parted as she considered her words.
Oh man, he could have fun with that. Hand on the doorknob, he looked over his shoulder and moved away from the door. “Do you want to find out, Angel?”
“You are a terrible tease, Mr. Wylde.”
The surprise in her eyes at his question was worth the pain stabbing at his insides because every time he thought about her legs parted and him taking her, the drip of pure lava hooked up to his circulatory system intensified a few notches more. “I’m afraid to follow that through,” she admitted.
His expression softened. “Don’t worry—I won’t eat you up with my big teeth.” Just yet. Because he would. He knew it would happen like he knew the sun would rise and set. He just hoped he had his bear under control before then.
She looked away from his mouth long enough to settle her gaze on his eyes. Blue eyes like sapphires and pink-tinged lips were his weakness when they were from one Texan girl rapidly stealing his sanity. “Trust me,” he repeated in a whispered plea.
She wrapped the ends of her jacket around her middle and gave a stiff nod. “I’m assuming it involves something sugary so I’m in.”
Two minutes later he led them both down another set of stairs that wound around the back side of the bar and apartments. Like every morning he had to put a little shoulder power into creaking open the old metal door during the harsh winter months as the cold locked the hinges. Snow drifted in as the knob gave and he ushered Sabine out of the cold.
With a loud clunk the heavy door closed behind.
“Mr. Murdoch will be ticked we messed around in his kitchen before he got here, but if we’re fast he’ll never know.”
“What?” Sabine froze and dropped to the floor on all fours and tugged at his hand to do the same. He knelt beside her and tried to hold back the laugh that wanted to bust out of his chest.
“What are you doing?” he asked and reached up by the back door to flick the switch on to the overheads. White light flooded the large space.
“Kill the lights. We just broke into a bakery! Are you crazy? I mean, come on!”
He kneeled and stroked the back of his knuckles over her soft cheek and realized the feel of her was becoming more of an addition the longer he spent time with her.
He flashed a key.
Her attention darted sideways. “Oh.” A red so bright she looked like a Christmas ornament climbed the length of her neck until her entire face glowed.
“The way you busted through that back door I thought...you know.”
He gathered her hands in his and stood pulling her with him.
“Well, I do like donuts and I would probably do whatever it took to get some so you’re not too far off base.”
She rolled her eyes and he laughed. “Welcome to Big Paws Bakery. I own the joint.”
Sabine shot him a look of indifference through narrowed eyes and he wound his fingers around hers. “Y
ou could have led with that you know.”
He pulled her forward. “Where’s the fun in that?”
She looked around the spotless workspace where cakes, rolls, and where his famous triple layered chocolate pumpkin pies were prepped for the holidays. “Come on I’ll show you around.”
His hearing picked up a light rumbling sound of her stomach and his joined in.
“I can’t wait.”
He led her in front of him and showed her through swinging door that separated the customer’s area from the baker’s workstations and various areas of prep work.
She stopped in front of him and pressed a hand to his shoulder. In that one second his he nearly lost control as his beast came to the surface. Her hand in his was a consolation prize for keeping his dick to himself back in the apartment when he could have easily seduced her into his arms. Into his bed. But when she touched him…skin on skin…God save him.
“You growl like that and it makes a girl wonder.”
He peered down at her as she snatched her hand back to play with the zipper of her coat as if she needed to keep her hands busy. “Wonder what?” he husked silkily.
She shot him a look over her shoulder then cautiously stepped through the door. Her eyes darkened and he read her answer before she uttered the last words he expected to hear. “Wonder what you sound like in bed.”
He groaned a tortured sound pulled from deep inside. “How are you not already claimed and spoken for, Angel,” he wondered aloud in a low tone, tucking the same stubborn lock behind her ear.
She smiled but said nothing as she eased around the counter to perch on a stool. He ground his teeth against the instant feed of images bombarding his sight. Anger, need and a wave of fucking lust hit him so hard he barely managed to place one foot in front of the other. But he did. That answers that. She wasn’t mated because fate brought her to you.
He was royally screwed.
“You did it again. Maybe you should see someone about that? Or maybe eat something?”
Not a soul on the planet could cure him of what he had.
“I don’t think a donut is going to help cure me of what I have.” He made quick work of cutting them each a piece of his personal creation and served up a double espresso.
“And what would that be? Maybe I can help because you do tend to growl every time I get close to you or touch you. Maybe you have an allergy to brunettes. Or maybe it’s the strawberry Chapstick?”
“Or maybe it’s one angel with black-rimmed glasses, blue eyes and tacky sweaters.”
“Lucky me! You’re right. There’s not a pill for that?”
Lucky? Not even close. His past taught him that the hard way. Working as an undercover cop for three years to build a case against the drug cartels invading the underworld from across the Bering Strait and the country’s Russian neighbors, it painted a big target on his ass, even retired. No, she wasn’t lucky at all that Mother Nature wanted to play matchmaker.
“Assuming you are talking about me as some angel, I’m not so sure. You should definitely get that out of your head.” He watched the fork disappear between her lips, and his cock twitched, anticipating the feel of her tongue working the tip of his shaft the way she licked the remnants off the fork.
“Oh. My. God. I think I just came.” Her eyes rolled closed, and she groaned as if she’d just stepped off cloud nine and free-fell into pure bliss.
Rone choked on the sip of coffee as he leaned on the countertop, his pie left untouched. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
She laughed and it reached all the way to her eyes, and it warmed him in a way he shouldn’t take comfort in, since it meant he’d just slipped another notch closer to the danger zone.
“You made this?” She pointed the fork at her plate as she scooped up another big bite. “How do you not have women lined up outside your door right now?” She turned in her stool and craned her neck around to the front door as if to make sure her statement wasn’t true already. “It’s like you infused sex appeal into pumpkin pie and then dipped it in chocolate for a follow-up orgasm and for aftershocks, added another dash of cinnamon.” She moaned long and low and he almost felt jealous of the pastry she praised, wishing it was him giving her such euphoria.
“I had no idea that was even a thing.” His words raw even to his ears. She killed him. One mouthful of pie at a time.
“It is to a woman. Have you ever had an orgasm so hard the aftershocks felt just as good as the original until you’re left with nothing but a limp body and the need to sleep for days?”
That burned like a poker to the balls and had his jaw flexing, biting back the crazy notion of jealousy that clawed at him at the thought of another man giving her that experience. What the hell was wrong with him? “I take it you have.”
“Nope.”
Braced against the counter, his gaze roved over the several platters of sugar cookies in various shapes. Tension cranked up the heat with every heartbeat and every muscle in his body bunched tightly at the single word.
“But this comes pretty damn close.”
He pushed up and poured them another round.
Time to change the subject. “How long have you been a doctor?”
Sabine shifted and straightened her shoulders. “Are you going to eat that?” He scooted his plate over to her along with her fresh cup of coffee.
“So,” he pushed, looking into her eyes. He immediately wanted to shove his foot into his mouth so deep he’d need a crane to pull it free.
She drew away slightly from where they both bent over the counter, him on one side and her on the other. Perched on the edge of her stool, she didn’t have much room for retreat so he pulled back, sensing a change in her.
“Not a fully certified doc yet, but it’s a work in progress.”
Not a full answer. People who dodged had a tendency to hide things. Not that it was his business, but he couldn’t help the curiosity that dug into his brain. If he couldn’t have her, he could at least know more about the woman that had his bear going mad.
“Must be hard dealing with so many other people’s problems. Separating them from your own when you go home at the end of the day. You and your sister are a lot alike. You both have hearts of gold. You more so. Especially if things don’t turn out like you expect for some patients.” He watched her over the rim of his cup.
“You read into people a lot, don’t you, Rone.” She swallowed another bite of his cake.
“Occupational hazard.” He shrugged.
“You mean as a bar and bakery owner. I had no idea. I guess you need to know people’s preferences. Makes for good business.”
“Cop. Former anyway, remember.” She didn’t need to know the grittier details so he kept that off the table.
She leaned forward with a pretty smile. “Oh, yeah, you got me with that. I did not see that coming. So you retired from the badge and gun to what? Don an apron? Must be a story there. How long have you had this place?”
“I took it over when Morgan died a few years ago.” When he’d heard the news of his sister’s death in an avalanche he’d put in for his papers and never looked back. His job with the force had already run its course anyway. He’d done what he’d set out to accomplish and his family needed him here.
She sat back on the stool. “Your wife?” Her warm smile slipped a notch.
“No, my younger sister. The baby of the family.”
“I’m so sorry.” She reached out to clasp his hand. He drew in a deep breath.
Big mistake. The power of her scent overpowered every other smell in the small bakery and wrenched up the heat. The mark on his shoulder blazed to life as if someone had outlined the tattoo of his den with gasoline and struck a match. He was in so much trouble and he couldn’t see a way out of the dark alley he’d walked down that didn’t involve mating Sabine.
His eyes slid shut. “You’re killing me, Angel,” he grunted. The scent of happiness and torment mixed together to create a whirlwind of emotions bom
barding one another in his head. His heart.
“Sorry.” Her hand slipped from his, and he wanted to tear down the world around him. “And I’m not an angel. Just a simple girl. A nobody.”
“You shouldn’t think like that. And there’s nothing that is ‘just simple about you.”
He drew closer until she could see nothing but his face, his eyes and drew her gaze to his so she could see the truth as he spoke.
“You have no idea how others perceive you, do you? What you do to the male population of this town? I can only imagine the string of doctor wannabes and full-fledged doctors you’ve left in your wake in Houston. Maybe you didn’t recognize the way Reaper was looking at you, his posture, but I did. That fucking ice bear was ready to claim you right there on the spot. The beast in him lives just beneath the surface, barely reined in so he would have done it. I know him. Hell, I can’t really blame him.”
She lifted an eyebrow and her expression grew more solemn the longer he spoke.
“And you, Rone? Your beast?”
“It takes every ounce of control not to do what my gut says so I’m not much better,” He admitted gruffly, “and the longer I’m around you the less I’m in control. But at least I’m not wild. That’s a dangerous combination in a killer like him.”
She nodded, eyes cast downward.
Boundaries be damned, he couldn’t take the sad look in her eye. He slipped a palm around her cheek and eased her head up until he captured her attention once again. “He even touches you and I’ll have his balls. Friend or not.”
She studied his face for a long moment before her small smirk became a full-fledged smile.
“And every old man to every twenty-something wanted to get close to you last night. The only thing keeping them back was me.”
Unable to stop, he caressed the pad of his thumb along the soft seam of her lips.
She looked completely taken aback by what he said. Good. She needed to know the truth.
“And kissing? Is that off the table too, Rone?” She wound her warm fingers around his and drew the back of his hand over her lips. One at a time she pressed her sweet kisses to each of his fingers, her gaze locked on his. “You taste of snow and ice.”
Snowbound With Her Christmas Bear: Wylde Den #4 (Alaskan Den Men Book 16) Page 7