Chapter1 (22 page)

“I don’t think Liz is criminally involved with Winter, at least not that she’s aware of.
 
She’s his pawn, nothing more, nothing less.”

Tension crackled in the room.
 

 
“I’m going to walk Red and turn in.”
 
The tender look in Jude’s eyes warmed her heart.
 
She smiled tentatively.
 
“Do you want to go with me?”

“I’ll walk Red.”
 
Cody moved to the door.
 
“I need some fresh air.”
 

“Take your gun,” Kat warned.
 

“Don’t worry.
 
I’m not that far gone.”
 
Cody’s grin gave her reason to relax.

Kat got fidgety after Cody had left.
 
The electricity in the air reminded Kat of the air before a thunderstorm.
 

“Are you ready?”
 

Kat’s eyes widened.
 
“Ready?” she managed to croak.

He chuckled and ran his fingers through her hair.
 
“To go upstairs?”

She crossed her arms and walked around the room, apprehensive about receiving yet another rejection.

“Kat?”
 
His hands descended on her shoulders.
 
She stopped pacing and looked out the window into the darkness.
 
His arms encircled her, and she leaned back against him.
 
“Let’s go upstairs.
 
I’m burning up with wanting you.”

She moaned.
 
Moisture made her panties damp.
 
Turning, she arched her body into his.
 
Standing on tiptoes, she found his lips.
 
Their mouths fit together like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
 
His tongue circled inside her mouth sending shivers of desire racing through her.
 
She wanted to crawl inside of him.

“Don’t stop, Jude.
 
Please,” she groaned her protest when he pulled his mouth away and buried his face in her neck.
 

“I’m not going to stop.”
 
His voice was raspy, and she felt the tremors in his body.
 
“Let’s go upstairs before we embarrass Cody.”
 
His arm tight around her waist, he guided her toward the stairs.

*****

Before they reached the top step, Kat’s shirt was gone.
 
Her pants landed somewhere between the stairs and the bed.
 
Jude wasn’t sure who had removed them.
 
He was tired of fighting his intensifying feelings for this woman.
 
He pulled her close and hugged her against him so hard she squeaked.
 
He finally admitted to himself that he never wanted to let her go.
 
Somehow they’d work it out.

Kat moved out of his arms, keeping her eyes on his.
 
Raising her hands, she lifted her sports bra over her head and dropped it on the floor.
 
Jude’s breathing rattled throughout the room like a freight train roaring down the tracks.
 
Her thumbs hooked around the top inside of her panties and slid them down her legs.

*****

She smiled, watching his eyes grew dark.
 
She trailed her finger across his taut abdomen.
 
His gasp made her shudder.
 
His hands wound into her hair.
 
He fell back on the bed, pulling her with him.
 

Kat exalted in her power to excite Jude.
 
Her fingers unzipped his jeans.
 
The raw hunger in his eyes made her heart lurch.
 
He stilled her hands and pushed her back on the bed while he removed his clothes.
 
“I’ll be right back,” he leaned down and his lips brushed against hers as he spoke.

Kat buried her face in the pillow, inhaling his scent.
 
A scent all his own.
 
She wished she could bottle it.
 
He smelled musky, yet fresh, like the woods on a cool, fall morning.
 
She pushed away the twinge of sadness that flickered through her.
 
For tonight Jude Callahan was hers, and she planned to savor every minute.
 
Tomorrow he’d leave.
 
She planned to make their last night together one they’d both remember.
 

Jude slid into the bed next to her.
 
Arms around his neck she hugged him and rubbed her cheek against his.
 

“Sorry I haven’t shaved.”

“I like it.”
 
Her fingers traced the contours of face.
 
“It gives you a real outdoorsy look.”

He chuckled.
 
“And we all know what an outdoorsman I am.”
 

She caught her breath when his fingers brushed over her nipples.
 
His tongue replaced his fingers.
 
She held his head, as he suckled her breasts.
 
Her hands caressed the hard tendons in his neck.
 

Her body demanded more.
 
She pulled his head away from her breasts and slipped downward, showering his chest and stomach with kisses.

“Enough, Kat,” he rasped hoarsely.
 
“Let’s make this last.”

“We have all night,” she murmured, reaching out to capture his hardness in her hand.
 
Jude’s hands remained busy, roaming her body.
 
He explored the soft skin of her back and hips.
 

Sensual feelings swept through her quick as wildfire.
 
A fire threatening to burn out of control,
she was losing herself in him.
 
That realization made her afraid.
 
The fear that she’d cease to belong to herself made her pull away from him.
 

The only noise in the room was their erratic breathing.

Jude pulled her against him and rested his chin on the top of her head and gently rubbed her back.
 
“What is it, Kat?
 
Talk to me.”

Kat cuddled into his warmth, looked up at him.
 
“I’m sorry.
 
It’s silly.”
 
She couldn’t let her hang-ups ruin this night.
 
Her insecurities didn’t matter, because he was leaving tomorrow.

Her fingers roamed over his face, touching his eyelashes, tracing his mouth.
 
“You are so beautiful,” she murmured.

“Aw shucks, ma’am.
 
You’ll make me blush.”
 

Sliding her hands behind his head, she pulled his mouth to hers.
 
The hunger in his kiss drove the fear from her mind.
 
Sensation after sensation washed over her, making her dizzy.
 
His hands found places in her body she’d never imagined could give her pleasure.
 
She responded to his kisses with reckless abandon, wrapping her legs around his in an attempt to get closer to his heat.
 

While their tongues wildly mated, Jude’s hand feathered across her belly and settled between her legs.
 
His touch remained light and teasing, and her hips arched toward the slight pressure begging for more.
 

Kat struggled to free her hands caught between their bodies.
 
She ached to touch him.
 
“I’m going to shatter.”
 

Jude stifled a moan at her frantically whispered words, positioning his body over hers.
 

“No, you’re not,” he panted.
 
“Trust me.”
 

Her fingers dug into his moist back.
 
She smiled when she felt his body tremble.
 
He showered her face with kisses, before concentrating on her ears and neck.
 
By the time his lips found her throbbing breasts, Kat had reached the end of her restraint.
 
She writhed beneath him, eager to have him deep inside of her.
 
Were those whimpering noises coming from her?

When his knee parted her legs, she bit her tongue so she wouldn’t cry out.
 
Feeling his hard erection against her was erotic; not having him inside her was frustrating.
 
She tossed her head back and forth on the pillow as his fingers toyed with her pebble hard nipples.
 
A sob escaped her parted lips.
 
“Now, Jude, now.”
 

“Stay still.
 
Don’t move.”
 
Jude panted.
 
He began penetrate her slowly, but Kat wiggled beneath him.
 
His control snapped.
 
In one thrust he was deep inside her.
 
Their bodies found the rhythm that carried them to oblivion.
 
When Kat cried out her release, Jude came with her.

Peace and contentment replaced the flood of ecstasy.
 
Somehow, Kat had ended up on top of Jude and stayed there content to smell and taste his salty skin.
 

“I’m so in love with you,” Jude whispered against her neck, his voice unsteady.

His words hit Kat without warning.
 
Her eyes flew open.
 
She should have seen this coming.
 
“You don’t have to say that, Jude.
 
I wanted to make love with you.
 
I don’t need words of love or flowery speeches.”

His eyes grew hard.
 
Tonight, they were the color of nutmeg.
 
Tiger eyes, an angry tiger.
 

“I’m not feeding you a line, Kat.
 
Plain and simple…I’m in love with you.”
 
He took her shoulders and shook her gently.
 
“Learn to live with it.”
 

Her defenses crumbled.
 
She rolled off him and scooted up on the bed, covering her nakedness with the comforter.

Quick as lightening, Jude pulled her back into his chest.
 
“You’re not running away from me.
 
Okay, the word ‘love’ scares you.
 
It’s time we talked about it.”

Kat squeezed her eyes shut.
 
She couldn’t look at him.
 
He’d see something she’d never bared to anyone–her soul.
 
“You want me to open my heart to you?
 
Tell you all my deep dark secrets and fears?”
 

“I want you to trust me.”
 
At the warmth and tenderness in his voice she opened her eyes.

“I’m not sure I can.”
 
Just admitting this fear lifted the burden she’d carried her entire life.
 
“I’ve never confided my fears to anyone.”

Jude punched the pillows, then sat up and leaned into them.
 
Putting his arm around her shoulders, he pulled her against his side.
 
“I know, but it’s time to let go of the hurt, Kat.
 
Get it out in the open.
 
You helped me the other night.
 
I can now better understand my mother’s infidelity.
 
Let me help you get rid of your demons.”
 
He bent down and took gentle possession of her mouth, releasing it before the flames fanned again.

She searched for the words to explain.
 
“Unconditional love, Callahan.
 
That’s my problem.”
   
Jude hugged her and kissed her cheek.
 

“My grandmother showered me with unconditional love.
 
My parents either couldn’t or wouldn’t.
 
I know they loved me because I was their daughter, but they loved a figment of their imagination, not me.
 
I wasn’t the daughter they wanted.”

Kat pulled away from him and sat up, hugging her knees to her chest.
 
“It’s been that way all my life.
 
People can’t accept me for what I am.
 
They always think I should be someone different.”

“Until now.
 
You’re my G.I. Jane.”
 
The warmth of his smile was a ribbon around his words.
 
“I know you.
 
You’re a brave woman willing to give your life to keep those you love safe from danger.
 
You’re warm, loving and giving.
 
Not to mention that you’re every man’s fantasy.”

Jude chuckled when she rolled her eyes.
 
“Don’t get me wrong.
 
You have your share of faults.
 
Want to hear them?”

She nodded.
 
“You’re stubborn, prickly, and it’s almost impossible for you to accept help from others.
 
You hide your emotions behind a façade of nonchalance, afraid that someone will consider you weak.”
 
He paused and rested his chin on top of her head.
 
“Am I right?”

At the slight inclination of her head, Jude placed a soft kiss in her hair.

“But Jude, a relationship between us has no place to go.
 
It’s a dead end.
 
We’ve agreed on that.”

“That was before I accepted how strong my feelings for you are.”
 
He cradled her face, his thumb stroking her cheek.
 
“We can work it out.
 
We will work it out,” he said emphatically.
 
“I promise.”

Kat kept her doubts to herself.

“Go to sleep.
 
We’ll talk about it tomorrow.
 
Where there’s a will there’s a way.
 
You’ll see.”
 
Jude tucked her into his side and closed his eyes.