After Reese had walked her to her hotel room, she had gotten ready for bed, but wasn’t sure if he would eventually knock on her
door to talk. He never showed up, and since he hadn’t mentioned anything about it this morning, she could only assume he had changed his mind, which was fine with her.
“You want to stop for breakfast somewhere or do you want me to take you straight home?” he asked her, after getting inside the truck and fastening his seat belt.
She smiled thinking how easy it was for him to think of his home as hers. “No, I’m fine. It’s still early. I can make breakfast when we get there.”
“I’ll help,” he said, glancing over at her before putting the key in the ignition.
“Okay.”
She’d said okay, but she wasn’t really sure. With both of them in the kitchen, things could get overheated. Still, she was certain she would feel the heat more than he would.
“Did you enjoy the party, Kenna?”
She glanced over at him. “Yes. That’s one of the things I enjoy about your family. They love getting together and having a good time.”
He chuckled. “Yes, the Madarises will find just about any reason to throw a party.”
“This time, it was a special occasion. I think Luke opening up a rodeo school is wonderful. Is he seriously thinking about opening up one here in Houston in another year or two?”
“Yes, he’s serious,” Reese said, reaching to turn on the radio to get a traffic update. Even though it was a Sunday morning, there were sometimes traffic jams with people going to early-morning church service.
He was surfing the channels. “Wait! Hold it,” Kenna said. “I want to listen to the news report.”
“Again, we repeat,” the reporter said, “the body of a twenty-eight-year-old Houston woman was found by joggers in a ditch off Long Weather Road this morning. The body has yet to be identified. However, according to police several items of clothing were missing, including one of her shoes…”
“Oh, no,” Kenna said, groaning.
Reese glanced over at her with concern. “What’s wrong?”
“I need to get a full news report. I hope it’s just a coincidence that the murdered woman’s shoe is missing.”
“Why?”
“It might be the work of a serial murderer known as the ‘Shoe Killer.’ He rapes, tortures and kills his victims and then takes one of their shoes.”
Reese frowned. “Why would he do that?”
“Probably some kind of souvenir. So far, he’s killed more than a dozen women across the country, mostly in the Midwest. He killed six women in the Minneapolis area last year. I hope he hasn’t resurfaced in Houston.”
“Have there been any leads, any witnesses?”
“No, there haven’t been any survivors.”
It took a little longer than usual for them to get home, since Reese decided to stop at a roadside market and get some fresh fruit. The moment they walked through the door Kenna turned on the television.
“You want me to take this up to your room?” Reese asked, holding her carry-on bag that he had taken out of the trunk.
“Yes, please. And where is everyone? The place looked deserted when we pulled up.”
“Most of the hands usually go to church on Sunday morning or visit with family and friends in town.” He chuckled. “Some of the men stay out late on Saturday nights and sleep in on Sunday mornings to recover.”
Reese came back downstairs moments after putting their bags in their rooms. “I’m going to check things out and then I’ll be back to help you with breakfast.”
“I’ll probably be finished by then,” she said as she began watering several plants in the living room. The plants had been given to her by coworkers and friends as going-away gifts. She
intended to keep them alive and move them to her new place once it was completed.
She released a deep sigh when the door closed behind Reese. So much for thinking that things were back to normal between them. Although they weren’t acting as skittish around each other as they had a few days ago, she was more aware of his presence than ever before.
He had knocked on her hotel room around five that morning and she had opened the door to find him standing there, sexier than any man had a right to look at that hour of morning. He was wearing a pair of jeans, a pullover shirt and aviator sunglasses, and was holding a cup of hot coffee in his hand.
He had handed her the cup of coffee before grabbing her overnight bag and then quickly ushered her down the hall to the elevator. By the time they’d made it to the ground floor, she had given him back the cup of coffee to drink. It was only then that she remembered what Alyson had said.
It was hard to believe she’d never paid much attention to how often they drank from the same cup of coffee or bottle of beer. And in all honesty, she wouldn’t have noticed if Alyson hadn’t pointed it out during her tirade. Now that she had, every time Kenna thought about it she felt an intense ache deep down.
The news report grabbed her attention and she turned up the volume on the flat-screen TV.
According to the reporter, the body had been positively identified as Melanie Tate, who had been killed just one month shy of her first wedding anniversary. It was heartbreaking to hear the details, she thought.
Such a senseless murder.
Kenna turned off the television and made her way to the kitchen. When she’d worked for the Austin PD, she’d had a few friends in the homicide division. That’s when she’d first heard about the “Shoe Killer” investigation, and knew that law enforcement didn’t have any leads yet. A shudder ran through Kenna’s body. She knew there was a distinct possibility that the
Houston PD might be dealing with a copycat, or it could be the real “Shoe Killer.”
She had already put the frozen chicken in the microwave to thaw when the back door opened and Reese walked in. He smiled at her and she immediately felt her nipples harden. “Everything’s okay?” she asked.
“Yes. Joe’s here and so are a few other ranch hands. They were watching the news report about the woman who was murdered.”
Kenna nodded. “My heart goes out to her family.”
Suddenly she felt a pressing need to change the subject. “I thought we would have a light meal today. I’ll make a salad and steam some veggies if you’ll cook the chicken.”
He nodded as he headed over to the sink to wash his hands. “How do you want it?”
She shrugged. “Any way you want.”
His deep, dark, penetrating gaze lingered on her face for a while.
She noticed how his nostrils flared. It was too late when she realized what she’d said. She tried to ignore the fierce pounding of her heart, and tried convincing herself that she was just imagining things. Her fantasies were just running wild. But if that was the case, how could she explain the look in Reese’s eyes that was holding her hostage and making the air around them sizzle with sexual tension? She nervously licked her lips with the tip of her tongue and watched his gaze track her every move.
He smiled. It was a smile that was so full of carnal desire it nearly took her breath away. It was then that she realized he had wiped his hands on the kitchen towel and was moving toward her. She bit her bottom lip when he stopped and stood in front of her. She swallowed and tried to ignore the pressure she felt building at the juncture of her thighs, making that part of her body feel sensitive and achy. “Reese?” she said quietly, searching
his face and admiring the deep, rich, coppery skin. “Is anything wrong?”
His grin was quick. And it made her suddenly feel wet and hot.
“No, there’s nothing wrong. But since I have the option of doing it any way I want, I think I want to do it this way. And this time I won’t apologize.”
He backed her against the kitchen counter, trapped her between his arms—which were on either side of her—and proceeded to meld her body to his masculine length. A shiver of awareness trailed over her skin, and before she could completely exhale, he sucked her breath right off her lips as he leaned in to kiss her.
Incredible,
Reese thought. Capturing Kenna’s tongue and mating with it so intensely, he felt his entire body become aroused like never before. This was what he wanted. This was what he needed, and this was definitely the way it should always be. Their first kiss had been good, but this one was even better.
The last time they’d kissed he’d only gotten a sample of her soft lips, a taste of her sweetness. Now he was practically drowning in the flavor of her, savoring her spiciness and eating away at her mouth with a hunger so desperate it erased any misgivings he had about taking their relationship to the next level. His tongue stroked every inch of her mouth so possessively that it had her moaning.
He liked the sound of it. He wanted more as he continued to claim and possess her mouth in a way that he’d never experienced with any other woman. The lower part of his body began to throb as he felt his desire rising. His lips made tortured demands that he intended for her to heed.
There was no hesitation on her part. She returned his kiss with equal fervor, but for all the wrong reasons Reese believed. He knew she thought he was just horny, willing to temporarily set
aside their friendship to fulfill his needs. Boy, was she wrong, and he would enjoy proving to her just how wrong she was.
In the distance, he heard the faintest sound of vehicles approaching, as some of the men began returning to the ranch. It was time to take one final taste of her mouth for now, he thought, as he slowly broke off the kiss.
In a daze Kenna studied Reese’s face, silently acknowledging what they’d just shared. They had kissed a second time and again he had been the one to initiate it. She decided to sort out her emotions later. But for now, all she wanted was to savor his kiss—so intense that it left a lingering sting on her lips.
He had said he wasn’t going to apologize this time. And that meant there would be no regrets. He had wanted her—the bulge of his erection pressed against her had been evidence of that. But now as the gravity of the moment was setting in, she wondered what he was thinking.
She pulled in a sharp breath when he reached out to trace her jawline with his fingertip as his gaze held hers. She quickly concluded that he’d decided not to think about their dilemma—at least not now. A ragged moan escaped her lips when he slowly lowered his fingertip to trace a path down her neck toward to the center of her breasts. He moved his finger to the right, and rubbed it back and forth against her blouse.
She watched the movement of his hand before slowly returning her gaze to his face. “I thought we were talking about the chicken,” she said throatily, her voice overwhelmed with arousal. She felt a tremor of desire ease up her spine as her gaze held his deep, dark penetrating eyes.
“What makes you think we weren’t?”
As unexpectedly as his seduction had started, it ended when he released her and he walked over to the sink.
Chapter 15
K
enna had been quiet through most of their dinner, Reese noticed as he helped clear the table. If she was in shock from the kiss they’d shared earlier, she hadn’t seen anything yet, he thought. He loved her and he intended to do whatever he had to do to put those words into action and show her just what she meant to him.
Admittedly, part of what he felt was physical—unadulterated sexual desire. After all he had a healthy libido and had gone without sex for months. But he was also in love with the woman he craved so desperately. When they shared a bed, it wouldn’t be purely sexual. He would be sharing his body, his mind and his soul with the woman who had his heart.
He leaned against the counter and watched as she tried to avoid eye contact. He knew that she knew he was looking at her. Reining in his desire for her wasn’t going to be easy, but he intended to try. “Dinner was good,” he said, trying to break the ice.
She glanced over at him. “My part was easy.” She gestured toward the leftover chicken on the stove. “You’re the one who had the hard part. And the chicken was delicious, by the way.”
“Thanks.”
A few moments passed. “Reese?”
He looked at her intently. “Yes?”
He saw her swallow hard. “You don’t have to help me clean up the kitchen. I can handle it alone.”
He shrugged. “We’ve always cleaned up the kitchen together whenever we share a meal, Kenna. Why change now?” he asked innocently, as if he hadn’t practically mauled her mouth a short while ago. The memory of it only heightened his awareness of how much he wanted her.
“I know, but…”
“But, what?”
She held his gaze for a second and then shook her head. “Nothing.”
Oh, he would gladly show her what
nothing
meant. “Come on. Let’s clean up the kitchen together.”
“I do need to ask you something first,” she said softly, looking everywhere but at him.
He leaned back against the counter. “You can ask me anything, Kenna. You know that.”
She nodded then shifted her gaze to look him squarely in the eyes. “Why did you kiss me again?”
He focused on her mouth. “Because I didn’t get enough of the taste of you the first time,” he said, omitting the fact that it was even better than he remembered.
They stared at each other for the longest while. Neither said anything. He began to wonder just how long it would take before one of them broke the silence. “But you apologized for kissing me the first time.”
He heard something akin to hurt in her voice, and it was at that moment he understood the reason for it. It wasn’t about the
kiss. She was hurt by his apology. He knew he had to backtrack and clear things up with her. “I wasn’t apologizing for kissing you that day, Kenna,” his voice deep with emotion. “I was apologizing because I enjoyed it too much, and if it had been left up to me things wouldn’t have stopped at just a kiss.”
He saw her blink in confusion and then he continued. “Look, I know you think you have this whole thing figured out, and in your mind the only reason that I’m coming on to you is because I’m hard up.”
“Isn’t it? Men have needs. And as far as I know, you haven’t been sleeping with anyone since Alyson. You’re not the type of man who would get involved with a woman just to satisfy his sexual needs,” she said quietly.